Swiss Tour
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | A sailor is not a snowman |
| Original title | Swiss Tour |
| Country of production | Switzerland |
| original language |
Swiss German English French |
| Publishing year | 1949 |
| length | 95 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Leopold Lindtberg |
| script |
Richard Schweizer based on his novel Swiss Tour B XV |
| production | Lazar Wechsler for Praesens-Film, Zurich |
| music | Robert Blum |
| camera | Emil Berna |
| cut |
Käthe Mey Hermann Haller |
| occupation | |
and the skiers Edy Reinalter , Otto Furrer , Rudolf Rominger , Elias Julen , Dölf Odermatt , Hedy Schlunegger | |
Swiss Tour , awarded in Germany in 1951 under the title A sailor is not a snowman , is a 1949 Swiss film amusement game by Leopold Lindtberg with Hollywood star Cornel Wilde in the leading role.
action
Five American soldiers stationed in Mulhouse , Alsace , take four days off duty to spend a short vacation in nearby Switzerland. The sailor Stanley Robin would like to bring back a typical souvenir from this trip. In Montreux he discovers a typical Swiss watch in the shop window of a jeweler, which he is particularly fond of. But he shows even greater interest in the lovely shop assistant, Suzanne from French-speaking Switzerland. He really wants to marry her immediately and take her to the USA as his bride. Suzanne is far less enthusiastic about this idea and escapes the love-drunk GI with a short vacation in the Alps. The young blonde would like to ski for a few days in Zermatt , but has no idea that Stanley is already on her heels. The Navy Boy takes the train to Zermatt and tracks down his loved ones in front of the backdrop of the Matterhorn.
During a chase on skis through the winter landscape, the young woman escapes him again, whereupon the sailor, who is not too skilful in winter sports - a sailor is not a snowman, as the German title says - goes to a pub and his grief in the presence of several locals with alcohol Tried to drown. At a dance opportunity in the hotel, Stanley gets to know the young and “modern” Yvonne, the “happy existentialist” type with a femme fatale touch. As a self-confident young woman of today, she finds nothing offensive when she goes hunting for men. And so she tries to seduce the a little taken by surprise Stanley. Suzanne now watches this with some concern, so she suggests to the sailor to pretend they are both married for a day (in order to actually only free him from the clutches of the "snake" Yvonne). However, Yvonne is not ready to simply leave her sailors to the competition and causes misunderstandings and confusion through her intrigues. Finally, Stanley and Suzanne have their first "marriage" crash. But in the end everything clears up and you meet again on the train back. Stanley and Suzanne promise each other not to part again.
Production notes
Filming on Swiss Tour began on February 15, 1949 and ended the following June. The interior shots were made in the Rosenhof and Bellerive film studio, Zurich, the exterior shots were made in Zermatt, Montreux and Cervinia, Italy. The premiere took place on November 29, 1949 in the Zurich Rex cinema. In western Switzerland was Swiss Tour (in Geneva) on 15 January 1950th The American premiere took place on March 22, 1950 (in Hollywood) under the title Four Days Leave . The flick also had this title at its London premiere on November 7, 1950. In Austria, the film was called Heart Goes Anchor .
Production management was in the hands of Oscar Düby , Kurt Früh assisted director Lindtberg. Liselotte Pulver , who was 19 at the time of shooting , made her film debut here with a tiny role. For the film architect Robert Furrer , Swiss Tour was the last film; he died in 1949. The quintet Eddie Brunner played.
In the film you can see some silliness, for example when Cornel Wilde as sailor Robin himself tries to ski on the ski slope in his sailor suit and white cap .
Development history and background
Swiss Tour is considered the deeply unloved child of the always artistically ambitious Swiss star director Leopold Lindtberg. He only complied with this staging, which was perceived as banal, for contractual reasons, with which producer Lazar Wechsler wanted to “play” on the international stage after his great international successes of The Last Chance and The Drawn . He borrowed the star Cornel Wilde from 20th Century Fox in Hollywood, who was willing to pay Wilde's fee of $ 80,000 for a percentage of the proceeds. Lindtberg was able to win over the two artists Josette Day and Simone Signoret from Paris, each of whom shortly before had a great film success - Day in Once Upon a Time , Signoret in Die Schenke zum Vollmond . For Josette Day, Swiss Tour was also to be her last leading film role, as early as 1951 she withdrew completely from the cinema.
The shooting was disastrous. Snow is indispensable for a winter sports comedy, and that is exactly what was lacking around Zermatt in the winter of 1949. Due to the associated filming delays, expenses climbed to 1.3 million Swiss francs, an astronomical amount for a Swiss production of those years. In spite of everything, the film was by no means a box office flop; in Zurich alone the film ran en suite for nine weeks and recorded a stream of around 400,000 moviegoers during this time.
Reviews
"... the most charming and skilful of all Swiss film amusements ..."
“And with this story of an American sailor who falls in love with a local girl while on vacation in the Alps, Mr. Wechsler is closer to Hollywood than to Switzerland. But the film is saved from many banalities by the cheerful appearances of the cast and the spectacular local locations where the film was made. (...) Cornel Wilde gives the lovesick sailors with ease and even manages to make attempts in Schwyzerdütsch and skiing à la Suisse, which turn out to be quite funny. Josette Day… is blond and has a wistful charm as the light of his life and as a lady who is afraid of suddenly throwing herself into a marriage. Simone Signoret… is attractive and hardly a villain as 'the other woman'. "
“Lindtberg denies this film, the forced realization of which gave rise to constant controversy. In fact, Swiss Tour is diametrically opposed to the author's designs in The Last Chance , by its content (emotional comedy) as well as by its style (star film). In return, it corresponds almost in a caricature way to the Praesens post-war criteria and would suffice to explain the break between the director and his Zurich company. (...) ... but the whole thing, free of errors and originality, leaves a deep impression of insignificance. Swiss Tour is a compromise that reveals on the one hand Wechsler's surrender to the commercial norms of Hollywood and on the other hand Schweizer's cyclical aberration when his harmless-nice imagination draws him to the tourist brochure. "
"A delightful love-confusing comedy with sarcastic tones and impressive landscape scenery."
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Hervé Dumont: The history of Swiss film. Feature films 1896–1965. Lausanne 1987. p. 419
- ↑ In the original: “And, in this yarn about an American sailor who falls for a local let while on a holiday in the Alps, Mr. Wechsler is closer to Hollywood than Switzerland. But it is saved from its occasional banalities by the cheerful performances of its cast and the spectacular locales in which it was photographed. (...) As the love-smitten gob, Cornel Wilde takes to the role with ease and even manages to make his attempts at Swiss-German and Swiss skiing reasonably funny. Josette Day… is blonde, and wistfully appealing as the light of his life and a lady who is fearful of plunging into matrimony suddenly. Simone Signoret… is attractive and hardly a villainess as the other woman. "
Web links
- Swiss Tour in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Swiss Tour at filmportal.de