Our house in Cameroon

Movie
Original title	Our house in Cameroon
Country of production	Germany
original language	German
Publishing year	1961
length	103 minutes
Age rating	FSK 16
Rod
Director	Alfred Vohrer
script	Georg Hurdalek , ; Kurt Heuser
production	Rialto Film; ( Horst Wendlandt )
music	Martin Böttcher
camera	Karl Löb
cut	Ira Oberberg
occupation
	Johanna von Koczian : Doris Kröger; Götz George : Georg Ambrock; Hans Söhnker : Willem Ambrock; Horst Frank : Klaas Steensand; Berta Drews : Aunt Edith; Katrin Schaake : Christine Ambrock; Walter Rilla : Consul Steensand; Helga Sommerfeld : Manuela Ingarides; Kenneth Spencer : Bismarck; Günther Jerschke : Mr. Biermann; Henry Vahl : taxi driver; Helga Münster : Ina Lorenz; Barbara Lienau : Consul Steensand; Uwe Friedrichsen : Rolf Ambrock; Kate Jaenicke : Elli Dörfler; Hans Fitze : Pastor; James Diakité : House boy;

Our house in Cameroon is a German feature film by Alfred Vohrer from 1961. In addition to Johanna von Koczian and Götz George, the main roles are cast with Hans Söhnker , Horst Frank and Berta Drews .

action

The German Ambrock family has lived on their large farm in Cameroon for two generations . The head of the family is Willem Ambrock. The immediate family includes the sons Georg and Rolf as well as the wheelchair-bound daughter Christine and sister-in-law Edith, who, in addition to her work as a doctor, also takes care of the household and the children of the widowed patriarch. Ambrock tries to give his children a good education despite the wilderness in which they live. That is one of the reasons why he sends his son Georg to Hamburg , where Ambrock's friend Consul Steensand takes him under his wing. In Hamburg a close friendship develops between Georg and Klaas Steensand, the son of Consul Steensand. However, Klaas is a seedy personality.

The open conflict between Georg and Klaas occurs when Georg falls in love with Doris Kröger. Doris is the friend of Klaas Steensand. After a plane crash that kills Georg's brother Rolf, Georg breaks his tent in Hamburg prematurely and asks Doris to accompany him to his family in Africa, where Doris is warmly welcomed. After a while, Klaas follows the lovers and is able to convince Georg's family that Doris is playing a wrong game with Georg. First, she is his girlfriend and, second, she has an illegitimate child from another relationship. The Ambrock family believes Klaa's portrayal and is shocked. She then doesn't want anything to do with Doris Kröger. But Georg's love for Doris is so strong that it withstands the intrigue. Ultimately, Georg can also convince his father, who is arrested in tradition, that the love between him and Doris is sincere on both sides.

Production, publication

The film is a Rialto Film production . The shooting took place from the end of September to the beginning of November 1961 in Hamburg and Tanganyika (now Tanzania ). The real film studio in Hamburg-Wandsbek served as a studio . Charlotte Flemming was responsible for dressing Johanna von Koczian , with Anneliese Ludwig at her side. The film structures were in the hands of Mathias Matthies and Ellen Schmidt .

The film had its world premiere on December 21, 1961 in the Palast-Theater in Hanover , after it was approved on December 14, 1961 in an FSK test under the number 26856 from the age of 16 with the addition of "no public holidays". The movie poster advertised with the headline: "The great German family film of international format."

Our house in Cameroon was opened on March 28, 2014 by Pidax Film Media Ltd. (Alive AG) released on DVD as part of their “Pidax-Film-Klassiker” series.

Reviews

"A plot that, despite conventional ideas and colonial reminiscences, is unsentimental and bourgeois, offers its interpreters opportunities and receives atmosphere through outdoor shots."

- Paimann's film lists

“[…] A good, interesting entertainment film, as one thought it was already passé. Worn by magnificent actors. The intense, beefy, delicate Götz George, whom you just have to love; Johanna von Koczian, who is somewhat hypothermic according to the role; Berta Drews, Hans Söhnker, Horst Frank. Clean direction by Alfred Vohrer. "

- Hamburger Abendblatt

“A story told audience-pleasing with the help of pseudo-drama, which takes place in a cinematic Africa in which all blacks are dear and all whites are generous and have a penchant for hospital foundations. All in all, a mixture of patriotic glamor and a false feeling that is difficult to bear. "

- Lexicon of international film

At Deutsches Filmhaus.de it is said: “Our house in Cameroon offers a large selection of everything that had a reputation in front of and behind the camera in the 1960s. Götz George, Horst Frank, Johanna von Koczian, Henry Vahl, Joseph Offenbach, Walter Rilla, Uwe Friedrichsen and Götz George's mother Berta Drews come together in an excellent melodrama, which is an exciting one in wonderful pictures that were accompanied by cult composer Martin Böttcher just as dramatic story told. The breathtaking backdrop, the excellent cast with audience favorites and, above all, the sensitive direction by Alfred Vohrers make this film from the workshop of producer Horst Wendlandt a unique cinema experience! "

Kino-zeit complains, on the one hand, of the image of Africa conveyed by Alfred Vohrer in Our House in Cameroon , which is "pure fantasy", but on the other hand emphasizes that Vohrer builds up the melodramatic entanglements "purposefully", "in order to at least formalize them up to the finale". However, the film “lacks the flavor needed to get beyond the stage of a solid entertainment film. Because it becomes noticeable at some point that all the characters act in a fuzzy fantasy world. "Conclusion:" In connection with the excellent actors, above all Horst Frank as a conflicting son from a good family and Johanna von Koczian between slyness and warmth Our house in Cameroon has its charm. "

Award

Götz George was awarded a Bambi in the category “Best Young Actor” in 1962 for his performance in this film as well as in Mörderspiel and Der Teufel played Balalaika .