Invisible Adversaries (1933)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Invisible opponents |
| Country of production | Austria |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1933 |
| length | 85, 87 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Rudolf Katscher |
| script |
Philipp Lothar Mayring Heinrich Oberländer Reinhart Steinbicker based on an idea by Ludwig von Wohl |
| production | Sam Spiegel |
| music | Rudolf Schwarz |
| camera |
Eugen Schüfftan Georg Bruckbauer |
| cut | Rudolf Schaad |
| occupation | |
| |
Invisible opponents is an Austrian adventure, agent and crime film drama from 1933 by the screenwriter Rudolf Katscher, who fled Hitler's Germany . Gerda Maurus , Paul Hartmann and the two exiles Oskar Homolka and Peter Lorre play the main roles as a crook duo.
action
The director general of the Amazonas Oil Company, a South American oil production company, Señor Delmonte, plans to sell the company he is running as soon as possible, as he has found out that the previously vigorously bubbling wells will soon dry up. To highlight the importance of the company, he uses an old geological report by the engineer Peter Ugron, which he had made at the time when the oil was bubbling up in streams to the surface of the earth. When Ugron learns of Delmonte's planned villain piece, he immediately travels to South America to prevent an upcoming deal. When he arrived on site, the German man of honor had to find out that Delmonte had already left for Europe to negotiate the contract. Two very different sides show great interest in Delmonte's oil business. There is Sir Thomas from Great Britain, who heads an international corporation and is trying to acquire the oil fields that are drying up. Opposite him is a criminal consortium led by a certain Santos, which is only interested in stealing the sale price from Delmonte. Agents Pless and Godfrey are supposed to do the dirty work for Santos.
When the head of the Delmonte company boarded the ship to Europe, the two dark men clung to its tracks. Also on board is Sybil Herford, who also works for Santos, a former dancer. Peter Ugron can come on board at the last moment. Since Santos wants to prevent Señor Delmonte from coming into direct contact with Sir Thomas, the two villains Pless and Godfrey let him disappear on board without further ado. Ugron, who could thwart Santos' plans, should also be eliminated. But this turns out to be quite difficult, because Sybil falls in love with the stately German during the ship passage and becomes his ally. When she arrived in Europe, she advised her two gangster buddies to report Ugron to the police and have him arrested so that he could be taken out of circulation. In truth, however, the woman just wants her love Ugron to be safe from Santos, Pless and Godfrey. But things turn out very differently: Godfrey, who appears in Delmonte's mask, is exposed when the contract is signed and, on the run, takes himself prisoner in an automatically closing bank vault. Santos and Pless are also arrested. Ugron and his Sybil can now start a carefree life.
Production notes
Invisible Opponents , also known under the secondary title Oil in Fire , was created in the Tobis-Sascha -Atelier in Vienna- Sievering in the spring of 1933 , passed film censorship on June 22nd of the same year and, despite strong Jewish participation, became in Berlin premiered. The Austrian premiere took place in Vienna on November 24, 1933.
Sam Spiegel took over the production management, Erwin Scharf designed the film structures. Alfred Norkus provided the sound , Franz Hoffermann was the unit manager.
The actors Homolka, Lorre, Leonard Steckel, Jaro Fürth and Jack Mylong-Münz, as well as cameraman Eugen Schüfftan and film architect Scharf, who had just fled to Vienna from National Socialist Germany , found their first work in exile here.
18-year-old Maria Holst made her film debut in Invisible Opponents .
A French-language version was made of this film under the direction of Katscher and Henri Decoin under the title Les réquins du pétrole . Lorre and Raoul Aslan also played their roles in this version.
Reviews
Paimann's film lists summed up: “Without tenable prerequisites, but carefully supported psychologically, the subject compensates for the lack of probability with gripping details and scenic situations. The direction works out the characters sharply, leading the ensemble to impressive, convincing performances. "
On film.at it says: "A dark noir thriller whose brilliant finale belongs entirely to the memorable villain duo Oskar Homolka and Peter Lorre."
Web links
- Invisible Adversaries in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Invisible opponents at filmportal.de
- Invisible opponents on viennale.at
