Delay in Marienborn
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Delay in Marienborn |
| Country of production |
Germany France Italy |
| original language |
German English Russian |
| Publishing year | 1963 |
| length | 94 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Rolf Haedrich |
| script |
Will Tremper Victor Vicas (English version only) |
| production |
Hans Oppenheimer Ray Ventura for Hans Oppenheimer-Film GmbH, Berlin; Hessischer Rundfunk ; Hoche Production SA, Paris; Produzioni cinematografiche mediterranee, Rome |
| music |
Peter Thomas Claude Vasori |
| camera | Roger Fellous |
| cut |
Margot Jahn Georges Arnstam |
| occupation | |
| |
Belated in Marienborn is a German-French-Italian film drama by Rolf Hädrich from 1963 about the division of Germany and the Cold War . International actors such as Oscar winner José Ferrer , French Nicole Courcel and Errol Flynn's son Sean Flynn were hired for the leading roles .
action
The film begins with a drive by US reporter Cowan through West Berlin . Impressions from the city, which has been divided since the Wall was built in 1961, follow . Cowan wants to report his experiences from the divided Berlin and the state of the Soviet-American tensions on site. On board the American military train, which connects the western zones of Berlin with Frankfurt am Main , there are also international guests as well as train and military personnel from the Federal Republic, the GDR and the USA. During a conversation in the train's dining car, Cowan on the one hand and the American train commander Ltnt. Novak and the nurse Kathy, who is accompanying a temporarily visually impaired, high-ranking US officer on the train, on the other, clash. The reason for the argument is Cowan's expressed contempt for all Germans because of their Nazi past. He castigates them as experts on walls and concentration camp barbed wire. Shortly before the inner-German border , still on the GDR side, the train stops briefly. A 24-year-old man jumps out of his hiding place and clings to one of the sealed train doors that can only be opened from the inside. When the train starts again, the stranger knocks furiously on the door. Kathy, who is standing next to it inside the car, unlocks it and drags the man inside. The stowaway introduces himself as an East German refugee.
Kathy helps him to hide in a currently unused compartment. Cowan quickly finds out and senses a huge story behind the refugee story of the young man named Banner, which he wants to exploit exclusively - even at the risk that this could cost Banner his life. Then the train reaches Marienborn , border control point and interface between East and West, and stops. The Allied officers exchange papers, a GDR train attendant asks for a brief conversation with his superior at the handling facility. When the train started rolling again, the Soviet officer had the train stop again immediately because Novak did not include a GDR citizen in the passenger list. It is a banner that the GDR train attendant had just reported to his superior at the station about its possible presence on board. The Soviet officer then wants to examine the train personally, which his American counterpart, Ltnt. Novak, does not allow him. The Russian then refuses to allow the train to continue.
Novak gets further instructions by telephone from his superior and points out that the Russians had already checked the train for unauthorized passengers when it entered East German soil. In no time at all, Soviet soldiers approached the train with rifles at the ready. Thereupon the US military police on board the train are summoned and armed in front of the train. The superior of the Soviet officer, Major Menshikov, who had just arrived, suggested to Novak that he himself search the train for the suspected stowaway, which he then did. Banner is quickly spotted and Novak asks his superiors whether he should hand the East German refugee over to the Soviets. "Don't do anything" is the answer he hears and that he should wait for further instructions. A little later, higher-ranking US officers from the military liaison mission came from Potsdam and discussed the case with their Soviet counterparts. The temporarily blind US officer on the train advises his high-ranking colleagues to hand over Banner, who had illegally gained access to the sealed train, to the Soviet authorities. This would correspond to mutual agreements. Even the American civilians, who absolutely want to return to West Germany , are not squeamish and demand that the GDR refugee be extradited so that the journey to Frankfurt can finally continue. Even the smug cynic Cowan is on "short cut".
While the tough negotiations between the Americans and the Soviets are proceeding in the gatekeeping house, Banner manages to escape from his American guard. He secretly leaves the train and crawls under them. He is discovered in the process. Walking back and forth between American, Russian and GDR soldiers, he can jump back on the train at the last second. Now the Russians know that there was indeed a stowaway on the train, and the situation is getting trickier. While the private travelers on the train change their minds about the refugee in his favor, Cowan seizes the opportunity to interview Banner, who explains that he only fled the train to avoid being a burden to everyone else. Then the train jerks and pulls away. Enthusiasm breaks out briefly among the passengers, which Ltnt. Novak immediately nips in the bud. The train, he explains, is only shunted onto a side track.
In the morning hours of the following day there was a long conversation between Novak and the refugee for the first time, and from the initial rejection and distance Novak developed something like understanding for Banner's situation. Major Finnegan, who negotiates for the Americans, is called on the phone in the middle of a conversation with his Russian counterpart. He is ordered to hand over the East German to the Russians. Then Finnegan hurries back to the train. He furiously confronts Cowan with the fact that his chats about the East German refugee on the train in Berlin are already making the rounds and that the Russians can no longer help but act adamantly. Cowan is not aware of any guilt, he has kept quiet, he says. In fact, one of the West German train attendants trumpeted proudly that he had passed Finnegan's findings to Berlin newspapers. Novak now has to break the promise he made to the banner not to hand him over. While the Russians are withdrawing their guards and the decoupled locomotive is being driven back to the wagons, Novak picks up Banner and leads him to the Russians with Sergeant Torre. They immediately hand it over to the East German Vopos, who rush off with banners in a car. Then the military train starts up again.
Production notes
The plot on which the script is based first appeared in the Illustrated Revue , and in 1963 also as a novel by Will Tremper . The film was made in early 1963. One of the locations for the film, which is supposedly based on facts, was the train station in Waldkraiburg in Upper Bavaria . The film constructions come from F.-Dieter Bartels and Albrecht Hennings , the costumes from Irms Pauli . Hans Wolff was in charge of production, and Gunther Kortwich was responsible for the sound for the first time . The film was shot largely in English because of the predominantly international cast.
Unusually for a cinema production, the film premiered on television in Germany on July 4, 1963. The reason for this was the production participation of the ARD -Anstalt Hessischer Rundfunk . A few weeks later, Marienborn also received its theatrical release late . The film was shown in English-speaking countries in 1964 under the title Stop Train 349 .
Reviews
In its review of July 31, 1963, Der Spiegel writes on page 57: “The 'true story' embellished by Will Tremper and recreated by director Rolf Hädrich turned out to be more effective in the cut TV version than in the original film. What appeared bland and colorless on the large cinema wall - compressed into a peep-box format - occasionally had density and color. In the television version, Hädrich also waived some of the usual cinema licenses. So he cut out a wedding couple exchanging tenderness. One curiosity, of course, remained: while all Americans speak in accent-free German, the Russians chatter in Russian. ”The latter statement, however, only applies to the German-dubbed version. In the original, everyone involved speaks their own language.
In Handbook VII of the Catholic Film Critics it was written: “Non-binding, decisive opinion evasive time film with a predominantly adventurous emphasis. The problem of conscience of the young platoon commander, solved in favor of the 'manly fulfillment of duty', requires critical consideration. "
The lexicon of the international film found: Trempers "critical engagement gets stuck in the non-binding."
Awards
Will Tremper won the for his screenplay on June 28, 1964 German Film Award .
The opening film of the 1963 Berlinale was delayed in Marienborn , where it was nominated for the Golden Bear and received the youth film award.
literature
- Rainer Kolbe: Delay in Marienborn . In: Eisenbahngeschichte 91 (December 2018 / January 2019), pp. 24–27.
Web links
- Delay in Marienborn in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Delay in Marienborn at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kolbe, p. 27.
- ^ 1st edition = Lichtenberg Taschenbücher 62. Lichtenberg, Munich 1963; 2nd edition: Ullstein, Frankfurt / Berlin 1988. ISBN 978-3-548-20958-6
- ↑ Delay in Marienborn see spiegel.de
- ^ Films 1962/64, Düsseldorf 1965, p. 186
- ↑ Klaus Brüne (Red.): Lexikon des Internationale Films, Volume 8, p. 4101. Reinbek near Hamburg 1987