Fall from Heaven (1954)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Fallen from the sky |
| Original title | Special Delivery / Fallen from Heaven |
| Country of production |
United States , Germany |
| original language |
English , German |
| Publishing year | 1955 |
| length | 85 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | John Brahm |
| script |
Philip Reisman junior , Dwight Taylor based on an idea by Géza von Radványi |
| production |
Stuart Schulberg , Gilbert de Goldschmidt |
| music | Bernhard Kaun |
| camera | Joseph C. Brun |
| cut | Georges Klotz |
| occupation | |
| |
Fallen from Heaven (in the original: Special Delivery ) is an East-West drama by John Brahm, made in Germany in 1954 and set at the time of the Cold War, with Joseph Cotten , Eva Bartok and René Deltgen in the leading roles.
action
Somewhere behind the Iron Curtain , in the mid-1950s. John Adams is chargé d'affaires at a US embassy in a communist, Eastern European country. One day he has to do with a very special case: In the front yard of the embassy, a baby has been deposited, as if "fell from heaven"! Nobody knows how it got there, nobody saw the person who put it there. A find in the front yard of the embassy is nothing too unusual, because quite a few people persecuted by the regime have thrown something over the embassy fence so that it does not fall into the hands of the communist cultural barbarians. For the Embassy with its six exclusively male employees, the baby poses a serious problem: what to do? The government of the Eastern European country immediately demands the extradition of the young “citizen” and immediately sends Comrade Kovacs, a stubborn state representative. Adams, however, decides to brick the wall and by no means hand the baby over to the communists. In order to ensure the care of the little one, who is simply called Sam after “Uncle Sam”, the host country also provides its own nanny. Sonja Novaswobida, as her name is, is supposed to collect further information on site at the same time on behalf of her government.
The relationships between the men and the Eastern European government employee turned out to be difficult or even hypothermic due to mutual distrust, especially since Kovacs turned out to be a particularly hard-nosed opponent for Ambassador Adams. He insists that the baby be returned to the country as a kind of public property. However, Adams wants to hand over exactly this and instead gives Adams another find with some ironic subtlety that was thrown over the embassy bridle by someone: an allegedly ingenious, modern musical score that Kovacs plays on the piano at first unwillingly, but then with enthusiasm after he discovers it must, how little the Americans can do with such modern music. It is only slowly that one begins to develop trust in one another. The tensions between the two governments will only be resolved at the moment the little one's parents are located. These are Olaf, the Swedish chef at the embassy, and a woman from the host country who was previously employed here as well. Ambassador Adams now ensures that the parents are given marriage papers so that the toddler is considered a Swedish citizen and can leave the communist country with the parents in the direction of freedom. Adams' relationship with Sonja soon goes beyond the purely official: both eventually become a couple.
Production notes
Fallen from Heaven was filmed entirely in the Federal Republic of Germany in two language versions - German and English - and premiered on April 8, 1955 in Essen. The Berlin premiere was on May 20, 1955, the Viennese on June 24, 1955. In the United States, Special Delivery could be seen in September of the same year.
Alfred Bütow and Ernst Schomer were responsible for the film construction, Hans Tost took over the production management, Charles Münzel the production management. Ted Kornowicz served as a simple cameraman under Joseph Brun's chief camera.
Reviews
Paimann's film lists summed up: "A cheerful, contemplative time film that brings humor, political wit and sentiment under light-footed, predominantly dialogue-based direction and with good-humored interpreters ... very good entertainment."
"Fast and imaginative, entertaining, admittedly somewhat staid comedy in terms of the staging, which elevates what connects human beings above the opposing political systems."
"Shallow conversation."
Web links
- Fallen from the sky in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Fallen from the sky at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Fallen from Heaven in Paimann's film lists
- ↑ Fallen from Heaven. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
