Before the new day
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Before the new day |
| Original title | Clash by Night |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1952 |
| length | 105 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Fritz Lang |
| script |
Alfred Hayes based on the play of the same name (1941) by Clifford Odets |
| production |
Harriet Parsons Norman Krasna Jerry Wald |
| music | Roy Webb |
| camera | Nicholas Musuraca |
| cut | George Amy |
| occupation | |
| |
Before the New Day is an American drama directed by Fritz Lang . In addition to the main actors Barbara Stanwyck , Paul Douglas and Robert Ryan , Marilyn Monroe played her first major role in this film.
action
After years of trying rather unsuccessfully to realize herself in the "big, wide world" of American cities and trying to realize her own way of life, Mae Doyle returns to her sleepy hometown on the California coast as a disillusioned, worn-out and very cynical woman . Her significantly younger brother Joe is not particularly enthusiastic about her appearance, but initially takes Mae up with him. Joe is in love with the pretty young Peggy, a lascivious worker from the local fish canning factory who is not necessarily stingy with her physical charms in front of his colleagues, and he fears that Peggy might one day become like his rebellious sister.
One day Mae meets a middle-aged man, the somewhat sedate and teddy bear-like Jerry, on whose fishing boat Joe found work. Jerry immediately falls in love with the excitement and passion that promise Mae, which, however, in its simplicity and clarity, finds it rather unexciting, not to say boring. Nevertheless, she accepts his proposal and becomes Jerry's wife. Mae soon gives birth to a child who promises her a fleeting moment of arrival and happiness. Nevertheless, there remains an indefinable restlessness and dissatisfaction deep within it. The life of a good wife, a house by the stove, is simply not yours. The inner discontinuity returns and Mae begins to reorient it again. There is wiry, sinewy Earl Pfeiffer, a friend of Jerry's, who is the absolute opposite of her boring husband in terms of his appearance. Earl makes a living as a projectionist. Although Mae knows exactly that the Earl, betrayed by his own wife, whom she initially doesn't even particularly like and whose jokes she loathes, is a bit like her - hungry for life and unsteady, brutal and passionate - she begins an erotic love affair with him.
Mae then wants to leave her husband, Earl, in turn, has already been left by his wife and is thus free for Mae. For Jerry, Maes' changes in her behavior should not have come as a complete surprise, as his uncle Vince had made one or two ambiguous hints about a possible Maes affair with Earl. Only when Jerry, who initially didn't want to believe Vince's words, gets the confession of her infidelity thrown directly in the face by Mae himself, he has to face the terrible truth. For the first time, Jerry leaves his comfort and good-natured living environment and seeks direct confrontation with his former best friend and now rival Earl. A serious scuffle ensues in which Jerry, who has mutated into a fury, almost kills Earl. Then Jerry packs his and Mae's child and gets the baby on his ship.
Earl implores Mae to leave the toddler to Jerry and leave with him. In Mae, motherhood becomes particularly strong, and she begins to realize that Earl ultimately only thinks of himself and his own joys. Her feeling about this egoist, she now realizes, had a lot to do with passion and the desire for variety and a break from everyday life, but nothing to do with love, which she longs for now, finally at rest. Mae then separates from Earl and returns to Jerry. She asks her sincere husband to forgive her and try again with her. Mae promises to be a good wife and mother from now on. Jerry, who still loves his wife, gives her this second chance and takes Mae back. Both are facing a new day that promises new luck.
Production notes
Before the New Day was shot in Monterey and had its premiere on June 16, 1952. The German premiere took place on October 31, 1952, the Austrian only on May 21, 1954. The first German television broadcast took place late in the evening on September 16, 1972 on ARD .
Carroll Clark and Albert S. D'Agostino were responsible for the film construction, Darrell Silvera for the equipment. Constantin Bakaleinikoff took over the musical direction.
The film grossed $ 1.5 million in the United States.
Literary template
"Clash by Night", the original title of this film, goes back to the stage template of the same name by Clifford Odets , who set his story in the summer of 1941 on Staten Island . The two-act play ran in just 49 performances from December 27, 1941 to February 7, 1942. The Stanwyck role then took over Tallulah Bankhead , her good-natured husband played Lee J. Cobb . Mae's lover Earl was played by Joseph Schildkraut . The earl of the film version, Robert Ryan, took over the role of Mae's brother Joe in the stage version.
Reviews
Paimann's film lists summed up: "A young woman battered by life wipes out two men, one of whom she marries, cheats on the good-natured one with his boyfriend, but returns to her husband for the sake of her child ... which, by the way, is genuine from the manuscript and representation drawn, mentality of the heroine not quite convinced, as on the other hand the ups and downs of her feelings do not contribute to the tightening of the plot. The environment of the small fishing town appears plastic, the ... sarcastic dialogue. "
“A routinely staged melodrama with a masterly playing lead actress. The choice of the setting is particularly remarkable: Fritz Lang captures the working world of the fishing village with an almost documentary atmosphere and at the same time creates a credible framework for the action. "
"Atmospheric, well-played Clifford Odets story."
"Absurdly exaggerated melodrama from the Anna Christie School, packed with meaning and doggedly portrayed by a remarkable cast."
Individual evidence
- ↑ Clash by Night on the Internet Broadway Data Base
- ^ Before the new day in Paimann's film lists
- ^ Before the New Day in the Lexicon of International Films
Web links
- extensive review in the New York Times
- Before the new day in the Internet Movie Database (English)