White cargo for Hong Kong

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Movie
German title White cargo for Hong Kong
Original title White cargo for Hong Kong / Da 077: criminali ad Hong Kong / Le mystère de la jongue rouge
White freight for Hong Kong Logo 001.svg
Country of production Federal Republic of Germany , Italy , France
Publishing year 1964
length 90 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Helmuth Ashley
script Werner P. Zibaso
production Rapid-Film ( Wolf C. Hartwig ),
Mercury Film,
Gala International Film,
Societé Nouvelle de Cinématographie
music Willy Mattes ,
Gert Wilden
camera Klaus von Rautenfeld
cut Herbert Taschner
occupation
synchronization

White Freight for Hong Kong is a German-Italian-French co-produced crime and adventure film by director Helmuth Ashley . The color film produced by Wolf C. Hartwig in Ultrascope opened on March 20, 1964 in German cinemas.

action

Robert Perkins is a respected businessman who runs a successful trading company in Hong Kong . Nobody suspects that he is also working as a courier for a widely ramified drug ring. When Perkins learns that heroin worth a million dollars is about to change hands in the harbor , he betrays his own boss. Unrecognized, he ambushes the addicted Laurent, to whom the material should be handed over. Perkins leaves the suitcase with the hot goods with his unsuspecting sister Margaret. Perkins' secretary and former lover Susan Collins knows no more about the dark business of her boss than the young commercial agent Claudia Laudon. She is in trouble because the police found heroin in one of their consignments. Colonel Strong, a fatherly friend, offers his assistance.

On behalf of his boss, Perkins receives the pilot Ted Barnekow and the on-board mechanic Larry McLean. When the two friends tour the city, they accidentally meet Claudia Laudon, who talks about her involuntary heroin smuggling in connection with Perkin's company. In the middle of the conversation, Claudia barely escapes a poison attack. In order not to be suspected by his boss, Perkins faked a blackmail letter about the missing heroin. In the evening, the businessman meets with the aviators Ted and Larry. In the Mayflower Bar, whose landlady Nancy Lee has an affair with Perkins, there is a violent argument. This broke the deal between Perkins and the aviators.

The next day, Perkins learns that his sister's previous room had been broken into. Margaret suspects that the thief or thieves are after the mysterious contents of the suitcase. Meanwhile, Ted and Larry find other packets of heroin in a Buddha figure in Claudia Laudon's hotel room. When the two want to confront the seller of the Buddha, he is killed with a throwing knife. The planes end up in jail, especially since there are more drugs to be found in their hotel room. Meanwhile, Nancy Lee searches Robert Perkins' office. She discovers evidence of the bogus ransom note and a planned escape to Saigon , which she immediately informs an unknown person. Is it the addicted Laurent, who is also a regular guest at the Mayflower Bar and has his own interests? Or is Nancy in direct contact with the boss?

Claudia Laudon wants to go to a police station with Colonel Strong, whom she has asked for support again. On the way they are attacked, Claudia is kidnapped. To force Ted Barnekow and Larry McLean to fly him and the embezzled heroin to Saigon, Perkins organizes their escape from prison. Ted and Larry find themselves in a hiding place, in which Claudia is also kept prisoner. Perkins finds out that Laurent and Nancy Lee are pursuing their own goals and are in possession of the suitcase containing the heroin. Nancy is unceremoniously anesthetized and thrown over the cliff with a car. When Perkins has Claudia cruelly tortured, Ted and Larry agree to take the criminal and cocaine out of the country. Colonel Strong, who is the actual boss, appears completely unexpected. He confronts Perkins, who can outsmart his boss and shoots him. It turns out that Laurent made the plane unusable. Perkins wants to escape with Claudia on a junk . The aviators can free themselves from the basement. A wild shootout ensues in which Laurent is killed. Ted and Larry can neutralize Perkins forever at the last minute and free Claudia.

History of origin

prehistory

Hong Kong in the 1960s

Wolf C. Hartwig had already produced some successful adventure films such as Hot Harbor Hong Kong (1962) or The Black Panther von Ratana (1963) with his Munich- based Rapid-Film in the early 1960s . According to the tried and tested model, another adventure thriller was to be created in the 1963/64 cinema season. The Gloria Filmverleih initially announced the project under the title The Secret of the Red Junk . The main actors planned were Hansjörg Felmy , Senta Berger , Horst Frank , Brad Harris , Ralf Wolter and Dorothee Parker . Jürgen Roland was supposed to direct. Johannes Kai was named as the scriptwriter . The former British crown colony of Hong Kong was once again considered as the location for the film . Hartwig later remembered the advantages of the Asian metropolis: "You have mountains, the sea, the natural beauty of the city, an unsurpassable panorama and backgrounds for every kind of film story."

Pre-production and casting

Until the film was made, only a few intended actors and the location were left of the announcement. The title was changed to White Freight for Hong Kong . The script was written by Werner P. Zibaso and the director was Helmuth Ashley . With Maria Perschy , Dietmar Schönherr and Horst Frank, three well-known actors from the 1960s were engaged. As in previous Rapid productions, the film team was supported by the American actor and bodybuilder Brad Harris as actor and stunt coordinator. Hartwig's then partner Dorothee Parker also received a film role.

production

In order not to have to finance the film project alone, Hartwig looked for Italian and French co-production partners . The color film shot in Ultrascope was made at the original locations in Hong Kong. For the Filmbauten was Hans Berthel responsible. Eberhard Schröder acted as assistant director . Production manager was Ludwig Spitaler .

Film music

The score was composed and arranged by Willy Mattes . However, Gert Wilden's soundtrack for Hot Harbor Hong Kong from 1962 was used as the title and closing music . On the CD I Told You Not To Cry , released in 1996, and on the CD Gert Wilden - German Film Composers Part 2 , the title Bulletproof (theme music) is found in the film .

synchronization

Maria Perschy , Dietmar Schönherr and Horst Frank synchronized themselves for the German version. Otherwise, the following voice actors can be heard in the German version of the film:

role actor Voice actor
Larry McLean Brad Harris Heinz Engelmann
Laurent Philippe Lemaire Holger Hagen
Colonel Strong Mario Lanfranchi Herbert Weicker
Susan Collins Dorothee Parker Rosemarie Fendel

reception

publication

Initially approved by the FSK for ages 18 and over, the film marketed by Gloria Filmverleih opened in German cinemas on March 20, 1964. White freight for Hong Kong , the age of which was later reduced to 16 years, ran several times on German television. The film was also released on video cassette and, in 2014, on DVD.

White cargo for Hong Kong could also be marketed abroad and ran there under the following titles, among others:

Reviews

"Panoramic and beautiful landscape recorded in pleasantly tinted colors, many atrocities and deaths, but in a hardly new, but firmly staged story [...]"

- Paimann's film lists , April 30, 1964

“Hong Kong is the wonderfully colored background for this lavish German film. [...] It's amazing how many corpses, shootings and atrocities were mobilized to dress up an unbelievable script. The actors (directed by Helmut Ashley) are not very convincing, only Horst Frank as a gentleman criminal is of interest at times. "

- Hamburger Abendblatt , June 27, 1964

"An adventure film that is as complex as it is low-demanding in front of the exotic Hong Kong backdrop, tough and brutal."

- Lexicon of international film

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 90 minutes for cinema projection (24 images / second), 86 minutes for television playback (25 images / second), film length: 2451 meters
  2. ↑ Booklet of the DVD White Freight for Hong Kong . Film Verlag TV Jewels. 2014. EAN : 4042564145083
  3. ↑ CD Gert Wilden - I Told You Not To Cry . Crippled Dick Hot Wax. 1996. Order no. CDHW 031
  4. ↑ CD Gert Wilden - German Film Composers Part 2 . Bear Family Records . 2000. Order no. BCD 16482 AR
  5. ↑ White cargo for Hong Kong. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on March 2, 2017 .
  6. ↑ White cargo for Hong Kong. In: old.filmarchiv.at. Paimann's Filmlisten , No. 2856-58_1, April 30, 1964, accessed October 13, 2016 .
  7. ↑ White cargo for Hong Kong. In: Abendblatt.de. Hamburger Abendblatt , June 27, 1964, accessed on October 13, 2016 .
  8. ↑ White cargo for Hong Kong. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 13, 2016 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used