Welcome, Mister B.
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Welcome, Mister B. |
| Original title | A Man Could Get Killed |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language |
English Portuguese |
| Publishing year | 1966 |
| length | 97 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director |
Ronald Neame Cliff Owen |
| script |
Richard L. Breen T.EB Clarke David E. Walker |
| production | Robert Arthur |
| music | Bert Kaempfert |
| camera | Gábor Pogány |
| cut | Alma Macrorie |
| occupation | |
| |
Welcome, Mister B. (Original title: A Man Could Get Killed ) is a 1966 American spy comedy based on the novel Diamonds For Danger by David E. Walker . The screenplay by Richard L. Breen , TEB Clarke and David E. Walker was shot by English directors Ronald Neame and Cliff Owen . The leading roles are James Garner , Melina Mercouri , Sandra Dee , Anthony Franciosa and Robert Coote .
In this film, the melody composed by Bert Kaempfert for the world hit Strangers in the Night found its first public performance as Beddy Bye ; it received a Golden Globe Award in 1967 for "Best Original Song in a Motion Picture".
action
William Beddoes comes to Lisbon on behalf of an American bank and is mistakenly mistaken for a secret agent by the British embassy employee Hatton-Jones looking for missing diamonds. Despite his efforts to prove his complete ignorance of the missing gems, Beddoes is pursued by the adventurer Aurora-Celeste, the mistress of the murdered agent whom he is supposed to replace, and by Steve-Antonio, a seedy Portuguese. Amy Franklin, a former friend of Beddoes, is also on the lookout for the stolen gemstones. After Beddoes was captured and then rescued by Hatton-Jones, he decides to ignore his amateur status and solve the mystery of the missing diamonds himself.
Beddoes, Steve, Amy, and Aurora will be on board the yacht by Dr. Mathieson, an Englishman, invited. This reveals that he is the real diamond thief and that Hatton-Jones is the real agent. Beddoes develops an escape plan and retrieves the stolen diamonds. With the reward for getting the gems back, Beddoes says goodbye to Aurora-Celeste for good, but she is confident to see him again soon because she stole his passport.
background
- The shooting took place in the Portuguese capital Lisbon and the surrounding area.
- The later famous English actress Jenny Agutter appeared in a smaller role at the age of fourteen.
- The Austrian-born actor Peter Illing made his last appearance here before his death in the same year.
Soundtrack
Bert Kaempfert was commissioned by Universal Pictures in 1965 to write the music for the film. For this he wrote, among other things, an instrumental piece entitled Beddy Bye (which is already quoted during the opening credits) in autumn 1965 . This has the main theme of the melody, which in the further course of 1966 with a text by Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder interpreted by Frank Sinatra under the name Strangers in the Night became a world hit. On March 8, 1966, Bert Kaempfert, formally under the musical direction of Universal's longtime musical director Joseph Gershenson , recorded the soundtrack with a studio orchestra. In the film, the melody finds its most effective application in the closing scene, which suggests a happy ending .
The title won the Golden Globe Award in 1967 for “Best Original Song in a Motion Picture” and stood up against the other nominated compositions Un homme et une femme (German title: A man and a woman ) by Frenchman Francis Lai , Born Free (German title: Frei Born ) by John Barry , who won the Academy Award in 1967 for the best song , Alfie (German title: Der Verführer lets schön greetings ) by Burt Bacharach , and Georgy Girl by Tom Springfield from the films of the same name. The latter two titles were also nominated for an Oscar in 1966.
The soundtrack as a whole - often referring to Latin American and Greek themes as well as Kaempfert themes in the "African" style - received a rather mixed recording and it often appears inconsistent and inharmonious as a whole. The soundtrack was created by Milt Gabler produced and originally on an LP of Decca released (# 74750). In 1999 it was re-released on a CD by Taragon Records combined with the Kaempfert LP Strangers in the Night (Decca # 74795) .
synchronization
The German synchronization was carried out in 1966 by Berliner Synchron GmbH . Fritz A. Koeniger wrote the dialogue book and Klaus von Wahl directed it .
| actor | speaker | role |
|---|---|---|
| James Garner | Holger Hagen | William Beddoes |
| Sandra Dee | Marianne Lutz | Amy Franklin |
| Melina Mercouri | Gisela Trowe | Aurora Celeste |
Reviews
Welcome Mister B. was received mostly positively. The Internet Movie Database found 6.2 out of 10 positive votes. On Rotten Tomatoes , 67% of the audience rated the film positively. The lexicon of the international film sums up: “An entertaining, lively comedy with a parodic tongue, which is more appealing than unity through amusing details.” The Protestant film observer sees it similarly . He speaks of a “semi-parody designed with a comedic swing”, which “despite some weaknesses is somewhat above average”.
Web links
- Welcome, Mister B. in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Complete original film on YouTube
Individual evidence
- ↑ Joseph Gershenson. Internet Movie Database , accessed June 10, 2015 .
- ↑ Strangers In The Night. at the-main-event.de, accessed on August 24, 2014.
- ^ Film and television scores, 1950-1979: a critical survey by genre , Kristopher Spencer , McFarland, 2008
- ↑ Welcome, Mister B. (1965). ( Memento of the original from November 5, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at synchrondatenbank.de, accessed on August 24, 2014.
- ↑ A Man Could Get Killed (Welcome, Mr. Beddoes) (1966). on rottentomatoes.com, accessed August 24, 2014.
- ↑ Willkommen, Mister B. auf zweiausendeins.de, accessed on August 24, 2014.
- ↑ Welcome Mister B. In: Evangelical Press Association Munich. No. 213/1966
