We Are Not Angels (1955)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | We are not angels |
| Original title | We're No Angels |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1955 |
| length | 106 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Michael Curtiz |
| script |
Ranald MacDougall , Albert Husson |
| production |
Pat Duggan for Paramount Pictures |
| music | Frederick Hollander |
| camera | Loyal Griggs |
| cut | Arthur P. Schmidt |
| occupation | |
| |
We're No Angels (Original title: We're No Angels ) is an American comedy film directed by Michael Curtiz back to 1955. It is based on the stage play A Fine Mess (Original title: La cuisine des anges ) of Albert Husson from the year 1953.
action
French Guiana in 1895: Shortly before Christmas Eve , the impostor Joseph and the murderers Albert and Julius escape their prison on Devil's Island . They want to escape from the island on a steamer. In the nearby prison colonial city they steal a letter she the receiver Felix Ducotel, an owner of a grocery store deliver. The three offer themselves to him as experts in roof repairs in order to then rob the shop. They soon learn that the family is in a difficult situation.
The main reason for this is the fact that Felix only runs the shop on behalf of his cousin André Trochard, who puts more and more pressure on Felix and demands profits. Felix's wife Amelie is afraid that André might one day take the shop away from them. The letter brought by the convicts announces the imminent visit of Andrés, who is currently being held on board a quarantined steamer with his nephew Paul and wants to check the books over Christmas . When Isabelle, the daughter of the Ducotels, who secretly loves Paul, faints after learning of Paul's marriage plans, the three convicts take the initiative. They make friends with the family and celebrate Christmas Eve with them by “getting” various ingredients (flowers, turkey, Christmas tree).
When André and Paul stand at the door on Christmas Eve, the convicts let them in. Andrés cold feeling immediately made him unpopular with the three - in order to protect the Ducotels, they first plan to “beautiful” Ducotel's books. But after André immediately takes the books to his room, they initially plan to murder him, but refrain from doing so in order not to get the Ducotel family into trouble. André has now discovered the inadequacy of the business books and senses behind all the theft, so he confiscates Albert's box, which he always carries with him, without realizing that the trio's constant companion and "friend", the poisonous snake Adolf, is in it. The three convicts are now torn between the possibility that André will be bitten by the snake and the associated difficulties. So they decide to warn André, but drag out the decision so much that André himself realizes that there is a poisonous snake in the box, which it bites and dies.
With a will in Andrés handwriting forged by Joseph , his estate is divided between Felix and Paul. However, Paul turns out to be as greedy as his uncle and burns the document. He is now the sole heir. While the three convicts are desperately looking for the snake Adolf, Paul, who is searching his uncle's pockets, is bitten by Adolf. The convicts couple the ship's doctor, called by the Ducotels to certify the death of cousin André, with Isabelle and then return to prison in the best of clothes because life there seems safer to them. But if they get bored there, they decide to break out again next Christmas.
background
The play La Cuisine des Anges by Albert Husson (1912–1978) , which premiered in Paris in 1952, served as a template . The American couple Samuel and Bella Spewack translated the play into English, where it became known as My Three Angels . It ran on Broadway in New York between March 1953 and January 1954 with Walter Slezak , Joan Chandler , Jerome Cowan and Henry Daniell in the lead roles. Because of its success on Broadway, Warner Brothers eventually bought the rights to Husson's play.
This film marks the sixth and final collaboration between Michael Curtiz and Humphrey Bogart. Before that, they worked at Kid Galahad - With Hard Fists (1937), Chicago - Angels With Dirty Faces (1938), Gold Smuggling To Virginia (1940), Casablanca (1942), And Ticket To Marseille (1944). It is one of the few comedies that Humphrey Bogart directed during his career.
Two other films are also based on the play by Albert Husson: We Are Not Angels by Neil Jordan with Robert De Niro , Sean Penn and Demi Moore from 1989; and the Japanese film Ore-tachi wa tenshi janai ( 俺 達 は 天使 じ ゃ な い ) by Takashi Miike from 1993
German version
The German synchronous processing was created in 1955 in the studios of Berliner Synchron GmbH in Berlin . The dialogue book came from Fritz A. Koeniger , and Volker Becker directed the dubbing .
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Joseph | Humphrey Bogart | Peter Pasetti |
| Julius | Peter Ustinov | Horst Niendorf |
| Albert | Aldo Ray | Fritz Tillmann |
| Amelie Ducotel | Joan Bennett | Edith Schneider |
| André Trochard | Basil Rathbone | Erich Fiedler |
| Felix Ducotel | Leo G. Carroll | Alfred Haase |
| Isabelle Ducotel | Gloria Talbott | Marianne Prenzel |
| Paul Trochard | John Baer | Eckart Dux |
| Madame Parole, customer | Lea Penman | Erna Haffner |
Reviews
Adolf Heinzlmeier and Berndt Schulz judged in their lexicon "Films on TV", We are not angels show "three arch comedians in wonderful roles in a film full of wit and irony." (Rating: above average) The British entertainment magazine Time Out criticized the "The unfortunate composition of the main actor trio", the "croaking Christmas song", the "static and leaden dialogues" and the "stupid presentation of Humphrey Bogart". The Catholic Film Lexicon 6000 Films wrote in 1963: "American gangster comedy, rich in humorous and ironic ideas, but rather strange to European eyes and ears."
The Lexicon of International Films gave a positive assessment: “Gangster grotesque worn by excellent actors, rich in black humor, irony and satire, sometimes on the verge of cynicism. Now a kind of cult film of the comic genre. "The TV magazine Prisma wrote:" Actually this is the film for Christmas Eve or Christmas. Because the whole thing is touching, funny, sometimes pretty nasty and, above all, thanks to the brilliant actors (including the snake Adolf) the very best entertainment. Anyone who has seen this film once will never again claim that Bogie can only play die-hard film noir types. Rather, he shows his talent for comic roles here again. " Kino.de was also benevolent: The interplay between the stars works perfectly and" not least thanks to funny one-liners, the villains develop into real sympathizers, whose elimination of the "disgusting package" Basil Rathbone the Viewers can only greet. The 1989 remake by Neil Jordan, despite Sean Penn and Robert De Niro, lags far behind the charm and wit of the original. "
literature
- Albert Husson : A nice mess. Comedy in three acts. (Original title: La cuisine des Anges. ) German adaptation by Werner A. Schlippe. Bloch, Berlin 1962. (stage manuscript)
Web links
- We are not angels in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- We are not angels at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ "We're No Angels" at the Internet Broadway Database
- ↑ Arne Kaul's synchronous database ; Retrieved December 16, 2007
- ^ Adolf Heinzlmeier and Berndt Schulz : Lexicon "Films on TV". Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-392-3 , p. 936.
- ↑ We are not angels. Time Out Film Guide 13, accessed February 22, 2008
- ↑ 6000 films. Critical notes from the cinema years 1945 to 1958. Handbook V of the Catholic film criticism. 3. Edition. Altenberg House, Düsseldorf 1963, p. 490
- ↑ "We are not angels" at Two Thousand and One
- ↑ "We are not angels" at Prisma
- ↑ We're not angels at Kino.de