Witness wanted
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Witness wanted |
| Original title | Phantom Lady |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1944 |
| length | 87 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Robert Siodmak |
| script | Bernard C. Schoenfeld |
| production | Joan Harrison |
| music | Hans J. Salter |
| camera | Woody Bredell |
| cut | Arthur Hilton |
| occupation | |
| |
You, Man (AKA Phantom Lady ) in is black and white twisted American film noir of Robert Siodmak from the year 1944 . It was based on the novel Phantom Lady by William Irish, a pseudonym of Cornell Woolrich .
action
After an argument with his wife Marcela, Scott Henderson starts a conversation with an unknown woman in a bar. Henderson offers her to accompany him to a revue event , for which he has two tickets. She agrees on the condition that the two of them do not talk about personal matters and then break up amicably. During the performance, the singer Estela excites herself over the eye-catching hat of the unknown visitor, which is exactly like hers. Then Henderson and the stranger go their separate ways, as agreed. He returns home where the police are waiting for him: Marcela was murdered in his absence. The suspicion falls on Henderson, who believes he has enough witnesses to exonerate him. However, Mac, the bartender at the place where he met the stranger, pretends to remember only Henderson, not his companion. Even the taxi driver who drove Henderson and the stranger to the event, singer Estela and Cliff, the drummer of their backing band, cannot remember the couple.
Henderson is convicted of murder and faces execution. His loyal secretary Kansas, convinced of the innocence of her boss, decides to investigate on her own, secretly supported by Inspector Burgess. Mac, the barman, dies in a traffic accident before he can explain the reason for his false statement. With Cliff, Kansas is more successful, he admits that his silence was bought with money. When Cliff finds out that Kansas is allied with the police and becomes intrusive, she hastily flees. Shortly afterwards, Cliff is murdered.
Henderson's best friend, the artist Jack Marlow, travels from South America to support him and Kansas in their research. Kansas finds out who made the hats for Estela and the stranger, and so she gets the address of Henderson's companion. It turns out her name is Ann Terry and has been under the care of psychiatrist Dr. Ellen Chase has to live, which explains her disappearance without a trace. Kansas meets with Marlow in his apartment and discovers her purse, which she left behind while escaping Cliff's apartment. Marlow admits he murdered Marcela because, despite their mutual affair, she refused to leave Henderson. After the fact, he drew suspicion on her husband. Before he can kill Kansas, Burgess arrives, Marlow evades arrest by suicide.
background
Witness Wanted was produced by Joan Harrison , a longtime associate of Alfred Hitchcock . The film marked the beginning of a series of film noirs that Robert Siodmak, a contract director with Universal Pictures since 1943 , shot for the studio . As a result, Christmas Vacation (1944), Avengers of the Underworld (1946) and Daring Alibi (1949) were created under his direction . Christmas Vacation and Avengers of the Underworld were photographed by Woody Bredell , Witness Wanted . Siodmak suggested that Bredell study the distribution of light and dark in Rembrandt's paintings for his work .
The film was shot from September 20 to October 28, 1943; the buildings were designed by John B. Goodman . Sought witness launched on 17 February 1944 at Loew's State Theater in New York and on 21 April 1950 in the cinemas of the Federal Republic of Germany .
synchronization
The German version of the film was made in Munich in 1950.
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Frank Marlow | Franchot Tone | Paul Klinger |
| Carol "Kansas" Richman | Ella Raines | Eleanor Noelle |
| Scott Henderson | Alan Curtis | Heinz Engelmann |
| Inspector Burgess | Thomas Gomez | Bum Kruger |
| Public prosecutor (voice) | Milburn Stone | Arnold Marquis |
Reviews
“Unfortunately, Ms. Harrison and Mr. Siodmak forgot one essential thing - a plausible, realistic act. [...] The boredom is intensified by the monotonous pace. You'd almost think the director fell asleep a few times. [...] Some aptly effective backdrops form the background of this matter. But mindless effects are flimsy. And reason is what this film lacks. "
“Siodmak's crooked compositions and dramatic lighting could be mercilessly ticked off as genre standards, but his manipulation of the main subject of the film is masterful. His focus is on the tangible and psychological evidence - the 'records' - of the non-existence. "
“Exciting, psychologically coherent crime film, whose cleverly constructed novel was skilfully implemented. Surprising twists and turns and changes of perspective as well as some extremely suggestive sequences make the film one of the most attractive representatives of film noir. "
literature
- William Irish [di Cornell Woolrich]: Phantom Lady. Translated by Günter Hehemann. Heyne, Munich 1962, DNB 452099161 [153 p .; First edition, further editions 1978, 1990 and ö.]
- Paul Duncan, Jürgen Müller (Eds.): Film Noir, 100 All-Time Favorites . Taschen, Cologne 2014, ISBN 978-3-8365-4353-8 , pp. 110–117.
Web links
- You, Man at the Internet Movie Database (English)
- You, Man at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Phantom Lady in the AFI Catalog of Feature Films of the American Film Institute (English)
- Phantom Lady at Turner Classic Movies (English) (summary, rating by Leonard Maltin : 4 of 4, visitorratingin 8 criteria)
- Phantom Lady in the All Movie Guide (English) (Editor's rating: 3 out of 5, visitor rating)
- Witness wanted (1944) in The Movie Database (actors, stills, posters)
- Witness wanted in the online film database (plot outline, evaluation by registered members, versions, links)
- Witness wanted in Der-Film-noir.de (plot summary, short review , film posters, still photos, rating of the editorial team: 4 out of 5)
- Witness wanted on the website of the television magazine Cinema (plot outline, actors, still photos, rating of the editorial team: 5 out of 5, visitor rating)
- Witnesses wanted on the website of the TV magazine Prisma (plot outline , short review, still photo, rating of the editors: 4 out of 5, visitor rating)
Individual evidence
- ^ Robert Siodmak: Between Berlin and Hollywood. Memories of a great film director. Published by Hans C. Blumenberg . Herbig, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-8004-0892-9 , p. 103.
- ↑ Robert Siodmak - author, director . In: CineGraph - Lexikon zum Deutschsprachigen Film , Lg. 14, F 12
- ↑ Alain Silver, Elizabeth Ward (Ed.): Film Noir. An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style, Third Edition. Overlook / Duckworth, New York / Woodstock / London 1992, ISBN 0-87951-479-5 , pp. 225 f.
- ↑ a b Witness wanted. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 3, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c d e f Witness wanted . In: Synchrondatenbank , accessed on June 3, 2019.
- ↑ a b c d Witness wanted (1944). In: synchronkartei.de. German synchronous index , accessed on June 3, 2019 .
- ↑ “But, unfortunately, Miss Harrison and Mr. Siodmak forgot one basic thing — they forgot to provide their picture with a plausible, realistic plot. [...] The tedium is also augmented by the monotonous pace which is generally set. You might almost think the director had gone to sleep there a couple of times. […] Some aptly sensational settings background the whole affair. But sensation is specious without reason. And reason is what this picture lacks. ”- Review by Bosley Crowther in the New York Times on February 18, 1944, accessed January 30, 2013.
- ↑ "Siodmak's angled compositions and dramatic lighting might be uncharitably ticked off as genre staples, but his manipulation of the film's key motif is masterly. He concentrates on the tangible and psychological evidence - the 'records' - of absence […] "- Time Out Film Guide, Seventh Edition 1999. Penguin, London 1998, p. 695.