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ANALYSE
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ANALYSE
Der erfahrene Scotland Yard Superintendent Grodman begeht einen fatalen
Irrtum in einem Mordfall, durch den ein Unschuldiger hingerichtet wird. Ein
arroganter junger Kollege sieht die Schuld in den altmodischen Methoden Grodmans.
Grodman wird kurz darauf gegen seinen Willen in den Ruhestand verabschiedet
und widmet sich den Möglichkeiten der Verbrechensauf- klärung.
Sein guter Freund Victor Emmeric hilft ihm dabei. Eines Tages geschieht ein
Mord in einer Pension gegenüber und der junge Kollege hat den Auftrag,
den Fall zu lösen. Er ahnt nicht, daß der alte Inspektor und der
Künstler sich für den perfekten Mord zusammengetan haben, um ihm
eine Lektion zu erteilen. |
| Peter Lorre | - Victor Emmeric | Don Siegel | - Director |
| Joan Lorring | - Lottie | William Jacobs | - Producer |
| George Coulouris | - Supt. Buckley | Peter Milne | - Drehbuch |
| Arthur Shields | - Rev. Holbrook | Ernest Haller | - Kamera |
| Rosalind Ivan | - Mrs. Benson | Frederick Hollander | - Komponist |
| Holmes Herbert | - Sir William Dawson | Thomas Reilly | - Editor |
| Sydney Greenstreet | - Superint.Grodman | Ted Smith | - Art Director |
| Clyde Cook | - Barney Cole | Jack L. Warner | - Ausführender Produzent |
| Art Foster | - P.C. Warren | Leo F. Forbstein | - Musik/Komponist |
| Morton Lowry | - Arthur Kendall | G.W. Berntsen | - Set Dekoration/Design
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| Janet Murdoch | - Sister Brown | Jack McConaghy | - Set Dekoration/Design |
| Paul Cavanagh |
- Clive Russell | Billy Travilla | - Kostüme |
| Ian Wolfe | - Jury Foreman | Perc Westmore | - Makeup |
| Robert Burks | - Special Effects | ||
| William McGann | - Special Effects | ||
| C.A. Riggs | - Sound/Sound Designer |
"It was made during the strike. I was the only director
working during the strike. I used to have to fight my way to get into the
studio. I never knew what set I was using. I never knew who my cameraman
was going to be, what actors were going to show up. It was largely improvisation
but somehow I staggered through it and I thought for a first effort it was
all right.
Während der
Dreharbeiten |
| "All was not bad. The producer, William Jacobs,
though a studio man, was a pleasant peson, at least to my face. i wanted
Robert burks as my cameraman. I got Ernest haller, the most respected cameraman
on the lot. The script was, at least to me, dull. i decided to make it move
and fill it with excitement and suspense. Jacobs was strictly on the fence.
Either he didn't know, or didn't care. Anyway, he was of little help. What
was miraculous was getting a first-rate cast. (...) Greenstreet and Lorre
were a perfect team. Although their approaches to their parts were diametrically
opposite, they made a perfect blend. Greenstreet was huge and obese; Lorre
was slight and small. Greenstreet studied his lines and knew them; Peter,
on the other hand, would walk on the selt and politely ask the script clerk
what the name of this studio was. hen he would borow her script, as he had
mislaid his somewhere. Now the rehearsals would start. Greenstreet didn't
need a script, as all his lines were perfectly memorized. (...) Greenstreet
didn't care what Lorre said or did, jsut as long as his cue lines remained
exactly the same. Lorre always lived up to this rule. Greenstreet rehearsed
dead seriously and correctly. Lorre rehearsed with teasing and fun.(...)
We made several shots of Greenstreet and Lorre walking slowly through the
streets to the prison. i had to lay in heavy fog for almost all the exteriors
to hide the obvious fact that the varius buildings, visible in the background,
were circa 1945. not in the mid-Victorian period. (...) And that's where
I made a serious mistake. The scene was well written, full of laughs: a
small-time professional thief telling the former Inspector of Scotland Yard
how to pick several locks from the outside. The unknown murderer would do
his dastardly deed, then leave, locking the locks from outside the door.
Unfortunately, I played it 'funny'. I let the actor do all sorts of eccentric
movements. I should have made him play the scene straight, then it would
have been funny. When I saw the dailies, my error was most apparent. It was
a good lesson to learn: never play a funny scene funny.(...) Warner felt
he had 'saved' the film. He was happy. The critics, not so happy. The returns,
just fair. At least my first feature was behind me. A milestone had been
reached."
Siegel Film 94-104 |
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