Alarm in the Circus | |
---|---|
Directed by | Gerhard Klein |
Written by | |
Produced by | Paul Ramacher |
Starring | Erwin Geschonneck |
Cinematography | Werner Bergmann |
Edited by | Ursula Kahlbaum |
Music by | Günter Klück |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Progress Film |
Release date |
|
Running time | 75 minutes |
Country | East Germany |
Language | German |
Alarm in the Circus (German : Alarm im Zirkus) is an East German crime film directed by Gerhard Klein. It was released in 1954.
Klaus and Max are two boys from West Berlin, whose families are too poor to pay for their higher education. They face a bleak future. Their only hobby is boxing, and they are both desperate to purchase real boxing gloves. The two meet Klott, a gangster who owns a bar that serves American soldiers. Klott offers to pay them if they assist him in stealing valuable horses from a circus in East Berlin. The two agree and travel to the Soviet zone, where they meet a girl named Helli, a member of the Free German Youth, who explains to them that in the communist east, the lack of money will not bar their way to education. The two realize the error of their ways, contact the People's Police and help the officers thwart Klott's plans and arrest the other thieves working for him. The two remain in East Berlin.
Alarm in the Circus was the first of the so-called "Berlin films", a trilogy of pictures that were made in collaboration between director Gerhard Klein and writer Wolfgang Kohlhaase. These films were notable for their pioneering of neorealism in German cinema and for the manner in which they reflected the reality of the city in the years before the building of the Berlin Wall. They were also critical of the Americanization of its western side. Alarm in the Circus was followed by the sequels A Berlin Romance (1956) and Berlin - Schönhauser Corner (1957). [1]
Alarm in the Circus was viewed by 3.6 million people in 1954, becoming the highest-grossing East German film of the year, [2] and sold 5,515,078 tickets in total. [3] Klein and Kohlhaase both won the National Prize, 3rd degree, for their work on the film. [4]
The Catholic Film Service defined the film as "exciting, well-made crime film that presents the background of a divided Berlin in a highly authentic manner." [5] Peter C. Rollins and John E. O'Connor wrote that it had "drawn a clear contrast between the city's halves that fit the official communist paradigm." [6]
DEFA was the state-owned film studio of the German Democratic Republic throughout the country's existence.
Slatan Theodor Dudow was a Bulgarian born film director and screenwriter who made a number of films during the Weimar Republic and in East Germany.
Ernst Thälmann is an East German film in two parts about the life of Ernst Thälmann, leader of the Communist Party of Germany during much of the Weimar Republic, directed by Kurt Maetzig and starring Günther Simon in the title role. The first part, Ernst Thälmann - Sohn seiner Klasse, was released in 1954. It was followed by the 1955 sequel. Ernst Thälmann - Führer seiner Klasse.
Kurt Maetzig was a German film director who had a significant effect on the film industry in East Germany. He was one of the most respected filmmakers of the GDR. After his retirement he lived in Wildkuhl, Mecklenburg, and had three children.
Athletes from East Germany and West Germany competed together as the United Team of Germany for the last time at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. 337 competitors, 275 men and 62 women, took part in 159 events in 19 sports.
The DEFA Film Library at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is the only research center and archive outside of Germany devoted to a broad spectrum of filmmaking from and related to the former German Democratic Republic. Researchers are welcome to the archive by pre-arranging their visit.
Jacob the Liar is a 1975 war drama film directed by Frank Beyer, adapted by Beyer and Jurek Becker from the latter's novel of the same title. Set in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Holocaust, the film centers on Jakob Heym, a Polish Jew who attempts to raise the morale inside the ghetto by sharing encouraging rumors that he claims he has heard on an (imaginary) radio. The film was a co-production between East Germany and Czechoslovakia. It premiered on East German television on 22 December 1974, and was released theatrically on 18 April 1975.
The Turning Point is a 1983 East German film directed by Frank Beyer and starring Sylvester Groth, Fred Düren and Klaus Piontek. The film is based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Hermann Kant, which was based on Kant's own experience as a prisoner of war in Poland. The film tells the story of a German prisoner of war at the end of World War II who is wrongly accused of being a war criminal. The film was controversial upon release as Polish commentators criticized that the film showed the Polish army wrongly accusing someone of war crimes. Nevertheless, the film was successful and won several awards and was the East German official submission to the 56th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.
Naked Among Wolves is a 1963 East German film directed by Frank Beyer and starring Erwin Geschonneck and Armin Mueller-Stahl. The film is based on author Bruno Apitz's 1958 novel by the same name. The film was remade in 2015 under the direction of Philipp Kadelbach.
Wolfgang Kohlhaase was a German screenwriter, film director, and writer. He was considered "one of the most important screenwriters in German film history", and was one of the GDR's most well-known and prolific film screenwriters. Kohlhaase was awarded the Honorary Golden Bear at the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival.
Solo Sunny is a 1980 East German drama film directed by Konrad Wolf and Wolfgang Kohlhaase. It was entered into the 30th Berlin International Film Festival, where Renate Krößner won the Silver Bear for Best Actress. Solo Sunny was the last completed film directed by Konrad Wolf.
Horst Fritz Otto Giese was an East German actor.
1-2-3 Corona is an East German film directed by Hans Müller. It was released in 1948.
Blum Affair is a 1948 German drama film directed by Erich Engel and starring Hans Christian Blech, Ernst Waldow and Karin Evans. It is based on a real 1926 case in Magdeburg in which a German Jewish industrialist is tried for murder. The film was produced in the future East Germany and produced by DEFA. It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios and Althoff Studios in the Soviet zone. The film's sets were designed by the art director Emil Hasler.
Story of a Young Couple is an East German film, directed by Kurt Maetzig. It was released in 1952.
A Berlin Romance is a 1956 East German neo-realist romantic drama film about youth urban life in the divided city of Berlin, directed by Gerhard Klein. It was produced by the DEFA film company. It stars Annekathrin Bürger, Ulrich Thein and Uwe-Jens Pape. The script was written by Wolfgang Kohlhaase with a score composed by Günter Klück. The film was the second collaboration between Klein and Kohlhaase; the first was Alarm in the Circus, released in 1954 and third came in 1957 with Berlin - Ecke Schönhauser. These films were noted for their strong criticism of consumer culture in Berlin after World War II and the Americanization of the capital and are amongst DEFA's best known films.
Berlin, Schoenhauser Corner is an East German crime film directed by Gerhard Klein. It was released in 1957.
My Wife Makes Music is an East German musical film directed by Hans Heinrich. It was released in 1958, and sold 6,052,050 tickets. It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Potsdam. The film's set's were designed by the art director Oskar Pietsch.
Denk bloß nicht, ich heule is a 1965 East German drama film directed by Frank Vogel of DEFA Studio. Until 27 April 1990 the film was banned in East Germany because of its social criticism. The film was said to have "problematized the oppression of critical young people in East German schools."
Men, Animals and Sensations is a 1938 German drama film directed by and starring Harry Piel and also featuring Ruth Eweler and Elisabeth Wendt. It is a circus film. It was shot at the Terra Studios in Berlin with sets designed by the art director Max Knaake. Location filming took place at the Sarrasani circus in Dresden.