Always on Duty

Last updated
Zu jeder Stunde
Directed byHeinz Thiel
Written byLothar Dutombé
Produced bySiegfried Nürnberger
StarringRolf Stövesand
CinematographyErwin Anders
Edited byWally Gurschke
Music byHelmut Nier
Production
company
Distributed by Progress Film
Release date
  • 29 January 1960 (1960-01-29)
Running time
85 minutes
Country East Germany
Language German

Zu jeder Stunde (English-language title: Always On Duty) [1] is an East German black-and-white film, directed by Heinz Thiel. It was released in 1960.

Contents

Plot

Border Troops soldier Martin arrives in a village on the Inner German border. He falls in love with a local girl, Renate. Her father is opposed to their relationship, having promised her to the son of farmer Grabow. When Grabow plans to leave to the West with the aid of corrupt officer Zimmer, Martin discovers their plans and informs his superiors, although Zimmer has been his friend.

Cast

Production

The DEFA Commission reviewed 58 scripts proposed for filming in the years 1959/60. Four of those were considered "aesthetic films", and were all centered on portraying Christians as backward and reactionary. The one script eventually authorized by State Secretary of Cinema Erich Wendt evolved into Always on Duty. However, the improvement in church and state relations in East Germany during 1960 prompted several changes in the plot, and the antagonists were not presented as devout Catholics. [2]

Reception

Miera and Antonin Liehm cited Zu Jeder Stunde as one of DEFA's "contemporary socialist films." [3] The Der Monat journal's critic wrote that while viewing the film, "the public could be impressed by the alertness of the Border Troops." [4] The German Film Lexicon regarded it as "unassuming, propagandistic, unpersuasive and artistically weak, as well as full of stereotypes." [5]

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References

  1. ↑ Zu jeder Stunde on DEFA Foundation's website.
  2. ↑ Zu jeder Stunde on the German Church and State Research Institute's website.
  3. ↑ Miera Liehm, Antonin J. Liehm . The Most Important Art: Soviet and Eastern European Film After 1945. ISBN   978-0-520-04128-8. Page 266.
  4. ↑ Der Monat: eine internationale Zeitschrift, Volume 13, page 64.
  5. ↑ Zu jeder Stunde on zweitausendeins.de.
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