Alarm in the Circus
| Alarm in the Circus | |
|---|---|
| Directed 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.
Plot
Klaus and Max are two poor boys from West Berlin, whose families are to 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 would assist him to steal 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 hinder Klott's plans and arrest the other thieves working for him. The two remain in East Berlin.
Cast
- Erwin Geschonneck as Klott
- Uwe-Jens Pape as Jimmy
- Karl Kendzia as Batta
- Ulrich Thein as Herbert
- Hans Winter as Klaus
- Ernst-Georg Schwill as Max
- Gertrud Keller as Helli
- Annelise Matschulat as Mrs. Weigel
- Siegfried Weißas Hepfield
- Peter Dornseif as Police officer
- Günther Haack as Catcher
- Horst Giese as uncredited role
Production
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
Reception
Alarm in the Circus was viewed by 3.6 million people in 1954, becoming the highest-grossing East German film of the year,
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]
References
- ISBN 978-1-57181-753-2.
- ^ Alarm in the Circus Archived 2011-07-25 at the Wayback Machine on PROGRESS' website.
- ^ List of the 50 highest-grossing DEFA films.
- ^ Alarm in the Circus Archived 2011-07-25 at the Wayback Machine on DEFA Foundation's website.
- ^ Alarm in the Circus on the German Film Lexicon.
- ISBN 978-0-8131-9191-1.
External links
- Alarm in the Circus at IMDb
- Alarm in the Circus original poster on ostfilm.de.
- Alarm in the Circus on filmportal.de.
- Alarm in the Circus on cinema.de
