Thursday, August 28, 2008

Der Verlorene

The Lost One / [Kadotettu] / [Den förlorade]. DE 1951. PC: Arnold Pressburger Produktion. D: Peter Lorre. SC: Peter Lorre, Benno Vigny, Axel Eggebrecht - contribution: Helmut Käutner - [based on a subject by Egon Jameson, n.c.] [Not based on a novel by Peter Lorre.] DP: Vaclav Vich. M: Willi Schmidt-Gentner. Starring Peter Lorre (Dr. Karl Rothe), Karl John (Hösch / Novak), Johanna Hofer (Frau Hermann), Eva-Ingeborg Scholz (Ursula Weber), Lotte Rausch (Helene), Gisela Trowe (streetwalker). 98 min. A DIF print with e-subtitles in English from Goethe-Institut. Viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 28 August 2008. - A dupe. - A melancholy mood. The traces of crime and suffering on Lorre's face. The restlessly roaming camera. The overpowering shadows. A feeling for the underworld. The atmosphere of the train. The puppet on the string. The sensual radiation of the frustrated women. - Peter Lorre dives into Germany's psychic undercurrents in the same way as in Fritz Lang's M. It is the story of a serial killer, an amok-runner who has lost his sense of life a long time ago. Just like in M, Lorre conveys both the tenderness and kindness of the criminal (he is a well-loved doctor) as well as his irresistible urge to kill.

2 comments:

Cheryl Morris said...

Glad you enjoyed the movie -- but Peter Lorre did not write a novel. He co-authored the screenplay, with Benno Vigny and Axel Eggebrecht.

The "novel" that you might have heard about was actually written by Egon Jameson as a series for the Münchner Illustrierte.

In 1996, Belleville Verlag published a trade edition of the serialized story and at Jameson's expense, gave Peter Lorre credit as author.

Antti Alanen said...

Thank you, Cheryl! Antti