ID

FBW000449      Fiction

Country / Year

USA, 1942-1943

Original Title

MARGIN FOR ERROR

Directed by

Otto Preminger

Produced by

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp., Los Angeles, CA / New York, NY

Staff

Producer: Ralph Dietrich; Script: Lillie Hayward, Otto Preminger, Samuel Fuller; Based on: Clare Boothe Luce (gleichn. Bühnenstück); Camera: Edward Cronjager; Editing: Louis R. Loeffler; Sound: Eugene Grossmann, Harry M. Leonard; Art direction: Richard Day, Lewis H. Creber; Set decoration: Thomas Little, Al Orenbach; Costumes: Earl Luick; Music: Leigh Harline; Musical direction: Emil Newman

Cast

Joan Bennett (Sophie Baumer); Milton Berle (Moe Finkelstein); Otto Preminger (Karl Baumer); Carl Esmond (Baron Max von Alvenstor); Howard Freeman (Otto Horst); Lisl Handl (als: Poldy Dur) (Frieda Schmidt); Clyde Fillmore (Dr. Jennings); Ferike Boros (Mrs. Finkelstein); Joseph Kirk (Officer Salomon); Hans Heinrich von Twardowski (Fritz); Ted (Michael) North (Saboteur); Elmer Jack Semple (Saboteur); J. Norton Dunn (Saboteur); Hans Schumm (Kurt Muller); Edward McNamara (Captain Mulrooney); Selmer Jackson (Coroner); Eddie Dunn (Desk Sergeant); Barney Ruditsky (Policeman); Donald Dillaway (Reporter); Dick French (Photographer); Ruth Cherrington (Dowager); Byron Foulger (Drug Store Clerk); Emmett Vogan (Fingerprint Expert); Wolfgang Zilzer (Man); David Alison (Jacoby); Allan Nixon (Soldier); Malcolm Mc Taggart (Soldier); Tom Seidel (Soldier); John Wald (Soldier); Gary Breckner (American Announcers); Ludwig Donath (Hitler's Voice); W.J. O'Brien (Waiter); Ralph Byrd (Pete)

Length

2039,4 m / 74'32''

Format

35mm/sw/1:1,37

Dates

- 08 Jan 1943: Premiere
- 24 Jan 1943: Release date, New York, NY (Globe)
- 19 Feb 1943: Copyright LP12212

Abstract

Moe Finkelstein, a Jewish policeman in New York, is given the task of tracking the German consul Karl Baumer. The plan is to find out exactly what goes on in Baumer`s rooms. During a speech made by Hitler on the radio, the hated consul is discovered poisened, choked and shot to death. All those close to him are suspected. Sophie Baumer, the consul`s wife, had never loved her husband. She only stayed with him in order to save her father who was in an internment camp. Two other suspects are the Baron von Alvenstor, Baumer`s devious secretary, and Otto Horst, the subordinate group leader who served Baumer mainly as a lightening conductor.

Subject Terms

Anti-Nazi films (US); Exile films; New York, NY

Holdings

- National Film and Television Archive (NFTA), London; 35mm
- Cinématheque Municipal, Luxembourg; 16mm

Bibliography

- J.C.: "Wer erschlug den Konsul? Zur Aufführung von 'Margin for Error'", in: Aufbau (New York, NY), Jg. 5, Nr. 21, 15.11.1939
- Boothe, Clare: Margin For Error. New York, NY: Random House, 1940
- Weinberg, Herman G.: "Letter From New York", in: Sight and Sound (London), Vol. 10, Nr. 38, Sommer 1941
- N.N.: "Hollywood meldet", in: Aufbau (New York, NY), Jg. 7, Nr. 20, 16.05.1941
- Kafka, Hans: "Hollywood Calling", in: Aufbau (New York, NY), Jg. 7, Nr. 38, 19.09.1941
- Brady, Thomas F.: "Hollywood Collides With the Wage Ceiling. Despite New Limitations Those Affected Continue to Work. Casting Problmes. Nazi Menac", in: The New York Times, 08.11.1942
- , in: New Yorker Staatszeitung und Herold, 03.01.1943
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- Weaver, William: , in: Motion Picture Herald (New York, NY), Vol. 150, Nr.2, 09.01.1943
- , in: The New York Times, 10.01.1943
- Walt.: , in: Variety, 13.01.1943
- Lardner, David: , in: The New Yorker, Vol. 18, Nr. 49, 23.01.1943
- , in: The New York Post, 25.01.1943
- Strauss, Theodore (als: T.S.): "Margin for Error", in: The New York Times, 25.01.1943
- , in: New York Mirror, 25.01.1943
- Blackford, G.E.: , in: New York Journal-American, 25.01.1943
- , in: Today's Cinema, Vol. 60, Nr. 4869, 27.04.1943
- , in: Kinematograph Weekly (London), Nr. 1880, 29.04.1943
- K.F.B.: "Margin For Error", in: Monthly Film Bulletin (London), Vol. 10, Nr. 113, Mai, 31.05.1943
- , in: The Film Daily (New York, NY), 08.11.1943
- Pratley, Gerald: The Cinema of Otto Preminger. New York, NY: Castle Books, 1971
- Frischauer, Willi: Behind the Scenes of Otto Preminger. An Unauthorized Biography. London: Michael Joseph, 1973
- Blackford, G.E.: , A Library of Film Criticism: American Film Directors, Hochman, Stanley (Hg.), New York, NY: Ungar, 1974
- Preminger, Otto: An Autobiography. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1977
- Schwab, Lothar (Red.): Exil. Sechs Schauspieler aus Deutschland. Wolgang Zilzer (Paul Andor), Bd. 6, Berlin/West: Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek, 1983
- Horak, Jan-Christopher: Anti-Nazi-Filme der deutschsprachigen Emigration von Hollywood 1939-1945. Münster: Maks, 1984
- Nash, Ray R. / Ross, Stanley R. / Conelly, Robert B. (Ed.): Motion Picture Guide. Chicago, IL: Cinebooks, 1987
- Legrand, Gérard / Lourcelles, Jacques / Mardore, Michel: Otto Preminger. Paris: Cinématheque Française, 1993
- Grob, Norbert / Aurich, Rolf / Jacobsen, Wolfgang (Hg.): Otto Preminger. Berlin: Jovis, 1999
- Jatho, Gabriele / Rehhahn, Yvonne (Red.): Die Filme des Otto Preminger. Berlin: Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek, 1999