Fritz Bauer Institut · Cinematography of the Holocaust
ID |
FBW000625 Fiction |
Country / Year |
USA / Switzerland, 1947-1948 |
Original Title |
The Search / Die Gezeichneten |
Other Title(s) |
Die Gezeichneten (German) |
Directed by |
|
Produced by |
Praesens-Film AG, Zürich; for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) (Loew's, Inc.), Culver City, CA (New York, NY) |
Staff |
Producer: Lazar Wechsler; Production manager: Oscar Düby; Location manager: Uors von Planta; Assistent director: Mila Melanova; Continuity: Ruth Meyer-Süter; Script: Richard Schweizer, David Wechsler, Peter Viertel; Based on: Leopold Lindtberg (Originalgeschichte); Dialogues: Paul Jarrico, Mira Rostova; Camera: Emil Berna; Assistent cameraman: Robert D. Garbade; Lighting: Ernst Bolliger; Editing: Hermann Haller; Assistant editing: René Martinet; Sound: Paul Wartmann; Art direction: Robert Furrer; Technical consultant: Therese Bonney, Robert D. Mockler, Eva Landsberg; Grip: Albert Hunter; Props: Ernst Wettstein, Albert Knöbel; Costumes: Robert Gamma; Makeup: Adolf Meidert; Music: Robert Blum |
Cast |
Montgomery Clift (Ralph Stevenson); Ivan Jandl (Karel Malik); Aline MacMahon (Mrs. Murrey); Jarmila Novotna (Mrs. Malik); Wendell Corey (Jerry Fisher); Mary Patton (Mrs. Fisher); Ewart G. Morrison (Mr. Crookes); William Rogers (Tom Fisher); Leopold Borkowski (Joel Makowsky); Claude Gambier (Raoul Dubois); Betty Attwood (Miss Thompson); Sigfrit Steiner (UNRRA Official); Fred Zinnemann (Jeep Driver) |
Length |
2950 m / 107'48'' |
Format |
35mm/sw/1:1,37 |
Dates |
- 24 Jul 1947-02 Oct 1947: Shooting period |
Remarks |
1. Arbeitstitel: "Europe's Children" u. "I Found Marco". |
Further Remarks |
- Tonsystem: Pekafilm AG |
Abstract |
A German town after the war. Workers of the UNRRA receive a convoy DP children. Amongst the children, all of whom look terrified at the sight of uniformed UNRRA workers, is Karel Malik, a small boy from Prague who only mutters one German sentence, "I don`t know." His family probably did not survive the holocaust. On the way from one reception camp to another in an ambulance, the children smell the fumes of the exhaust pipe, break down the door, and flee to the ruins of the town. Karel`s cap is seen floating in the river and it is initially presumed that he has drowned. However, Karl wanders around the town. He accepts food from the US soldier Steve. Steve gradually earns Karel`s trust, yet he continues to remain silent. Karel follows Steve and out of the trust, affection grows. Karel`s mother, the only surviving family member apart from Karel roams all of Germany in search of her son. She receives Karel`s cap from the UNRRA and considers it to be news of his death. In her sorrow she decides to stay in a DP camp and care for the children there. Amongst them is Karel, kitted out by Steve. Steve calls him Jim and teaches him English, having decided to take him back to America with him. Whilst Steve waits for Karel`s immigration papers, he brings him to the DP camp from which Frau Malik is about to leave. But the woman turns around as the new convoy of orphaned children, amongst them Karel, arrives. With the help of the UNRRA, Karel is identified and mother and son are reunited. |
Subject Terms |
Displaced children; Survivors of the Holocaust; Jewish displaced persons; Jewish children; Soldiers; Trümmerfilm; United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration; US Army; Orphans; Second Generation |
Holdings |
- Kinemathek Hamburg, Hamburg |
Bibliography |
- Schläger, Herbert: "Praesens-Film, Zürich, dreht Kinderfilm in Deutschland", in: Der Neue Film (Wiesbaden), Jg. 1, 07.09.1947 |