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Anna Susanna

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Wikipedia article




'Anna Susanna' is an East German drama film directed by Richard Nicolas. It was released in 1953.

Plot



During the Great Depression, a rich businessman named Brinkmann decides sink his ship, 'Anna Susanna', so he would be compensated by the insurance. He orders its captain, Kleiers, to sabotage it while at sea. When Kleiers carries out his instructions, several sailors and passengers notice him. In a fight that ensues, the captain is killed, but not before he manage to shipwreck 'Anna Susanna'. Only a handful of people survive the incident. After they return home, they discover that Brinkmann's insurance fraud worked and he was compensated. They sue him at court and manage to have him indicted.

Cast



* Gnther Simon as Orje

* Peter Marx as Fietje

* Werner Peters as Kuddel

* Harry Hindemith as Emil

* Herbert Richter as Kleiers

* Alfred Maack as Peer Frensen

* Maly Delschaft as Kuddel's mother

* Aribert Grimmer as Kuddel's father

* Arno Paulsen as Jan Brdel

* Werner Pledath as Brinkmann

* Fritz Wagner as Uwe Frahm

* Hans Olaf Moser as Wesener

* Klaus Dirks as Ltt Heini

* Lothar Firmans as Van Diemen

* Jrgen Grundling as Jochen-Jrgen

* Friedrich Khne as Krger

Production



During 1952, as the government control over DEFA tightened, the studio produced only six films, all of them influenced by the Cold War and dedicated to the ideological struggle between capitalism and socialism. 'Anna Susanna' was one of those.Sylvia Kltzer. 'Satire und Macht: Film, Zeitung, Kabarett in der DDR'. Bhlau Verlag (2005). . Page 28. Although the film had a plot suiting the government's policy, the DEFA Board was very reluctant to allow Richard Nicolas, for whom the picture was his debut as a director, to make 'Anna Susanna'. Nicolas had threatened to resign if he would not be allowed to direct it, and was eventually granted permission.Ralf Schenk. 'Das zweite Leben der Filmstadt Babelsberg. DEFA- Spielfilme 19461992'. . Page 67. The film was also noted for being one of the first DEFA pictures to employ primitive special effects, such as building a miniature ship model that was wrecked in an aquarium.Werner Reff, Istvn Vsrhelyi. 'Der Filmtrick und der Trickfilm'. Fotokinoverlag VEB (1963). ASIN B0000BT6IC. Pages 2122.

Reception



Heinz Kersten quoted an East German official who told that "the times in which pictures like 'Anna Susanna', that damaged the image of DEFA in the eyes of the people... should not return."Heinz Kersten. 'Das Filmwesen in der Sowjetischen Besatzungszone Deutschlands'. Bundesministerium fr Gesamtdeutsche Fragen (1963). ASIN B0000BK48Q. page 38. The West German Catholic Film Service described it as "rather well-developed, thrilling crime film... but filled with typical criticism of the capitalist system."'[http://www.zweitausendeins.de/filmlexikon/?sucheNach=titel&wert=51807 Anna Susanna]' on the German Film Lexicon.

References




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