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Goods for Catalonia
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Wikipedia article
'Ware fr Katalonien ' (English-language title: 'Goods For Catalonia')'[http://www.defa.de/cms/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=412&FilmID=Q6UJ9A002MS1 Ware fr Katalonien]' on DEFA Foundation's website. is an East German black-and-white film, directed by Richard Groschopp. It was released in 1959.
Plot
At 1959, the People's Police notices a strange occurrence: the local demand for optical instruments increases, while the orders from abroad sharply decrease. Several detectives launch an investigation, revealing that a West German criminal named Hasso Teschendorf has been forging documents and using them to illegally obtain the goods, which he sold to the Spanish Army and to customers in Barcelona. After a long hunt, the smuggler is arrested just before he manages to flee to West Berlin.
Cast
* Wilfried Ortmann as Hasso Teschendorf
* Fritz Diez as Captain Gerner
* Werner Dissel as doorman
* Peter Sturm as Mr. Dupont
* Gerd Michael Henneberg as businessman
* Manfred Krug as smuggler
* Eva-Maria Hagen as Marion Stckel
* Hanna Rimkus as Sabine Falk
* Hartmut Reck as Schellenberg
* Heinz-Dieter Knaup as Hasselbach
* Ivan Malr as Bob Georgi
* Carola Braunbock as Charlotte Gansauge
* Dom de Beern as inspector
* Albert Garbe as Bachmann
* Herbert Grnbaum as Rsli
* Hubert Hoelzke as customer
* Walter Jup as Erwin
Production
At 1957, the West German criminal Hasso Schtzendorf organized a complex fraud: his partners, using forged documents, managed to take possession on the entire stock of optical instruments produced by the Zeiss factory in Jena, East Germany. He sold them to clients in Barcelona. Schtzendorf managed to escape justice, settling in Spain, where he lived as a rich man until his death at 2003. The film 'Ware fur Katalonien' was loosely based on this incident, although the villain "Hasso Teschendorf" was caught in the end.'[http://www.filmportal.de/df/71/Uebersicht,,,,,,,,EA43D4A792435006E03053D50B37753D,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.html Ware fr Katalonien]' on filmportal.de.
Reception
Director Richard Groschopp was awarded the Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic in 1959 for his work on the film. He later received a letter from Schtzendorf, who wrote him "Dear Groschopp, please be more realistic next time... Arresting me just before reaching the Brandenburg Gate? Are you that deluded?"'[http://www.progress-film.de/de/filmarchiv/film.php?id=1632&back=true Ware fr Katalonien]' on PROGRESS' website.
The German film lexicon described the picture as "a well-made crime film, with notably good acting."[http://www.zweitausendeins.de/filmlexikon/?sucheNach=titel&wert=58558 'Ware fr Katalonien'] on zweitausendeins.de.
References
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