The Condemned of Altona (film)

1962 film

  • 30 October 1962 (1962-10-30)
Running time
114 minutesCountriesItaly
FranceLanguageEnglishBox office$1.1 million (US/ Canada)[1][2]

The Condemned of Altona (Italian: I sequestrati di Altona) is a 1962 Italian-French drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It is based on the play of the same name by Jean-Paul Sartre.[3] For this film Vittorio De Sica won the Academy of Italian Cinema's David di Donatello award for Best Director.[4]

Plot

The industrialist Albrecht von Gerlach realizes he's close to death and summons his son Werner, a lawyer, whom he wants to appoint as his successor. Werner hesitates because he knows their family firm supported Nazism, leading to the execution of his brother Franz for war crimes. Meanwhile, Werner's wife Johanna, an actress involved in an anti-Nazi play by Brecht, discovers Franz is alive and hiding in their family home in Altona. She paints a bleak picture of Germany, still struggling after the war.

Franz's meeting with Johanna changes his perspective as he learns of Germany's divided state, one part rebuilt while the other languishes. Leaving his hiding spot, he explores the city to confront the truth. In a tragic twist, he and his father meet their end, falling from the scaffolding of the Gerlach shipyard.

Cast

  • Sophia Loren as Johanna
  • Maximilian Schell as Franz
  • Fredric March as Albrecht von Gerlach
  • Robert Wagner as Werner von Gerlach
  • Françoise Prévost as Leni von Gerlach
  • Alfredo Franchi as Groundskeeper
  • Lucia Pelella as Groundskeeper's wife
  • Roberto Massa as Chauffeur
  • Antonia Cianci as Maid
  • Carlo Antonini as Police Official
  • Armando Sifo as Policeman
  • Osvaldo Peccioli as Cook
  • Ekkehard Schall

Music and Art

The music used in the film is from the third movement, "Eternal Memory," of Symphony No. 11 ("The Year 1905") by Dmitri Shostakovich. The drawings on the walls of Franz's room are by the Sicilian artist Renato Guttuso.

References

  1. ^ "Top Rental Features of 1963", Variety, 8 January 1964 p 71. Please note figures are rentals as opposed to total gross.
  2. ^ Aubrey Solomon, Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History, Scarecrow Press, 1989 p229
  3. ^ Mark Deming (2012). "The Condemned of Altona". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  4. ^ Enrico Lancia (1998). I premi del cinema. Gremese Editore, 1998. ISBN 8877422211.
  • The Condemned of Altona at IMDb
  • v
  • t
  • e
Films directed by Vittorio De Sica
  • v
  • t
  • e
Operas
Concertos
  • Trombone Concerto
Film soundtracks
  • Romeo and Juliet
  • The Godfather
  • The Godfather Part II
  • The Godfather Part III
Category


Stub icon

This article related to an Italian film of the 1960s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

  • v
  • t
  • e
Stub icon

This article related to a French film of the 1960s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

  • v
  • t
  • e