Margin for error 1943 - Исправление ошибок и поиск оптимальных решений проблем

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Joan Bennett, Milton Berle, and Otto Preminger in Margin for Error (1943)

It is a toss-up as to who is most displeased when Patrolman Moe Finkelstein is given the duty of guarding the German consulate run by Karl Baumer; neither Moe nor Baumer is too happy with th… Read allIt is a toss-up as to who is most displeased when Patrolman Moe Finkelstein is given the duty of guarding the German consulate run by Karl Baumer; neither Moe nor Baumer is too happy with this turn of events. Moe, however, quickly becomes friends with the other residents of the c… Read allIt is a toss-up as to who is most displeased when Patrolman Moe Finkelstein is given the duty of guarding the German consulate run by Karl Baumer; neither Moe nor Baumer is too happy with this turn of events. Moe, however, quickly becomes friends with the other residents of the consulate: Sophie Baumer, the consul’s wife; the secretary, Baron Max Von Alvenstor; and a … Read all

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Berle Is Wide of the Margin, but Bennett and Preminger Are Great!

Preminger also starred and directed the stage play which ran highly successful seasons both on Broadway (264 performances) and the West Coast, so he was a natural for the movie version. Unfortunately, the play is more than a trifle dated, unlike Mrs Luce’s other huge stage success, The Women, which is still pointed and amusing even today. By contrast, the women in Margin for Error are not the least bitchy, feline or self-indulgent. Instead, the comedy (such as it is) centers on the efforts of a Jewish cop to come to terms with his duties at the German consulate. He smiles a lot, wins the heart of a serving girl (the lovely Leisl Handl) and has plenty to say and do, but Milton Berle’s interpretation never strikes me as either the slightest bit policeman-like or true-to-life. Otto Preminger’s portrait of the evil consul is equally one-dimensional, but at least he gives the role presence and charisma. While Preminger rivets attention, Berle is just plain dish-washy. Admittedly, the plot is full of holes, and the other police officers are likewise ridiculously simple-minded. Thank goodness the rest of the cast are better served by the script, particularly Howard Freeman in his best role ever as the strutting, cowardly Mussolini-like bund leader; dashing Carl Esmond as the secretary; and beautiful Joan Bennett as the wife. Production values, led by Cronjager’s velvety photography and Day’s appealing sets, impress

JohnHowardReid
Aug 11, 2008

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Margin for Error
US Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Otto Preminger
Written by	Lillie Hayward Samuel Fuller
Based on	Margin for Error by Clare Boothe Luce
Produced by	Ralph Dietrich
Starring	Joan Bennett Milton Berle Otto Preminger
Cinematography	Edward Cronjager
Edited by	Louis R. Loeffler
Music by	Leigh Harline
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	February 10, 1943
Running time	74 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Plot[edit]

When police officer Moe Finkelstein (Milton Berle) and his colleague Officer Salomon are ordered to serve as bodyguards to German consul Karl Baumer (Otto Preminger) by the mayor of New York City, Finkelstein turns in his badge, convinced he has to quit the service because the man is a Nazi. Capt. Mulrooney, who appointed them to this job, tells Moe that although the mayor personally is opposed to Adolf Hitler and his regime, the mayor is responsible for the safety of everybody, and he believes that through this assignment Finkelstein can show them the difference between their system and the Nazi one.

Moe quickly discovers Baumer is in trouble with Berlin for having squandered money intended to finance sabotage. His secretary, Baron Max von Alvenstor (Carl Esmond), has become disenchanted with his boss and refuses to delay the delivery of a damaging financial report to Berlin. Baumer’s Czechoslovak wife, Sophia, confesses to Moe that she loathes her husband and married him only to secure her father’s release from prison. Also at odds with Baumer is Otto Horst, who has been ordered to procure false identification cards for German saboteurs assigned to blow up an American port at the end of a radio broadcast delivered by Hitler.

Under orders from Berlin to dispense with Horst, Baumer plots to frame Max for the man’s murder and tries to enlist Sophia’s help, but she warns Horst of the scheme, so he begins to carry a gun for protection. While the Baumers are listening to the radio speech with their guests (Horst, Max, and Dr. Jennings), Horst stabs the Consul with his new knife without the others’ noticing it. Then Sophia grabs Horst’s gun and kills Baumer. Max urges Sophia to escape before anyone sees her.

Moe discovers the body and begins to question suspects, including Sophia, who readily confesses to the crime, but Max insists it was he who killed Baumer. Moe reveals Baumer not only was shot but was stabbed and poisoned as well. Meanwhile, Max rushes to the port where the saboteurs are concealed and orders them to dismantle the bomb. With only minutes to spare, the bomb is dismantled and the saboteurs are captured. Returning to the consulate, Max identifies Horst as an accomplice to the saboteurs, and Horst is arrested.

A coroner’s report determines Baumer died of poisoning. Reconstructing the event, they discover that he put the poison in the whisky glass for Max, but when something hit the window during the demonstration outside, the whisky glass intended for Max was confused with the consul’s own brandy glass, so Baumer mistakenly drank from the glass he meant for Max.

Cast[edit]

Edward McNamara as Police Capt. Mulrooney (uncredited)
Milton Berle as Officer Moe Finkelstein
Joe Kirk as Officer Solomon
Joan Bennett as Sophia Baumer (Wife of General Consul of Germany)
Otto Preminger as Karl Baumer (General Consul of Germany)
Carl Esmond as Baron Max von Alvenstor (Secretary to the Consul)
Howard Freeman as Otto Horst (the American Führer)
Clyde Fillmore as Dr. Jennings
Poldi Dur as Frieda (as Poldy Dur) personal maid
Hans Heinrich von Twardowski as Fritz, Butler (uncredited)
Ludwig Donath as Hitler’s Voice (as Louis Donath)
Ferike Boros as Mrs. Finkelstein (uncredited)
Ralph Byrd as Pete, the Dice-Playing Soldier (uncredited)
Don Dillaway as Reporter (uncredited)
Eddie Dunn as Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
Byron Foulger as Drug Store Clerk (uncredited)
Selmer Jackson as Coroner (uncredited)
Bert Moorhouse as Roulette Croupier (uncredited)
Allan Nixon as Soldier (uncredited)
Ted North as Saboteur (uncredited)
Cyril Ring as Drugstore Clerk (uncredited)
Barney Ruditsky as Policeman (uncredited)
Hans Schumm as Karl Müller (uncredited)
Emmett Vogan as Fingerprint Expert (uncredited)
Wolfgang Zilzer as Bit Part (uncredited)

Sources[edit]

The play Margin for Error was based on an incident that occurred in 1938, when New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia appointed Police Captain Max Finkelstein to head a special squad of Jewish officers tasked with protecting the German consulate in the city from protestors. The police officer character’s name was originally Max Finkelstein but was changed to Moe Finkelstein after the real Finkelstein’s suicide in May 1940.^[1]

Production[edit]

Otto Preminger had directed and starred as Baumer in the Broadway production of Claire Booth Luce’s play, which opened on November 3, 1939, at the Plymouth Theatre, where it ran for 264 performances,^[2] and he reprised the role for a national tour in the summer of 1940.^[3]

According to the New York Times, 20th Century Fox purchased the screen rights for $25,000 in the spring of 1941 but temporarily shelved the property because studio executives felt Boothe’s «statement of the opposition between fascism and democracy had become self-evident to the point of banality.»^[4] In April 1942, William Goetz, serving as interim studio head while Darryl F. Zanuck was fulfilling his military duty, greenlighted the project and assigned it to director Ernst Lubitsch. Goetz wanted Preminger to reprise his role of Baumer, but Preminger insisted he wanted to direct as well. When Goetz refused, Preminger offered to direct for free and agreed to withdraw from helming the film but remain as Baumer if Goetz was unhappy with his work at the end of the first week of filming, and Goetz agreed.^[5]

Preminger thought the screenplay by Lillie Hayward was «awful» and hired newcomer Samuel Fuller, on leave from the United States Army, to help him revise the script. The men agreed Luce’s original play, written as a call to arms, had to become a morale booster for a country firmly entrenched in World War II. As such, they presented the story as a flashback to the period prior to America’s entry in the war. Principal photography began on September 28, 1942, and at the end of the first week, Goetz told the director he was so pleased with the dailies he was offering him a seven-year contract as director and actor. Preminger requested producing rights as well, and the deal was sealed. He completed filming on November 5, on schedule and only slightly over budget.^[6]

Critical reception[edit]

Theodore Strauss of The New York Times observed, «Less than brilliant when done on Broadway, the script is now painfully dated. The Nazis certainly are not less villainous, but as they are shown in the film they are much less interesting. Practically every character and situation has long been a cliché of anti-Nazi films generally… There are other examples of worn conventions. Margin for Error tells us nothing new and tells it very dully… As a story the film has practically no suspense. It is not greatly helped by the tediously bombastic style of Otto Preminger as the consul nor by Joan Bennett as his suffering wife. Poor Milton Berle… is forced to forsake his comic antics and make sweet speeches on the benefits of democracy, a role for which Mr. Berle seems way out of line. For that matter, Margin for Error is way out of line as well.»^[7]

Alexander Larman of Channel 4 rated the film three out of five stars and noted, «Otto Preminger is rightly regarded as one of the most talented émigré directors to have had a successful career in post-war American film. However, Margin For Error, while undeniably entertaining in a B-movie manner, is hardly indicative of his talent, suffering from a plot that alternates between cliche and head-scratching reversals, some unimpressive acting and a limp denouement.»^[8]

References[edit]

^ «Captain of Police, Accused, Ends Life». The New York Times. 4 May 1940. p. 32.
^ Margin for Error at the Internet Broadway Database
^ Hirsch, Foster, Otto Preminger: The Man Who Would Be King. New York: Alfred A. Knopf 2007. ISBN 978-0-375-41373-5, p. 81
^ Margin for Error at Turner Classic Movies
^ Hirsch, pp. 85-86
^ Hirsch, pp. 87-89
^ New York Times review
^ Channel 4 review

External links[edit]

Margin for Error at the American Film Institute Catalog
Margin for Error at IMDb
Margin for Error at Rotten Tomatoes
Margin for Error at the TCM Movie Database

Источник

Из Википедии, свободной энциклопедии

Допустимая погрешность
Американский театральный плакат
Режиссер	Отто Премингер
Написано	Лилли Хейворд Сэмюэл Фуллер
На основе	Допустимая ошибка , Клэр Бут Люс
Произведено	Ральф Дитрих
В главных ролях	Джоан Беннет Милтон Берл Отто Премингер
Кинематография	Эдвард Кронджагер
Отредактировано	Луи Р. Леффлер
Музыка	Ли Харлайн
Распространяется	20 век Фокс
Дата выхода	10 февраля 1943 г.
Продолжительность	74 минуты
Страна	Соединенные Штаты
Язык	Английский

Margin for Error ) — американский драматический фильм 1943режиссёра Отто Премингера . Сценарий Лилли Хейворд и Сэмюэля Фуллера основан на одноименной пьесе 1939 года Клэр Бут Люс .

Сюжет

Когда мэр Нью-Йорка приказал офицеру полиции Моу Финкельштейну ( Милтон Берле ) и его коллеге Саломону служить телохранителями консула Германии Карла Баумера ( Отто Премингер ) , Финкельштейн сдал свой значок, убежденный, что он должен уйти со службы. потому что этот человек нацист . Капитан Малруни, назначивший их на эту работу, говорит Мо, что, хотя мэр лично выступает против Адольфа Гитлера и его режима, мэр несет ответственность за безопасность всех, и он считает, что этим назначением Финкельштейн может показать им разницу. между их системой и нацистской.

Мо быстро обнаруживает, что у Баумера проблемы с Берлином из-за растраты денег, предназначенных для финансирования саботажа . Его секретарь, барон Макс фон Альвенстор ( Карл Эсмонд ), разочаровался в своем боссе и отказывается отсрочить отправку в Берлин разрушительного финансового отчета. Чехословацкая жена Баумера , София, признается Мо, что ненавидит своего мужа и вышла за него замуж только для того, чтобы добиться освобождения своего отца из тюрьмы. Также в разногласиях с Баумером находится Отто Хорст, которому было приказано достать фальшивые удостоверения личности для немецких диверсантов, которым было поручено взорвать американский порт в конце радиопередачи, переданной Гитлером.

По приказу из Берлина отказаться от Хорста, Баумер замышляет подставить Макса в убийстве этого человека и пытается заручиться помощью Софии, но она предупреждает Хорста о схеме, поэтому он начинает носить пистолет для защиты. Пока Баумеры слушают выступление по радио со своими гостями (Хорст, Макс и доктор Дженнингс), Хорст наносит удар Консулу своим новым ножом, и другие этого не замечают. Затем София хватает пистолет Хорста и убивает Баумера. Макс убеждает Софию бежать, пока ее никто не увидел.

Мо обнаруживает тело и начинает допрашивать подозреваемых, в том числе Софию, которая с готовностью признается в преступлении, но Макс настаивает на том, что это он убил Баумера. Мо сообщает, что Баумер не только был застрелен, но также был зарезан и отравлен. Тем временем Макс спешит в порт, где затаились диверсанты, и приказывает им обезвредить бомбу. За считанные минуты бомба демонтирована, а диверсанты схвачены. Вернувшись в консульство, Макс идентифицирует Хорста как сообщника диверсантов, и Хорста арестовывают.

В отчете коронера установлено, что Баумер умер от отравления. Реконструируя событие, они обнаруживают, что он подлил яд в стакан для виски для Макса, но когда что-то ударило в окно во время демонстрации снаружи, стакан для виски, предназначенный для Макса, был перепутан с собственным стаканом для бренди консула, поэтому Баумер по ошибке выпил из стакана. стекло, которое он имел в виду для Макса.

В ролях

Эдвард Макнамара в роли капитана полиции Малруни (в титрах)
Милтон Берл в роли офицера Мо Финкельштейна
Джо Кирк , как офицер Соломон
Джоан Беннетт в роли Софии Баумер (жены генерального консула Германии)
Отто Премингер в роли Карла Баумера (генеральный консул Германии)
Карл Эсмонд в роли барона Макса фон Альвенстора (секретаря консула)
Ховард Фриман в роли Отто Хорста (американский фюрер)
Клайд Филлмор , как доктор Дженнингс
Полди Дур , как Фрида (как Полди Дур), личная горничная
Ганс Генрих фон Твардовски в роли Фрица Батлера (в титрах не указан)
Людвиг Донат в роли голоса Гитлера (в роли Луи Доната)
Ферике Борос в роли миссис Финкельштейн (в титрах)
Ральф Берд в роли Пита, солдата, играющего в кости (в титрах не указан)
Дон Диллауэй в роли репортера (в титрах не указан)
Эдди Данн в роли дежурного сержанта (в титрах не указан)
Байрон Фулджер в роли продавца аптеки (в титрах не указан)
Селмер Джексон в роли коронера (в титрах не указан)
Берт Мурхаус в роли рулетки крупье (в титрах не указан)
Аллан Никсон в роли солдата (в титрах)
Тед Норт в роли диверсанта (в титрах не указан)
Сирил Ринг в роли продавца аптеки (в титрах)
Барни Рудицкий в роли полицейского (в титрах не указан)
Ханс Шумм в роли Карла Мюллера (в титрах не указан)
Эммет Воган в роли эксперта по отпечаткам пальцев (в титрах)
Вольфганг Зильцер в роли Bit Part (в титрах)

Источники

Спектакль « Допуск на ошибку » основан на инциденте, произошедшем в 1938 году, когда мэр Нью-Йорка Фиорелло Ла Гуардиа назначил капитана полиции Макса Финкельштейна руководителем специального отряда офицеров-евреев, которому было поручено защищать консульство Германии в городе от протестующих. Первоначально имя полицейского было Макс Финкельштейн, но после самоубийства настоящего Финкельштейна в мае 1940 года оно было изменено на Мо Финкельштейн ^.

Производство

Отто Премингер поставил и сыграл Баумера в бродвейской постановке по пьесе Клэр Бут Люс, которая открылась 3 ноября 1939 года в Плимутском театре , где было показано 264 спектакля, ^[2] и он повторил роль в национальном турне. летом 1940 г. ^[3]

Согласно New York Times , 20th Century Fox приобрела права на экран за 25 000 долларов весной 1941 года, но временно отложила собственность, потому что руководители студии посчитали, что «утверждение Бута о противостоянии фашизма и демократии стало самоочевидным до банальности». .» ^[4] В апреле 1942 года Уильям Гетц , временно исполнявший обязанности руководителя студии, пока Дэррил Ф. Занук выполнял свой военный долг, дал зеленый свет проекту и поручил его режиссеру Эрнсту Любичу.. Гетц хотел, чтобы Премингер повторил свою роль Баумера, но Премингер настаивал на том, что он тоже хочет стать режиссером. Когда Гетц отказался, Премингер предложил снять фильм бесплатно и согласился отказаться от руководства фильмом, но остаться Баумером, если Гетц будет недоволен своей работой в конце первой недели съемок, и Гетц согласился. ^[5]

Премингер счел сценарий Лилли Хейворд «ужасным» и нанял новичка Сэмюэля Фуллера , находящегося в отпуске из армии Соединенных Штатов , чтобы тот помог ему отредактировать сценарий. Мужчины согласились, что оригинальная пьеса Люси, написанная как призыв к оружию, должна была поднять боевой дух страны, прочно увязшей во Второй мировой войне . Таким образом, они представили эту историю как воспоминание о периоде до вступления Америки в войну. Основные съемки начались 28 сентября 1942 года, и в конце первой недели Гетц сказал режиссеру, что ему очень нравятся ежедневные газеты .он предлагал ему семилетний контракт в качестве режиссера и актера. Премингер также запросил права на производство, и сделка была заключена. Он завершил съемки 5 ноября в срок и лишь немного превысил бюджет. ^[6]

Критический прием

Теодор Штраус из «Нью-Йорк Таймс » заметил: «Менее чем блестящий, когда он был сделан на Бродвее, сценарий теперь болезненно устарел. Нацисты, конечно, не менее злодейские, но в том виде, в каком они показаны в фильме, они гораздо менее интересны. Практически каждый персонаж а ситуация уже давно стала клише антифашистских фильмов вообще… Есть и другие примеры заезженных условностей .ничего нового не сообщает и рассказывает очень скучно… Как сюжет фильм практически не имеет саспенса. Этому не очень помогает ни утомительно напыщенный стиль Отто Премингера в роли консула, ни Джоан Беннетт в роли его страдающей жены. Бедный Милтон Берл… вынужден отказаться от своих комических выходок и произносить сладкие речи о преимуществах демократии, роль, для которой мистер Берл кажется совершенно неподходящим. Если уж на то пошло, допустимая погрешность тоже выходит за рамки». ^[7]

Александр Ларман из Channel 4 оценил фильм на три звезды из пяти и отметил: «Отто Премингер по праву считается одним из самых талантливых режиссеров-эмигрантов , сделавших успешную карьеру в послевоенном американском кино. бесспорно развлекательный в манере B-фильма , вряд ли свидетельствует о его таланте, страдающем от сюжета, который чередуется между клише и головокружительными инверсиями, некоторой невыразительной игрой и вялой развязкой». ^[8]

Ссылки

^ «Капитан полиции, обвиняемый, покончил с собой» . Нью-Йорк Таймс . 4 мая 1940 г. с. 32.
^ Допустимая погрешность в базе данных Internet Broadway
↑ Хирш, Фостер, Отто Премингер: Человек, который хотел стать королем . Нью-Йорк: Альфред А. Кнопф, 2007 г. ISBN 978-0-375-41373-5 , с. 81
^ Допуск на ошибку в классических фильмах Тернера
^ Хирш, стр. 85-86.
^ Хирш, стр. 87-89.
^ Обзор New York Times
^ Обзор канала 4

Внешние ссылки

Допустимая погрешность в каталоге Американского института кино
Допустимая ошибка на IMDb
Допуск на ошибку в Rotten Tomatoes
Допустимая погрешность в базе данных фильмов TCM

Источник

This article is about a 1943 film. For the statistical concept, see Margin of error.

Margin for Error
Original poster
Directed by	Otto Preminger
Produced by	Ralph Dietrich
Written by	Lillie Hayward Samuel Fuller Based on the play by Clare Boothe Luce
Starring	Joan Bennett Milton Berle Otto Preminger
Music by	Leigh Harline
Cinematography	Edward Cronjager
Editing by	Louis R. Loeffler
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	February 10, 1943
Running time	74 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Margin for Error is a 1943 American drama film directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Lillie Hayward and Samuel Fuller is based on the 1939 play of the same title by Clare Boothe Luce.

1 Plot
2 Plot Sources
3 Production
4 Cast
5 Critical reception
6 References
7 External links

Plot

When police officer Moe Finkelstein is ordered to serve as a bodyguard to German consul Karl Baumer by the mayor of New York City, he turns in his badge because the man is a Nazi. The mayor tells Moe although he personally is opposed to Adolf Hitler and his regime, he is under special orders from the Berlin government to halt demonstrations in against Nazi sympathizers and organizers, and he feels he will demonstrate the American system of democracy if he obeys their wishes.

Moe quickly discovers Baumer is in trouble with Berlin for having squandered money intended to finance sabotage. His secretary, Baron Max von Alvenstor, has become disenchanted with his boss and refuses to stall the delivery of a damaging financial report to Berlin. Baumer’s Czechoslovakian wife Sophie confesses to Moe she loathes her husband and married him only to secure her father’s release from prison. Also at odds with Baumer is Otto Horst, who has been ordered to procure false identification cards for German saboteurs assigned to blow up an American port at the end of a radio broadcast delivered by Hitler.

Under orders from Berlin to dispense with Horst, Baumer plots to frame Max for the man’s murder and tries to enlist Sophie’s help, but she warns Horst of the scheme, so he begins to carry a gun for protection. While listening to the radio speech with her husband, Horst, and Max, Sophie grabs Horst’s gun and kills Baumer. Max urges Sophie to escape before anyone sees her.

Moe discovers the body and begins to question suspects, including Sophie, who readily confesses to the crime, but Max insists it was he who killed Baumer. Moe reveals Baumer not only was shot, but stabbed and poisoned as well. Meanwhile, Max rushes to the port where the saboteurs are concealed and orders them to dismantle the bomb. With only minutes to spare, the bomb is dismantled and the saboteurs are captured. Returning to the consulate, Max identifies Horst as an accomplice to the saboteurs, and Horst is arrested.

A coroner’s report determines Baumer died because he accidentally drank from a glass he had laced with poison intended for Max.

Plot Sources

The original play was based on an incident that occurred in 1938, when New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia appointed Police Captain Max Finkelstein to head a special squad of Jewish officers tasked with protecting the German consulate in the city from protestors. The police officer character’s name was originally Max Finkelstein, but was changed to Moe Finkelstein after the real Finkelstein’s suicide in May 1940.^[1]

Production

Otto Preminger had directed and starred as Baumer in the Broadway production of Claire Booth Luce’s play, which opened on November 3, 1939 at the Plymouth Theatre, where it ran for 264 performances,^[2] and he reprised the role for a national tour in the summer of 1940.^[3]

According to the New York Times, 20th Century Fox purchased the screen rights for $25,000 in the spring of 1941 but temporarily shelved the property because studio executives felt Boothe’s «statement of the opposition between fascism and democracy had become self-evident to the point of banality.» ^[4] In April 1942, William Goetz, serving as interim studio head while Darryl F. Zanuck was fulfilling his military duty, greenlighted the project and assigned it to director Ernst Lubitsch. Goetz wanted Preminger to reprise his role of Baumer, but Preminger insisted he wanted to direct as well. When Goetz refused, Preminger offered to direct for free and agreed to withdraw from helming the film but remain as Baumer if Goetz was unhappy with his work at the end of the first week of filming, and Goetz agreed.^[5]

Cast

Milton Berle ….. Moe Finkelstein
Joan Bennett ….. Sophia Baumer
Otto Preminger ….. Karl Baumer
Carl Esmond ….. Baron Max von Alvenstor
Howard Freeman ….. Otto Horst

Critical reception

Theodore Strauss of the New York Times observed, «Less than brilliant when done on Broadway, the script is now painfully dated. The Nazis certainly are not less villainous, but as they are shown in the film they are much less interesting. Practically every character and situation has long been a cliché of anti-Nazi films generally . . . There are other examples of worn conventions. Margin for Error tells us nothing new and tells it very dully . . . As a story the film has practically no suspense. It is not greatly helped by the tediously bombastic style of Otto Preminger as the consul nor by Joan Bennett as his suffering wife. Poor Milton Berle . . . is forced to forsake his comic antics and make sweet speeches on the benefits of democracy, a role for which Mr. Berle seems way out of line. For that matter, Margin for Error is way out of line as well.» ^[7]

References

^ «Captain of Police, Accused, Ends Life». The New York Times: p. 32. 4 May 1940.
^ Margin for Error at the Internet Broadway Database
^ Hirsch, Foster, Otto Preminger: The Man Who Would Be King. New York: Alfred A. Knopf 2007. ISBN 978-0-375-41373-5, p. 81
^ Margin for Error at Turner Classic Movies
^ Hirsch, pp. 85-86
^ Hirsch, pp. 87-89
^ New York Times review
^ Channel 4 review

External links

Margin for Error at the Internet Movie Database
Margin for Error at the TCM Movie Database

v · d · eFilms directed by Otto Preminger

1930s	Die große Liebe (1931) · Under Your Spell (1936) · Danger — Love at Work (1937) · Kidnapped (1938)

1940s	Margin for Error (1943) · In the Meantime, Darling (1944) · Laura (1944) · A Royal Scandal (1945) · Fallen Angel (1945) · Centennial Summer (1946) · Forever Amber (1947) · Daisy Kenyon (1947) · The Fan (1949) · Whirlpool (1949)

1950s	Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950) · The 13th Letter (1951) · Angel Face (1952) · The Moon Is Blue (1953) / Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach (1954) · River of No Return (1954) · Carmen Jones (1954) · The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) · The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955) · Saint Joan (1957) · Bonjour Tristesse (1958) · Porgy and Bess (1959) · Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

1960s	Exodus (1960) · Advise & Consent (1962) · The Cardinal (1963) · In Harm’s Way (1965) · Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) · Hurry Sundown (1967) · Skidoo (1968)

1970s	Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970) · Such Good Friends (1971) · Rosebud (1975) · The Human Factor (1979)

Источник

This article is about a 1943 film. For the statistical concept, see Margin of error.

Margin for Error is a 1943 American drama film directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Lillie Hayward and Samuel Fuller is based on the 1939 play of the same title by Clare Boothe Luce.

Plot

Cast

Edward McNamara as Police Capt. Mulrooney (uncredited)
Milton Berle as Officer Moe Finkelstein
Joe Kirk as Officer Solomon
Joan Bennett as Sophia Baumer (Wife of General Consul of Germany)
Otto Preminger as Karl Baumer (General Consul of Germany)
Carl Esmond as Baron Max von Alvenstor (Secretary to the Consul)
Howard Freeman as Otto Horst (the American Führer)
Clyde Fillmore as Dr. Jennings
Poldi Dur as Frieda (as Poldy Dur) personal maid
Hans Heinrich von Twardowski as Fritz, Butler (uncredited)
Ludwig Donath as Hitler’s Voice (as Louis Donath)
Ferike Boros as Mrs. Finkelstein (uncredited)
Ralph Byrd as Pete, the Dice-Playing Soldier (uncredited)
Don Dillaway as Reporter (uncredited)
Eddie Dunn as Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
Byron Foulger as Drug Store Clerk (uncredited)
Selmer Jackson as Coroner (uncredited)
Bert Moorhouse as Roulette Croupier (uncredited)
Allan Nixon as Soldier (uncredited)
Ted North as Saboteur (uncredited)
Cyril Ring as Drugstore Clerk (uncredited)
Barney Ruditsky as Policeman (uncredited)
Hans Schumm as Karl Müller (uncredited)
Emmett Vogan as Fingerprint Expert (uncredited)
Wolfgang Zilzer as Bit Part (uncredited)

Sources

Production

Critical reception

References

^ «Captain of Police, Accused, Ends Life». The New York Times. 4 May 1940. p. 32.
^ Margin for Error at the Internet Broadway Database
^ Hirsch, Foster, Otto Preminger: The Man Who Would Be King. New York: Alfred A. Knopf 2007. ISBN 978-0-375-41373-5, p. 81
^ Margin for Error at Turner Classic Movies
^ Hirsch, pp. 85-86
^ Hirsch, pp. 87-89
^ New York Times review
^ Channel 4 review

External links

Margin for Error at the American Film Institute Catalog
Margin for Error at IMDb
Margin for Error at Rotten Tomatoes
Margin for Error at the TCM Movie Database

This page was last edited on 4 February 2023, at 07:05

Источник

Synopsis

There’s NO Rationing of Entertainment in…

When police officer Moe Finkelstein and his colleague Officer Salomon are ordered to serve as bodyguards to German consul Karl Baumer by the mayor of New York City, Finkelstein turns in his badge, convinced he has to quit the service because the man is a Nazi.

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Popular reviews

Corny Nazi mockery as Otto Preminger ends up directing his own killing. Got the most obvious Nazi jokes, but Milton Berle‘s delivery make sure they work anyhow. The film does what it’s supposed to do and that’s entertaining enough for me.
I only happened to see this because it’s on a DVD with a film I really like: A Royal Scandal, Tallulah Bankhead’s best cinematic vehicle, which was started by rom-com master Ernst Lubitsch but completed − after his untimely demise − by stable-mate Otto Preminger, who also directed Margin for Error. It’s the first movie I’ve ever seen starring wise-cracking radio comic Milton Berle, and I was expecting dated gags and excessive mugging, like you’d get with a George Formby or Eddie Cantor vehicle. Actually, he slots quite effortlessly into this fascinating time capsule, playing a Jewish beat cop who’s asked to guard the Nazi consulate in New York, locking horns with a hulking Teutonic sadist played, not unsurprisingly, by…
Blunt and contrived propaganda includes characters making a patriotic declaration every three minutes, and cartoon Nazis who are alternately mocked and presented as the epitome of evil. Attempts at comedy are rendered flat as a result, hence Milton Berle is wasted. The only laughable elements are in the ridiculous plot and its resolution. It has its interesting aspects, nevertheless. Beyond giving Preminger the opportunity to ham it up shamelessly as the main villain, his work on the film as director provided the impetus for his seven year contract at Twentieth Century Fox, which gave him extraordinary creative freedom to produce some of the most incisive and acute psychological and sociological dramas made in Hollywood — there’s a tracking shot which follows Joan Bennett which is a taste of things to come. Also, the script’s pulpy aspects show the hand of Samuel Fuller, who gave the script a rewrite in one his first jobs in Hollywood. So, not a complete waste.
There’s not many propaganda films you can say are «cute,» but this is one of them––and from Otto Preminger and Samuel Fuller of all people! Sprinkled with a cast of hammy performances, great gags, and quick, fluid direction and camerawork, this overlooked wartime propaganda film is an early demonstration of Preminger’s potential (although it should be noted this was not his first film as director).
Margin for Error is not a great film by any means, but it is an historical curio for a few reasons: it is one of the explicitly anti-Nazi films made in Hollywood during WWII, and it also marks the return of future great director Otto Preminger to filmmaking following the failure of his collaboration with Darryl F. Zanuck in the late 1930’s.

The film is plot-heavy and really clear in its commentary on social issues of the day. It suffers from an overabundance of characters, but it’s pretty enjoyable nonetheless, thanks notably to the capable performance of Joan Bennett and the hilariously hammy Nazi impression of Preminger himself, who is surprisingly onscreen during a great deal of the running time.…
Nothing says ‘wartime unity’ like uniting Joan Bennett, Milton Berle, and Otto Preminger in the same movie! The bizarre plot has Berle as a Jewish cop assigned to protect the German American Bund in pre-war New York from anti-Nazi vigilante violence, on orders from La Guardia himself, so to demonstrate to the Nazis the American Way and its sense of equality and fair play. Of course, that’s really just a pretext for its desired comedy situation: Berle making cracks next to cartoon Nazis, headed by a monocled Otto Preminger with a parrot named Churchill. «This routine is getting a little boring.» Pretty lousy, but not without its time capsule curio pleasures.
Otto Preminger’s first film for six years is wartime propaganda, but it contains the first hints of the knottiness which will become distinctively Premingerian. In Margin for Error, a sincere Nazi, driven to the brink of suicide when he thinks his grandmother was Jewish, becomes a heroic character, while an apparently even more zealous Nazi is revealed to be ideologically apathetic, preferring American life to life in Germany, and is discovered to have gambled away his government’s money. This film can’t get into subtler reflections on idealism, cynicism and ideology, but it makes a start. As Officer Moe Finkelstein, Milton Berle speaks for American democratic values, as well as expressing a specifically Jewish-American hatred for Nazism. Preminger’s comic sensibility comes…
Very broad anti-Nazi propaganda. Some unusual tonal changes. Preminger performance as the bad guy complete dominate the procedural, but I like how Berle amiability as the average American play against him. The script (which Samuel Fuller did some rewrites) is pretty bad overall. A weird curiosity.

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Plot

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Synopsis

There’s NO Rationing of Entertainment in…

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