A German Robinson Crusoe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A German Robinson Crusoe
German film poster
GermanEin Robinson
Directed byArnold Fanck
Written byArnold Fanck
Rolf Meyer
Produced byOskar Marion
Wilhelm Sperber
StarringHerbert A.E. Böhme
Marieluise Claudius
Claus Clausen
CinematographySepp Allgeier
Albert Benitz
Hans Ert
Edited byArnold Fanck
Johannes Lüdke
Music byWerner Bochmann
Production
company
Bavaria-Filmkunst
Distributed byBavaria-Filmverleih
Release date
  • 25 April 1940 (1940-04-25) (Germany)
Running time
81 minutes
CountryGermany
LanguageGerman

A German Robinson Crusoe (German: Ein Robinson) is a 1940 German drama film directed by Arnold Fanck and starring Herbert A.E. Böhme, Marieluise Claudius, and Claus Clausen. Written by Arnold Fanck and Rolf Meyer, the film is a modern-day Robinson Crusoe story about a man so angry about the post-World War I conditions in Weimar Germany that he voluntarily goes to live on a desert island. The film was shot partly on location in South America.[1]

Plot[edit]

During World War I, the German cruiser SMS Dresden is attacked by British ships off the coast of Chile. The crew manages to abandon ship before it sinks. They make their way to an isolated island where they are taken prisoner. After spending three years in custody, the sailors manage to escape and make their way back to Germany, intending to continue fighting for their Fatherland. When they arrive, however, they encounter a different Germany from the one they left behind—one where they are ridiculed and attacked by mutineers.

One of the returning crew, Carl Ohlse, leaves Weimar Germany and returns to the island where he had been held prisoner for three years, determined to live out the rest of his life as a Robinson Crusoe. Some time later, he hears a radio report that describes how things have improved in Germany during the 1930s. Later, when the new SMS Dresden passes the island, he makes his way to the ship and is taken aboard by his new respectful comrades.

Cast[edit]

References[edit]

Notes
  1. ^ Hake, Sabine (2009). Bock, Hans-Michael; Bergfelder, Tim (eds.). The Concise Cinegraph: Encyclopaedia of German Cinema. New York: Berghahn Books. p. 372. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1x76dm6. ISBN 978-1571816559. JSTOR j.ctt1x76dm6. S2CID 252868046.
Bibliography

External links[edit]