Der Mann, der seinen Mörder sucht (1931)

Director:

Robert Siodmak

Writers:

Ludwig Hirschfeld, Ernst Neubach (play),

Stars:

Heinz Rühmann, Lien Deyers, Raimund Janitschek

Cast

Credited cast:
Heinz Rühmann	...	Hans Herfort
Lien Deyers	...	Kitty
Raimund Janitschek	...	Otto Kuttlapp
Hans Leibelt	...	Adamowski
Hermann Speelmans	...	Jim
Friedrich Hollaender	...	Chairman of 'Weisse Weste' (as Friedrich Holländer)
Gerhard Bienert	...	Policeman
Franz Fiedler
Eberhard Mack
Erik Schuetz
Roland Varno
Wolfgang von Waltershausen
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hermann Blaß
Eugen Boral	...	Member of 'Weisse Weste'
Otti Dietze	...	Innkeeper

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

victim searches for killer | assisted suicide | suicide by hitman | based on play

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

5 February 1931 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Looking for His Murderer

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universum Film (UFA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Remade as Alles im Eimer (1981)

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Soundtracks

"Wenn ich mir was wünschen dürfte"
Music by Friedrich Hollander
Sung by Marlene Dietrich and Greta Keller

User Reviews

Fast, hilarious black humor

This is an interesting early work of Robert Siodmak, one of the great masters of film noir. A certain ‚Billie Wilder' shares the credit for the script. A still very young Heinz Rühmann, Germany's Jack Lemmon, is starring.

SPOILER ALERT Contrary to what I read somewhere, this movie is not a ‚premake' of D.O.A. The story has, however, a certain similarity with Aki Kaurismäki's I Hired a Contract Killer. The movie is fast, very fast. Others would have made a two hour feature with the story, this one takes 56 minutes in all. It starts straight away with our young hero trying to shoot a bullet into his head. No explanation whatsoever is given as to his motives – moviegoers in the Germany of 1931 obviously did not need any. He is disturbed by a burglar and puts a contract on himself, so to speak. The burglar tells him that he will hit him in the near future and dutifully makes a cross on his back with a piece of chalk – not unlike the ‚M' in Fritz Lang's movie of the same year. With the cross on his back the young hero goes to a nightclub – and falls in love with a young girl. Of course he tries to rescind from the contract and desperately looks for the burglar, only to learn that he had passed on the job to a subcontractor! Not just any subcontractor, but the very same Jim, the man with the scar, as he solemnly declares.

In this movie German Expressionism meets American slapstick. The result is a very entertaining picture with dark humor that verges on the abyss of desperation. You feel that its makers had great fun doing it. The sound effects are hilarious. The wind sounds like the wind machine in a movie studio, and you have the impression that it is done that way on purpose. Watch for a hilarious ride in an ambulance with its grotesquely accelerated sequences. The Berlin of the early 30ies flits past in quirky angles.