Murderers Among Us (1946)
"Die Mörder sind unter uns" (original title)

Susanne Wallner returns to the ruins of Berlin from a Concentration Camp after WW2 to discover that someone else lives in her apartment: Dr. Hans Mertens, the war made him depressive and he... See full summary »

Director:

Wolfgang Staudte

Writer:

Wolfgang Staudte

Stars:

Hildegard Knef, Elly Burgmer, Erna Sellmer

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Hildegard Knef	...	Susanne Wallner
Elly Burgmer	...	Mutter des kranken Kindes
Erna Sellmer	...	Elise Brueckner
Hilde Adolphi	...	Daisy
Marlise Ludwig	...	Sonja
Ursula Krieg	...	Carola Schulz
Arno Paulsen	...	Ferdinand Brueckner
Wilhelm Borchert	...	Dr. Hans Mertens (as W. Borchert)
Robert Forsch	...	Herr Mondschein
Albert Johannes	...	Bartolomaeus Timm (as A. Johannes)
Wolfgang Dohnberg	...	Fritz Knochenhauer
Ernst Stahl-Nachbaur	...	Arzt

Storyline

Susanne Wallner returns to the ruins of Berlin from a Concentration Camp after WW2 to discover that someone else lives in her apartment: Dr. Hans Mertens, the war made him depressive and he drinks a lot of alcohol. Susanne asks him to go but he doesn't want to, so they share Susanne's apartment and even discover their sympathy and then their love for each other. That encourages him a little, of course. But then he hears that Ferdinand Brückner is still alive and also lives in Berlin. Brückner was his Captain during WW2, he gave the order to kill more than 100 innocent people, many children and women among them, on Christmas 1942 in Poland.

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Plot Keywords:

ruins | concentration camp | children | love | christmas | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Thriller | War

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Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

16 August 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

Murderers Among Us

Filming Locations:

Althoff-Atelier, Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Deutsche Film (DEFA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min 91 min (re-issue)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The world premiere took place just one day before the first sentences in the Nuremberg Trails were carried out, and ten war criminals were hanged.

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Connections

Referenced in Law & Order: Criminal Intent: A Murderer Among Us (2003)

User Reviews

Fine German Expressionist / Noir cinematography in the ruins of Berlin

Murderers Among Us is the first film made, of a vast trove of films, in the Soviet controlled sector of post-war Germany that was to become East Germany. It is deeply and masterfully immersed in the aesthetic traditions of German Expressionism and /or Film Noir: unusual angles and picture planes, extreme lighting effects, twisted stairs, bombed-out buildings that look like jagged fingers against the sky (it was shot in the ruins of Berlin), a haunted, tormented protagonist, stark black and white atmosphere, and, above all, shadows. Shadows and more shadows of every size, shape, and density. In fact this film could serve as a text book on shadow craft: the scene where a man is screaming from within the vast shadow of a pistol wielding attacker is magnificent. I haven't seen The Third Man recently but I am sure Murderers influenced it profoundly. I would recommend the Third Man as a good double feature with this film.

Murders belongs to a genre called 'rubble films', shot in the rubble of Germany and frequently dealing with issues of German guilt after WW II. Murderers does not seek to deal overmuch with the people who gave the orders, but with the many Germans who followed them with little or no protest. Such as the wounded doctor in this film who stood by while even children were executed as reprisals against resistance fighters in occupied Poland. Plotwise the film works quite nicely, and I liked the atmosphere of renewal, and perhaps relief at the end of a nightmare, amongst all that ruin and rubble as the German people began to pick themselves up.