A Foreign Affair (1948) 7.4
In occupied Berlin, an army captain is torn between an ex-Nazi cafe singer and the U.S. congresswoman investigating her. Director:Billy Wilder |
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A Foreign Affair (1948) 7.4
In occupied Berlin, an army captain is torn between an ex-Nazi cafe singer and the U.S. congresswoman investigating her. Director:Billy Wilder |
|
| 0Share... |
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Jean Arthur | ... | ||
| Marlene Dietrich | ... |
Erika Von Schluetow
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John Lund | ... |
Captain John Pringle
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| Millard Mitchell | ... |
Col. Rufus J. Plummer
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Peter von Zerneck | ... |
Hans Otto Birgel
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Stanley Prager | ... |
Mike
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William Murphy | ... |
Joe
(as Bill Murphy)
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Raymond Bond | ... |
Pennecot
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Boyd Davis | ... |
Giffin
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Robert Malcolm | ... |
Kramer
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Charles Meredith | ... |
Yandell
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Michael Raffetto | ... |
Salvatore
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Damian O'Flynn | ... |
Lieutenant Colonel
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Frank Fenton | ... |
Major Mathews
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James Larmore | ... |
Lieutenant Hornby
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A congressional committee visits occupied Berlin to investigate G.I. morals. Congresswoman Phoebe Frost, appalled at widespread evidence of human frailty, hears rumors that cafe singer Erika, former mistress of a wanted war criminal, is "protected" by an American officer, and enlists Captain John Pringle to help her find him...not knowing that Pringle is Erika's lover. Written by Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
Congresswoman Frost (Jean Arthur) comes to occupied Berlin to investigate the moral decay' of US troops but falls in love with Captain Pringle (John Lund), who is having an affair with nightclub singer von Schlütow (Marlene Dietrich), who in turn is the ex-moll of a Nazi big wig.
Which filmmaker alive today would have the guts, the clout and the talent to make this dark a satire on the rebuilding of Iraq'? Only three years after World War II, here is a movie that mercilessly punches holes through all illusions about patriotism, militarism or the nobility of the American cause. Nobody is spared in Billy Wilder's vision: the soldiers, the politicians, the Germans, they all claim to be working for the great cause of building a New Germany, while at the same time ruthlessly pursuing their own self-interests (self-interests, more often than not, having to do with getting laid). Wilder's very own brand of romanticism and sharp wit keep this movie from getting too grim and his cynical, played-for-laughs version of Germany Year Zero may well be more honest and grounded in reality than the misery-fest of Roberto look at me caring for these poor victims' Rosselini.
***1/2