Comradeship (1931)

Plea against war and for friendship between peoples, through the story of French miners rescued by German colleagues after a firedamp explosion.

Director:

Georg Wilhelm Pabst

Writers:

Carl Haensel (novel), Peter Martin Lampel

Stars:

Alexander Granach, Fritz Kampers, Ernst Busch

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alexander Granach	...	Kasper
Fritz Kampers	...	Wilderer
Ernst Busch	...	Wittkopp
Elisabeth Wendt	...	Frau Anna Wittkopp
Gustav Püttjer	...	Kaplan
Oskar Höcker	...	Obersteiger
Daniel Mendaille	...	Jean Leclerc
Georges Charlia	...	Emile
Andrée Ducret	...	Françoise
Alex Bernard	...	Grand-père, le vieux mineur
Pierre-Louis	...	Georges - le petit galibot
Héléna Manson	...	Rose, la femme du mineur blessé
Marcel Lesieur	...	Albert
Willem Holsboer	...	Ingenieur des deutschen Bergwerks (as Willem Holzboer)
Georges Tourreil	...	L'ingénieur

Storyline

An old German mine was split in two after the end of WWI because of where the new border was located. In the French part a fire breaks out; the German miners send a rescue group in, helping their French comrades. Three old German miners, who were not treated friendly at a French inn the night before, start their own private rescue through an old tunnel that separated the two mines. Will the official rescue party realize there are others left behind in time to save them?

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Plot Keywords:

dirty face | international | border | rescue | explosion | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The print at the British Film Institute is missing the final scene , which may have been deliberately removed by censorship, but is considered by Pabst,s long time editor to have been the most important sequence in the entire film.

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Connections

Featured in Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood: End of an Era (1995)

User Reviews

Brilliant...

Valliant effort to use a mining catastrophe as a vehicle to pronounce this director's distaste for war. The audience not only learns a great deal about early mining rescue procedures but, we learn that Europeans at the interval between WWI and WWII, had concerning pacifists(for lack of a better term). The speeches given by both representatives of each country at the end of the film, are inspiring given the time. Although the revised edition, through the transfer technology of early foreign films, "cuts-off characters heads" at times, this film holds it's own in many different aspects. Character analysis, lighting techniques, historical content and a scenario that has tested and inspired many a writer and filmmaker.

Pabst went on to Direct and put to screen Weil & Brecht's "Three Penny Opera", starring the original star, Lotte Lenya.

Details

Country:

Germany France

Language:

French German

Release Date:

17 November 1931 (Germany)

Also Known As:

A Tragédia da Mina

Filming Locations:

Bethune, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nero-Film AG, Gaumont-Franco Film-Aubert (G.F.F.A)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min 86 min (Janus print)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1