My Friend Rockefeller (2015)

Portrait of Christian Gerhartsreiter, who posed as a Rockefeller heir for decades, but who was, in fact, a con artist and a murderer.

Director:

Steffi Kammerer

Writer:

Steffi Kammerer

Stars:

Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, Dan Banks, Sandra Boss

Cast

Credited cast:
Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter	...	Himself
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dan Banks	...	Himself (fellow church member, San Marino, CA)
Sandra Boss	...	Herself (ex-wife, married for 13 years)
Meredith Brucker	...	Herself
Meredith Bruckner	...	Herself (romance novelist, San Marino, CA)
Bob Brusca	...	Himself (former colleague, Manhattan)
Judith Carter	...	Herself (San Marino, CA)
Peggy Ebright	...	Herself (artist, San Marino, CA)
Horst Eigermann	...	Himself (childhood friend)
Frank C. Girardot	...	Himself (crime reporter, San Gabriel Valley)
Martha Henry	...	Herself (art dealer, Manhattan)
Patrick Hickox	...	Himself (architect, Boston)
Steffi Kammerer	...	Herself (in interview scene with Gerhartsreiter)
Elmer Kelln	...	Himself (surrogate parent)
Jean Kelln	...	Herself (surrogate parent)

Storyline

Christian Gerhartsreiter, a man eventually known as "Clark Rockefeller", lived a life of deception; the FBI called it "the longest-running con in FBI history." After ingratiating himself into New York society and marrying a top banker with a Harvard MBA, "Clark" settled into his new luxurious life. The two had a daughter, before they divorced after 13 years. When his wife won custody, a distraught Clark abducted his beloved daughter. Ironically, it was the search for the missing child that not only exposed a web of lies and multiple identities, but a double murder committed decades earlier. How was Gerhartsreiter able to dupe so many people - from the very cream of society? What buttons did he press? We followed his trail and collected the reflections of those close to him. His friends who were left in the wake of his roller-coaster journey: from a Bavarian village to the most exclusive clubs on the American East Coast - to the grand finale in a Los Angeles court room. Here a jury ...

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Plot Keywords:

christian gerhartsreiter | fake identity | deception | rockefeller | fbi | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography | Crime | Mystery | News

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Details

Official Sites:

My Friend Rockefeller website

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 July 2016 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

Being Rockefeller

Filming Locations:

Chiemgau, Bavaria, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

LOOKSfilm,Lockberg Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter: But... I mean, what is fiction? Fiction is lying. Every novel we read, every fictional television show we see is really a lie. If you think about it in terms of what is truth and what is a lie, well really the only true book is the Bible, and everything else is really a lie.

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Connections

References Gilligan's Island (1964)

User Reviews

B-list Documentry

Although real life psychopath is fascinating, this film could be more journalistic. I did see a version of TV interview about this Rockefeller impostor a few years back. He certainly did fool a lot of folks. However, truth to be told by the journalists seemly convinced me more.

This one tried to weave those human factors into the story was not particularly impressive. Documentary can be a good story telling alone by itself. Interviewing related characters should not be the focus. It should be the chronically telling all the frauds and misconceives he had done to lead to his arrest. Impersonating someone is not a crime itself legally unless it causes any damages to victims. Apparently, he did not cause enough financial or physical damages to others to turn him in earlier until 2008. He was charming to those soft ears. People were fooled by him because they also saw his values to climb up the social or career ladders. He never really met anyone in the upper class society otherwise he would have already been exposed. His ex-wife wanted to believe she married into the Rockefeller so she did not even check on his past. She thought somehow she finally could be proud of her femininity to attract a classic American Aristocracy. Everyone has his or her volubility. Knowing yours would definitely protect yourself from those fouls.

The story of "Catch me if you can" which Steven Spielberg adapted it into a comedy is very much alike. However, the main character never harm anyone physically. This Rockefeller impostor is a convicted murderer which I don't see anyone would make it into other than thrillers. I am somehow disappointed about this film. If you are familiar with the case, you can skip it.