''I Was Jack Mortimer'' (german: Ich war Jack Mortimer) is a 1935 German thriller film directed by

Carl Froelich Carl August Hugo Froelich (5 September 1875 – 12 February 1953) was a German film pioneer and film director. He was born and died in Berlin. Biography Apparatus builder and cameraman From 1903 Froelich was a colleague of Oskar Messter, one of ...

and starring Anton Walbrook,

Eugen Klöpfer Eugen Gottlob Klöpfer (10 March 1886 in Talheim, Heilbronn – 3 March 1950 in Wiesbaden) was a German actor. Early life Born to Karl Klöpfer and his wife Karoline, née Hörsch, Eugen attended the Realschule ("secondary school") in Heilbro ...

, and

Sybille Schmitz Sybille Maria Christina Schmitz (2 December 1909 – 13 April 1955) was a German actress. Biography Schmitz attended an acting school in Cologne and got her first engagement at Max Reinhardt's Deutsches Theater in Berlin in 1927. Only one year ...

. It was shot at the Tempelhof Studios in Berlin. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Franz Schroedter. It is an adaptation of the 1933 novel of the same title by Alexander Lernet-Holenia.

Synopsis

Fred is a struggling Budapest taxi driver, is frustrated because he wants to marry his girlfriend Marie whose Russian emigre work in one of the city's cheap

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

s. His big break seems to come one day when he assists a wealthy woman with the engine of her car and is hired by her to act as her

chauffeur A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine. Originally, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to speciali ...

on a trip down to Monte Carlo on very good wages. On the same day celebrated

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

Pedro Montemayor arrives in the city for a concert, accompanied by his wife Winifred. His jealous, domineering nature has led her into a romance with American Jack Mortimer, who is also scheduled to arrive in the city that day and stay at the same hotel. Shortly after Fred picks up Mortimer in his taxi from the station, Montemayor shoots him dead from another car, having already been aware of his arrival. An alarmed Fred at first tries to go to the police, but finding them uninterested and suddenly alarmed that he will be blamed for the murder, dumps the body several miles away. He goes to his new employer and explains what happens, but she dismisses him. Increasingly desperate, he realises that if the American was known to have turned up at the hotel, he couldn't possibly have died in his taxi. He changes into his elegant clothes and goes to impersonate him at the hotel for a brief time to establish his own alibi. Things go wrong when both Winifred and then her husband turn up and his fake identity is exposed. With the police now on his trail Fred plans to escape the city, and Marie tries to assist him by getting some money from his apartment. She is pursued by detectives to a dance hall where she meets up with Fred again. Just as thing seem hopeless for him, Montemayor confesses to the crime. Fred explains to the investing officers about why the dead American had turned up at his hotel, saying "I was Jack Mortimer".

Cast

References

External links

* 1935 films Films of Nazi Germany German thriller films 1930s thriller films Films directed by Carl Froelich Films based on Austrian novels Films about identity theft Tobis Film films German black-and-white films Films about taxis 1930s German-language films Films shot at Tempelhof Studios Films set in Budapest 1930s German films {{1930s-thriller-film-stub

Synopsis

Cast

See also

References

External links