The Fugitive from Chicago (german: Der Flüchtling aus Chicago) is a German crime and adventure movie produced in 1933 by director Johannes Meyer. The screenplay was written by

Max W. Kimmich Max Wilhelm Kimmich (4 November 1893 in Ulm – 16 January 1980 in Icking, Upper Bavaria), also known as M. W. Kimmich, was a German film director and screenwriter during the first half of the 20th century. He was the brother-in-law of Nazi Propaga ...

, Hermann Oberländer and Hans Martin Cremer after the 1932 novel of the same title by Curt J. Braun. The film was a co-production between the film companies of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

(situated in Geiselgasteig near

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, where most scenes were shot at the

Bavaria Studios Bavaria Studios are film production studios located in Munich, the capital of the region of Bavaria in Germany, and a subsidiary of Bavaria Film. History The studios were constructed in the suburb of Geiselgasteig in 1919 shortly after the Firs ...

) and Atalanta (situated in Berlin). Some scenes were shot at the German motorcycle company,

Zündapp Zündapp (a.k.a. Zuendapp) was a major German motorcycle manufacturer founded in 1917 in Nuremberg by Fritz Neumeyer, together with the Friedrich Krupp AG and the machine tool manufacturer Thiel under the name "Zünder- und Apparatebau G.m.b.H." ...

. 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 ...

Max Seefelder Max Seefelder (1897–1970) was a German art director.Drewniak p.40 He designed the sets for around 80 films during his career. Selected filmography * '' The Tunnel'' (1933) * ''The Master Detective'' (1933) * '' Inheritance in Pretoria'' (1934) ...

and

Erich Zander Erich Zander (11 April 1905 – 15 April 1991) was a German field hockey player who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics and in the 1936 Summer Olympics. In 1928 he was a member of the German field hockey team, which won the bronze medal ...

. It passed censorship on 23 January 1934 and was presented to the public on 31 January 1934 in Munich and on 22 February 1934 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Story

Werner Dux, heir of the big car company "Dux-Werke", is a gambler who has just been arrested in Chicago for shooting a cardsharper. While in jail, he learns from his friend Michael Nissen that his father has died recently. That means that the Dux-Werke are without a leader at the moment, for Werner's cousin Steffie, who is his co-heiress, is still too young to run the firm. In this situation, Werner convinces his friend Michael, who is an engineer by profession, to take over the firm as long as he is arrested and to pose as him. Michael agrees and is able to bring the firm up again. He even arranges a reliability test for motorcycles via Konstantinopel, Rome and Barcelona, which creates a big Turkish order for the company. Therefore, Steffie is looking up to him (whom she considers to be Werner) respectful. When the real Werner escapes from jail and arrives in Germany, it looks as if the whole story is up to bust. But Werner needs money, so he convinces Michael to go on like before and hand over all profits of the firm to him. But meanwhile, Michael has become interested in Steffie and feels bad by betraying her. So he went on holiday in a secluded lodge, and after his return, he is somehow changed. Steffie is worried he might have met another woman and at the presentation of a new car model, she demands an explanation from him, but Michael is not able to give her one. Now Werner arrives and begins to court Steffie, who does not recognize him. Still unhappy about Michaels behaviour, she follows Werner into his villa, but when he tries to approach her, she turns him back. Deeply offended, he tells her about his real name, and now Steffie understands why Michael has moved back from her. One day, Werner is shot dead, and Michael is suspected to be his murderer. The only one who believes in his innocence is Steffie. Shortly before his condemnation, the real murderer can be arrested. After his release, Michael disappears without a trace. Steffie, who has looked for him in vain, now hopes to meet him at the reliability test race, where their motorcycles have good prospects. Driven by ambition, Michael really appears there, and Steffie can finally embrace him.

Staff

Reception

The film, which was rated as "not suitable for adolescents" by filmcheckers of the propaganda ministry, did nevertheless receive the attribute "artistically" by the same institution. The attribute meant that the distributors and cinemas had to pay less entertainment tax when showing this film. It was also shown to many other European countries; the following year, it made his debut in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

on 5 August and in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

on 25 August. Foreign-language versions were also produced for Italy (''L´evaso di Chicago''), Greece (''O asotos yios'') and Czechoslovakia (''Uprchlik z Chicaga''). To US cinema-goers, the film was first shown on 15 March 1936.

References

Klaus, Ulrich J. : German sound films. Encyclopedia of the full-length German speaking feature films (1929 - 1945), sorted chronologically after their debut dates in Germany. - Ulrich J. Klaus. - Berlin

t al. T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...

: 1934.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fugitive From Chicago 1930s German-language films Films of Nazi Germany Films set in Chicago Films set in Munich 1934 films Films shot at Bavaria Studios Bavaria Film films Films directed by Johannes Meyer 1930s crime comedy-drama films German crime comedy-drama films German black-and-white films German adventure comedy-drama films 1930s adventure comedy-drama films 1934 adventure films 1934 comedy films 1934 drama films 1930s German films