Film Screening
THE MURDERERS ARE AMONG US

78th Anniversary of Gardena Cinema

Sun, 12/08/2024
4:45 PM GARDENA CINEMA

Join us and our partners from the Gardena Cinema to celebrate the theater's 78th Anniversary with a triple feature screening of Film Noir classics - Robert Siodmak's THE KILLERS, Wolfgang Staudte's THE MURDERERS ARE AMONG US, and Charles Vidor's GILDA, all from 1946, the year of the theater's Grand Opening. As a special treat, Friends of Gardena Cinema will also serve FREE birthday cake to all in attendance, while supplies last!

FREE ADMISSION to ALL 3 films for Friends of Gardena Cinema members.
Annual Memberships ($25) available at the Gardena Cinema Box Office.

Free parking is available in the parking lot adjacent to the Gardena Cinema on the north side.

THE MURDERERS ARE AMONG US (DIE MÖRDER SIND UNTER UNS)
Germany (1946), 81 min. B&W, In German with English Subtitles
Writer-Director: Wolfgang Staudte, Cinematography: Friedl Behn-Grund, Eugen Klagemann, Editor: Hans Heinrich, Cast: Hildegard Knef, Ernst Wilhelm Borchert, Erna Sellmer, Arno Paulsen, Ernst Wilhelm Borchert Production: DEFA-Studio für Spielfilme (Potsdam-Babelsberg), Deutsche Film AG (Berlin/Ost).

Filmed among the ruins of a recently defeated Berlin, Wolfgang Staudte’s The Murderers Are among Us was the first film made in Germany after WWII.  Produced by the newly-founded DEFA Studio (with support from the Soviet allies), Staudte’s film successfully blends elements of German expressionism and Italian neorealism, creating an anti-fascist Film Noir set in the rubble. 

1945: Berlin -in the aftermath of the Second World War, the city lays in ruins. Photographer Susanne Wallner (Hildegard Knef) returns to Berlin after spending three years in a concentration camp, yet amid the rubble, she is filled with a renewed energy for life. When she arrives at her old apartment, she finds that Dr. Hans Mertens (Ernst Wilhelm Borchert) has taken up residence there. A physician and former German army officer, Mertens is haunted by the wartime execution of Polish civilians, which he did nothing to prevent. Under Susanne's care, the broken man gathers new strength. Then, by chance, Mertens meets his former captain (Arno Paulsen) and decides to take the law into his own hands.
Gardena Cinema is the last family-operated single-screen stand-alone vintage neighborhood movie theater in southwest Los Angeles. Built in 1946 and operated by the Kim family since 1976, Gardena Cinema has been part of making memories for the South Bay Los Angeles community for decades. With a capacity of over 800 total seats, many families have shared some quality time together under our roof. Your donation will help Friends of Gardena Cinema ensure that Gardena Cinema remains a community-based venue that continues to support exhibition of films and movies, whether new and current or older revival titles, long and short format, and especially those created by filmmakers living in the Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. Help Friends of Gardena Cinema achieve its goal to make Gardena Cinema the leading South Bay place to make memories and socialize with like-minded people who love movies, music, and the arts.

This screening is co-presented by the Goethe-Institut and the DEFA Film Library at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.