Clare Boothe Luce's Margin for Error
| Margin for Error | |
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US Theatrical Poster
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| Directed by | Otto Preminger |
| Produced by | Ralph Dietrich |
| Written by |
Lillie Hayward Samuel Fuller Based on the play by Clare Boothe Luce |
| Starring |
Joan Bennett Milton Berle Otto Preminger |
| Music by | Leigh Harline |
| Cinematography | Edward Cronjager |
| Edited by | Louis R. Loeffler |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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74 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Margin for Error is a 1943 American drama film directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Lillie Hayward and Samuel Fuller is based on the 1939 play of the same title by Clare Boothe Luce.
When police officer Moe Finkelstein (Milton Berle) and his colleague Officer Salomon are ordered to serve as bodyguards to German consul Karl Baumer (Otto Preminger) by the mayor of New York City, Finkelstein turns in his badge, convinced he has to quit the service because the man is a Nazi. Capt. Mulrooney, who appointed them to this job, tells Moe that although the mayor personally is opposed to Adolf Hitler and his regime, the mayor is responsible for the safety of everybody, and he feels that through this Job Finkelstein can show them the difference between their system and the Nazi one.
Moe quickly discovers Baumer is in trouble with Berlin for having squandered money intended to finance sabotage. His secretary, Baron Max von Alvenstor (Carl Esmond), has become disenchanted with his boss and refuses to delay the delivery of a damaging financial report to Berlin. Baumer's Czechoslovakian wife, Sophia, confesses to Moe she loathes her husband and married him only to secure her father's release from prison. Also at odds with Baumer is Otto Horst, who has been ordered to procure false identification cards for German saboteurs assigned to blow up an American port at the end of a radio broadcast delivered by Hitler.
Under orders from Berlin to dispense with Horst, Baumer plots to frame Max for the man's murder and tries to enlist Sophia's help, but she warns Horst of the scheme, so he begins to carry a gun for protection. While the Baumers are listening to the radio speech with their guests (Horst, Max, and Dr. Jennings), Horst stabs the Consul with his new knife without the others' noticing it. Then Sophia grabs Horst's gun and kills Baumer. Max urges Sophia to escape before anyone sees her.
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Wikipedia