They Were So Young [Mannequins für Rio] ** (1954, Scott Brady, Raymond Burr, Johanna Matz) – Classic Movie Review 11,491

Director Kurt Neumann’s rare and unusual 1954 German-American black and white noir crime drama film They Were So Young [Mannequins für Rio] has a screenplay written by Felix Lützkendorf and Kurt Neumann, and the blacklisted screenwriters Dalton Trumbo and Michael Wilson (both uncredited), based on an outline prepared from official documents by Jacques Companeez with the cooperation of the international police of Interpol, Paris.

They Were So Young stars Scott Brady as Richard Lanning, Raymond Burr as Jaime Coltos and Johanna Matz as Eve Ullmann, along with a largely German cast. It was shot in Hamburg, Munich and Rome.

It was released in Germany in 1954 and then on 7 January 1955 by Lippert Pictures in the US in an English dubbed version and by Exclusive Films in the UK also in 1955.

In the interesting and always timely story, a Rio de Janeiro model agency is a front for a white-slavery ring that kidnaps European women and sells them on the South American sex market.

The uncredited cast in order of appearance are Ingrid Stenn as Connie Brewers, Gisela Fackeldey as Mme. Lansowa, Kurt Meisel as Pasquale, Katharina Mayberg as Felicia, Eduard Linkers as M. Albert, Gordon Howard as Garza, Elizabeth Tanney as Emily, Erica Beer as Elise LeFevre, Hanita Hallan as Lena, Hannelore Axman as Vincenta, Willy Trenk-Trebitsch as Bulanos, Pero Alexander as Manuel, Josef Dahmen as Dr. Perez, and Gert Fröbe as Lobos.

It is made by Corona Filmproduktion, and released by Schorcht Filmverleih Gmbh (1954) (Germany), Lippert Pictures (1955) (US) (English dubbed) and Exclusive Films (1955) (UK).

The Best of Raymond Burr: Desperate (1947), Sleep, My Love (1948), Raw Deal (1948), Pitfall (1948), Abandoned (1949), Red Light (1949), M (1951), His Kind of Woman (1951), The Blue Gardenia (1953), Walk a Crooked Mile (1948), Borderline (1950), Unmasked (1950), The Whip Hand (1951), FBI Girl (1951), Meet Danny Wilson (1952), Rear Window (1954), They Were So Young (1954), A Cry in the Night (1956), Affair in Havana (1957), and Crime of Passion (1957).

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,491

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