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Otto Preminger directs himself as a Nazi he wants to murder — and it's a COMEDY?
TMDB
63
IMDb
57
Rotten Tomatoes
17
Audience Score
17

Margin for Error (1943)

propaganda-noirdark screwballWW2 time-capsule

Overview

ComedyDramaCrimeWar

When police officer Moe Finkelstein and his colleague Officer Salomon are ordered to serve as bodyguards to German consul Karl Baumer 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.

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Content warning

Standout Aspects

Acting

Milton Berle's jittery physical comedy in a Nazi thriller.

Direction

Preminger directing his own on-screen demise with glee.

Best for:Solo: Midnight rabbit hole into 1943 Hollywood propaganda machine.·Rewatch: Spotting Preminger's self-directed death scene — twice.
Heads up:Triggers: Cartoonish but frequent anti-German slurs; period-accurate prejudice.
Otto Preminger

Director

Otto Preminger

ReleasedFeb 10, 1943
Runtime1h 14m
StatusReleased

Vibe

Pacefast
Intensitymedium
Tonemixed
Feelmedium
20th Century Fox

Top Cast

Joan Bennett

Joan Bennett

Sophia Baumer

Milton Berle

Milton Berle

Moe Finkelstein

Otto Preminger

Otto Preminger

Karl Baumer

Carl Esmond

Carl Esmond

Baron Max von Alvenstor

Howard Freeman

Howard Freeman

Otto Horst

Poldi Dur

Poldi Dur

Frieda Schmidt

Clyde Fillmore

Clyde Fillmore

Dr. Jennings

Byron Foulger

Byron Foulger

Pharmacist

Selmer Jackson

Selmer Jackson

Medical Examiner

Emmett Vogan

Emmett Vogan

Fingerprint Expert

Ludwig Donath

Ludwig Donath

Hitler's Voice

Ferike Boros

Ferike Boros

Mrs. Finkelstein

Ralph Byrd

Ralph Byrd

Pete - Dice-Playing Soldier

Ruth Cherrington

Ruth Cherrington

Dowager

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Deep Dive

Trivia, insights & behind the scenes

Trivia

Preminger was an Austrian Jew who fled the Nazis in 1935; casting himself as a Nazi consul he kills was deeply personal catharsis.

Cultural

The play was written by Clare Boothe Luce specifically as anti-isolationist propaganda before Pearl Harbor made it redundant.

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