The Devil Makes Three
Directed by Andrew Marton
A soldier returns to Munich after the war and gets mixed up with the black market.
1952 1h 36m Drama TV-14
Expires: Invalid date
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In December, 1947, Capt. Jeff Eliot arrives in Munich, Germany while military and local police are investigating the autobahn murder of a bar girl. Jeff informs the military that he plans to visit the Lehrt family, who had hidden him after he was shot down during the war. Unknown to Jeff, the daughter of the family, Wilhelmina, is on a list of known bar girls. When Jeff goes to the Lehrts' former home, he finds it in ruins, and asks a neighbor, Nolder, for information. Nolder says he did not know the Lehrts but confesses that he had answered Jeff's letters so that his impoverished family could receive the money and packages he sent. Later, Jeff's hotel roommate, Lt. Parker, offers to help him search for the Lehrts, and they learn that the parents died in an air raid, but the whereabouts of "Willie" are unknown. Parker warns Jeff what the fate of a pretty girl in Germany would be, and suggests touring the nightspots to find her. Jeff finds Willie at the Silhouette club and is shocked at her bitterness and suggestion that for 500 marks, she can talk with anyone. Jeff says that he wants to give her a good Christmas and asks her to think of the happiest one of her life. She says that she would like to be in Salzburg with old family friends, and he promises to take her there. Jeff agrees to rent a car through her, so that she will get a commission, and the next day they drive toward Salzburg, secretly followed by two men on motorcycles. They easily pass through the b...
The film's working title was Autobahn. The following written acknowledgment appears after the opening title card: "Appreciation is expressed to the Office of the High Commissioner of Germany, the United States Army Military Police Corps. and the Munich City Police for their cooperation while filming this motion picture in Germany and Austria." Prior to the main action of the film, Richard Rober, as his character, "Col. James Terry," appears and addresses the audience. He establishes that the film takes place in 1947, in Munich, where things are not always as they seem. The Devil Makes Three marked Rober's last film role before his death in May 1952, although another film in which he appeared, Jet Pilot, which was shot in 1949-1950, was not released until 1957 (see below).
As noted in the acknowledgment and in various news items and reviews, the film was shot entirely on location in Germany and Austria, primarily in Munich and Salzburg, and on the autobahn [highway] between those two cities. Additional location shooting was done in actual locations in Berchtesgaden, the site of Adolf Hitler's mountain retreat and at Hintersee in the Bavarian Alps. Studio interiors were shot at the Bavaria-Filmkunst Studios in Munich. Although an Hollywood Reporter news item noted that portions of the picture would be filmed in Dusseldorf, Germany, no footage of Dusseldorf was included in the released film. According to a October 31, 1951 Hollywood Reporter news item, Glenn Ford was at one time considered for the lead.
