Den Tüchtigen gehört die Welt

This film combines two very different styles: an atmospheric psycho thriller about the ice-cold hired gun (masterfully played by Frank Gorschin), and the bizarre satire of the Austrian TV serial "Kottan ermittelt". And it does it quite well.

Vienna, the tourism metropolis, is featured very un-touristically, but having lived there some time, it felt realistic to me - as backdrop to both the thriller and the bitter police satire. Somehow like the Moscow in "Nochnoy dozor".

The casting is interesting, as two actors here played Polizeimajor Adolf Kottan in TV - Franz Buchrieser, and Lukas Resetarits (who in this plays the very blond mysterious petty criminal). And the here leading bad lady, Bibiana Zeller, is Kottan's wife in TV... Several references to the serial are made, and some shown. As are subtle references to "The Third Man" - only if you died in AKH, you're certainly dead...

I had laugh-out-loud moments, but was mostly surprised (positively) by how differently this film shows reality, in contrast to usual fare, starting from the setting-up in LA. Memorable images aplenty, good food for thought.

If you want a very different Austrian movie, this is not a bad choice.

My review was written in May 1982 after a Midtown Manhattan screening: "The Uppercrust" is a modern film noir tale of corruption and double-cross, filmed in a combo of English and German language with locations in Vienna and San Francisco. Featuring a finely detailed lead performance by Frank Gorshin as an international hit man, pic suffers from dull, overlong exposition scenes and far too many in-jokes.

Prolog set in San Francisco establishes Harry Werner (Frank Gorshin) as a ruthless killer for hire. Without warning he shoots Mike Carraday (Broderick Crawford) in the head and then laughs maniacally. (Crawford's cameo is thus terminated before the opening credits.) Summoned to Vienna, Werner is assigned to rub out Ludwig Haumer (Lukas Resetarits), a small-time con man who is blackmailing three government bigwigs concerning corruption in a building project. As the ineffectual police track down the killings being generated by Haumer and Werner, plot follows many predictable twists and double crosses.

String of jokes become to silly to believe: Crawford sneers at a noisy Highway Patrol car just before he's killed (in reference to his Ziv tv series); police inspector Kottan has to put up with jokes referring to his fictional namesake played by George Nader) and Werner makes several escapes near the end of the film by taking a pussycat hostage.

Director Patzak is okay on atmosphere and characterization, but frequently halts the action for talkfest exposition. His toying with genre conventions is fun (Kottan's assistant is a one-legged policeman on crutches, probably a first), however.

Though his screen time is limited by an episodic structure which overemphasizes the police segs, Gorshin is very effective as a cold-blooded killer, limned without any reliance on the famed impressionist's screen antecedents. Rest of the casr is adequate. Tech credits are fair, with lots of reverse-shot closeups apparently aimed for tv usage.

If the film described by the German title above, "Tüchtigen gehört die Welt, Den" (which IMDB also cites as "The Upper Crust") is the one I am identifying with a great Frank Gorshin vehicle then please do give this one a look, all you Gorshin fans. I think its his best role.

I am not sure why the film has stayed with me for so long after one half-distracted viewing on a small kitchen tv set. Its an otherwise unremarkable little thriller. For years I assumed this film had a title like "The Blue Danube" because of the evocative scenery of Vienna that forms the graceful environment for this thriller.

The flick is very reminiscent of another favourite of mine called "End of the Game" but is less energetic and more subdued by far. Still, both of these films have a wistful, sombre atmosphere; a soft, rainy, European cinematic style. Check out the opening sequence of "The Eiger Sanction" if you need another example. There are others as well from this late 70's era which come to mind.

Gorshin steals the film as the sole English speaking character in this Austrian production. His performance as a cowboy-like American assassin in Austria is so idiosyncratic that it casts the rest of this film in shadow--but nevermind that. He's perfect as the seedy, sneaker-wearing, trenchcoat-clad assassin-for-hire who has been brought to Austria by the ruthless participants in some kind of vague bureaucratic cover-up relating to city politics. The contrast of his twangy American accent, his direct and even snide manner, and his dry sarcasm among the refined and delicate city of Vienna is really something to savor.

For once Gorshin finds himself in a production which makes use of his subtle dynamic, dexterity. There is no wildness, no extravagance; he is at all times controlled and restrained. His role brings to mind other typecast performers who do an about-face in a single role: like Jerry Lewis in "The King of Comedy".

In the film, as the police first discover and then begin unravelling the conspiracy, Gorshin arrives in Vienna and begins the methodical preparations for his "hit", in a sort of 98-cent-version of "The Day of the Jackal". Its low-key and low-budget all the way, but its engrossing just the same. The editing is nimble and the pace moves along nicely, emphasizing Gorshin's personality rather than his tools. Its wonderful to see him nimbly dodging the authorities throughout the film; he is the ultimate fringe dweller. That wizened, crusty face of is more expressive than many others that might have filled this role. You can forget about the real plot in this film; just watch Gorshin.

At one point, I recall, Gorshin is picked up by some gendarmes who have confused him for the suspect in a petty theft; but he manages to talk his way out of it without revealing his real identity and without the detective squad realizing the nature of his part in the conspiracy. Its a wry and adroit bit of work. But theres more: Gorshin cleverly chooses to hide out with a single girl in her apartment while the police scour the city for him.

The really memorable 'hook' of this movie is this unusual relationship Gorshin strikes up with this random Viennese woman, very much like what occurs in "Three Days of the Condor", but on a much smaller scale of course. The entire relationship begins, matures, and concludes within half a dozen scenes and as many lines of dialogue. What evolves between the two is gently, quietly handled and Gorshin never missteps.

At first the girl--a somewhat lonely woman in her thirties, a mousy office worker of some sort--is duly terrified; obviously apprehensive at the prospect of being raped or worse during Gorshin's ruthless invasion of her privacy. She calms only as he begins to reveal a firm but gentle consideration and for a few days, they share a strictly platonic, forced period of intimacy. It becomes clear that both of them lead solitary lives and that this strange situation has emotional richness for each individual.

At one crucial point, however, she decides to cooperate with Gorshin without being forced. When Gorshin departs, never having violated her in any way during his stay (although it was well within his power to do so) the woman feels an obvious loss when she is once more left on her own. The assassin is all business, but Gorshin too shows the play of these subtle emotions in his character and surprises us with the presentation of these depths in what is, on the surface, just a cold-blooded killer for pay. He is perfect.

Please do enjoy this film when you are tired of blockbusters and the overpowering hype of big name stars and big movie budgets. These little films from the late 70s, with or without a European studio setting, are often overlooked gems.

Very much a product of the post-1968 hangover era, in which thoughts of revolution gave way to dispirited cynicism, The Upper Crust concerns a murky political conspiracy in which a trio of well-connected government officials (Ernst Konarek, Bibiane Zeller, and Fred Schaffer) turn to murder to suppress a potentially ruinous scandal. Although it's not entirely clear (at least via the English subtitles) what kind of corporate crimes these starched-collar villains are up to, they are also connected to a prostitution ring via their pimp-enforcer Kralicek (Pavel Landovsky). When a small-time con man, Haumer (Lukas Resatarits), learns that Kralicek got his teen aged girl addicted to heroin and turned her out, he puts his unorthodox professional skills to work in a scheme to exact revenge on the whole group. Not wishing to sully their own hands, the trio send away to America for a mob-connected hit man to dispatch Haumer.