director: Robert Siodmak
year: 1930
country: Germany
alternative titles: Der Himmelskandidat, Jim, der Mann mit der Narbe

After brooding over it for some time, Hans Herfort decides to end his life. Why should he go on living, if he is only constantly running from creditors? If he weren’t so cowardly, he would have long since pulled the trigger on his pistol. As he’s just about to give up on another attempt, suddenly the robber Otto Kuttlapp climbs over the balcony into Hans’ apartment. The two men begin talking, and Hans gets the idea to hire Kuttlapp as his murderer. Kuttlapp is supposed to complete the task by noon the next day, after which he will receive 15,000 Marks from Hans’ life insurance. When, how, and where the murder is to take place is left up to him.
As Hans goes to his local bar for a final drink, he meets the attractive Kitty. After freeing her from the clutches of the shady bar owner, Hans falls in love with her and gains a new energy for life. However, now it is time to find Kuttlapp, for he is already hard at work making plans to complete his job...

Assistant Director: Carl Winston.
Screenplay: Ludwig Hirschfeld, Kurt Siodmak, Billy Wilder, Robert Siodmak (uncredited); based on an idea of Ernst Neubach and the novel 'Die Leiden eines Chinesen in China' by Jules Verne (1879).
Director of Photography: Konstantin Tschet [aka Konstantin Irmen-Tschet], Otto Baecker.
Set Design: Robert Herlth, Walter Röhrig.
Make-up: Emil Neumann, Maria Jamitzky.
Editing: Viktor Gertler.
Music: Friedrich Hollaender.
Lyrics: Billy Wilder, Friedrich Hollaender.
Musical Director: Franz Wachsmann [aka Franz Waxman].
Sound: Fritz Thiery.
Cast: Gerhard Bienert (Schupo), Hermann Blaß, Eugen Boral (member of the choral society), Lien Deyers (Kitty), Otti Dietze (barkeeper), Franz Friedler, Friedrich Hollaender (chairman of the 'White Waistcoats' association), Raimund Janitschek (Otto Kuttlapp, a burglar), Hans Leibelt (Chief Executive Adamowski), Eberhard Mack, Fritz Odemar, Victor Palfi (friend of Hans), Heinz Rühmann (Hans Herfort), Erik Schütz, Hermann Speelmans (Jim), Wolfgagn von Waltershausen, Roland Warno.
Production Company: Universum-Film AG (UFA), Berlin.
Producer: Erich Pommer.
Production Manager: Eberhard Klagemann.
Unit Manager: Eduard Kubat (?), Carl Winston (?).
Distributor: UFA-Filmverleih GmbH, Berlin.
Shoot: Oct 1930 to Dec 1930.
Locations: Ufa-Atelier Neubabelsberg; Berlin (Funkturm, Rundfunk, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche).
Rating: Artistically Valuable.
Length: 9 acts, 2672 m, 98 min (before censorship); 5 Acts, 1455 m, 53 min (after censorship 1933).
Format: 35 mm, 1:1.19.
Picture/Sound: b/w, Tobis-Klangfilm.
Censorship Details: 7 Jan 1931 no. 27849, ban for young people; 28 Oct 1933 no. 34859, ban for young people; 1 Oct 1937, no. O.7884, ban.
Preview: 13 Jan 1931, Berlin (Ufa-Palast Turmstraße).
Première: 5 Feb 1931, Berlin (Gloria-Palast).
Remakes: D.O.A. (1950, dir: Rudolph Maté); Man lebt nur einmal (1952, dir: Ernst Neubach); D.O.A. - Dead On Arrival (1988, dir: Rocky Morton, Annabel Jankel).
Notes: A 52 minute shortened version was released under the title, 'Jim, der Mann mit der Narbe' in 1933; only this version is preserved.
Copyright Holder: Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung, Wiesbaden

Source notes
Deutsche Kinemathek - Museum für Film und Fernsehen

Print: Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung, Wiesbaden, 1436m; The film was copied by ABC & Taunusfilm laboratories in 1998 from master copies held by the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv. The first reel was newly copied from a dupe positive produced by the Staatliches Filmarchiv der DDR [the former State Film Archive of the GDR], as the original negative of this reel no longer exists.

Following link is a record of recent screening at Filmarchiv Austria: http://www.filmarchiv.at/show_content.php?action=showsingle&pr_filter_jahr=2006&pr_filter_monat=6&pr_id=111&pr_such_begriff=&pr_such_jahr=0

Even DVD and VHS is/was available since 2002. VHS at amazon.de DVD at amazon.de

Please note: The DVD edition runs only 52 minutes!

This film exist in abridged form under the title JIM, DER MANN MIT DER NARBE. Camera negative and preservation elements exist at Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv. The preservation was made in preparation for the 1998 Berlin Film Festival retrospective on the Siodmak Brothers.