''Margin for Error'' is a 1943 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by

Lillie Hayward Lillie Hayward (born Lillian Olenda Auen, September 12, 1891 – June 29, 1977) was an American screenwriter whose Hollywood career began during the silent film, silent era and continued well into the television, age of television. She wrot ...

and

Samuel Fuller Samuel Michael Fuller (August 12, 1912 – October 30, 1997) was an American film director, screenwriter, novelist, journalist, and World War II veteran known for directing low-budget B movie, genre movies with controversial themes, often ...

is based on the 1939 play of the same title by

Clare Boothe Luce Clare Boothe Luce ( Ann Clare Boothe; March 10, 1903 – October 9, 1987) was an American writer, politician, U.S. ambassador, and public conservative figure. A versatile author, she is best known for her 1936 hit play '' The Women'', which h ...

Plot

When police officer Moe Finkelstein (

Milton Berle Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; ; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. His career as an entertainer spanned over 80 years, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and tel ...

) and his colleague Officer Salomon are ordered to serve as bodyguards to German

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

Karl Baumer ( Otto Preminger) by the mayor of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Finkelstein turns in his badge, convinced he has to quit the service because the man is a

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

. Capt. Mulrooney, who appointed them to this job, tells Moe that although the mayor personally is opposed to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and his regime, the mayor is responsible for the safety of everybody, and he believes that through this assignment Finkelstein can show them the difference between their system and the Nazi one. Moe quickly discovers Baumer is in trouble with Berlin for having squandered money intended to finance

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

. His secretary, Baron Max von Alvenstor (

Carl Esmond Carl Esmond (born Karl Simon; June 14, 1902– December 4, 2004) was an Austrian-born American film and stage actor, born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. Although his age was given as 33 in the passenger list when he arrived in the USA in January 19 ...

), has become disenchanted with his boss and refuses to delay the delivery of a damaging financial report to Berlin. Baumer's

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

wife, Sophia, confesses to Moe that she loathes her husband and married him only to secure her father's release from prison. Also at odds with Baumer is Otto Horst, who has been ordered to procure false identification cards for German saboteurs assigned to blow up an American port at the end of a radio broadcast delivered by Hitler. Under orders from Berlin to dispense with Horst, Baumer plots to frame Max for the man's murder and tries to enlist Sophia's help, but she warns Horst of the scheme, so he begins to carry a gun for protection. While the Baumers are listening to the radio speech with their guests (Horst, Max, and Dr. Jennings), Horst stabs the Consul with his new knife without the others' noticing it. Then Sophia grabs Horst's gun and kills Baumer. Max urges Sophia to escape before anyone sees her. Moe discovers the body and begins to question suspects, including Sophia, who readily confesses to the crime, but Max insists it was he who killed Baumer. Moe reveals Baumer not only was shot but was stabbed and poisoned as well. Meanwhile, Max rushes to the port where the saboteurs are concealed and orders them to dismantle the bomb. With only minutes to spare, the bomb is dismantled and the saboteurs are captured. Returning to the consulate, Max identifies Horst as an accomplice to the saboteurs, and Horst is arrested. A coroner's report determines Baumer died of poisoning. Reconstructing the event, they discover that he put the poison in the whisky glass for Max, but when something hit the window during the demonstration outside, the whisky glass intended for Max was confused with the consul's own brandy glass, so Baumer mistakenly drank from the glass he meant for Max.

Cast

Edward McNamara Edward James McNamara (August 13, 1884 - November 10, 1944) was an American Broadway and Hollywood actor. He appeared in several films between 1929 and 1944. Early life He was born on August 13, 1884, in Paterson, New Jersey. Rotund in bui ...

as Police Capt. Mulrooney (uncredited) *

as Officer Moe Finkelstein *

Joe Kirk Ignazio "Nat" Curcuruto (October 1, 1903 – April 16, 1975), better known by his stage name Joe Kirk, was an American radio, film, and television actor who was best known for playing the role of Mr. Bacciagalupe on ''The Abbott and Costello S ...

as Officer Solomon *

Joan Bennett Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She came from a show-business family, one of three acting sisters. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more t ...

as Sophia Baumer (Wife of General Consul of Germany) * Otto Preminger as Karl Baumer (General Consul of Germany) *

as Baron Max von Alvenstor (Secretary to the Consul) * Howard Freeman as Otto Horst (the American Führer) * Clyde Fillmore as Dr. Jennings *

Poldi Dur Poldi Dur (1917–1996) was an Austrian dancer and stage actress.Hischak p.164 She also appeared in several films. She was born in Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_ty ...

as Frieda (as Poldy Dur) personal maid * Hans Heinrich von Twardowski as Fritz, Butler (uncredited) *

Ludwig Donath Ludwig Donath (6 March 1900 – 29 September 1967), was an Austrian actor who appeared in many American films. Life Born to a Jewish family, Donath graduated from Vienna's Academy of Dramatic Art and became a prominent actor on the stage i ...

as Hitler's Voice (as Louis Donath) * Ferike Boros as Mrs. Finkelstein (uncredited) * Ralph Byrd as Pete, the Dice-Playing Soldier (uncredited) *

Don Dillaway Donald Provost Dillaway (March 17, 1903 – November 18, 1982) was an American stage and film actor. Early years Dillaway's mother, billed as Nettie Gordon, sang in vaudeville. Because she and his father insisted on a professional career for h ...

as Reporter (uncredited) * Eddie Dunn as Desk Sergeant (uncredited) * Byron Foulger as Drug Store Clerk (uncredited) *

Selmer Jackson Selmer Adolf Jackson (May 7, 1888 – March 30, 1971) was an American stage film and television actor. He appeared in nearly 400 films between 1921 and 1963. His name was sometimes spelled Selmar Jackson. Jackson was born in Lake Mills, Iowa an ...

as Coroner (uncredited) *

Bert Moorhouse Bert Moorhouse (sometimes incorrectly billed as Bert Moorehouse) (November 20, 1894 – January 26, 1954) was an American character actor whose career began at the very tail end of the silent era, and lasted through the mid-1950s. Biography Bo ...

as Roulette Croupier (uncredited) *

Allan Nixon Allan Hobbs Nixon (August 17, 1915 – April 13, 1995) was an American actor and novelist. Career Nixon was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1915. He studied journalism the University of Richmond but left college to play football professiona ...

as Soldier (uncredited) *

Ted North Ted North Jr. (born Edward Ernest Steinel) (November 3, 1916 – November 22, 1975) was an American film actor of the 1940s, sometimes credited as Michael North. The son of tent show operator Ted North, he was born in Topeka, Kansas, and gra ...

as Saboteur (uncredited) * Cyril Ring as Drugstore Clerk (uncredited) *

Barney Ruditsky Barnett "Barney" P. Ruditsky (December 25, 1898 – October 18, 1962) was a British-born American police officer and private detective. During his 20-year career on the force Ruditsky was among the NYPD's prominent "celebrity detectives" of the 19 ...

as Policeman (uncredited) *

Hans Schumm Hans Josef Schumm ''(né'' Johann Josef Eugen Schumm; 2 April 1896 Stuttgart – 2 February 1990 Los Angeles) was a German-born-turned- American actor, notably, a prolific and critically acclaimed Hollywood screen character actor who appeared ...

as Karl Müller (uncredited) * Emmett Vogan as Fingerprint Expert (uncredited) *

Wolfgang Zilzer Wolfgang Zilzer (January 20, 1901 – June 26, 1991) was a German-American stage and film actor, often under the stage name Paul Andor. Biography Zilzer was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to German-Jewish emigrant Max Zilzer, who was employed at the ...

as Bit Part (uncredited)

Sources

The play ''

Margin for Error ''Margin for Error'' is a 1943 American drama film directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Lillie Hayward and Samuel Fuller is based on the 1939 play of the same title by Clare Boothe Luce. Plot When police officer Moe Finkelstein (Milt ...

'' was based on an incident that occurred in 1938, when New York Mayor

Fiorello La Guardia Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City fro ...

appointed Police Captain

Max Finkelstein Max Finkelstein (March 5, 1884–May 3, 1940) was a captain in the New York City Police Department. Police career As president of Shomrim, a fraternal order of Jewish New York City police officers, he became famous in 1938 when Fiorello H. La Gu ...

to head a special squad of Jewish officers tasked with protecting the German consulate in the city from protestors. The police officer character's name was originally Max Finkelstein but was changed to Moe Finkelstein after the real Finkelstein's suicide in May 1940.

Production

Otto Preminger had directed and starred as Baumer in the Broadway production of Claire Booth Luce's play, which opened on November 3, 1939, at the

Plymouth Theatre Plymouth Theatre or Plymouth Theater may refer to: * Plymouth Theatre (Boston) * Plymouth Theatre (Worcester) * Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, New York City, formerly the Plymouth Theatre * H Street Playhouse The H Street Playhouse was a black box ...

, where it ran for 264 performances, and he reprised the role for a national tour in the summer of 1940. According to the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'',

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

purchased the screen rights for $25,000 in the spring of 1941 but temporarily shelved the property because studio executives felt Boothe's "statement of the opposition between fascism and democracy had become self-evident to the point of banality." In April 1942, William Goetz, serving as interim studio head while

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of ...

was fulfilling his military duty,

greenlighted To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead". Film industry In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...

the project and assigned it to director

Ernst Lubitsch Ernst Lubitsch (; January 29, 1892November 30, 1947) was a German-born American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as ...

. Goetz wanted Preminger to reprise his role of Baumer, but Preminger insisted he wanted to direct as well. When Goetz refused, Preminger offered to direct for free and agreed to withdraw from helming the film but remain as Baumer if Goetz was unhappy with his work at the end of the first week of filming, and Goetz agreed. Preminger thought the screenplay by

was "awful" and hired newcomer

, on leave from the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, to help him revise the script. The men agreed Luce's original play, written as a call to arms, had to become a morale booster for a country firmly entrenched in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. As such, they presented the story as a flashback to the period prior to America's entry in the war. Principal photography began on September 28, 1942, and at the end of the first week, Goetz told the director he was so pleased with the

dailies In filmmaking, dailies are the raw, unedited footage shot during the making of a motion picture. The term comes from when movies were all shot on film because usually at the end of each day, the footage was developed, synced to sound, and pri ...

he was offering him a seven-year contract as director and actor. Preminger requested producing rights as well, and the deal was sealed. He completed filming on November 5, on schedule and only slightly over budget.

Critical reception

Theodore Strauss of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' observed, "Less than brilliant when done on Broadway, the script is now painfully dated. The Nazis certainly are not less villainous, but as they are shown in the film they are much less interesting. Practically every character and situation has long been a

cliché A cliché ( or ) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was consi ...

of anti-Nazi films generally... There are other examples of worn conventions. ''Margin for Error'' tells us nothing new and tells it very dully... As a story the film has practically no suspense. It is not greatly helped by the tediously bombastic style of Otto Preminger as the consul nor by Joan Bennett as his suffering wife. Poor Milton Berle... is forced to forsake his comic antics and make sweet speeches on the benefits of democracy, a role for which Mr. Berle seems way out of line. For that matter, ''Margin for Error'' is way out of line as well."

Alexander Larman Alexander Larman (born 29 November 1981) is a British author, journalist, historian, and literary editor of The Spectator World. A writer of multiple historical biographies, including those of John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, Lord Byron and E ...

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

rated the film three out of five stars and noted, "Otto Preminger is rightly regarded as one of the most talented émigré directors to have had a successful career in post-war American film. However, ''Margin For Error'', while undeniably entertaining in a

B-movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

manner, is hardly indicative of his talent, suffering from a plot that alternates between cliche and head-scratching reversals, some unimpressive acting and a limp denouement."Channel 4 review
/ref>

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Margin For Error 1943 films American drama films American films based on plays Films set in New York City American black-and-white films Films directed by Otto Preminger 20th Century Fox films Films scored by Leigh Harline 1943 drama films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films