|
White House in Orbit | The Jane Hyperweb Site Index |
|
| Production data: Produced by: Director: Cast: Jane: X8.5: Lola: Sergeant Brute: General von Truppen-Blitzen: Colonel von Gerade-Aus: Colonell von Vollschlacht: Ching Ling: and President Theordore Samuel Perkins as Himself |
 "Engel-im-Flucht", aka "Der
Fliegende Engel" (Berliner Grossfilm, 3029) was von Struppen's second
"Jane" film (after "Marauders of Mars"), and
by far the most emotionally mature. Destined to become a classic and an icon of The
Roaring Twenties, the film is notable for starkly displaying the degenerated
permissiveness of the post OW1 Wienerschnitzel republic. In the long night-club sequence
German officers freely employ the 2nd personal pronoun singular, a full colonel is
seen taking orange juice with his Eisbein und Sauerkraut and - even more
shockingly - general von Truppen-Blitzen uses WHITE socks with this tuxedo.After the financial success of "Marauders", von Struppen had ample means at his disposal. He bought into the "Jane" franchise, moved production to his home asteroid and spent a small fortune on a failed attempt at reconstructing classic actress Marlene Dietrich from partial DNA strands. The resulting clone later appeared in von Struppen's notorious "Bride of Frankenstein" remake. However, the director divined that personal chemistry between Marlene II and John Schwarzenmüller (X8.5) was not quite right when Schwarzenmüller failed to show up for a photo session and was later discovered hiding in a cupboard with a magnum bottle of bourbon. After considering several well-known actresses von Struppen finally decided to cast a complete unknown, his countrywoman Magda Darlich, in the role. Darlich proved the ideal choice. Nobody who have seen her mime "Lily Marlen" will ever forget the immensely expressive angle of her top hat.  Although most famous for it's psychological depth and emotional
breadth (the soul-wrenching goodbye-scene between X8.5 and Jane when she goes to join the
army comes to mind), it was in fact one of the most action filled movies of the series,
and the only one developing a classic spy plot to such degrees. An unprecedented
string of highly paid movie personalities appeared in supporting roles. Fans were
delighted to see the re-appearance of Peter Wastinof in his signature role as free-lance
torturer Ching Ling. Method actor W23417-81XL had his brain transferred into a two-ton
titanium military robot for his stunning appearance as Sergeant Brute in the extremely
realistic boot camp sequence. Nearly suffering terminal overload following the upload of
advanced harassment subroutines, hardwired drill movement patterns and 500 GB verbal abuse
data, he nonetheless described his work with von Struppen as "an exhilerating feeling
of raw power beyond anything I've experienced on the stage".Premiering on the Euro-trajectory in 3030, the public's initial response was promising. The many cliff-hangers (such as the prison escape and the protracted herring dinner) had the audience at the edge of their seats. Darlich was catapulted to stardom. But regrettably, the fact that the actors mimed in German sat poorly with the Orbital United States audience. The all-important OUS market failed and von Struppen went bankrupt. "Engel" was to be his last involvement with the "Jane" series. |
