Ein Käfer geht aufs Ganze (1971)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

Rudolf Zehetgruber

Writers:

Alexander De Callier (writer)
Rudolf Zehetgruber (writer)

Release Date:

21 June 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Watch Him Blast Off, Climb Walls, Punch Like a Bronco and Drive Sideways

Plot Keywords:

Automobile | Wonder Car | Animate Car

Cast

Kathrin Oginski	...	Daktari Jo (as Kathaina Orginski)
Rudolf Zehetgruber	...	Ben (as Richard Lynn)
Gerd Duwner	...	James Butler
Bob Mackay
Jim Brown	...	Howard
Constanze Sieck	...	Angie Jo
Lex County
Harry Fuß
Gretl Elb		(as Grete Elb)
Marco Gaetani
Kamisa
Surrender Singh
Bob Dean
Fatimah

Also Known As:

Superbug
The Love Bug Rally (International: English title)

Runtime:

Germany:92 min | USA:83 min

Country:

West Germany | Switzerland

Language:

German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | USA:G | West Germany:6

Company:

Barbara

Goofs:

Continuity: There are major noticeable difference's between the VW's used in the film: The car starts with a blue-ish interior but throughout the film the interior is yellow at times and the car itself changes from LHD to RHD frequently, the model also changes most notably when Dudu's falling to bits down a hill as the bug we see doesn't have the sign on the side and it has an oval window (1954-1958 Beetles used these) but also when the body is complete off the bug the body is suddenly a very faint yellow (as opposed to being bright yellow) and there's an obvious missing section in the roof as the car used was probably a junked sunroof beetle. Dudu also looses his (her?) hubcaps but regains them in the next shot.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Solino (2002)

Awesome! ...For a German/Swiss adventure-film!

This film is the beginning of the mythic "Dudu-series"! Tansania, Africa is the location where Ben (in the following Dudu-films he's called Jimmy Bondie) meets with his ADAC*-Bug!

Why Tansania? It has been a German colony far in the past. In the 70ies there had been many so called "East-African-Safaries" and this film deals with one of those Ralleys through the whole country! Now there appears a greedy and ambitious Baron who is obsessed with winning the race for any price. His stupid wife, brought him "the fastest car in the world", the cheep Hollywood requisite "Herbie"!!! (here is built the connection between the famous 50ies/60ies "Herbie-Films" from Disney) But the Baron is disappointed, because the white bug with the number 53 only has scrap value! Anyway the Baron makes a road test through the Serengeti with the bug after having painted it yellow. But ex-Herbie has its own head and does what he wants, especially when it is insulted.

Dudu crashes against Ben's bike and stops when Ben shout "stop"! The Baron apologizes himself and changes the bug for the bike. Since then Ben is the new owner of Dudu, what means "bug" or "little insect" in Suaheli, the native language of Tansania. Ben decides to participate in the rally, but he only becomes the "Service-Car" of Mr. Buttler, a Scotsman who wants to win the race with a hovercraft! And because both motors are from Volkswagen Dudu is accepted to be the service car (therefore the allusion of ADAC, the famous German car insurance-company) Many times there appear some scenes of animal and rally documentations, which are mixed with the actual film. But I think that's done in a relatively good way although it often makes you smile anyway!

Maybe the plot is seems to be confusing, but in the German version it is almost clear and entertaining (later Dudu gets involved in a diamond smuggling problem etc.).

The cool thing is that Dudu becomes in the further films an own character or identity. He does not maintain the Herbie-Soul, but becomes a computer controlled car so that he stops being a total copy of Herbie!