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68-591: On September 16, 1946, Brauner founded CCC Film with Joseph Einstein, his brother-in-law, a black marketeer in Berlin , with a capital investment of 21,000 Reichsmarks in the American sector of postwar Germany. They had money, but no license from the American authorities, without which, it was impossible to produce anything. Two months later, Einstein quit the enterprise, leaving Brauner as sole owner. The first CCC-produced film

136-496: A front business that is not illegal. Karl May films Karl May film adaptations are films based on stories and characters by German author Karl May (1842–1912). The characters Old Shatterhand , Winnetou , and Kara Ben Nemsi are very famous in Central Europe . In most of the film versions the novels were reworked to a great extent, some movies using only the names of characters invented by Karl May. For example, in

204-431: A "tax gap" of $ 450–600 billion. The "unrecorded economy" circumvents the institutional rules that define the reporting requirements of government statistical agencies. A summary measure of the unrecorded economy is the amount of unrecorded income, namely the amount of income that should (under existing rules and conventions) be recorded in national accounting systems (e.g., National Income and Product Accounts ) but

272-446: A black market exists to supply them. Despite law enforcement efforts to intercept them, demand remains high, providing a large profit motive for organized criminal groups to keep drugs supplied. The United Nations has reported that the retail market value of illegal drugs is $ 502 billion. Although law enforcement agencies intercept a fraction of drug traffickers and incarcerate thousands of wholesale and retail sellers and users,

340-497: A black market. Money may be exchangeable for a differing amount of the same currency if it has been acquired illegally and needs to be laundered before the money can be used. Counterfeit money may be sold for a lesser amount of genuine currency. The rate of exchange between a local and foreign currency may be subject to a black market, often described as a " parallel exchange rate " or similar terms. This may happen for one or more of several reasons: A government may officially set

408-472: A foreign currency for the local currency. The U.S. dollar is viewed as a relatively stable and safe currency and is often used abroad as a second currency. In 2012, US$ 340 billion, roughly 37 percent of all U.S. currency, was believed to be circulating abroad. The most recent study of the amount of currency held overseas suggests that only 25 percent of U.S. currency was held abroad in 2014. The widespread substitution of U.S. currency for local currency

476-403: A low-profit item for the rum-runners, and they moved on to smuggling Canadian whisky , French champagne , and English gin to major cities like New York City and Boston , where prices ran high. It was said that some ships carried $ 200,000 (roughly equivalent to US$ 4.5 million in 2022 ) in contraband in a single run. The United Kingdom has some of the highest taxes on tobacco products in

544-400: A person or group (e.g., a criminal gang) indicates to a store owner that they could protect her/his store from potential damage, damage that the same person or group would otherwise inflict, while the correlation of threat and protection may be more or less deniably veiled, distinguishing it from the more direct act of extortion . Racketeering is often associated with organized crime . The term

612-522: A premium to acquire it. U.S. currency is viewed as a relatively stable store of value and, since it does not leave a paper trail, it is also a convenient medium of exchange for both illegal transactions and for unreported income both in the U.S. and abroad. More recently cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin have been used as a medium of exchange in black market transactions. Cryptocurrencies are sometimes favored over centralized currency due to their pseudonymous nature and their ability to be traded over

680-401: A problem, such as for a problem that does not actually exist or that would not otherwise exist if the racket did not exist. Conducting a racket is called racketeering. The potential problem may be caused by the same party that offers to solve it, although that fact may be concealed, with the intent to engender continual patronage for the racketeer. An archetype is the protection racket , wherein

748-442: A process used to conceal the illegitimate source of the money. Because of the clandestine nature of the black economy, it is not possible to determine its size and scope. The literature on the black market has not established a common terminology and has instead offered many synonyms including subterranean, hidden, grey , shadow, informal, clandestine, illegal, unobserved, unreported, unrecorded, second, parallel, and black. There

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816-718: A red dye in the UK, a green dye in Ireland). The saving is attractive enough to make for a black market in agricultural diesel, which was estimated in 2007 to cost the UK £350 million annually in lost tax. In countries including India and Nepal, the price of fuel is set by the government, and it is illegal to sell the fuel at a higher price. During the petrol crisis in Nepal, black marketing in fuel became common, especially during mass petrol shortage. At times, people queued for hours or even overnight to get fuel. Petrol pump operators were alleged to hoard

884-503: A series of Doctor Mabuse films and movies with sequels, such as The Treasure of the Aztecs and its sequel, The Pyramid of the Sun God . Nonetheless, when German television station ZDF moved to Mainz and no longer used CCC facilities to produce their programs, Brauner was forced to reverse his company's expansion of just a few years earlier. In 1970, CCC Film co-produced The Garden of

952-411: Is rent control and subsidized affordable housing , which provide housing below the market cost, there may be a black market for housing rentals. For instance, in the UK there is illegal subletting of social housing homes where the tenant illegally rents out the government-subsidized home at a higher rent. In Sweden, rental contracts with regulated rent can be bought on the black market, either from

1020-570: Is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services whose production and distribution are prohibited or restricted by law, non-compliance with the rule constitutes a black-market trade since the transaction itself is illegal. Such transactions include the illegal drug trade , prostitution (where prohibited), illegal currency transactions, and human trafficking . Participants try to hide their illegal behavior from

1088-416: Is difficult. Low-tax states are generally the major tobacco producers, and have come under criticism for their reluctance to increase taxes. North Carolina eventually agreed to raise its taxes from 5 cents to 35 cents per pack of 20 cigarettes, although this remains far below the national average. As of 2010 , South Carolina has refused to follow suit and raise taxes from seven cents per pack (the lowest in

1156-412: Is distinct from the grey market , in which commodities are distributed through channels that, while legal, are unofficial, unauthorized, or unintended by the original manufacturer, and the white market, in which trade is legal and official. Black money is the proceeds of an illegal transaction, on which income and other taxes have not been paid. Black money is often associated with money laundering ,

1224-488: Is illegal or highly regulated in some countries. This demonstrates the underground economy, because of consistent high demand from customers, relatively high pay, but labor-intensive and low-skilled work, which attracts a continual supply of workers. While prostitution exists in every country, studies show that it tends to flourish more in poorer countries, and in areas with large numbers of unattached men, such as around military bases. For instance, an empirical study showed that

1292-516: Is known as de facto dollarisation , and has been observed in transition countries such as Cambodia and in some Latin American countries. Some countries, such as Ecuador, abandoned their local currency and used U.S. dollars, essentially for this reason, a process known as de jure dollarization (see also the example of the Ghanaian cedi from the 1970s and 1980s). If foreign currency is difficult or illegal for local citizens to acquire, they will pay

1360-494: Is no single underground economy; there are many. These underground economies are omnipresent, existing in market-oriented as well as in centrally planned nations, be they developed or developing. Those engaged in underground activities circumvent, escape, or are excluded from the institutional system of rules, rights, regulations, and enforcement penalties that govern formal agents engaged in production and exchange. Different types of underground activities are distinguished according to

1428-401: Is not. Unrecorded income is a particular problem in transition countries that switched from a socialist accounting system to UN standard national accounting . New methods have been proposed for estimating the size of the unrecorded (non-observed) economy. However little consensus exists on the size of the unreported economies of transitional countries. The " informal economy " circumvents

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1496-428: Is purchased on the black market". Smuggling one truckload of cigarettes from a low-tax U.S. state to a high-tax state can result in a profit of up to $ 3 million. Because traffic crossing U.S. state borders is not usually stopped or inspected to the same extent as happens at the country's international borders, interdicting this sort of smuggling (especially without causing major disruption to interstate commerce)

1564-422: Is traded. Goods and services acquired illegally and/or transacted for in an illegal manner may exchange above or below the price of legal market transactions: No government, no global nonprofit, no multinational enterprise can seriously claim to be able to replace the 1.8 billion jobs created by the economic underground. In truth, the best hope for growth in most emerging economies lies in the shadows. Even when

1632-570: The Internet . Within the European single market , it is legal for a person or business to buy fuel in one EU state for use in a vehicle in another, as well as a small amount of fuel in a container, but as with other goods, taxes (such as VAT ) will generally be payable by the final customer at the physical place of making the purchase. When fuel is transported across borders for resale, such taxes can often be recovered and then relevant taxes are payable in

1700-551: The PBS documentary Prohibition , the term "bootlegging" was popularized when thousands of city dwellers would sell liquor from flasks they kept in their bootleg all across major cities and rural areas. The term "rum-running" most likely originated at the start of Prohibition in the United States (1920–1933), when ships from Bimini in the western Bahamas transported cheap Caribbean rum to Florida speakeasies . Rum's cheapness made it

1768-408: The government , or included in the gross national product (GNP), unlike the formal economy. In developed countries, the informal sector is characterized by unreported employment . This is hidden from the state for tax, social security, or labour law purposes but is legal in other aspects. The term black market can also be used in reference to a specific part of the economy in which contraband

1836-409: The screenwriters . Several TV productions, such as Das Buschgespenst and Kara Ben Nemsi Effendi , were much closer to the novels. In foreign distribution, most of the movie titles were not translated directly into the target language, but new movie titles were made up. For American distribution the makers of the movie posters also invented some new color formats such as Flaming Arrow Color for

1904-485: The 1950s were Die Ratten (directed by Robert Siodmak ) adapted from a play by Nobel Prize winner Gerhart Hauptmann ; Studentin Helene Willfüer  [ de ] (1956, directed by Rudolf Jugert ) adapted from a book by Vicki Baum ; and Vor Sonnenuntergang (1956, directed by Gottfried Reinhardt ), also adapted from Hauptmann. CCC produced 19 films in 1958 and began working on large productions. By

1972-535: The American director Jeff Kanew , about the mass executions at Babi Yar , which included 12 members of Brauner's family. In 2006, Brauner produced The Last Train , directed by Joseph Vilsmaier and Dana Vávrová , about the last transport of Jews from Berlin to Auschwitz . In 2009, Brauner donated 21 of his Holocaust-related films to Yad Vashem , and in his honor, Yad Vashem named its media research center after him. Black market A black market , underground economy , shadow market or shadow economy

2040-1087: The Finzi Continis ( Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini ) directed by Vittorio De Sica , which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film . With his large studio space less in demand and his staff already reduced from over 200 in the 1950s to 85, Brauner closed the studios and laid off his remaining employees in September 1970, afterwards working instead on occasional projects, such as The Martyr  [ de ] in 1974, directed by Aleksander Ford ; Eine Liebe in Deutschland in 1983, directed by Andrzej Wajda ; and Hanussen in 1988, directed by István Szabó. He also continued to produce projects related to Nazi war crimes , such as Die Weiße Rose in 1983, directed by Michael Verhoeven ; Europa Europa in 1990, directed by Agnieszka Holland and nominated for an Oscar. In 2003, he produced Babi Yar , directed by

2108-401: The U.S. if aged less than 60 days. Rum-running , or bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting ( smuggling ) alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law. Smuggling is usually done to circumvent taxation or prohibition laws. The term rum-running is more commonly applied to smuggling over water; bootlegging is applied to smuggling over land. According to

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2176-551: The USA). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), illegal organ trade occurs when organs are removed from the body for the purpose of commercial transactions. The WHO justifies its stance on the issue by stating, "Payment for... organs is likely to take unfair advantage of the poorest and most vulnerable groups, undermines altruistic donation and leads to profiteering and human trafficking." Despite prohibitions, it

2244-598: The act of theft to be in the profits forgone to the pirates. However, this makes the unsubstantiated assumption that the pirates would have bought the copyrighted material if it had not been available through file sharing or other means. Copyright holders also say that they did work creating their copyrighted material and they wish to get compensated for their work. No other system than copyright has been found to compensate artists and other creators for their work, and many artists do not have an alternative source of income or another job. Many artists and film producers have accepted

2312-521: The aftermath of World War II and Brauner filled that desire with a mixture of comedies, westerns , crime stories and the occasional drama. In 1949, Brauner finally received his license from the American authorities and CCC Film produced three successful films and moved to a former Nazi munitions and poison gas factory in Haselhorst , a locality in the Spandau district of Berlin . Brauner later said, "Out of

2380-523: The black market include consumer-to-consumer online auction websites and private pages on social media websites. In black market venues in Cambodia, sex toys have been seized alongside aphrodisiac products. It has been suggested that if efforts in North America to ban realistic-looking sexbots succeed, it may result in a black market. People engaged in the black market may run their business hidden behind

2448-467: The book Der Schatz im Silbersee ( The Treasure of Silver Lake ) the main character was called "Old Firehand" – in the movie he was renamed "Old Shatterhand" (played by American actor Lex Barker ) after the more famous character. The movies Old Shatterhand ( Apaches' Last Battle ) and Winnetou and Old Firehand ( Thunder at the Border ) are not based on any of May's works, but were completely invented by

2516-487: The company produced The Tiger of Eschnapur and The Indian Tomb , directed by Lang; in 1960, Mistress of the World directed by Dieterle; and Genghis Khan directed by Henry Levin in 1964. The company also began co-producing low-budget films by American B movie directors like Hugo Fregonese and Russ Meyer . Brauner tried to establish a London production base, but abandoned this after making two films, one of which

2584-423: The costs of, and is excluded from the benefits and rights incorporated in, the laws and administrative rules covering property relationships, commercial licensing, labor contracts, torts, financial credit, and social security systems. A summary measure of the informal economy is the income generated by economic agents that operate informally. The informal sector is part of an economy that is not taxed , monitored by

2652-610: The country of sale, but there are no customs checks on borders between countries within the European Union Customs Union . Differences in tax rates can thus lead to opportunities for arbitrage even when prices before tax are equal, in a form that is illegal as a form of tax evasion . For example, between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland , there has often been a black market for petrol and diesel . The direction of smuggling can change depending on variation in

2720-488: The courts, as the operations are distributed and widespread, traversing national borders and thus legal systems. Since digital information can be duplicated repeatedly with no loss of quality, and passed on electronically at little to no cost, the effective underground market value of media is zero, differentiating it from nearly all other forms of underground economic activity. The issue is compounded by widespread indifference to enforcing copyright law, both with governments and

2788-633: The current tenant or sometimes directly from the property owner. Specialized black-market dealers assist the property owners with such transactions. Items such as medicines as well as essential aircraft and automobile parts (e.g. brakes, motor parts, etc.) are counterfeited on a large scale. Street vendors in countries where there is little enforcement of copyright law , particularly in Asia and Latin America, often sell copies of films , music CDs , and computer software such as video games , sometimes even before

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2856-575: The demand for such drugs and profit margins encourage new distributors to enter the market. Drug legalization activists draw parallels between the illegal drug trade and the Prohibition of alcohol in the United States in the 1920s. The laws of many countries forbid or restrict the personal ownership of weapons . These restrictions can range from small knives to firearms , either altogether or by classification (e.g., caliber , handguns , automatic weapons , and explosives ). The black market supplies

2924-773: The demands for weaponry that cannot be obtained legally or may only be obtained legally after obtaining permits and paying fees. This may be by smuggling the arms from countries where they were bought legally or stolen, or by stealing from arms manufacturers within the country itself, using insiders. In cases where the underground economy is unable to smuggle firearms, they can also satisfy requests by gunsmithing their own firearms. Those who may buy this way include criminals to use for illegal activities, gun collectors, and otherwise law-abiding citizens interested in protecting their dwellings, families, or businesses. In England and Wales, certain categories of weapons used for hunting may be owned by qualified residents but must be registered with

2992-399: The end of the 1950s, the company had built five additional film studios on its Haselhorst property, outfitting them with equipment for film and television production. At the end of the 1950s, CCC began a string of Karl May films and historical dramas and Brauner brought important directors back from exile, such as Fritz Lang , Robert Siodmak , William Dieterle and Gerd Oswald . In 1959,

3060-462: The fuel and sell it to black marketeers. Black marketing in vehicle/cooking fuel became widespread during the 2015 Nepal blockade ; even after it was eased and petrol imports resumed, people were not getting the fuel as intended, and resorted to the black market. In some countries including Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and India sex toys are illegal, and are sold illegally, without compliance with regulations on safety, etc. Platforms used to sell sex toys on

3128-436: The government or regulatory authority. Cash is the preferred medium of exchange in illegal transactions, since cash transactions are less easily traced. Common motives for operating in black markets are to trade contraband, avoid taxes and regulations, or evade price controls or rationing. Typically, the totality of such activity is referred to with the definite article, e.g., " the black market in bush meat". The black market

3196-476: The largest producers of postwar German-language films and helped to establish Berlin as a center of German film and television production. CCC produced International Counterfeiters  [ de ] directed by Franz Cap in 1952. In 1955, the company produced The Plot to Assassinate Hitler , directed by Falk Harnack and co-written by Günther Weisenborn , about the failed July 20, 1944 attempt on Adolf Hitler 's life. Other more challenging films from

3264-457: The legal requirements or procedures—health checks, standards of accommodation, and so on. In other countries, such as Nicaragua , where legal prostitution is regulated, hotels may require both parties to identify themselves, to prevent child prostitution . Personally identifying information , financial information like credit card and bank account information, and medical data are bought and sold, mostly in darknet markets . People increase

3332-468: The local police force and kept within a locked cabinet. Among those who may purchase weapons on the black market are people who are unable to pass the legal requirements for registration—convicted felons or those suffering from mental illness for example. The illegal logging of timber , according to Interpol , is an industry worth almost as much as the drug production industry in some countries. In many developing countries, living animals are captured in

3400-584: The movie Der Schatz im Silbersee [1] and Apache Color [2] for Winnetou 1. Teil (called Apache Gold in America). The silent movies of the 1920s are now probably lost . For 10 movies in the 1960s, German composer Martin Böttcher wrote landmark film scores , whose success also helped the movies' international success and influenced the Italian movie industry to make Western movies of their own and create

3468-466: The official release of the title. A determined counterfeiter with a few hundred dollars can make copies that are digitally identical to an original with no loss in quality; innovations in consumer DVD and CD writers and the widespread availability of cracks on the Internet for most forms of copy protection technology make this cheap and easy to do. Copyright-holders and other proponents of copyright laws have found this phenomenon hard to stop through

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3536-446: The particular institutional rules that they violate: The "illegal economy" consists of economic activities pursued in violation of legal statutes that define the scope of legitimate forms of commerce. Illegal-economy participants produce and distribute prohibited goods and services , such as drugs , weapons , and prostitution . The "unreported economy" circumvents or evades institutionally established fiscal rules as codified in

3604-508: The poison-gas factory I wanted to make a dream factory." In the 1950s, CCC continued producing its proven mix of light-hearted fare and hired directors such as Carl Boese , Helmut Käutner , Robert Adolf Stemmle , Géza von Bolváry , Akos von Ratony , Kurt Neumann , Paul Martin and Erich Engel . Actors and actresses such as Heinz Rühmann , Maria Schell , Gert Fröbe , Klaus Kinski , Curd Jürgens and Romy Schneider were featured, some, like Kinski, making his film debut. It became one of

3672-495: The public at large. Additionally, not all people agree with copyright laws, on the grounds that they unfairly criminalize competition, allowing the copyright-holder to effectively monopolize related industries. Copyright-holders also may use region-coding to discriminate against selected populations price-wise and availability-wise. Copyright infringement law goes as far as to deem illegal " mixtapes " and other such material copied to tape or disk. Copyright holders typically attest

3740-488: The rate of exchange of its currency with that of other, "harder" currencies. When it does so, the peg may overvalue the local currency relative to what its market value would be if it were a floating currency . Those in possession of the harder currency, for example, expatriate workers, may be able to use the black market to buy the local currency at better exchange rates than they can get officially. In situations of financial instability and inflation, citizens may substitute

3808-453: The role of piracy in media distribution. The spread of material through file sharing is a source of publicity for artists and builds fan bases that may be inclined to see the performer live (live performances make up the bulk of successful artists' revenues, however not all artists can make live performances, for example, photographers typically only have a single source of income: the licensing of their photos). Money itself may be subject to

3876-650: The supply of prostitutes rose abruptly in Denver and Minneapolis in 2008 when the Democratic and Republican National Conventions took place there. Prostitutes in the black market generally operate with some degree of secrecy, sometimes negotiating prices and activities through codewords and subtle gestures. In countries such as Germany or the Netherlands , where prostitution is legal but regulated, illegal prostitutes exist whose services are offered more cheaply without regard for

3944-424: The tax code. A summary measure of the unreported economy is the amount of income that should be reported to the tax authority but is not so reported. A complementary measure of the unreported economy is the " tax gap ": the difference between the amount of tax revenues due the fiscal authority and the amount of tax revenue actually collected. In the U.S. unreported income is estimated to be $ 2 trillion resulting in

4012-510: The taxes and the exchange rate between the Republic's euro (and previously punt ) and Northern Ireland's pound sterling ; indeed sometimes diesel will be smuggled in one direction and petrol the other. In some countries, diesel fuel for agricultural vehicles or domestic use is taxed at a much lower rate than that for other vehicles. This is known as dyed fuel , because a colored dye is added so it can be detected if used in other vehicles (e.g.

4080-493: The taxicab market with a medallion system (taxicabs must get a special license and display it on a medallion in the vehicle). In most such jurisdictions it is legal to sell the medallions, but the limited supply and resulting high prices of medallions have led to a market in unlicensed carpooling / illegal taxicab operation . In Baltimore , Maryland , for example, it is not uncommon for private individuals to provide illegal taxicab service for city residents. In places where there

4148-600: The underground market offers lower prices, consumers may still buy on the legal market when possible, because: However, in some situations, consumers may conclude that they are better off using black market services, particularly when government regulations hinder what would otherwise be a legitimate competitive service. For example, in Baltimore , many consumers actively prefer illegal taxi cabs, citing that they are more available, convenient, and fairly priced. Some examples of underground economic activities include: Prostitution

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4216-420: The value of the stolen data by aggregating it with publicly available data, and selling it again for a profit, increasing the damage that can be done to the people whose data was stolen. From the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many countries began to ban the possession or use of some recreational drugs , such as in the United States' war on drugs . Many people nonetheless continue to use illegal drugs, and

4284-460: The wild and sold as pets. Wild animals are also hunted and killed for their meat , hide, and organs, the latter of which and other animal parts are sold for use in traditional medicine. In several states in the United States , laws requiring the pasteurization of milk have created black markets in raw milk , and sometimes in raw milk cheese which is legal in a number of EU countries but banned in

4352-592: The world and strict limits on the amount of tobacco that can be imported duty-free from other countries, leading to widespread attempts to smuggle relatively cheap tobacco from low tax countries into the U.K. Such smuggling efforts range from vacationers concealing relatively small quantities of tobacco in their luggage to large-scale enterprises linked to organized crime . British authorities have aggressively tried to detect and confiscate such illegal imports, and to prosecute those caught. Nevertheless, it has been reported that "27% of cigarettes and 68% of roll your own tobacco

4420-514: Was Station Six-Sahara (1962) by Seth Holt . In the mid-1960s, the French New Wave introduced a new, more realistic and contemporary way of filmmaking. Brauner pursued just one such project, called Man and Beast and directed by Edwin Zbonek . The effort was neither a commercial nor an artistic success. CCC then returned to its safe formula of entertainment ventures, such as Karl May films ,

4488-567: Was coined by the Employers' Association of Chicago in June 1927 in a statement about the influence of organized crime in the Teamsters union. Where taxicabs, buses, and other transportation providers are strictly regulated or monopolized by government, a black market typically flourishes to provide transportation to poorly served or overpriced communities. In the United States, some cities restrict entry to

4556-412: Was estimated that 5% of all organ recipients engaged in commercial organ transplant in 2005. Research indicates that illegal organ trade is on the rise, with a recent report by Global Financial Integrity estimating that the illegal organ trade generates profits between $ 600 million and $ 1.2 billion per year across many countries. A racket is a service that is fraudulently offered to solve

4624-584: Was the 1947 King of Hearts , followed in 1948 by partially self-autobiographical Morituri , directed by Eugen York . Morituri tells the story of a Polish refugee from a Nazi concentration camp . After a few theaters were damaged, the film was boycotted by other theaters and became a box office disaster, nearly ruining CCC Film and Brauner, and causing him to begin producing "normal films" in order to pay off his debt, as he told Time magazine in 2003. Postwar German audiences, struggling with devastated cities, homelessness and hunger, wanted escapist movies in

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