Who Drove the Grey Ford? (1950)

Plot Summary

"Who Drove the Grey Ford?" ("Wer fuhr den grauen Ford?") is a 1950 West German crime film directed by Otto Wernicke, marking his only directorial effort, and starring Wernicke as Kriminalkommissar Thieme alongside Ursula Herking, Hilde Sessak, and Wolfgang Neuss. The movie was filmed at numerous original locations in post-war Mannheim. It draws directly from a real-life 1949 post office robbery in Mannheim, exploring the social dislocations of the era through a documentary-style depiction of petty crime and moral dilemmas among young survivors of World War II. The plot centers on three young men scraping by through car stunts and minor cons in the uncertain landscape of Nachkriegsdeutschland, where one sensitive outsider, Peter "Penny," seeks to leave the life behind for love but is coerced into participating in a high-stakes robbery of a money transport. The heist unfolds according to plan, but Penny's well-intentioned yet careless action alerts the police...

Full Cast & Characters

Otto Wernicke

Kriminalkommissar Thieme

Erich Scholz

Peter 'Penny'

Ruth Hambrock

Renate Münster

Günther Erich Martsch

Jonny Dempf

Wolfgang Neuss

Uwe Lauterbach „Chef"

Dieter Sommer

Franz Heiner

Til Kiwe

Polizeirat Proske

Ursula Herking

Hertha Sattler, Kriminalassistentin

Hilde Sessak

Kellnerin bei Edu Schröder

Marianne Gerzner

Rosl

Walter Vits-Mühlen

US-Kriminalkommissar Nelson

Walter Pott

Edu Schröder, Wirt

Director & Crew

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