The Case of the Elevator Duck

Year Published: 1974

Country of Origin: United States

Description: 16mm Film - The Case of the Elevator Duck - USA 1974 Directed by: Joan Micklin Silver Written by: Joan Micklin Silver, based on a book by Polly Berrien Berends Cinematography by: Don Guy Music by: Larry Goodman Starring: Robert Lee Grant, Bee Jay, Jackie Torres, Walter Grant, Ruben Sotomayer et al. Based on a children's book of the same name by Polly Berrien Berends, 'The Case of the Elevator Duck' bring viewers inside a New York City housing project. The film is focused on a charismatic African American boy who fancies himself an undercover detective and sees the world through this imaginative lens. Gilbert's life takes a turn when, during one of his patrols, he encounters a duck that has mysteriously wandered into his apartment building's elevator. The building doesn't allow pets, but Gilbert can't resist its charms and decides to take care of it, at first hiding the duck in his hamper and letting it out for floats in the bathtub. When his mother discovers the duck, she gives detective Gilbert two days to find its owner - since there are no pets allowed in the projects, no exceptions, she is not going to risk their safe housing for the sake of a wayward bird. After he evades some close calls with the building's dedicated security guard, Gilbert sleuths about to find the duck's home. 'The Case of the Elevator Duck' has a zany sense of humor. At one point Gilbert bemoans having taken on the duck's case when instead he could have taken on 'something more routine, like a mugging.' But he sticks to it and finally cracks the case by taking the duck to each floor of the building and letting it lead him to its apparent home. As it turns out, the duck had been residing with Julio, a Puerto Rican boy who is a little younger than Gilbert, whose older sister won't risk eviction either, shuttling the duck back into Gilbert's care. Frustrated at seemingly every turn, Gilbert finally lands on an ingenious solution: he brings the duck to the neighborhood's day care center, where there are no rules prohibiting animals and where all of the kids can enjoy its company, Julio included. Gilbert is resourceful, persistent, independent, and a creative problem-solver. His barrier to keeping the duck as a pet may have been specific to the rules of life governing his housing project, but his solution represents something universal: not getting discouraged by failure and finding inventive ways to problem solve. 'Man', he proudly says with a smile on his face after he solves the case, 'I'm gonna go crazy with all of the ideas I'm getting.' Film producer Linda Gottlieb recalled that when they were auditioning for the lead they were immediately impressed with Robert Lee Grant, who was cast in the role of Gilbert. He was confident and charming, a natural. At the end of his audition Gottlieb asked him how he felt about ducks, and Grant responded that he loved them. On the first day of the shoot, when the two ducks - one star, one alternate - showed up on the set, it turned out that Grant was in fact terrified of ducks, a fear that he fortunately surmounted during the course of filming. Linda Gottlieb remembered one particularly difficult four-hour shoot that involved trying to get the duck to walk into Julio's apartment. Gottlieb laughed as she asked, 'How do you get a duck to turn left and go in a door?' They tried everything they could think of: food, verbal coaxing, someone from the prop department tying an invisible string to the duck's legs to steer it into the apartment (which looked like a duck being pulled by an invisible string into an apartment). Someone had the idea to try a water gun, and so a crew member off camera shot water at the duck from behind, and lo and behold it walked inside the appropriate apartment. Linda Gottlieb and director Joan Micklin Silver vowed never to work with ducks again. Basierend auf dem gleichnamigen Kinderbuch von Polly Berrien Berends führt 'The Case of the Elevator Duck' den Zuschauer in ein Wohnprojekt in New York City. Im Mittelpunkt des Films steht ein charismatischer afroamerikanischer Junge, der sich für einen verdeckten Ermittler hält und die Welt durch diese phantasievolle Brille sieht. Gilberts Leben gerät aus den Fugen, als er bei einer seiner Patrouillen auf eine Ente stößt, die sich auf mysteriöse Weise in den Aufzug seines Wohnhauses verirrt hat. Gilbert kann dem Charme der Ente nicht widerstehen und beschließt, sich um sie zu kümmern. Zunächst versteckt er sie in einem Wäschekorb und lässt sie in der Badewanne schwimmen. Als seine Mutter die Ente entdeckt, gibt sie dem Detektiv Gilbert zwei Tage Zeit, um den Besitzer zu finden - da in den Sozialwohnungen ausnahmslos keine Haustiere erlaubt sind, will sie die sichere Unterbringung der Familie nicht wegen eines eigensinnigen Vogels riskieren... Support my work on Ko-fi! https://ko-fi.com/theartoffilmon16mm

Online Copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqdaUV1J2ww

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