Hans Junkermann Movies

Anny Ondra is the whole show in the musical comedy Der Junge Graf (The Young Count). Ondra plays Billy, the daughter of circus owner Preissnitz (Hans Junkerman). To keep production costs low, our heroine performs as a blonde female aerialist, then dons a black wig and poses as a male acrobat. Her dual identity results in a series of complications reminiscent of (but not copying) Viktor und Viktoria. When Der Junge Graf was distributed in the U.S., it was sold on the basis of Anny Ondra's marriage to heavyweight boxing champ Max Schmeling. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Ist Mein Mann Nicht Fabelhaft?" ("Isn't My Husband Wonderful?") coos adoring wife Lu Brandt (Lien Deyers). Lu's hubby Victor (Georg Alexander) may indeed be wonderful, but rich he's not. A lowly employee in a record-player factory, Victor discovers that his wife has told their neighbors that he's actually the company's supervisor. Rather than embarrass Lu, Victor tries to live up to his reputation -- and nearly goes broke in the process. But the worst is still to come when Victor's neighbors, each of them laboring under the misapprehension that they're musically talented, descend upon the Victrola factory en masse demanding auditions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Die Csardasfurstin (Czardas Princess) was adapted from the Emmerich Kalmann operetta of the same name. Marta Eggerth essays the title role, a regal-looking lass named Sylva Varescu. Not technically a princess, Sylva is a music-hall singer whose beauty attracts the attention of handsome prince Weylersheim (Hans Soehnker) and playboy Count Boni Kansianu (Paul Kemp). Weylersheim is anxious to wed Sylva, but he is already engaged to a young countess (Ida Wuest). This last-named character provides a handy plot solution when she falls for the Count, leaving Weylersheim free to marry our heroine. Because of the Third Reich's "racial purity" policy, the Jewish Emmerich Kalman was unmentioned in the UFA press release for Die Csardasfurstin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the continental musical Waltzes from Vienna, this is the story of the "Waltz Kings," Johann Strauss Sr. (Hans Junkerman) and Junior (Gustav Froelich). Jealous of his son's talents, Strauss Sr. forbids the lad to have anything to do with music. Junior disregards these orders and soon surpasses his dad's popularity. The film ends with a tearful reunion between the two Strausses as Senior breathes his last on his deathbed. An English-language version of Waltzes from Vienna was produced in 1933, with an uncomfortable Alfred Hitchcock in the director's chair. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Otto Gebuehr stars as Prussian ruler Frederick the Great in this German historical drama. Lucky in war, Frederick is unlucky in love until he meets the alluring Italian dancing girl Barberina (Lil Dagover). Alas, his happiness is short-lived: Barberina is enamored of another, younger man. Rumanian-born director Fred Zelnik dashed off this epic just before setting up shop in England. Originally titled Barberina, Die Taenzerin von Sans Souci, the film gives evidence of having originally been much longer than its present 78 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this German comedy, an enterprising American uncle comes from Chicago goes to the tiny town of Groditzkirchen to make a fortune on credit even though he only has $10 to his name. To do so, he enlists the aide of a bank clerk and begins posing as a millionaire. The bank clerk is aware that it's all a sham and may fail dismally, but he is an adventurous soul and decides the risk is worth it if he can acquire a fortune for his girlfriend and himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Action star Harry Piel exercised his usual prerogative in Schatten der Unterwelt (Shadows of the Underworld), performing double duty as director. Piel plays a likeable crook who operates a Runyonesque criminal gang right under the nose of criminal commissioner Hans Junkermann. Ultimately, our hero is redeemed by the love of a good woman, played by Piel's real-life wife Dary Holme. The film's random musical highlights occur in a dingy Berlin nightclub that seems to have emerged full-grown from the pen of caricaturist Georg Groscz. Like all of Harry Piel's films, Schatten der Unterwelt proved to be a cash cow at the box office. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The plot of this German slapstick comedy can be summed up by its English-language title, The Stork Strikes. The humor is predicated on pregnancy, both imagined and actual, both planned and unexpected. The characters run around in helter-skelter fashion for nearly an hour and a half, but all problems are straightened out by fadeout time. Siegfried Arno, a splendid comic actor who later became a much-in-demand Hollywood bit player, heads the cast. Der Storch Streikt cost only about $70,000, but raked in nearly twenty times that amount at the box office. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed simultaneously with the English version, this German-language film is considered by many to be technically superior. Greta Garbo, who was discovered by Louis B. Mayer in Berlin, spoke German well and her performance was highly praised. As the old lush Marthy, actress-writer Salka Steuermann (later Viertel) was perhaps not as striking as Marie Dressler, but her performance was highly praised. Veteran German star Hans Junkermann, in his only Hollywood film, took over from George F. Marion as Chris Christofferson, Anna's sailor father, and Theo Shall replaced Charles Bickford as the virile Matt Burke. The latter became famous in his native Germany as "the man who kissed Garbo." Completing the small cast, Herman Bing appeared unbilled as Larry, the bartender who serves Garbo her "viskey." The star herself often admitted to favoring this film over the English-language version and felt a great kinship with Belgian director Jacques Feyder. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide