Rudolf Forster Movies

This drama from author Thomas Mann fails to translate well to the screen because of some underdeveloped characterizations. Count Arnstadt (Rudolf Forster) and the Countess Isabella (Margot Hielscher) are the parents of the beautiful but conceited Sieglinee (Elena Nathanael). When the young Lieutenant Beckerath (Gert Ballus) declares his love for Sieglinde, she agrees to marry him if he rides naked through the town. After he performs the task, Beckerath has more difficulty because the girl is reluctant to leave her beloved brother Siegmund (Michael Maien). The controversial feature was shown at the 1965 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

This drama is a remake of Pabst's famed 1929 film Die Buechse Der Pandora/Pandora's Box. It tells the story of a 14 year-old girl who is caught while trying to pick a doctor's pocket. The doctor ends up taking her in and turning her into a sophisticated lady whom he marries off to a wealthy man. Her new husband really likes to watch her dancing naked. Later, when he catches her 'dancing' with a young artist, the husband drops dead of a heart attack. She then marries the artist, but he soon commits suicide. After that she marries her doctor, but when they get into a fight over a pistol, she accidentally shoots him. She is sent to prison, but is later freed by the doctor's son, and his lesbian pal. The threesome head for gay Paris. In the end, she ends up a streetwalker in London where she becomes a victim of Jack the Ripper. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The first of the "Dr. Mabuse" films not directed by Fritz Lang, the French/German/Italian Return of Dr. Mabuse stars Wolfgang Preiss in the title role. Supposedly dead and buried, Mabuse returns to his criminal activities, once more using hypnotized flunkeys to carry out his dirty work. While the doc's longtime foe Inspector Lohmann (Gert Froebe) probes and prods in his usual methodical fashion, hotshot American detective Lex Barker and dauntless girl reporter Daliah Lavi take the more direct approach to weed out Mabuse. This time around, the diabolical doctor wants to sabotage a nuclear reactor, then take over the world (he never does anything by halves). Return of Dr. Mabuse was released in Europe as Im Stahlnetz des Dr. Mabuse, Le Retour Du Docteur Mabuse and FBI Contro Dr. Mabuse; in some American cities, it was shipped out as Phantom Fiend. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on a play by Eugene Scribe, this witty comedy by director Richter-Helmut Kautner departs from the usual fare of 1950s and early '60s German films. Set at the beginning of the 18th century when Queen Anne (Liselotte Pulver) was on the throne as the British monarch, the story tells of the rivalry and animosity between Lady Churchill (Hilde Krahl), the Duchess of Marlborough and Sir Henry St. John (Gustaf Grundgens), the Viscount of Bolingbroke. While the Queen is depicted as naive and vacillating, the Duchess and Viscount have a great deal to say about the affairs of state. (The Duke of Marlborough was in charge of the armed forces in Queen Anne's war on the continent.) Other affairs are also examined, such as that of the lovers Arthur Masham (Horst Janson) and Abigail (Sabine Sinjen). Flashbacks are shot in black and white, and the skillful use of color in costuming and decor adds a touch of symbolism to the story. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Based on a popular novel by Horst Wifram Geissler, Der Liebe Augustin is a carefully-wrought, sometimes slow-paced story about a young Romeo who lived around 1800 in the region of Lake Constance. Augustin (Mathias Fuchs) is a sentimental, likeable lothario whose first big romance is with Lady Ann (Ina Duscha), a woman who may not have been such a good choice. His next real love, perhaps the love of his life, is Friederike (Nicole Badal), a charming princess who reciprocates his feelings but whose family lines are too royal to allow for any permanent union. That loss is hard to bear, yet Augustin finds some solace in Susanne (Veronika Bayer) woman more of his own background -- and a sturdier romance begins to grow. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The Rest Is Silence, a German-made attempt to update Shakespeare, is one of the best and least self-conscious of this minor genre. As indicated by the title, the film's script is a "mufti" version of Hamlet, with young Hardy Kruger trying to prove that his uncle (Peter van Eyck) has killed his father. Direct references to the Shakespeare original abound, right down to the re-enactment of the crime for the benefit of the Uncle and the periodic appearances of the ghost of the hero's father. Interestingly, this 1960 film was released at the same time as a "straight" German version of Hamlet, made for television and starring Maximillian Schell. The original title of Rest Is Silence was Der Rest Ist Schweigen. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This Austrian romantic comedy was adapted from The Master, a play by Herman Bahr. O. W. Fischer stars as the head surgeon at the Ischl health spa. When rumors persist that Fischer performed an illegal abortion on a peasant girl, it appears as though his career is ruined. Moral and financial support from an unexpected source enables the doctor to restore his reputation -- and, eventually, to prove that the accusations of his enemies were false. What could have been oppressively melodramatic is handled with a refreshingly light touch by director Rolf Thiele. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

It took nerve for director Harald Braun to attempt an all-talking remake of F.W. Murnau's silent masterpiece The Last Laugh, though it can't be denied that Braun's version has its moment. Still, the remake, Der Letze Mann (The Last Man) lacks the originality and nuance of the silent film, if only because it is retreading familiar ground. In the earlier version, Emil Jannings starred as a proud, self-reliant hotel doorman whose whole world disintegrates when he is demoted to washroom attendant. In the remake, Hans Albers plays a headwaiter who is professionally humiliated when the ownership of the hotel changes hands. The Murnau version ended with an ironically comic coda, which may or may not have been a figment of the protagonist's imagination. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This 1955 drama was based - like Istvan Szabo's masterful Colonel Redl (1985) - on the life story of Alfred Redl, a Ukrainian man who worked his way up through the hierarchy of the Austrian army in the early 20th century, while concealing his own homosexuality. In time, when others learn of his gayness, Redl is blackmailed by the Russians into taking counter-espionage maneuvers against the Austrians, and is ultimately forced to commit suicide. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

This musical slapstick comedy has everyone chasing everyone! A re-make of a 1960 movie, this is available in German only. ~ Rovi