Karin Hardt Movies

The West German Just a Gigolo has little to do with the popular song of the same name. Its central character, played by David Bowie, is a World War I-era Prussian aristocrat. Living by his wits throughout Europe, Bowie uses his sexual prowess with beautiful women (and powerful men) to advance himself. The leering lothario eventually comes to grief in the decadent Berlin of the 1920s. We don't know how he did it, but director David Hemmings managed to corral some of the most stellar sex goddesses in film history to play cameos in Just a Gigolo: Kim Novak, Maria Schell, and even Marlene Dietrich. The film was originally released as Schoner Gigolo, Armer Gigolo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gene Pitney's hit title song for this courtroom drama became a bigger and more enduring success than the film in which it was repeatedly sung. The story takes place in postwar Germany in the village of Neustadt. A group of four drunken American soldiers come upon a teenage girl, Karin Steinhof (Christine Kaufmann), in the woods outside town. She had been trying to seduce her boyfriend, Frank Borgmann (Gerhart Lippert), but the inexperienced young man got flustered and left. The soldiers take advantage of the situation and are charged with rape. Karin's father Herr Steinhof (Hans Nielsen) wants the death penalty. Major Steve Garrett (Kirk Douglas), the attorney whom the military brings in to handle the defense, bullies Karin's parents, warning that he will put her on the stand. He also talks to townspeople and finds out that Karin has a reputation for standing undressed in front of windows as people pass by. Garrett builds a strong case, leading to a dramatic trial and a shocking conclusion. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Like the title says, "every woman has a secret," especially Annemarie Kolper (Karin Hardt). Upon finding an abandoned train ticket, Annemarie decides to take a trip to Baden-Baden. Here she is assumed to be a young heiress, who'd thrown away the ticket rather than marry a man she didn't love. Forced to keep up the charade, poor Annemarie does her best to hobnob with High Society, even comically participating in a charity steeplechase. Like the heiress, however, Annemarie spurns the chosen fiance, plighting her troth instead with Hans Juergen (Hans Soehnker), an advertising man who ends up promoting the perfume that the heroine's father has invented! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lieberwachen (Love's Awakening) catalogs the trials and tribulations of impressionable young Hanni (Karin Hardt). A veterinarian's daughter, Hanni falls in love for the first time when violin virtuoso Robert Lund (Walter Rilla) comes to town. Against her father's wishes, she elopes with Lund and runs off to the Big City. It isn't long before disillusionment sets in, as Hanni realizes that the life of a celebrity spouse isn't all it's cracked up to be. Unable to cope with her husband's professional demands and his lack of attention to her, poor Hanni decides to take the "easy way out," bringing this emotional object lesson to a tragic conclusion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A Certain Mr. Gran is the English-language title of this fast-paced espionage drama. Things literally start with a bang when a car is forced off an Alpine road and the driver is killed in a fiery crash. The assailant grabs a suitcase stuffed with secret papers from the wreckage, and the chase is on. The head villain, international spy Tschernikoff (Albert Basserman), manages to cover his tracks by posing as a harmless antiques dealer. But Tschernikoff ultimately proves to be no match for "a certain Mr. Gran" (Hans Albers), an undercover secret-service agent. Albers' portrayal of Mr. Gran as a wisecracking fashion plate with an eye for the ladies is a fascinating precursor to the James Bond school of spydom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide