Karl John Movies
The plot of William Friedkin's suspense thriller originated with the same Georges Arnaud novel that inspired Henri-Georges Clouzot's French suspense classic The Wages of Fear (1953). Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal, and Amidou play four men who, for various reasons, cannot return to their own countries. They end up in a dismal South American town where an American oil company is seeking out courageous drivers willing to haul nitroglycerin over 200 miles of treacherous terrain. The four stateless men have nothing to lose -- and, besides, they'll be paid 10,000 dollars apiece, and be granted legal citizenship, if they survive. The suspense is almost unbearable at times, even outdistancing the tension level of The Wages of Fear in certain scenes. Sorcerer had all the earmarks of a moneymaker, but this picture bombed for a rather odd and silly reason: its glaringly inappropriate title. Fans of Friedkin's The Exorcist may have gone home disappointed that not one sorcerer ever rears its ugly head. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, (more)
- 1965
The crime novels of Englishman Edgar Wallace have been adapted into several dozen movies, possibly more in Germany where they were enormously popular for a very long time. Though the author died in 1935, he has been given "screenwriter" credits on a great many of these films. Der Hexer is based on one of his more popular and critically acclaimed works, The Squeaker, which also gave rise to an English film in 1930. In the story, a supposedly respectable man is forced to murder his lovely secretary when she finds out too much about his real business, which is white slavery (forcing women into prostitution). The girl's brother comes from Australia to find out what happened to her and goes on a rampage against the criminals, confounding the increasingly dismayed functionaries in Scotland Yard. Not only is he impinging on their turf, but they are unable to discover who he is. Meanwhile, he must evade not only the police, but the powerful criminals he is working against. Thanks to some fancy plotting by the filmmakers, even readers of the original novel will not be able to guess his identity. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alfred Vohrer, Herbert Reinecker, (more)
- 1965
Based on an Edgar Wallace story, this is the story of a psychopath known as "The Wizard." Thought to be dead by the Scotland Yard, murders with his exact mode of operation in London suggests that he is not. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi
The Longest Day is a mammoth, all-star re-creation of the D-Day invasion, personally orchestrated by Darryl F. Zanuck. Whenever possible, the original locations were utilized, and an all-star international cast impersonates the people involved, from high-ranking officials to ordinary GIs. Each actor speaks in his or her native language with subtitles translating for the benefit of the audience (alternate "takes" were made of each scene with the foreign actors speaking English, but these were seen only during the first network telecast of the film in 1972). The stars are listed alphabetically, with the exception of John Wayne, who as Lt. Colonel Vandervoort gets separate billing. Others in the huge cast include Eddie Albert, Jean-Louis Barrault, Richard Burton, Red Buttons, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Gert Frobe, Curt Jurgens, Peter Lawford, Robert Mitchum, Kenneth More, Edmond O'Brien, Robert Ryan, Jean Servais, Rod Steiger and Robert Wagner. Paul Anka, who wrote the film's title song, shows up as an Army private. Scenes include the Allies parachuting into Ste. Mere Englise, where the paratroopers were mowed down by German bullets; a real-life sequence wherein the German and Allied troops unwittingly march side by side in the dark of night; and a spectacular three-minute overhead shot of the troops fighting and dying in the streets of Quistreham. The last major black-and-white road-show attraction, The Longest Day made millions, enough to recoup some of the cost of 20th Century Fox's concurrently produced Cleopatra. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, (more)
- 1955
The Devil's General (Des Teufels General) stars Curt Jurgens as a courageous Luftwaffe officer. Jurgens loves the service, even though he barely tolerates the Hitler regime. Sickened by wartime Nazi atrocities, Jurgens renounces his government, and is imprisoned and tortured as a result. Once released, the general takes pity on a downtrodden Jewish family. This isolated act of kindness is a point in his favor when Jurgens stands before Satan himself for his final judgment. The Devil's General was based on an immensely successful postwar play by German author Carl Zuckmeyer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Curd Jürgens, Viktor de Kowa, (more)
- 1954
Future film and TV director Ivan Desny stars in the German melodrama No Way Back. Desny plays Mischa, a Russian officer who is one of thousands of troops pouring into Berlin at the end of WW II. During the Soviet occupation of the German capitol, Mischa falls in love with local girl Anna (Ruth Niehaus). When he is called back to Russia, Mischa loses contact with the girl. Seven years later, he returns to Berlin, searching for the elusive Anna. His quest leads to a number of life-threatening situations for both parties, fomented by the political intrigues of the postwar era. The winner of the German equivalent of the Academy Award, No Way Back was originally released as Weg Ohne Umkehr. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ivan Desny, Ruth Niehaus, (more)
- 1953
Young Britisher Susanne Mallinson (Claire Bloom) is visiting the occupied city of postwar Berlin, as the guest of her brother, Major Martin Mallinson (Geoffrey Toone) and his wife Bettina (Hildegarde Neff), whom he met during his initial stay in Berlin as a British Army doctor. They seem happily married, but Susanne soon notices that Bettina is trying to hide something, both from her and from Martin -- a secret involving a young boy (Dieter Krause) on a bicycle who seems to turn up everywhere she does, and figure whom she initially doesn't see. The truth finally comes out amidst a new skirmish between the British on one side and the East Germans in the Soviet zone on the other, and a man named Olaf Kastner (Ernst Schroeder), who seems to make a lot of mystery-shrouded trips in and out of the city's Russian Zone. Bettina was married to the mysterious Ivo Kern (James Mason), a handsome, smooth-talking former German army officer (with his own record during the Second World War -- as well as after -- to hide from) who was presumed dead after 1944, and declared so by the authorities. But now Ivo has turned up alive, an event that nullifies Bettina's and Martin's marriage, among other personal repercussions; and he has been working for the Russians in the eastern zone, engineering the kidnapping of people out of West Berlin. And he wants Olaf Kastner, who has been an embarrassment to the East Germans, and especially Kern's superior Halendar (Albert Waescher), with his success at rescuing people from the Eastern Zone; and Ivo might just get him if he can charm the wide-eyed, innocent Susanne sufficiently . . . . ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Mason, Claire Bloom, (more)
- 1951
Der Verloreue (The Lost One) was the only directorial effort by actor Peter Lorre. In keeping with Lorre's established screen persona, this is a tale of stark terror, disillusionment and defeatism. The actor stars as Dr. Rothe, a German research scientist who during WW2 discovers that his fiancee has been selling his scientific secrets to the British. In a fit of pique, he murders her, but is not punished for the crime, which is passed off by the Nazi authorities as justifiable homicide. Unable to console himself to his sweetheart's betrayal, Rothe wanders the countryside, killing every woman who reminds him of his lost love - while the Gestapo dutifully continues covering his tracks, even declaring him legally dead so that he can escape imprisonment. In a plot twist worthy of Fritz Lang, Lorre puts himself on trial and metes out his own punishment. Not entirely successful, Der Verloreue is still a fascinating exercise in fatalism from one of the cinema's most distinctive talents. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Lorre, Karl John, (more)
- 1947
Originally In Jenen Tagen, In Those Days was the first postwar directorial contribution by Germany's Helmut Kautner. The film is an episodic recollection of life under the Third Reich, told from the viewpoint of an automobile. Kautner introduces the audience to the car's various owners, each of whom is in one way or another a victim of Nazism. The most poignant vignette concerns a businessman whose life and career are destroyed by the Nazi persecutors of his Jewish wife. Because of a shortage of studio space, most of In Jenen Tagen was lensed out-of-doors, adding a realistic, documentary-like veneer to the proceedings. Though held in low esteem by American film critics, In Jenen Tagen was deemed worthy enough to be entered into the 2nd International Film Festival at Locarno; the film was later released in the U.S. as Seven Journeys. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Erich Schellow, Winnie Markus, (more)
