Reinhold Bernt Movies

Leon Feuchtwangler's novel Jud Süss was originally about a powerful ghetto businessman who believes himself to be a Jew. Süss's ruthless business practices result in the betrayal of an innocent girl, for which he is arrested and sentenced to be hanged under the anti-Jewish laws of the 18th century. While he waits to be executed, Süss discovers he is not Jewish. Rather than turn his back on the people of the ghetto with whom he'd grown up, Süss courageously refuses to declare his "Aryan" status, even though it means he will die on the gallows. The Feuchtwangler book was designed in roundabout fashion to strike a blow against anti-Semitism. But when Jud Süss was filmed in Germany at the behest of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels in 1940, its original message was twisted and perverted into an argument in favor of "ethnic cleansing." As played by Werner Krauss, Süss is not only genuinely Jewish, but also an amalgam of every vicious caricature ever concocted by the anti-Semitic propagandists of the past two centuries. With hooked nose and greasy beard, Krauss portrays Süss as a whining, wheedling, hand-wringing subhuman rapist; small wonder that Krauss was proclaimed an Actor of the State by the Nazis. The final scene of Jud Süss shows a screaming, protesting Süss being hanged in the public square; the scene is directed to cast Süss' tormenters in an utterly sympathetic light, and perhaps even to invoke cheers from an impressionable audience. Though disgusting beyond belief, Jud Süss should be seen at least once, if only to show what a dangerous weapon film can be in the hands of hate merchants. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Der Bettelstudent (The Beggar Student) was based on the same-named operetta by Carl Miloecker. The plot is implicit in the title, as a seemingly impoverished scholar triumphs over his wealthier rivals and claims the girl of his dreams. Such German film favorites as Fritz Kampers, Ida Wuest and Marika Roekk do not disappoint their fans as they go through their customary musical paces. There's also room for some traditional comedy relief, handled in traditional fashion by Ernst Behmer. The highlight of Der Bettlestudent is the second-act ballet, splendiferously photographed by a full cadre of UFA cameramen. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

E.A.Dupont's Trapeze was originally released in 1931 as Salto Morale (aka Circus of Sin). A rehash of Dupont's silent classic Variety, the film stars Anna Sten and Adolph Wohlbruch. A huband-and-wife pair of circus performers. Deeply in love, the couple is rent asunder by the intrusion of another man. Things end on a tragic note when the husband wreaks what he thinks is a clever vengeance -- but isn't. The film that made Anna Sten a star in Europe, Trapeze's 1934 American release coincided with the appearance of Sten's first Hollywood picture, Nana. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Marlene Dietrich became an immediate international star on the strength of her performance as the temptress Lola Frohlich in Josef von Sternberg's classic tale of love and obsession. Professor Immanuel Rath (Emil Jannings) is a strict and humorless schoolmaster who is shocked when he discovers the boys in his class have been spending their time at a sleazy cabaret called The Blue Angel, where an entertainer named Lola (Dietrich) keeps the men in thrall and sells suggestive postcards of herself. Rath goes to the club in hopes of catching his students and giving them a severe dressing-down, but he instead finds himself entranced by the carefree atmosphere of the club, and is struck by Lola's earthy, sensual beauty. Rath finds himself strongly attracted to Lola, and she later entertains him in her dressing room. When word of Rath's infatuation with Lola spreads to his students, he is taunted mercilessly, and eventually Rath is dismissed from the school. While Lola agrees to marry Rath, she shows little affection for him and delights in humiliating him, making him her servant and forcing him to play a clown in her stage show. The Blue Angel was shot in both German and English language versions; the German is preferable, as most of the cast were obviously more expert in that tongue. Dietrich introduced her theme song, "Falling In Love Again", in this picture. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi