Hans Albers Movies

The enduring popularity of German film star Hans Albers helped to make Vor Sonnenuntergang a success. Based on a play by Gerhardt Hauptmann, the film details a bittersweet May-December romance between ageing Mathias Clausen (Albers) and young, beautiful Inken Peters (Annemarie Dueringer). Though there were a few American observers who felt uncomfortable during the romantic scenes, German audiences ate them up like strudel. In his later performances, Hans Alber was inclined to hamminess, and this film is no exception; still, he is quite convincing in the film's more dramatic passages. Released in English-speaking countries as Before Sundown, Von Sonnenuntergang was the sole German entry at the 1956 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The plot of this German adventure yarn is summed up by its title, which translates to Jonny Save Nebrador. Teutonic film-favorite Hans Albers plays a dual role: a world traveller visiting the tiny South American banana republic of Nebrador, and his evil look-alike, a local insurrectionist. The despot hires his identical newcomer to replace him, the better to carry out his scheme to overthrow the government. But the replacement is able to save the country from disaster -- and to make short work of his doppelganger. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Nachts aut den Strassen (Detour) stars German film favorite Hans Albers as a middle-aged truck driver named Heinrich. Coming across a traffic accident, Heinrich finds a small bagful of money. Figuring that no one will miss it, he pockets the cash and in so doing, condemns himself to a Living Death. The dramatic thrust of Nachts auf den Strassen is not so much that Crime Does Not Pay, but that no man can ever escape his most diligent nemesis -- himself. The film represented the first postwar effort from producer Erich Pommer, whose name hadn't been seen on screen since the 1940 Hollywood production They Knew What They Wanted. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this German drama, a man tries to prevent his niece, a hooker, from falling in love with a drunken sailor. The film was originally banned by Nazi propaganda minister Goebbels, as it presented an unflattering view of German soldiers. After the war, the film became very popular. No English translation is available for the film. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This 1943 film, produced at the UFA studios in West Germany, was refurbished by Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau Foundation to mark the 50th anniversary of that studio. The Nazi director of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, wanted a big internationally acceptable production to celebrate the studio's 25th anniversary, and the Münchausen story was chosen. It was thought suitable for Germans of the time, because of the ridiculous light in which it shows other nationalities. Baron von Münchausen (1720-97) was an eccentric figure in European history, whose tall tales about his adventures rival anything to be found in the legends of Paul Bunyan, or of the classical figure of Odysseus; they are similar in tone to the stories in Gulliver's Travels. The Baron's tales have been favored reading by the young-at-heart for centuries. This film recounts some of the episodes from the Baron's "autobiographical" stories, which are set in the world of the eighteenth century. In the story, the Baron's 1940s descendant narrates some of the Baron's famous tales; it gradually becomes clear that the original Baron attained immortality, and that his modern descendant is actually the original Baron. The American-born director Terry Gilliam made another film based on these tales in 1988, also titled The Adventures of Baron Münchausen. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Die Gelbe Flagge (The Yellow Flag) was based on a novel by Fred Andreas, which gained a huge audience when it was serialized in German newspapers in 1937. The immensely popular Hans Albers stars as devil-may-care aviator Peter Diercksen. When a deadly plague breaks out, Diercksen risks his neck on a near-hourly basis to fly in much-needed medicine and supplies. Somehow he pauses long enough to get mixed up with a hostile cannibal tribe -- and even more frightening, a bevy of desirable females. Dorothea Wieck, another top German screen attraction, is cast as a dedicated nurse. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this German comedy set in the American West, an ace detective heads West to destroy a ring of Mexican hashish smugglers. He also has time to romance a pretty girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi