Gerd Vespermann Movies

Originally a 1966 Broadway musical, this groundbreaking Bob Fosse musical was in turn based on Christopher Isherwood's Goodbye to Berlin, previously dramatized for stage and screen as I Am a Camera with Julie Harris as Sally Bowles. Fosse uses the decadent and vulgar cabaret as a mirror image of German society sliding toward the Nazis, and this intertwining of entertainment with social history marked a new step forward for the movie musical. Michael York plays a British writer who comes to Berlin in the early 1930s in hopes of becoming a teacher. He makes the acquaintance of flamboyant American entertainer Sally Bowles, played by Liza Minnelli. Sally works at the Kit Kat Klub, a George Grosz-like Berlin cabaret where each night the smirking, androgynous Master of Ceremonies (Joel Grey) introduces a jazz-driven "girlie show" to his debauched audience. Virtually all the film's musical numbers are staged within the confines of the Kit Kat Klub, and each song comments on the plot and on Germany's "progression" from hedonism to Hitlerism. Most of the Broadway score by John Kander and Fred Ebb was retained, with the welcome addition of "The Money Song." Although it lost Best Picture to The Godfather, Cabaret won eight Oscars, including awards to Minnelli, Grey, and Fosse. A heavily expurgated 88-minute version of Cabaret has been prepared for commercial TV presentations, regarded by many as dramatically inferior to the full cut. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This lighthearted comedy finds a grandfather (Werner Hinz) trying to cope with his family at his country home. His elderly sister is hard of hearing and his marriageable daughters wish to tie the knot before they become spinsters. Grandfather is a kind but not outwardly affectionate soul who also deals with his six-year-old nephew Gaylord Archibald Ester). The young boy gets into trouble with the neighbor boys and is accused of stealing. The family quarrels but always comes to each others' aid when the chips are down in this family-oriented feature taken from the best-selling novel by Eric Malpass. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Christian de Bresson plays the son of East German minister Michael Gwynn. The Communist regime has decreed that all children of "dissidents" will be denied entry in a prestigious music conservatory. Anxious to be accepted, young de Bresson prepares to answer the seven questions required by the conservatory, the seventh of which will require him to deny his religious convictions. Before this can happen, the boy is invited by the Communist Party to perform at the Berlin Youth Festival. The boy's father protests, knowing that the Communists intend to use his son as a political pawn, to "prove" to the world that East Germany affords equal rights to persons of the cloth. It is de Bresson himself who decides to quit the Festival and defect to the West. Financed by Lutheran Film Associates, Question 7 was given an honored showcase by the Berlin Film Festival--held, of course, in the western sector. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The German musical comedy Guitars of Love stars Italian tenor Vico Torriani. The hero is garage mechanic Robert Trenti (Torriani), who dreams of attaining fame and fortune as a singing star. Heading to Rome to realize his goal, Trenti joins a musical aggregation called the "Hot Four." While touring the provinces, Trenti is selected for stardom by internationally famous orchestra leader Mantovani (who co-stars as himself). Elma Karlowa co-stars as Mantovani's femme vocalist Ilona Mirko, with whom Trenti falls in love at fade-out time. One wonders how the Mantovani depicted in Guitars of Love eventually evolved (or devolved) into the King of Elevator Music. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide