Nicolas Vogel Movies

This Austro-German film is based on a true story of the horrors of Communist Romania. Felix Mitterer plays Romanian exile Paul Weiss, who returns to the city of Timisoara to investigate the disappearance of his childhood friend Dominic Paraschiv (August Schmlzer) Weiss is informed by the authorities that Paraschiv, a chemical plant worker, has been imprisoned for the terrorist murder of eighty coworkers. The charge is a baldfaced lie, created to "excuse" the brutal prison treatment of the mildly militant Dominic, whose "crime" was to criticize the government and to lead his beleagured coworkers in prayers. Grainy videotaped footage of the real-life Dominic Paraschiv on his deathbed (after being "liberated" by the new Romanian government) brings the film to a numbing conclusion. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this color film, character development is black-and-white -- the evil coach of a high school soccer team spares no one, uses no dirty trick that will not work, and runs rough shod over everything in order to win the game, always. It seems inevitable that his Nazi-like tactics will one day be revealed for what they really are, but in the meantime, an incredible number of parents and teachers do not have a clue. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In this fictionalized account of the rise of Neo-Nazi organizations in post-war West Germany and Austria, director and co-writer Walter Bannert has focused, in consecutive order, on the disintegration of two dysfunctional families and how the parents' psychotic behavior drove their sons into radical, right-wing paramilitary groups that advocate murder and terrorism in order to achieve their goals. In one family, it is a horrible mother who is at fault, and in the other, a sexually abusive, incestuous father. The sons' activities in the Neo-Nazi groups involve wearing military uniforms, training in actual boot camps, and then being sent on terrorist missions (including murder). ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The plotline of Le Gitan concerns a devil-may-care "good badman" with gypsy blood flowing through his veins. Robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, our hero confounds the authorities in contemporary France. The film makes implications that the attitudes of French society towards the gypsies are to blame for his transformation into a criminal, though the director's sympathies clearly lie with the main character. Alain Delon plays the title role, while Annie Girardot plays a woman who helps him to escape the authorities. Officially a 1975 release, Gypsy may well have been completed several years earlier. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the wake of the Beatles' landmark film Help comes this campy movie featuring British pop-rockers Herman's Hermits. The story begins as the English cuties find themselves pursued by a NASA scientist while on a U.S. tour. The scientist is trying to determine whether the group should have a space capsule named after it. Meanwhile the lads find themselves mixed up with an ambitious starlet willing to stop at nothing, and of course there is one of their girlfriends around to complicate things. During the film's musical finale, the Hermits perform at the Rose Bowl and get their name upon the spacecraft. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The first of two sequels to The Magnificent Seven (1960), this bloody western featured only Yul Brynner from the original picture's all-star cast. Once again, the residents of a pastoral Mexican village become enslaved by a maniacal brute, this time the insane rancher Lorca (Emilio Fernandez), who has corralled a small army of 50 gunmen to intimidate the citizenry into building a church in memory of his son. Chico (now played by Julian Mateos), an original member of the seven gunslingers from the first film, hears of the villagers' plight and sends for Chris Adams (Brynner), who rounds up another lucky seven shootists from various places of ill-repute (including prison). The new bunch, which now includes Warren Oates and Claude Akins, storms the storm, intending to restore order. This film was, in turn, followed by a pair of further sequels, Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969) and The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Two aging bronc-busters (Glenn Ford and Henry Fonda) make their meager money by breaking wild horses. They dream of better days--possibly retiring to some island paradise--but they never put any money in the bank because they spend it all on booze and girls. They think their no-dough days are done until they acquire a wild drunkard horse which they enter in a bucking contest--no one can ride the wild, hiccupping nag. This is a pretty funny '60s western-style comedy. ~ Rovi

Many viewers avoided Mail Order Bride upon its first release, assuming (thanks to MGM's shoddy promotional campaign) that the picture had been slapped together to capitalize on the popularity of Beverly Hillbillies star Buddy Ebsen. In truth, the film is an engaging and involving western drama, with Ebsen playing a character far removed from Jed Clampett. The mail order bride in question is not for Ebsen but for the wild young frontiersman in his charge (Keir Dullea). It is Buddy's hope that the girl will tame the boy (the son of an old friend) and give him some sense of responsibility. Lois Nettelton is the proper young lady who fills the bill. In the closing scenes, director Burt Kennedy restages the climactic shootout from 1962's Ride the High Country, which Kennedy scripted. Mail Order Bride is not only a satisfactory vehicle for Buddy Ebsen, but it also allows him an opportunity to sing the title song. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Allied Artists' Gun Hawk puts Rory Calhoun through his usual paces as an aging gunman. Calhoun has pretty much retired from shoot outs, and now runs a small town populated by outlaws. He befriends hotheaded fast gun Rod Lauren, who behaves as impulsively as Calhoun had in his earlier days. When the outlaws turn on Calhoun and shoot him down, the mortally wounded gunslinger tries to goad Lauren into a fight so that he can die with a modicum of dignity. Producer Richard Bernstein co-wrote the screenplay of Gun Hawk from his own story. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this fun-filled adventure-fantasy, a rookie knight embarks upon a valiant quest to save a princess who has been captured by a malicious magician. Along the way he must battle the usual assortment of dragons, ogres and other mythical beings. He is assisted by a good witch who gives him a magic sword. Unfortunately, the magic fails and suddenly he must find his own magic from within. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This long, 135-minute feature is divided into four different segments, three highlighting fairy tales and the first introducing the two Brothers Grimm. Wilhelm (Laurence Harvey) is the dreamer, and Jacob (Karl Boehm) is the practical one, and between them, some marvelous fairy tales develop. Seguing into the first tale about the "Dancing Princess," co-directors Henry Levin and George Pal -- also the producer -- allow their special-effects artists full rein. In-between dancing, the princess (Yvette Mimieux) falls in love with a charming woodsman (Russ Tamblyn). In the second story about the "Cobbler and the Elves," a Christmas miracle of dedicated labor helps the cobbler out when he most needs it. In the last story, a fire-breathing dragon threatens the kingdom until a lowly servant (Buddy Hackett) saves the day. One of the highlights of this production are the Puppetoons, and another is Cinerama -- three projectors working to create a three-paneled (sometimes visibly so), wide-screen panorama. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In George Pal's version of the H.G. Wells classic, Rod Taylor stars as George, a young scientist fascinated with the concept of time travel. On December 31, 1899, George seats himself in his jerry-built time machine and thrusts himself forward into 1917. A dyed-in-the-wool pacifist, George is distressed to see that World War I is raging all about him. He moves past the 1920s and 1930s into the 1940s, only to be confronted by another, even more terrible war. Next he stops in 1966, just as London is destroyed in a nuclear explosion. Retreating to his Time Machine, George is sealed in his cellar by molten lava. By the time he and his machine manage to escape their tomb, the year is 802,701. Looking around, George observes a seemingly idyllic world populated by gentle people. But he also notices that the citizens of the future, known as "Elois," behave more like mindless sheep than human beings. Befriending the lovely Weena (Yvette Mimieux), George learns to his dismay that humankind has forgotten all that it has learned through the centuries, preferring instead to frolic endlessly under the sun. Plot holes and inconsistencies abound in The Time Machine, but the film's true selling points was its Oscar-winning special effects; in this respect, producer-director Pal succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams. Another plus: the haunting musical score by Russell Garcia. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi