Ralf Wolter Movies
- 1997
- NR
Safe sex just got a lot more dangerous in this purposefully outrageous comedy from Germany. A college professor, Mr. Smirnoff (Ralf Wolter) lures an attractive female student, who is willing to do just about anything to improve her grade, to New York's Hotel Quickie, where he avails himself of one of the free condoms provided by the management. However, the prophylactic in question has sprouted teeth and has a taste for blood, and before long, the prof is suddenly missing a penis. Assigned to investigate this strange case is detective Luigi Mackeroni (Udo Samel), a gay policeman who just transferred from Sicily and is a little lonely in his new home. When Luigi and Billy (Marc Richter), a good looking hustler, decide to repair to the Hotel Quickie for some fun and games, the detective himself is attacked by the carnivorous rubber (though his injuries are considerably less than those suffered by Prof. Smirnoff). Now much better acquainted with his new nemesis, Luigi has to convince his partner about the menace of the killer condoms, while in his spare time, he tries to brush off the uninvited advances of burly transvestite Babette (Leonard Lansink). Kondom des Grauens, released in the United States by Troma as Killer Condom, was based on a comic book by German cartoonist Ralf Koenig, who also wrote the screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1985
In a failed attempt at comedy, the German pop group called The Trio do double duty in this film about double-takes -- each member of the Trio looks exactly like a dictator in Latin America. Once the dictators catch on to this coincidence, they develop a scheme to safely get their hands on the illegal fortune they have siphoned out of their countries and into Swiss bank accounts. The plan is to assassinate the Trio and fool their enemies back home into thinking they themselves have been killed -- leaving the door open to safely raid their loot in Switzerland. Most of the story then revolves around cases of mistaken identity. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephan Remmler, Gert "Kralle" Krawinkel, (more)
- 1983
Based on a non-fiction bestseller of the same name by Rolf Hochhuth, Eine Liebe In Deutschland is about a tragic and forbidden love affair between Stanislaw, a Polish POW (Piotr Lysak) and Paulina (Hanna Schygulla) a fruit-and-vegetable vendor in a small town in Germany along the border with Switzerland. Their affair would have gone undetected except for the busybody women of the village, and when Stanislaw is picked up by a German stormtrooper (Armin Müller-Stahl) and brought in for a mock trial, he is given a chance to prove his racial purity and so perhaps escape execution. As for Paulina, she is ostracized by the villagers and imprisoned for consorting with someone who was not of the same high Aryan caste as herself. Depressing, yet politically relevant to Poland of the early 1980s, this film by acclaimed director Andrzej Wajda) is an effective and emotional statement on the nature of oppression. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hanna Schygulla, Marie-Christine Barrault, (more)
- 1980
- R
- Add Graf Dracula beisst jetzt auch in Oberbayern to QueueAdd Graf Dracula beisst jetzt auch in Oberbayern to top of Queue
In yet another sexploitation horror spoof of Count Dracula and his nasty incisors, the infamous count (Gianni Garko) and an often naked Countess Olivia (Betty Vergès) live and dine in the castle's basement on whomever they can find, while the Count's grandson Stan (Garko in a dual role) photographs erotic views of some buxom models on the floors above. The photography of the film also offers some stunning views of the Bavarian landscape, but the dubbed English and failed humor, along with so-so acting, leave only the visuals to be appreciated. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gianni Garko, Betty Verges, (more)
The Serpent's Egg, or Das Schlangenei is director Ingmar Bergman's second English language production (The Touch was his first). It is, however, his first completely non-Swedish production, made after his voluntary self-exile from Sweden over taxation issues. Set in Berlin in the early 1920s, it explores the fear and despair the city evokes in Manuela and Abel Rosenberg (Liv Ullmann and David Carradine), two Jewish trapeze artists. The suicide of Manuela's husband (Abel's brother), has stranded them in Berlin. Berlin is shown to already possess the sinister elements of cruelty and anti-Semitism which laid the groundwork for the later Nazi takeover. A series of misadventures gets them sent to a medical clinic for treatment. However, the clinic is actually a site for Nazi-type "racial" experiments on humans, which generally either madden or kill the subjects. Das Schlangenei was savaged by the critics for its improbable-seeming story and more particularly, for casting David Carradine (best known for his earlier appearances in the Kung Fu U.S. television series) in a crucial role. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liv Ullmann, David Carradine, (more)
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
- Starring:
- Liza Minnelli, Michael York, (more)
- 1972
This German only film tells the story of a plant manager hiding the results of his subordinate's ruses when the auditor pays a visit. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1971
Movies about juvenile mayhem and schemes by children to outwit their parents and teachers are a popular staple of German filmmaking, and the director of this film, Werner Jacobs, practically invented the theme. All the action takes place in a girls' school. The girl who carries most of the film's focus, Trixi (Mascha Gonska), is stage-struck and has been thrown out of several schools prior to this, but after several minor scrapes she is induced to mend her ways and settle down. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1971
A film in German only, this is the story of the saving of a homestead. When a student inherits a hotel in a sad state of disrepair and about to be defaulted out from under her, she uses her imagination and her friends to turn it into a money-making affair. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1970
Willie (Heinz Erhardt) is a sympathetic tax collector nearing the end of his career and looking forward to retirement. He champions the cause of the needy and poor by losing the tax information that allows the government to collect the money. His boss is angry with Willie who is in danger of losing his pension over the incident. Pretending to be insane to escape punishment, his actions win the sympathies of a high ranking tax official. Willie's story endears him to the man and the general population and he is promoted to a high paying job in this delightful comedy. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Heinz Erhardt, Ralf Wolter, (more)
- 1970
A young letter carrier possesses the unlimited gift of loving, much to the delight of the females on his postal route. His daily "special deliveries" are welcomed by the distaffs but severely curtails the business of a local psychiatrist. The frustrated shrink grows vampire fangs, but he tries to kill the postman with more conventional means. Guns, knives and traps fail to snare the intended victim, and the psychiatrist ends up killing himself. The local priest soon discovers the dead man is not in his grave, after a series of supernatural events point to the presence of a jealous vampire. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eva Renzi, Patrick Jordan, (more)
- 1969
This film serves as a vehicle for the popular 11-year-old child singer Heintje. He plays an orphan who lives with his aunt, a woman dizzy with the prospects of a new romance. He spends his time with an older friend who has a horse, until the boy is sent to an orphanage. Heintje runs away to Switzerland, hitchhiking his way through the Alps to find his friend. He is put in danger when he accidentally discovers a ring of smugglers. When his older friend proposes marriage to his true love, the couple makes plans to adopt the young boy. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Heinz Reincke, Gerlinde Locker, (more)
- 1969
Popular Dutch moppet singer Heintje appears in his fourth film in this sentimental sob story. Heintje's innocent father Klaus (Heinz Reincke) is wrongly imprisoned on a trumped-up embezzlement charge. The boy goes to live with his maternal grandfather, who is cold, distant and wealthy. He has never forgiven Klaus for eloping with his daughter who died shortly after Heintje's birth. The boy melts the stony heart of the callous grandfather and helps track down the villains who sent his father to jail. Klaus falls in love with his beautiful court-appointed attorney. Heintje sings several songs in the film and is reunited with his estranged father who looks forward to marrying his lawyerly lady-love. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Heinz Reincke, Gerlinde Locker, (more)
- 1969
Susanne (Terry Torday) is the hostess of a popular hotel on the Lahn River. When she vacations in Paris, she becomes romantically involved with the emperor Napoleon. She sets him up with a bride and manages to uncover some military secrets in the court of the amorous emperor. There is plenty of nudity and suggestive dialogue to spice up what is otherwise a routine script with little imagination. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terry Torday, Claudio Brook, (more)
- 1969
- PG
Hannibal Brooks (Oliver Reed) is a British prisoner of war assigned to care for an elephant in a zoo in Munich. Along with an American (Michael J. Pollard) and an Austrian (Helmut Lohner), the trio escapes with the elephant and heads for the Swiss border. They use the elephant to tear down a sentry post and gain access to the border crossing. They are betrayed by a Polish girl who aligns herself with the Nazis as the trio of escapees and their pachyderm protector evade the enemy in their attempt to escape. Comical moments are provided by the animal and James Donald who plays a captured British Army chaplain in this World War II adventure feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Oliver Reed, Michael J. Pollard, (more)
