Walter Supper Movies
- 1936
Released in Germany as Schwarze Rosen, Black Roses represented the return to UFA studios of British musical comedy favorite Lillian Harvey, after several years in Hollywood. The delectable Harvey plays a Russian ballerina, stranded in turn-of-the-century Finland. She falls in love with sculptor Esmond Knight, a political dissident with a price on his head. To save Knight, Harvey spends the night with Tsarist governor Robert Rendel. The story is based on the real-life ballerina Marina Feodorovna, who ended up sacrificing her life on behalf of her lover. Black Roses was filmed in three languages: German, French and English; the English version was originally titled Did I Betray? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lilian Harvey
- 1933
Reifende Jugend was a variation on the 1933 film hit Maedchen in Uniform, minus the homosexual subtext (after all, Hitler was now in power!) The basic storyline concentrates on the boarding-school training of clean-limned, Aryan youth, all for the greater good of the Fatherland. Heroine Elfriede (Hertha Thiele) has a crush on professor Kerner (Peter Voss), while blond, blue-eyed Nehring (Albert Florath) is hopelessly enamored of Elfriede. This is but one of a surfeit of subplots which have the overall effect of weighing down the film. The subliminal pro-Nazi message of Reifend Jugend is more obvious in retrospect than it was in 1936. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Heinrich George, Peter Voss, (more)
- 1932
The title of this heavily plotted German melodrama translates as This One or None. Gitta Alpar stars as Eve, whose emotions are torn between two European princes, lifelong rivals who happen to be brothers. Eve prefers the nicer of the two princes, but this doesn't stop the other from aggressively stepping up his courtship. When the less agreeable of the two monarches takes control of the throne, he orders Eve to make an immediate choice between himself and his brother. Though old-fashioned in concept and execution, Die Oder Keine benefitted from the charming presence of Gitta Alper. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gitta Alpar, Max Hansen, (more)
- 1931
Set in 1806, this is the story of Prussia's best-loved queen, as played by Henny Porten, one of Germany's best-loved actresses. The tragic fate of Queen Luise -- and, by extension, of her homeland -- is sealed by the weaklings and prevaricators all around her. Gustaf Gundgrens gives a masterful performance as the vacillating, ineffectual King Friedrich Wilhelm III. American reviewers paid homage to the film's excellent production values but felt that it was doomed to failure outside Germany because of its melancholy subject matter. The film was based on Luise, a novel by Walter Von Molo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henny Porten, Gustaf Gründgens, (more)
- 1930
While attending an operatic performance, wealthy Otto van Lingen (Gustav Gruendgens) is smitten by beautiful chorus singer Floriane Bach (Alexa Engstroem). Van Lingen sends his secretary Richard Faber (played by director Carl Froelich) to arrange a romantic rendezvous between Van Lingen and Floriane, which leads to the girl's being cast in the female lead of Jacques Levy Offenbach's Tales of Hoffman. But instead of falling in love with her patron, Floriane goes ga-ga over Faber. Van Lingen is incensed, but all is forgiven when he and Floriane are rescued by Faber from an opera-house fire (hence the film's title, which translates as "Fire in the Opera"). Featured in the cast of Brand in Der Oper are several world-renowned opera luminaries, including the great Czech singer Jarmilla Novotna. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gustav Fröhlich, Gustaf Gründgens, (more)
