Fritz Arno Wagner Movies

In this emotional melodrama, a woman is devastated to discover that her beloved has fathered the child of her closest friend. With many tears, she breaks their engagement and moves into the country where she eventually falls in love with a handsome schoolmaster. Unfortunately, this sets local tongues to wagging and, unable to bear the scandal, she leaves. Time passes and when she learns that the teacher has been horribly burned while saving someone from a fire, she returns to marry him. Unfortunately, while helping a friend's ailing child she catches diphtheria. Just before she passes on, she vows that she will love the teacher forever. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

That venerable Leo Fall operetta Die Rose von Stamboul was given a serviceable screen treatment in 1953. The fetchingly underdressed (Inge Egger) plays a pasha's niece, who agrees to a "marriage of convenience" to a supposedly stuffy diplomat. Alas, the girl has eyes only for a handsome composer (Albert Lieven). Imagine what will happen when she discovers (as the audience already has) that the diplomat and the composer are one in the same. Though well-directed and acted, Die Rose von Stamboul is saddled with rather lackluster photography, at least in the prints available for television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It must be noted that the "Paul Verhoeven" credited with the direction of the German Palace Scandal is not the current Dutch director of Robocop and Basic Instinct fame. Now that that's been established, on to the plot. Set in the 19th century, this amiable comedy stars Elfie Meyerhoffer as Christine Holm, a popular singer who returns to her hometown. Christine wants to learn the true identity of her father, and when she does, it's quite a jolt for everyone concerned. A clue to daddy's identity can be found in the film's title. Filmed in eye-pleasing Agfacolor, Palace Scandal might have made an entertaining operetta with the addition of a few more songs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The English-language title of this German musical satire is The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes. That immensely popular German star Hans Albers plays Morris Flint, a slaphappy private detective who enjoys pretending to be Holmes; likewise, Flint's assistant, Macky McPherson (Heinz Rühmann), gets a charge out of posing as Dr. Watson. During the 1936 World Exposition in Paris, "Holmes" and "Watson" come to the aid of two young ladies in their efforts to retrieve a valuable stamp. Morris Flint is arrested in the course of his investigation, on a charge of impersonating Sherlock Holmes (evidently a grave offense in Paris, given the solemnity of the subsequent trial). Our hero is saved at the last minute by a mysterious "Laughing Man" who has been weaving in and out of the picture. The mystery man turns out to be Arthur Conan Doyle, who jovially gives Flint permission to continue impersonating Holmes -- so long as he makes it clear that he's an impostor. Interestingly enough, The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes was filmed without any permission of any kind from the Conan Doyle estate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The popular Ivor Novello musical play Glamorous Night was given a conservative film treatment in 1937--minus much of the Novello score that had made it famous. Opera singer Mary Ellis plays an opera singer (why not?) who falls in with a band of roguish but likeable gypsies. Mary manages to convince her Bohemian cohorts to rescue the King from the machinations of his ambitious prime minister. As "cast insurance" to make certain that Glamorous Night would get American bookings, Hollywood character actors Otto Kruger and Victor Jory are given leading roles. The US distributors also sliced the film down from 81 to 65 minutes, through the simple expedient of removing several songs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The story of a military officer during the Weimar Republik who runs away to China, gets involved with some Volga Germans. They get a train, repair the rails and head back to Germany. German language only. ~ All Movie Guide

Fritz Lang directed this sequel to his nearly four-hour Dr. Mabuse silent of 1922 (often shown in two parts, Dr. Mabuse: Der Spieler/The Gambler and Dr. Mabuse: King of Crime). The film opens with Detective Hofmeister (Karl Meixner) spying on the activities of a criminal syndicate. Not realizing he has been seen, Hofmeister is attacked by the thugs and later turns up out of his mind. He is placed in the institution of Professor Baum (Oscar Beregi), who becomes increasingly obsessed with another patient -- the master criminal and hypnotist Dr. Mabuse (Rudolf Klein-Rogge). Baum's assistant, Dr. Kramm (Theodor Loos), connects Mabuse's writings to a series of the syndicate's recent criminal activities, and is murdered for his knowledge by crime lord Hardy (Rudolf Schündler) who takes orders from a hidden Mabuse. Putting all these pieces together is chief investigator Lohmann (Otto Wernicke), whose story plays out simultaneously with that of ex-cop Thomas Kent (Gustav Diessl), a member of the gang who is torn between his need for money and his love for a young woman named Lilli (Wera Liessem). Various clues lead Lohmann to suspect Mabuse's involvement, but when he arrives at the asylum, Baum reveals that Mabuse has died. Meanwhile, Kent's decision to confess to the cops lands himself and Lilli in a room with a hidden bomb. Lohmann traps the gang in a moll's house, leading to a wild shootout. Kent and Lilli escape and race to Lohmann to tell him that Mabuse is behind the crimes. They all race back to the asylum where they discover that Mabuse has taken control of Baum, who sets a monstrous fire at a chemical factory. The mad doctor then leads Lohmann and Kent on a wild car chase back to the asylum where the mystery behind the Baum-Mabuse-Hofmeister connection takes a disturbing turn. ~ Patrick Legare, All Movie Guide

Writer Emeric Pressburger is best known for his 1940s British film collaborations with producer/director Michael Powell. In a previous life, however, Pressburger toiled away in the German film industry. Beautiful Adventure was adapted by Pressburger and director Reinhold Schuenzel from a French stage play by Etienne Rey and Robert DeFlers. Ida Wuest stars as a lovely fraulein engaged to a corpulent man of wealth. She runs off on the day of her wedding with the man she really loves, sparking a merry chase throughout Europe. This was the sort of frothily foolish fare that German film fans ate up both before and after the advent of Hitler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide