Victor Vicas Movies
Director/screenwriter Victor Vicas was born in Moscow, but spent much of his youth in France. During the 1930s, he became an assistant cameraman. Vicas served in the French army during WWII. He was captured and interred at a German POW camp from which he escaped and fled to the United States. He first found work as a cinematographer, but became a director in the late '50s. Eventually he returned to Europe to direct a few more feature films. Vicas ended his career working in television. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1972
In this drama, a famed dying surgeon has his brain transplanted into the body of a race car driver who is dying of brain trauma. The operation is a success and the surgeon is happy--until he discovers that the racer's lover is his own daughter. Now what can he do? ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Senta Berger plays retail clerk Jenny who falls for painter Jack (Brett Halsey). Between their quarrels and reconciliations, however, Jenny marries a wealthy businessman but eventually divorces him when the two go their own ways. It isn't until after a second marriage to a divorced playboy, that Jenny realizes her deep love for Jack. This unsuccessful comedy from director Victor Vicas was based on the novel Early to Bed by Anne Piper. Russian-American Vicas directed several features in Germany during the early '60s, though only a couple decades before, he had escaped from a German POW camp. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brett Halsey, Senta Berger, (more)
- 1964
This thriller is set aboard a Frankfurt bound train and chronicles the desperate flight of an East German refugee. When the other Germans learn that the fellow is aboard, they demand that he be turned over to the authorities. Fortunately, the chief authority is a renegade and plans to disobey his orders. His actions nearly cause an international incident between the US and the Soviets and the CO is forced to reluctantly turn in the prisoner. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1959
The sketchy plot and cliched dialogue in this uneven drama about rescue in the Alps are more than balanced by the daredevil, visually evocative, and challenging footage of men and planes converging on the victims of a mountaineering accident. Several people from various parts of Europe have joined a particularly challenging tour that takes them through dangerous areas in the Swiss Alps. Everything is going well until they are trapped in a glacier and some are killed, others are injured, and they need help to get out alive. As the search parties and planes approach, the danger is far from over. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Annemarie Düringer, Robert Freitag, (more)
- 1958
Count Five and Die is a neat British-made programmer set just before the D-Day invasion. Nigel Patrick plays a British major who heads a group of special agents, dedicated to misleading the Nazis into thinking the invasion will take place in Holland. The Allied spies, which include American Jeffrey Hunter and Frenchwoman Annemarie Duringer operate under cover as the owners of a documentary filmmaking firm. The plan is nearly destroyed when one of the spies turns out to be a Nazi agent. The title Count Five and Die refers to the length of time its takes for the traditional cyanide capsules (always doled out to secret agents in films of this nature) to take effect. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeffrey Hunter, Nigel Patrick, (more)
- 1957
John Steineck's novel The Wayward Bus was retranslated into pop-entertainment terms for the screen. Most of the story takes place on the charter bus owned by driver Rick Jason. Travelling slowly through a treacherous California mountain region, the passengers -- including Jason's spiteful, alcoholic wife Joan Collins-- undergo a variety of life-altering experiences. The journey has its most profound effects upon an iconoclastic travelling salesman (Dan Dailey) and lonely stripper (Jayne Mansfield). This is one instance in which the oblong CinemaScope lens is inappropriate to the intimacy of the story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Collins, Jayne Mansfield, (more)
- 1956
The plot of Je Revendrai a Kandara is buried somewhere in its title, which translates to I'll Get Back to Kandara. Francois Perier plays a mild-mannered professor who inadvertently witnesses a murder while stopping over in the titular locale. The problem here is that the professor, feeling somewhat ineffectual and unimportant, finds no real reason to "get involved." Besides, murderer Daniel Gelin must have had his reasons, mustn't he? The two story elements prevalent in Je Revendrai a Kandara -- the murder melodrama and the professor's identity crisis -- do not altogether mesh. Onetime Hollywood leading lady Bella Darvi figures significantly into the proceedings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Gélin, Bella Darvi, (more)
- 1955
The popularity of Maria Schell continued on its upward course via the 1955 drama Herr Ueber Leben und Todd (Master Over Life and Death). Schell plays Barbara Bertram, whose life is thrown into turmoil when she gives birth to a mentally defective child. Her somewhat fascistic doctor husband George (Wilhelm Borchert) is all for "euthanizing" the unfortunate infant. Barbara's shock at her husband's attitude virtually forces her into the arms of the more sympathetic -- and handsomer -- doctor Daniel Karentis (Ivan Desny). The plot takes a unexpected twist when one of the principal characters dies under mysterious circumstances. Herr Ueber Leben und Todd is based on a novel by Zuckmayer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Schell, Ivan Desny, (more)
- 1954
Future film and TV director Ivan Desny stars in the German melodrama No Way Back. Desny plays Mischa, a Russian officer who is one of thousands of troops pouring into Berlin at the end of WW II. During the Soviet occupation of the German capitol, Mischa falls in love with local girl Anna (Ruth Niehaus). When he is called back to Russia, Mischa loses contact with the girl. Seven years later, he returns to Berlin, searching for the elusive Anna. His quest leads to a number of life-threatening situations for both parties, fomented by the political intrigues of the postwar era. The winner of the German equivalent of the Academy Award, No Way Back was originally released as Weg Ohne Umkehr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ivan Desny, Ruth Niehaus, (more)
- 1954
Das Zweite Leben (Double Destiny) is based on Siegfried, a short story and play by Jean Girardoux. Michel Auclair stars as a young French xpert ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Auclair, Simone Simon, (more)
