Fritz Tillmann Movies
- 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
- 1970
This sentimental story is taken from the novel by Heinrich Spoerl but strays from the original. Teachers and students are the focus of the plot, with Hans (Walter Giller) in love with Marion (Nadja Tiller). Uschi Glass and Hans Richter also star in this remake of the 1944 classic by Helmut Weiss. Richter plays a teacher in this production after starring as a student in the earlier version. The student-teacher theme seems to be an inexhaustible vehicle for Teutonic filmmakers. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Giller, Uschi Glas, (more)
- 1970
Lording (Haggis Kraals) is the high school student who is distracted from his final exams when he falls in love for the first time. Flashbacks are employed to recall his past experiences in this romantic comedy. He delights in telling his new love of the childhood pranks he will soon leave behind for the more serious affairs of the heart. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hansi Kraus, Rudolf Rhomberg, (more)
- 1969
Curt Jurgens once again displays his considerable charms as an actor while performing in a role set in the middle of the colorful St. Pauli district of Hamburg. In this story, he is a sea captain who spent eight years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Now he is forbidden to follow his profession, and his name and honor have been sullied. In order to put his life back in order, he is attempting to find out who actually did the crime he was punished for. Along the way he encounters a girl who is much too young to become his lover, and they become deeply attached to one another. It's just as well neither of them is able to consummate their growing affection, for he later discovers that she is his daughter. Even with a story touching on an overlarge grouping of themes, including murder, dope rings, prostitution, and corruption, critics found this sometimes sentimental movie highly appealing. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Curd Jürgens, Heinz Reincke, (more)
- 1968
A group of children play a game on their island home of Ruegen in the Baltic Sea. They revise an ancient heathen ritual one cold March day by standing in the frigid water. The one who lasts the longest in the icy cold will be referred to as the king of Kummerow. They befriend a poor shepherd who is something of a social outcast, and the group makes fun of a pompous preacher and the mean, miserly miller who tries to drive their shepherd friend out of town. The children rejoice when their nemesis the miller is hauled off to jail to pay for his past crimes in this engaging, heartwarming story. West German producer Walter Koppel used an East German crew, taking advantage of a recently developed color process called Orwocolor. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Dahlke, Ralf Wolter, (more)
- 1967
The fine line between drama and real life is crossed with tragic results in this German horror mystery film that is set in modern London and centers on a stage production of Jack the Ripper's life. During the run of the play, a series of murders, eerily similar to Jack's, occur. This doesn't bother the lead actor too much until he discovers that his fake knife has been replaced by a real one during a performance. Horrified, he flees the theater. Pursued by Scotland Yard, he must somehow prove his innocence lest he be sent to the gallows. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hansjörg Felmy, Marianne Koch, (more)
- 1965
Dr. Praetorius (Heinz Ruehmann) is a successful physician and philanthropist in this routine drama, a remake of the 1949 film of the same title by the late playwright and actor Curt Goetz. A jealous colleague tries to discredit the good doctor by attempting to uncover anything in his past that may be considered sordid or questionable. Lisolette Pulver plays the doctor's love interest. A 1951 version entitled People Will Talk starred Cary Grant and Jeanne Crain. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liselotte Pulver, Fritz Rasp, (more)
- 1965
This comedy is taken from the popular stage play by Curt Goetz. Circumstantial evidence implicates Agda Liselotte Pulver in the drowning death of her artist husband . Even her own attorney doubts he can win the case. Another lawyer is hired, but he is discredited when it is revealed that he is also her lover. Soon it is revealed Agda is involved in a plot that is designed to capitalize on the paintings of her murdered husband. There are plenty of surprises, twists, and turns in this offbeat entry. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liselotte Pulver
- 1962
The friendship between two rival soldiers provides the basis of this comedy. The tale is set during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. The soldiers meet while swimming in the same place. They become friends. When they get out of the water, they accidentally trade uniforms. Together they go to a farmhouse. There they meet an old farmer and his pretty granddaughter. They engage in friendly rivalry for the girl, go for another swim and get their proper uniforms back. They then bid each other adieu and return to their troops. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1960
The petty tyrannies and misunderstandings that lead to war are the focus of this conventional, multi-national action film by Horst Haechler. Clements (Cliff Robertson) is a diver who moves to Kalymnos, an area of rumbling social unrest, with the idea of sponge diving for a living. He has enough money to buy a boat and get started but his plans are ruined when Mana (Maria Schell) steals his capital. Clements chases Mana to Kuluri where a despot named Psarathanas (Cameron Mitchell) keeps everyone under his heavy hand by means of terror and intimidation. Inevitably, Clements and Psarathanas clash while at the same time, he and Mana fall in love. As the social situation worsens, the would-be lovers plan to make their escape. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Schell, Cliff Robertson, (more)
- 1959
Schinderhannes is the legendary Robin Hood of Germany, a thief who did not focus on robbing from the rich but on defeating them, and battling Napoleon at the same time. This routine but dressed-up drama interprets his story. Popular German star Curt Juergens plays the title role with a certain amount of reserve and as in Robin Hood, he also has a Maid Marion, Julchen (Maria Schell). Schinderhannes' mission is to convert others to his cause, which introduces not only a humble shoemaker (Joseph Offenbach) and a blacksmith (Paul Esser), but also Carl von Cleve-Boost (Christian Wolff), an aristocratic nobleman who turns tail on his class and joins the rebels. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Schell, Christian Wolff, (more)
- 1958
In this drama, a doctor must clear his name after his mistress is murdered. Of course, the married M.D. is the prime suspect in the case as the woman's body was found at the site of their frequent trysts. The media soon sensationalizes the case and the police decide that the doctor will take the fall, regardless of his innocence. Another murder occurs. As a result the doctor is cleared of wrong doing. Unfortunately he must now live within a community that spurns him, and a depressed wife who recently tried to kill herself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Set in the late 1700s, this grim Danish psychological drama chronicles the mental breakdown of Sweden's young monarch amidst the intrigue and treachery. The king ascended his throne at age 19. His stepmother, the queen, objects and schemes to have him replaced by her natural son. Her plan is to have the depressive king declared mentally incompetent to rule by a noted specialist. Unfortunately, the doctor offers an honest diagnosis and the king keeps his throne. The doctor begins treating him and soon the king's melancholia abates and he begins ruling properly. He rewards the physician by naming him Prime Minister and his closest confidant. Unfortunately, problems arise when the new minister finds himself unable to resist the charms of the king's British wife. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1957
The long-standing feud between Germans and Austrians is grist for the comedy mill in Und die Liebe Lacht Dazu (And Love Laughs At It). The scene is an Austrian mountain resort, where a German and Austrian family clash over who will claim the hotel's best suite. Not surprisingly, the son of the Austrian clan and the daughter of the German aggregation fall in love. The romantic plotline is sappy and sentimental, but the comedy is robust and rowdy, in typical Teutonic fashion. Und die Liebe Lacht Dazu was based on Schwartzbrot and Kipferl, a play by Werner von der Schulberg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Hoerbiger, Gusti Wolf, (more)
- 1956
The title of this German service comedy translates to The Major and the Steers. Adapted from a novel by Hans Venatier, the film stars Fritz Tillman as Major Sunlet, an officer of the U.S. occupation forces in postwar Bavaria. Once he comes to realize that the locals are "regular folks" and not unregenerate Nazis, Major Sunlet becomes a genuine friend to one and all. Before this happens, however, the Major is inveigled into helping peasant Koltener (Attila Hoerbiger) transport 12 steers to market while avoiding bureaucratic red tape. The film's depiction of all Americans as likeable buffoons should prove interesting (if not always amusing) to U.S. audiences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Attila Hoerbiger, Fritz Tillmann, (more)
