Hans Jacoby Movies

This is a deft satire by Axel von Ambesser that undercuts the adage that a soldier must always obey orders, no matter what. At the heart of the story is Schwejk (Heinz Ruhmann), a canine salesman who is drafted into the army during World War I. The setting is Bohemia when it was under the sway of a combined Austro-Hungarian rule. Once Schwejk has his uniform on he so devotedly follows the very letter of the law, every order that is given him, that he comes off as a total idiot. Nevertheless, he manages quite well with this tactic, whether it is feigned or not. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A charming, sophisticated, off-beat, and unlikely comedy, Ein Mann Geht durch die Wand has a title that describes the crux of the humor: an unprepossessing underling in the revenue offices discovers he can walk through walls. Herr Buchsbaum (Heinz Ruehmann) is naturally quite surprised at this development, but he soon finds some very understandable ways to use his newfound ability. His exploits lead both to laughter and to a tug at the heartstrings. Also figuring in the tale are his attractive next-door neighbor, two colleagues at work, and his boss. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A Swiss-French coproduction, It Happened in Broad Daylight is an austere but shocking story of the hunt for a human monster. A forest community is terrorized by a child murderer, who per the title strikes in broad daylight. Whereas such a criminal might be more easily tracked down in the confines of a big city, the village police are obliged to comb miles and miles of mountains and wooded wilderness. A detective (Heinz Ruhmann) goes undercover to trap the murderer, posing as a workman with a wife (actually a local widow) and child. Veteran French character actor Michel Simon briefly appears as a falsely accused suspect, who commits suicide rather than face the shame of being branded a child killer. Slightly marred by some clumsy plot contrivances and by the rather crude dubbing in the English-language prints, It Happened in Broad Daylight is nonetheless one of the more accomplished European suspensers of the 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this sci-fi film, a Venusian emissary and an earth woman become friends. The alien tells her that he has come to warn her of the dangers of nuclear weapons. Unfortunately very few earthlings listen to his message. The film is basically a cheap knock-off of The Day the Earth Stood Still. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Lex Barker plays the Lord of the Jungle in Tarzan's Savage Fury. Against his better judgment, Tarzan agrees to guide British government agents Edwards (Patric Knowles) and Rokov (Charles Korvin) into the land of the Wazuri Tribe, ostensibly to harvest uncut diamonds for national-defense purposes. In reality, Edwards and Rokov are a pair of criminals who intend to use the gems for their own nefarious purposes. Dorothy Hart co-stars as Jane, while Tommy Carlton plays a substitute for Tarzan's adopted son "Boy." The film's best scene takes place just after the opening credits, as Tarzan rescues Carlton from a deadly tribal ritual. Tarzan's Savage Fury was co-written by Cyril Hume, who'd contributed mightily to the "Tarzan" series back in its big-budget MGM days. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In Sirocco Humphrey Bogart is cast as Harry Smith, a casino operator in 1925 Damascus. For a tidy profit, Smith runs guns to the Arab insurrectionists attempting to overthrow the French Protectorate. Chastised by French Colonel Feroud (Lee J. Cobb) for his lack of morals and political convictions, Smith merely sneers in agreement. Before long, he has become romantically involved with Feroud's mistress Violetta (Marta Toren), who hopes to use Harry as means of escape to Cairo. Only after being betrayed by the Arabs and roughed up by the French authorities does our "hero" begin to behave ethically -- but by then, it's too late. A weak attempt by Bogart's Santana Productions to duplicate the success of Casablanca. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The people of a jungle village are suffering from a strange illness that is killing off the female population. The natives resort to kidnapping women from other regions -- including Jane (Vanessa Brown), the mate of Tarzan (Lex Barker). Never one to hold a grudge, Tarzan offers to deliver a serum that will wipe out the epidemic. Unfortunately, numerous unforeseen perils await Tarzan during his journey through the foliage. The "slave girl" of the title is played by Denise Darcel, whose role as a nurse is secondary but decorative. An 8 X 10 glossy of the underdressed Darcel, her wrists shackled, clinging desperately to Lex Barker's bare legs, turned out to be one of the biggest-selling "pin-ups" of the 1950s. Not bad for a post-Weissmuller Tarzan flick, Tarzan and the Slave Girl falters only during an extended comic sequence involving Cheta the chimp and a bottle of booze. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) must once more contend with outsiders who invade his jungle domain to hunt for gold. Guarding the valuable ore is a tribe of hostile Amazons, led by Maria Ouspenskaya. The Amazons regard every man as their enemy, and very nearly kill Tarzan before he can rescue them from the villains. Also in the cast are Brenda Joyce as a blonde Jane, Johnny Sheffield as Boy, Barton MacLaine as the principal heavy, and "cult" horror star Aquanetta as an Amazon maiden. Tarzan and the Amazons was Johnny Weissmuller's ninth appearance as the Lord of the Apes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Technicolor retelling of the Gaston Leroux "grand guignol" classic The Phantom of the Opera has a little more opera than phantom, but that's because the stars are soprano Susannah Foster and tenor Nelson Eddy. Claude Rains carries the acting honors on his shoulders, playing a pathetic orchestra violinist who worships aspiring opera-singer Foster from afar. The girl is unaware that Rains has secretly been financing her music lessons with instructor Leo Carrillo. When he runs out of money, Rains attempts to sell the concerto that he's been working on all his life. Mistakenly believing that his precious concerto has been stolen from him, Rains attacks and kills the music publisher he holds responsible. Terrified, the publisher's mistress throws a pan full of acid into Rains' face. Rains runs screaming into the night, and is not heard from for the next reel or so. Soon afterward, the Paris Opera house is plagued by a series of mysterious accidents. The managers are informed via letter that the "accidents" will continue if Foster is not immediately promoted to leading roles. Only after reigning diva Jane Farrar is drugged into incapacitation is Foster given her big break. Farrar accuses Foster's boyfriend, police inspector Nelson Eddy, of doping her in order to advance Foster's career. Farrar is later strangled, and Eddy is accused of the crime. The culprit is, of course, Rains, who now poses as the masked-and-caped "phantom". Maniacally determined that no one will impede Foster's success, Rains causes a huge chandelier to crash down on the opera audience when Foster fails to appear onstage (she'd been kept from performing by police-chief Edgar Barrier, who hoped in this manner to flush The Phantom out of hiding). A chase through the catacombs below the opera house ensues, with Rains holding Foster prisoner. When Rains briefly lets down his guard, the tremulous Foster removes his mask. It's "yecccch," all right, but nowhere near as frightening as the unmasking scene in the silent Lon Chaney version of Phantom of the Opera. The same can be said for the rest of this 1943 remake, though in fairness it appears as though the film wasn't really designed to scare anyone, but instead to serve as a suspense yarn with musical interludes. Hume Cronyn makes his second film appearance in Phantom in a microscopic role. The huge sets designed for this picture were hastily reused for the 1944 Universal melodrama The Climax, starring Boris Karloff and (again) Susannah Foster. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed in German by a Swiss production firm, The Eternal Mask (Die Ewige Maske) was adapted by Leo Lapaire from his own novel. Mathias Weimann plays an idealistic doctor who believes he has discovered a cure for meningitis. Ordered not to experiment with this serum, Weimann does so anyway, utilizing the supposed wonder drug on a terminal patient. When the man dies, Weimann is reprimanded by his superiors, and wanders out of the hospital, believing himself a failure. His depression deepens into delirium, and soon the doctor is wandering through a Caligariesque world of distorted shapes and distended shadows, where he finds it impossible to separate illusion from reality. Meanwhile, Weimann's superiors determine that the meningitis serum is indeed effective; now they must snap the doctor out of his nightmare in order for him to reveal the formula. One of the very few successful attempts to convey madness on screen, The Eternal Mask has been surprisingly overlooked by many otherwise thorough reference books on horror films. Perhaps some scholars have been put off by the lethargic pace of the film, which seems to go on far longer than its 74 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide