Arnold Pressburger Movies

Der Verloreue (The Lost One) was the only directorial effort by actor Peter Lorre. In keeping with Lorre's established screen persona, this is a tale of stark terror, disillusionment and defeatism. The actor stars as Dr. Rothe, a German research scientist who during WW2 discovers that his fiancee has been selling his scientific secrets to the British. In a fit of pique, he murders her, but is not punished for the crime, which is passed off by the Nazi authorities as justifiable homicide. Unable to console himself to his sweetheart's betrayal, Rothe wanders the countryside, killing every woman who reminds him of his lost love - while the Gestapo dutifully continues covering his tracks, even declaring him legally dead so that he can escape imprisonment. In a plot twist worthy of Fritz Lang, Lorre puts himself on trial and metes out his own punishment. Not entirely successful, Der Verloreue is still a fascinating exercise in fatalism from one of the cinema's most distinctive talents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On the eve of their 50th anniversary, a couple argue about whether or not to reveal a story from the husband's past that explains how they met and came to be married. We flashback to the mid-1890's and Larry Stevens' (Dick Powell first day on the job as a reporter for a New York newspaper -- celebrating his release from writing obituaries with a few too many beers, he and his colleagues start to listen to aging newspaper employee Pop Benson (John Philliber) talk about the past and the future, and the fact that to him they're interchangeable. Larry goes out with his friends to check out a clairvoyant act featuring Cigolini, a phony Italian mystic (Jack Oakie), and a very pretty woman assistant, Sylvia Smith (Linda Darnell). He starts to woo Sylvia, who resists his charms, before heading back to the newspaper, where he meets Pop, who hands him what he says is the newspaper he wanted -- it's only later that Larry realizes that he has tomorrow night's newspaper, and that one story concerns a robbery at the opera house. He gets to the performance that night, with Sylvia accompanying him (at first unwillingly) and witnesses the robbery, writing it up before the police can even leave the scene. His editor (George Cleveland) is ecstatic, but police inspector Mulrooney (Edgar Kennedy) wants to know how Larry knew about the robbery. Sylvia tries to protect him by claiming that she predicted it in her act, and to cover herself and Larry she predicts the drowning of a woman that night in the river. Meanwhile, Larry meets Pop again, who tells him of tomorrow's paper and its account of his attempted rescue of a drowning woman -- he later realizes that the woman is Sylvia, attempting to save him and having to fake a drowning to convince the police of her predictions; he runs to the river and dives in to rescue her. By this time, the two of them are totally involved with each other emotionally, but now Larry must face a new threat. Pop appears again and hands him a newspaper from the next day, which includes a front page story about Larry being shot and killed at the St.George Hotel. Larry vows to avoid the hotel at all costs, and even tries to get some good out of the paper by betting on the winners in five consecutive horse races that afternoon; but it seems that no matter what he does to stay away, he's destined to be at the hotel, at the appointed time. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Hangmen Also Die is set in Czechoslovakia during the Nazi occupation. Czech loyalist Brian Donlevy assassinates the vicious Gestapo leader Heydrich, then goes into hiding. The wounded patriot is sheltered by history professor Walter Brennan, who is already under surveillance by the Nazis thanks to his veiled classroom attacks on the Third Reich. Fifth columnist Gene Lockhart arranges for the professor and 400 other Prague citizens to be rounded up as hostages, to be killed if Heydrich's assassin is not revealed. Ultimately Lockhart himself is framed by the citizenry, giving the actor full scope to cringe and cower as only he could. Persuasively directed by Fritz Lang, Hangmen Also Die was based on a story by Lang and expatriate German playwright Bertold Brecht. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this European drama, a girl in reform school finds herself falling in love with school physician, but must compete with the liberal thinking superintendent for the doctor's affection. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A remake of the French comedy Monsieur Sans-Gene, One Rainy Afternoon gets under way when film-actor Phillippe Martin (Francis Lederer) heads to a darkened Parisian movie theater for a romantic rendezvous with his married sweetheart Yvonne (Countess Live de Margaret). But our hero sits in the wrong seat and kisses the wrong young lady: Monique Pelerin (Ida Lupino), the daughter of a powerful publisher Joseph Cawthorn. This innocent mistake snowballs into a national scandal, fomented by the hatchet-faced president (Eily Malyon) of the Purity League, with Phillippe earning the onus of "The Kissing Monster." It all culminates in one of those zany courtroom trails which proliferated in screwball comedies of the 1930s, wherein Phillippe defends himself by insisting that it is in a Frenchman's nature to be romantic, even with perfect strangers -- and as a result he becomes an international hero! One Rainy Afternoon was the first of a handful of United Artists talkies personally produced by studio vice-president Mary Pickford. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mein Herz Ruft Dir is a tailor-made vehicle for Polish singing sensation Jan Kiepura. The star is cast as the lead tenor in a travelling operatic troupe, who while taking a boat to Monte Carlo falls in love with pretty stowaway Martha Eggerth. When the troupe's Monte Carlo engagement is cancelled, Kiepura tries to use his splendid singing voice to find a wealthy patron for himself and his co-workers. Nothing seems to work until he stages an impromptu street performance of Tosca, drawing a huge crowd away from an indoor performance of the same opera. Oh yes -- he also ends up marrying Marta Eggerth, who like everyone else in the film plays second fiddle to Mr. Kiepura. Director Carmine Gallone filmed Mein Herz Ruft Dir three times: this German version, the French Mon Coeur D'Appelle and the English-language My Heart is Calling. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide