E. Emil Reinert Movies

This biopic chronicles the life and rise to fame of the original waltz king, Johann Strauss. The composer developed his radical new sound while conducting a small band in a restaurant. It was his mistress, a milliner, who created the dance. Soon after its appearance, the waltz became the rage of Vienna. The new-found wealth and fame goes to Strauss' head and he ends up abandoning his wife to tour Europe with his lover. Years pass before he returns to Vienna. There the curmudgeonly Strauss discovers that his son, Johann Jr. has become almost as famous for his waltzes. Family discord ensues, but just before the elder Strauss dies, he hears his son's music and the two finally reconcile. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The scene is postwar Vienna. Displaced person Toni Sponer (Gustav Froelich), employed as a cabdriver, wants to leave the city but has no identification papers. When one of his passengers is murdered, Toni appropriates the dead man's papers and "becomes" one Jack Mortimer. Unfortunately, there are several shady characters around and about who want Jack Mortimer dead. The location-filmed finale finds Toni at the mercy of the real Mortimer's murderer. Four different production companies had a hand in the making of this minor melodrama. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Former Hollywood musical director (and erstwhile government spy) Boris Morros was one of the producers of the British Tale of Five Cities. Bonar Colleano stars as British soldier Bob Mitchell, who has picked up American habits and speech patterns while employed in the U.S. Suffering from amnesia, Mitchell is led to believe that he is an American GI, though of course no records exist to verify this. Mitchell's confusion prompts a Manhattan-based magazine to launch a search for Bob's true identity, a search leading inexorably to the girls he left behind during WW II. The "five cities" visited during this exploratory journey are Rome, Berlin, Vienna, Paris, and London; Mitchell's Roman sweetheart is played by Gina Lollobridgida, while his Viennese amour is Eva Bartok. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jean-Louis (Henri Vidal) makes his living by trapping deadly snakes and selling them to zoos. In love with shopgirl Simone (Francoise Arnoul), Jean-Louis gallantly comes to her defense during a minor skirmish with a policeman. Things get out of hand, and before long Jean-Louis is a fugitive from justice, leading the authorities on an appropriately serpentine chase through the streets of Paris. The film's "serpent" motif is further developed when Simone lands a job as a cabaret "snake dancer." If the viewer draws any analogies between Danger is a Woman and the story of Adam and Eve, then screenwriter Jacques Laurent (who adapted his own novel La Mort a Boire) has accomplished what he set out to do. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

If a French film of the 1940s or 1950s had Claude Dauphin in the cast, the producers were assured of a decent box-office turnover. In Ainsi Finit la Nuit, Dauphin is teamed with another audience favorite, Anne Vernon. The stars play a pair of clandestine lovers, while Henri Guisol is cast as Vernon's insensitive husband. The film is strongest in its first half, where characterization rather than situation dominates. The final portion of the film suffers from the scriptwriter's attempts to wrap things up as quickly as possible. Ainsi Finit la Nuit was also released as L'Affair. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romantic comedy, a plucky gypsy travels to London with her lover, a captain of the guard masquerading as a musician. She does not know that he is a fugitive from prison incarcerated for dueling with a high official. In London, the musician organizes a gypsy band that begins playing in a small cafe. They are soon spotted by an American promoter who believes that he can take them to the States and make them stars. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide