Peter Francke Movies
- 1966
Montgomery Clift made his last screen appearance in this French-produced Cold War thriller, completed shortly before his death. American scientist James Bower (Clift) is approached by CIA agent Adam (Roddy McDowall) who wants him to perform an official mission while visiting East Germany. A Russian scientist who has defected to Germany has brought with him a cache of top-secret material on microfilm, and Adam wants James to retrieve it from one Dr. Saltzer (Hannes Messemer). However, James's secret plan is discovered by Peter Heinzman (Hardy Kruger), a Russian intelligence agent determined to keep the microfilm out of American hands and turn James against his American comrades. James wants no part of Heinzman and is determined to complete his assignment, with the help of Saltzer's nurse, Frieda (Macha Meril). Legendary filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard makes a rare dramatic turn in a small supporting role. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Montgomery Clift, Hardy Kruger, (more)
- 1952
This German slice-of-life drama is based on a very real postwar dilemma. At the time the film was made, there were over 3000 children living in Germany who'd been fathered by African American GIs. Referred to as "mischlings," these children were often treated as outcasts because of their illegitimacy and skin color. One such mischling is Toxi (played by herself), who is sent to live with her American father when her mother dies. At first, Toxi is welcomed with opened arms, but the father, who already has two children, has neither the time nor the money to care for the girl. Toxi is then bundled off to an orphanage, sparking a serious rift in her father's family. By concentrating on a highly fictionalized plotline, Toxi tends to ignore the thousands of other mischlings whose lives are far more complex and tragic than that of the film's central character. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Bildt
- 1939
Der Gouverneur is based on The Flag, a play by Otto Emmerich Groh. German film favorite Brigitte Horney stars as Maria, the wife of straight-arrow, corruption-fighting General Werkonen (Willy Birgel). Though she admires and respects her husband, Maria is not in love with Werkonen, and before long is embroiled in an affair with the general's adjutant, Lt. Runeberg (Ernest von Klipstein). When Werkonen finds out what's been going on, the stage is set for a spectacular -- but futile -- gesture of self-sacrifice. The film was directed by Russia's Victor Tourjansky, who remained in Germany throughout WWII, seemingly impervious to the country's many political upheavals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brigitte Horney, Willy Birgel, (more)
- 1939
Wasser Fur Canitoga (Water for Canitoga) is a duck-billed platypus of a film: a German-language western, filmed in Canada and designed as anti-British propaganda. Hans Albers, in 1939 Germany's most popular male actor, plays the rough-and-tumble hero. Falsely accused of sabotaging the system that pipes water to a remote Canadian outpost. The climax finds Albers struggling to save the subterranean piping machinery, at the cost of his own life. As he lies dying on the floor of the local saloon, his fellow miners strike up a soulful chorus of "Good-bye, Johnny!" This scene alone is worth the admission price of the slow-moving but undeniably compelling Wasser Fur Canitoga. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
