Herb Andress Movies
With a physical appearance that conjures up images of Lee Marvin crossed with a later-day (and slightly more physically imposing) James Caan, Teutonic screen star Herb Andress found success in both Europe and abroad in such films as Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Beware the Holy Whore (1971) and the 1985 sci-fi drama Enemy Mine. After launching a stateside career in the campy 1966 horror musical The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, the Austrian native spent the majority of the 1970s essaying bit roles in such features as The Big Bust Out, As of Tomorrow, and Casanova & Co. As he grew increasingly disillusioned with the American film industry (due in no small part to typecasting as the typical, blond-haired German soldier), Andress gravitated ever more frequently toward such German efforts as Purity of Heart and The Venus Trap in the 1980s. In the 1990s, Andress appeared almost exclusively on the German screen, though the English-language drama Baltic Storm would offer the enduring actor in his final role before he died of cancer in April of 2004. Herb Andress was 69. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
In an era when at-sea disasters have grown increasingly rare thanks to "foolproof" naval technology, the September 28, 1994 wreck of the ferry boat M/S Estonia raised more than a few eyebrows. En route from Talinn to Stockholm, via the Baltic Sea, the craft capsized and 852 civilians never reached their destination. In recounting this tale cinematically, writer-director Reuben Leder (brother of Mimi "Deep Impact" Leder) adapted German reporter Jutta Rabe's conspiracy thriller about the event. The picture - like its source - suggests that classified weapons were being smuggled on board the vessel, and that Russia - after learning of this secret - deliberately torpedoed the craft. The picture recalls Costa-Gavras's Z, Alan Pakula's The Parallax View, and other conspiracy thrillers by unfurling most of its story after the fatalistic event; in the vein of those earlier films, it has a suspicious character (here Jurgen Prochnow, as accident survivor and Swedish attorney Erik Westermark) teaming up with investigative reporter Julia Reuter (Greta Scacchi) to determine the truth behind the inferred political cover-ups. Screen vet Donald Sutherland co-stars. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greta Scacchi, Jürgen Prochnow, (more)
The life of one of the controversial figures in the history of modern religion is brought to the screen in this historical biography. Born in 1483, Martin Luther (Joseph Fiennes) was an intelligent and principled young man who was studying law in early 16th century Germany when a close brush with death led him to follow a spiritual path and join a Catholic monastery. Under the guidance of Johann von Staupitz (Bruno Ganz), Luther became a valued member of the monastery's hierarchy, and as a sign of his trust, von Staupitz asked Luther to join him for a voyage to Rome as part of church business. Luther was appalled by the corrupt practices of the leading church officials, in particular the sale of "indulgences," in which the wealthy could purchase forgiveness for a wide variety of sins. Luther left the monastery to study theology in Wittenberg; a keen student, he later became a professor and won the support of Frederick the Wise (Peter Ustinov), who also recognized the potential controversy of Luther's iron principles. When a new pope, Leo X, assumes the throne at the Vatican, he orders the construction of St. Peter's Basilica. To pay the costs, an ambitious monk, Johann Tetzel (Alfred Molina), was sent out to sell indulgences to both the wealthy and the poor, leaving his audiences with little doubt of the eternal consequences that awaited those who did not empty their purses. An infuriated Luther wrote an angry essay on the corruption of the church entitled "95 Theses," and thanks to the recent invention of the printing press, Luther's words were soon circulated throughout Europe, leading to an angry conflict with Catholic officials which threatened to tear the church in two. Luther also features supporting performances from Claire Cox as Katharina von Bora and Jonathan Firth as Girolamo Aleandro. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joseph Fiennes, Alfred Molina, (more)
- 1986
Stewart Granger plays a Joseph Mengele type in the grim Hell Hunters. Hiding out in jungles of South America, Granger plans to poison the population of Los Angeles as revenge for the toppling of the Third Reich. Nazi hunters Maud Adams and George Lazenby race against time to foil the old Nazi's scheme. They find themselves with an unexpected ally in the form of Candice Daly, whose mother died in a concentration camp at Granger's hands. If nothing else, Hell Hunters clues us in on what George Lazenby has been doing since On Her Majesty's Secret Service. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stewart Granger, George Lazenby, (more)
Love means never having to say that you're ugly in the extravagant fantasy film Enemy Mine. Earthling Dennis Quaid is Davidge, one of many space warriors engaged in a bloody extraterrestrial battle against the Draconians. Crash-landing on a faraway planet, Davidge is forced into an "up close and personal" with the Drac (Lou Gossett Jr.), a repellant, reptilian creature. Evidently a bivalve, the Drac gives birth to a baby Drac just before expiring. Now a reluctant foster father, Davidge tries to keep himself and the baby alive while the war continues to rage all around them. The special effects (courtesy Industrial Light and Magic) are serviceable if not brilliant, and the acting is okay so far as it goes. What socks over Enemy Mine is Rolf Zehetbauer's awe-inspiring production design and Chris Walas' superb makeup work. Though a favorite on home video, the film deserves to be seen on a wide theatre screen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Quaid, Louis Gossett, Jr., (more)
- 1985
- R
Linda Blair plays Chris Carlson, a U.S. college student who gets thrown in an East German women's prison when she happens to be found with a defector. She's in Germany to meet her U.S. serviceman fiance, and when he finally figures out where she is, he organizes a commando rescue squad to free her. Prison scenes show a dreary prison life where everything's forbidden and survival is the top priority for most inmates. Sylvia Kristel plays a tough and hardened inmate who rules the prison roost. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Linda Blair, Sylvia Kristel, (more)
- 1981
- R
German cabaret star Lili Marleen inspired a song that was extremely popular with the German soldiers during WW II. This war drama offers a fictionalized account of her story that begins in 1938 while she performs in a Zurich cabaret. It is her boyfriend, a Swiss Jew who also turns out to be a resistance fighter who pens her famous song. She sings it in Germany and it becomes a hit with the German troops. As a result, Hitler himself invites her to perform for him. This does not set well with the songwriter's powerful who, upon learning that Marleen has become a famed singer in Germany, seek to have her barred from Switzerland. This does not stop the songwriter from loving her though and desperate to see her one last time, he sneaks into Berlin for a tryst. Unfortuantely he is arrested and she gets blacklisted. They do not see each other again until after the war. By this time, their lives have changed considerably. This is not considered among the best of Fassbinder's best films. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hanna Schygulla, Giancarlo Giannini, (more)
- 1980
A strange and some might say warped, erotic drama from director Robert Van Ackeren, Die Reinheit des Herzens is a nearly abstract look at the changes in one woman's inner self. Lisa (Elisabeth Trissenaar) is married to a down-and-out writer who one day forces her into a liaison with a book thief. Lisa works in a bookstore and caught the thief stealing. The result was the unwanted erotic relationship that eventually changes the way Lisa looks at herself and her family. As her husband goes from bad to worse, she starts to reconsider her affair, yet in the end, her husband's alienation and her own responses to her life are nothing the normal family would want to emulate. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elisabeth Trissenaar, Matthias Habich, (more)
- 1978
Things run steadily downhill for Maxmilian (Towje Kleiner), a divorced journalist who is trying to sell a novel he has written. On the very day his divorce is finalized, he meets a divorced woman and begins an affair with her. At the same time he learns that he is about to be fired from his newspaper job, he discovers that the one publisher expressing interest in his novel wants him to write some sex scenes for it. Meanwhile, his new girlfriend has moved into his two-room apartment with all her furniture, practically crowding them out of it, and she is urging him to move to the countryside with her. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Towje Kleiner, Helmut Fischer, (more)
- 1977
Part satire, part drama, this movie tells the story of Anton Paulisch (Herb Andress), who has been living and working as an actor in Rome. When he hears that his mother is mortally ill, he returns to Munich to be at her bedside, but doesn't quite make it. He and sister Astrid (Elke Haltaufderheide) rediscover their friendship, though, as they go through a number of crises. Meanwhile, Anton makes an effort to find work in Munich, and runs headlong into the silliness and pretensions of the "New German Cinema" movement. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Herb Andress, Elke Haltaufderheide, (more)
- 1975
- PG
In 1970, Elliot Gould was the hottest male star in Hollywood; by 1975, he was making do with indifferent projects like Who?. This interesting British/German sci-fier, also known as Man Without a Face, Prisoner of the Skull and The Man With the Steel Mask, and also under the title Robo Man. Gould's role as an American government official is secondary to the character played by Joseph Bova. While visiting the Soviet Union, scientist Bova is involved in a serious car accident. The Russian surgeons perform emergency life-saving surgery by replacing most of Bova's body parts with electronic devices. Thus when he returns home, Bova is to all intents and purposes a cyborg. It is up to Gould to find out if our reconstituted hero has been transformed into a Soviet spy. After several rondelay dialogue scenes and silly car chases, Who? ends on a quiet, pensive note-perhaps the most effective scene in the whole picture. Adapted from the well-regarded novel by Algis Budrys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elliott Gould, Trevor Howard, (more)
- 1971
- PG
During the late '60s and early '70s, retired pro-football quarterback Joe Namath made a number of films. Last Rebel is one of them. Set in Missouri near the end of the American Civil War, Confederate soldiers Burnside Hollis (Joe Namath), a pool shark, and his friend Matt Graves (Jack Elam) rescue a black man from a lynching. Burnside begins to win pool matches for bigger and bigger stakes, and his friends begin to fall by the wayside as he woos the ladies and wins the games. The local madam (Victoria George), however, has a soft spot in her heart for him and watches with concern as the situation builds up for a showdown with his former friend Matt. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Namath, Jack Elam, (more)
- 1966
While researching a book, Tim (Bill Bixby) uses Martin's CCTBS time machine to return to the "New Netherlands" of 1626. Unfortunately for posterity, Tim manages to talk the Indians out of selling Manhattan Island to Peter Minuit (Leon Askin). In his efforts to set things right and restore the balance of history, Martin finds his mission complicated by amorous Indian princess Little Feather (played by future Will & Grace regular Shelley Morrison. This was originally telecast as the final episode of My Favorite Martian. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
In a variation of the "Colditz" legend, Hanley (Rick Jason) is among the Allied soldiers held captive in an ancient castle which has been converted into a German POW camp. Inevitably, the prisoners devise a plan to have one of their number escape and get word to their comrades. Chosen for the assignment is Hanley, who is given a phony Albanian uniform in order to pass through the German lines unnoticed--but will he be able to keep up the charade for the remainder of the episode? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
Martin's newest invention is the Dimensional Separator, which is unwittingly activated by Mrs. Brown (Pamela Britton), who immediately morphs from a fully formed three-dimensional person to a flat 2-D! In this state, Mrs. Brown is mistaken for a painting, and hung in a gallery--where she is subsequently stolen by art thieves. Martin (Ray Walston) and Tim (Bill Bixby) endeavor to rescue Mrs. Brown, all the while avoiding Detective Brennan (Alan Hewitt), who is convinced that they're in on the heist. This is the last episode of My Favorite Martian's second season, and the last to be filmed in black and white. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Saunders (Vic Morrow) and his men are assigned to capture an important Nazi officer during a "welcome home" reception at German field headquarters. It soon develops that Saunders has less to worry about from the Germans than he does from his own ranks. The fly in the ointment is technical sergeant Meider (Gary Lockwood), a born malingerer and malcontent whose whining ineptitute threatens to snafu the entire mission. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
