Albert Rueprecht Movies

The story in this lavish cinemadaptation of Alexandre Dumas' The Man in the Iron Mask remains faithful to the original novel: the right heir to the throne of France is imprisoned in a dungeon by his evil twin brother, his identity kept secret with an uncomfortable iron mask. It's up to the aging D'Artagnan and his three Musketeer companions to set things aright. Though the action takes place in France, the film was rather obviously lensed in Austria, adding an exotic touch to the proceedings. Beau Bridges does double duty as the "right" and "wrong" King Louis, while Beau's dad Lloyd Bridges plays Aramis. Alan Hale Jr. essays the role of Porthos, just as he'd done in 1951's At Sword's Point; also carried over from the 1951 film is Cornel Wilde as D'Artagnan. Other seasoned veterans in the cast include Jose Ferrer (Athos), Ursula Andress (Mme. De la Valliere), Olivia DeHavilland (Queen Anne) and Rex Harrison (Colbert). The Fifth Musketeer was also released as Behind the Iron Mask. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this tense espionage drama set in 1942, William Holden plays Eric Erickson, an American-born Swede who is put on the Allied blacklist for trading oil with the Nazis. Collins (Hugh Griffith), a British intelligence agent, offers to expunge Erickson's name from the blacklist after the war in return for information on the Nazis. Erickson agrees to the plan and proceeds to make it look as if he is pro-Nazi. This subterfuge causes him to be branded a traitor, and his wife, believing Eric to be a Nazi, walks out on him. Nevertheless, Eric continues with his deceit and makes the Germans think that he is planning to construct an oil refinery in Sweden to serve as a fuel supply for Germany. As a result he is allowed entrance to four German oil refinery, and he passes on the information to Collins. But Eric is being put under surveillance by the Nazis. They discover that Eric's lover, Marianne (Lilli Palmer) is working for the Allies. Suddenly both Marianne and Eric are arrested and thrown into Moabit Prison -- with dire consequences for both of them. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Hoping to recapture the success of its 1945 Frederic Chopin biopic A Song to Remember, Columbia Pictures concocted the 1960 Technicolor costume drama Song Without End. Dirk Bogarde is cast as musical genius Franz Liszt. Bogarde's piano scenes are dubbed with another's singing voice, but this hardly matters in that the film is preoccupied with Liszt's infamous romantic entanglements. The crux of the matter is Liszt's desire to wed the already married Russian princess Carolyne (Capucine), which will necessitate an unpleasant breakup with his current lover, Countess Marie (Genevieve Page). Director Charles Vidor died after only a few weeks on the picture; he was replaced by George Cukor, who graciously insisted that Vidor be billed in letters larger than his. The chief selling point of Song Without End is its wall-to-wall music; the film won an Oscar for "best musical arrangement." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on an operetta by Franz Schubert, the film is partially biographical. Franz (Karlheinz Boehm) is in love with Hannerl (Johanna Matz) but is too shy to reveal his feelings. After composing a love song, he engages a young baron to sing to her. Hannerl instead falls in love with the baron. The girl's parents lament over the problems of Hannerl and her two sisters, who are all young women living at home and eligible for marriage. Beethoven (Ewald Balser) and legendary music publisher Diabelli (Richard Romanowsky) are Schubert's famous contemporaries, giving historical perspective to the three music legends. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide