Maria Andergast Movies

Eva (Susi Nicolette) is a Viennese shopgirl who inherits "Paradise." More specifically, she falls heir to a resort hotel that has definitely seen better days. Despite the opposition of a rival female hotelier (who, of course, holds all the aces legally and financially), Eva vows to renovate her hotel and make it a winning proposition. This extends to hiring "bathing beauties" (who are neither good-looking nor swim) as waitresses and engaging the services of a seedy jazz band. In true comic-opera fashion, goodness prevails. Eva Erbt das Paradies bears faint echoes of all those hokey prewar Viennese musicals, with a soupcon of postwar realism. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Little Melody from Vienna (Kleine Melodie aus Wien) focuses on the plight of war widow Maria Andergast. Having lost her home, the heroine is amenable to the suggestion that she rent two rooms in the home of professor Paul Hoerbiger. At first, the prof resents the intrusion of the widow into his well-ordered existence. Eventually, and right on cue, he weakens his resolve and falls in love with his pretty tenant. All of this is set to the lilting music of Robert Stolz, including such deathless compositions as "Three Brownies". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on the stage favorite Lilac Time, Drei Maederl um Schubert re-creates incidents in the life of composer Franz Schubert (Paul Hoerbiger). The story concerns his romantic entanglements with three sisters: Hederl (Greti Theimer), Heiderl (Maria Andergast), Hannerl (Else Elster). All three girls have a profound effect on Schubert's work, though none of them is able to land him as a husband. The music has been adapted from Schubert's best-known compositions, with emphasis on his Unfinished Symphony. The direction of Drei Maederl um Schubert was evenly divided by E. W. Emo (from UFA studios) and Hans Sassman (from the original stage production). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

"Mountain-film" specialist Luis Trenker plies his trade with his usual expertise in the Austrian Velorene Sohn (Prodigal Son). Trenker himself plays the leading role of Tonia Feuersinger, a Tyrolean mountaineer bound and determined to scale the American Rockies. He also wants to journey to the States to court pretty American tourist Lillian Williams (played by pretty American actress Marian Marsh). Leaving his broken-hearted local girlfriend (Maria Andergast) behind, Tonio treks to New York, but never quite makes it to the Rockies; instead, he gets a welding job on a skyscraper, then achieves success as a prizefighter. In the end, however, he realizes that his heart is still in the Tyrol and thus returns to the arms of his hometown sweetheart. Though aimed at the German-speaking clientele, Verlorene Sohn was financed in Hollywood by Universal Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi