Hansjörg Felmy Movies
- 1972
Valuable microfilm held by the wrong man is the focus of CIA and KGB hunts. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1971
The crime novels of Edgar Wallace have enjoyed enormous popularity in Germany, and this movie thriller marks approximately the 30th time his novels have had a German screen adaptation. Sir John (Siegfried Schuerenberg) and Inspector Craig (Hansjoerg Felmy) of Scotland Yard travel all over the city of London in their attempt to unravel the evidence needed to put a big drug-smuggling organization out of business. There are certainly enough corpses to provide clues, as the gang they are pursuing is unusually desperate and ruthless.
Thirtieth in a series of German language thrillers based on the novels of Edgar Wallace, this story concerns an international drug-smuggling cartel which carelessly murders large numbers of people. Siegfried Schuerenberg reprises his role as Sir John, and Hansjoerg Felmy takes a break from his stage work to appear as Inspector Craig, of Scotland Yard. Thanks to their efforts, the bad guys pay for their crimes. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Thirtieth in a series of German language thrillers based on the novels of Edgar Wallace, this story concerns an international drug-smuggling cartel which carelessly murders large numbers of people. Siegfried Schuerenberg reprises his role as Sir John, and Hansjoerg Felmy takes a break from his stage work to appear as Inspector Craig, of Scotland Yard. Thanks to their efforts, the bad guys pay for their crimes. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1967
The fine line between drama and real life is crossed with tragic results in this German horror mystery film that is set in modern London and centers on a stage production of Jack the Ripper's life. During the run of the play, a series of murders, eerily similar to Jack's, occur. This doesn't bother the lead actor too much until he discovers that his fake knife has been replaced by a real one during a performance. Horrified, he flees the theater. Pursued by Scotland Yard, he must somehow prove his innocence lest he be sent to the gallows. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hansjörg Felmy, Marianne Koch, (more)
A double agent has to contend with enemies on both sides of the political fence as well as the woman he loves in this thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Prof. Michael Armstrong (Paul Newman) is an gifted American physicist who, at the height of the Cold War, decides to defect to East Germany. To his surprise, his fiancée, fellow scientist Sarah Sherman (Julie Andrews) follows him, and she soon discovers Armstrong is no traitor, but acting as a secret undercover agent. As Armstrong attempts to ingratiate himself with political and scientific factions in East Germany, Gromek (Wolfgang Kieling) becomes his guide, though Armstrong is aware he's a government agent assigned to trail him, and as he tries to shake Gromek, Armstrong realizes his new "friend" knows what his real agenda happens to be. Torn Curtain was one of the rare Hitchcock films from his "classic" era which did not feature a score by Bernard Herrman; due to objections from his studio, Hitchcock removed Herrman from the project, though excerpts from the score he had begun were included as a bonus on the film's DVD release in 2002. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Julie Andrews, (more)
- 1964
In this drama, the bitter son of a British racehorse owner ruins father's odds of winning a crucial race. He is assisted by an unscrupulous bookie. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1964
American audiences were disappointed when the nude scenes featuring sexy Baby Doll (1956) star Carroll Baker were excised from this potboiler for its exhibition on U.S. shores. At an isolated oil pumping station deep in the African desert, workers Kramer (Peter Van Eyck), Fletcher (Ian Bannen), Macey (Denholm Elliott), Martin (Hansjorg Felmy), and Santos (Mario Adorf) are tense, lonely, and love-starved. A little excitement unexpectedly comes into their lives when they rescue a couple, Jimmy (Biff McGuire) and Catherine (Baker), from a wreck. While Jimmy is bed-ridden with his injuries, Catherine flirtatiously arouses passions and inflames simmering resentments among the oil crew. An amusing dalliance goes too far when Catherine sleeps first with Kramer and then Martin. Based on the play Men Without a Past by Jacques Maret, Station Six-Sahara (1963) played as the B-slot picture on a double bill with Topkapi (1964). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carroll Baker, Peter Van Eyck, (more)
- 1963
This quirky crime thriller stars Hansjörg Felmy as an intrepid Scotland Yard inspector tackling two seemingly disparate cases. He is officially assigned to investigate an underground society of vigilantes who take the law into their own hands, trying criminals in their own "Star Chamber"-style kangaroo court. On his own initiative, he is also pursuing a serial sex-killer who decapitates his victims. Felmy's dogged devotion to this case turns out to be personal, since his sister was among the killer's victims. The vendetta eclipses all other concerns, as the inspector even uses his own fiancee (Maria Perschy) as bait to trap the madman -- who suddenly falls into the clutches of the hooded vigilantes and is whisked away for a speedy trial. No prizes will be issued to viewers who guess the identity of the judge. This German production was also released as The Mad Executioners. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1962
An adaptation of John B. Priestley's play, ~Time and the Conways~, this standard drama focuses on the Thorwald family through several years and is distinguished by an excellent comeback performance by Elsabeth Bergner as Frau Thorwald. The family is well-off and contented when a tragedy strikes -- the father is killed in an accident. Frau Thorwald takes over the raising of her children, four girls and two boys with the youngest already fifteen years old. She manages to keep them together in spite of the fact that their economic situation deteriorates after World War I. Never one to look too critically upon her brood, the woman undergoes a moving and gradual transformation as the adult activities of her children bring home the fact that none of them are what she had once imagined. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elisabeth Bergner, Hansjörg Felmy, (more)
- 1961
This Swiss/German coproduction is set in a girl's reform school. Headmistress Barbara Rutting feels uniquely qualified to divert teenaged streetwalker Leni von Friel from her tawdry lifestyle; before being hired by the school, Barbara had herself been a prostitute. When Leni escapes from the school, Barbara goes after her. On the street, she confronts her ex-pimp, who threatens to reveal Barbara's past if she interferes in Leni's "training". Barbara kills the pimp and is sent to prison--and it is this sacrifice which finally earns her the respect of the chastened Leni. Also known as Shadows Grow Longer, Defiant Daughters was originally released as Die Schatten Werden Laenger. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Luise Ullrich, Hansjörg Felmy, (more)
- 1961
This complex political satire by Kurt Hoffmann pits the supposedly religious Mr. Mississippi (O.E. Hasse) against the revolutionary Saint-Claude (Martin Held), enemies in love and politics. Anastasia (Johanna von Koczian) is the woman in the middle. Saint-Claude, a doctor and her lover, has given her the poison she uses to murder her husband. But Mr. Mississippi, a lawyer, forces Anastasia to marry him after he deports Saint-Claude and poisons his own wife. In the meantime, there is a revolution and counter-revolution going on that mirrors the personal lives of the protagonists, and it does not look like Saint-Claude is going to stay deported. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- O.E. Hasse, Johanna von Koczian, (more)
- 1960
In this psychological thriller an Austrian nobleman tries to stay sane in the face of Nazi torture during World War II. The story is told in flashback after the protagonist is seen at a chess tournament with a champion. He is thrown into jail after the Nazis overran Austria. When he is not being mentally tortured into revealing important secrets, the man is in solitary confinement. To stay sane, he conceals a chess book in his cell. The intricacies of the game help him concentrate. Unfortunately his valiant attempts fail and he breaks down. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Curd Jürgens, Claire Bloom, (more)
- 1960
The English title of this different type of wartime drama refers to a chess player's attempts to stay sane while Nazi interrogators mentally and psychologically torture him. Werner von Basil (Curt Jurgens) is an Austrian who has been helping the church by smuggling its art treasures out of the country to protect them from the Nazis. When the Nazis roll into Austria, he is on their hit list and after being spotted at a chess tournament, he is picked up and imprisoned. His brutal jailers subject him to long hours of interrogation meant to break down his hold on sanity and accept their own scenario as the truth. When not being brutalized in this manner, von Basil is kept in solitary confinement, with only a hidden chess book to keep his mind focused and logical. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Curd Jürgens, Claire Bloom, (more)
- 1959
In this drama, following the retreat of the Germans from Stalingrad, a deserter is sentenced to die. A pastor speaks to the condemned man and learns that the man deserted to protect a Russian widow who was being threatened from both sides. Still, despite the pastor's best efforts, he cannot save the man from execution. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernhard Wicki, Ulla Jacobsson, (more)
- 1959
This standard spy-suspense yarn of political intrigue is based on the East-West division in Germany at this time. On the West German side of the political dividing line, a spy ring of East Germans has been prying state secrets out of workers in the West German government. Their technique is straightforward. They promise to release relatives of the workers to West Germany in exchange for the information. When a prisoner in East Germany is released and returns to the West, he discovers that his wife has been murdered. Immediately suspecting an East German connection, he starts to hunt down and locate the members of the spy ring. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hansjörg Felmy, Johanna von Koczian, (more)
- 1959
Meant to be a diatribe against yellow journalism and current social ills, this weakly limned drama by Josef von Baky features a reporter who works for one of the tabloid papers. The reporter digs up dirt on the past life of a local hotel owner, and wanting to take full advantage of the muck, he strings out his revelations in a series of perjorative, damning articles on the man. The result of this campaign turns out to be much worse than simply ruining the hotel owner's reputation. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hildegarde Neff, Hansjörg Felmy, (more)
- 1959
Thomas Mann's sprawling German novel Buddenbrooks could hardly be confined to a "conventional" film length, thus it's no surprise that this 1959 movie version was released in two lengthy parts. Put simply, Buddenbrooks is the story of the decline and fall of a once prestigious European family. Anxious to preserve their rapidly diminishing wealth, the Buddenbrook clan undergoes several marriages of convenience -- which serve only to weaken the strain until, as the 20th century dawns, only two members of the family are left. Among the many international luminaries playing the various Buddenbrook progeny are Lilo Pulver, Nadja Tiller, Hansjörg Felmy, Hanns Lothar, Lil Dagover, and Werner Hinz. When released in the U.S. in 1962, the film was trimmed from 219 to 199 minutes; a 1964 reissue combined both parts and truncated the film's length even farther. Two years later, a BBC television production of Buddenbrooks was offered in a multi-part version à la The Forsyte Saga. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
A biting and effective semi-experimental film about Nazism in Germany, director Kurt Hoffmann tells the story in a long flashback, starting in 1913 and playing out like a silent movie on a small screen. Every once in awhile, the action scenes, which are narrated in a voiceover, are paused for a little ironic piano music and accompanying lyrics. Hans (Hansjorg Felmy) is an anti-Nazi journalist who loses his job because he will not join the party. Bruno (Robert Graf) is a dim-witted, brutal, pro-Nazi follower who joins up to gain the recognition he desires. Years later, Bruno is a ruthless industrialist whose Nazi tactics and philosophy have not changed at all, and Hans is a VIP editor now dedicated to exposing men like Bruno for what they were during the war. The result and the accompanying commentary are quite hard-hitting. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johanna von Koczian, Hansjörg Felmy, (more)
