Gert Fröbe Movies
The corpulent, ruddy-faced Gert Frobe familiar to filmgoers of the 1960s bore so little resemblance to the thin, gawky Gert Frobe of the late 1940s and early 1950s that one might think that the German-born Frobe was two different people. A violinist and stage designer in his 20s, Frobe turned to acting in the 1930s, interrupting his career for war service. His membership in the Nazi party caused him no end of difficulty after the war until it was confirmed that not only had Frobe not engaged in any anti-Semitic activities, but he had also hidden several Jews from the Gestapo. In the immediate postwar years, Frobe established himself as a milquetoastish comic actor in such German films as Berliner Ballad (1948) and Der Tag vor der Hochzeit (1952). He switched to movie villainy after gaining a great deal of weight in the mid-1950s. Gert Frobe's best-known role was the megalomanic title character in the 1965 James Bond film Goldfinger, in which his thick Teutonic accent was dubbed over by a British actor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1983
The Italian The Falcon has nothing to do with the RKO detective series of the same name. This Falcon is a medieval swashbuckler, played by Franco Nero. After several examples of derring-do, Nero sets about to rescue a damsel in distress. Given the Falcon's romantic nature, the girl may not be entirely out of danger once she's rescued, wink-wink nudge-nudge. At 105 minutes, The Falcon has aspirations to be an epic, but falls just a little short. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Franco Nero, Dragan Nikolic, (more)
- 1980
This zany satire of the stereotypical spy thriller is directed by Gerard Oury, known for his ability to wring laughter out of a script. Pierre Richard stars as Gregorie, a down-and-out actor anxious to find a job. He wanders into the office of a talent agent and signs a contract to work in a mega-buck action thriller, or so he thinks. In fact, he has actually signed a contract as a hitman with a mafioso that he mistook for a talent agent. The misunderstandings and close calls start flying right and left as Gregorie and the gangsters head for a wild finale at a St. Tropez hotel. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Richard, Gert Fröbe, (more)
- 1979
- R
Bloodline, a thriller based on a mystery novel by Sidney Sheldon and directed by Terence Young, is the story of Elizabeth Roffe (Audrey Hepburn), who inherits a huge pharmaceutical company and then discovers that some of her family members may be plotting her death in order to gain control of the company. Despite an all-star cast including the usually excellent James Mason, Irene Papas, Ben Gazzara, the lovely Romy Schneider and Omar Sharif and wonderful locations, this thriller just doesn't generate much suspense despite numerous likely suspects and plot twists. Director Young gets only an average performance from Audrey Hepburn and manages to do little with his distinguished cast. The film while not particularly suspenseful is aided by the lovely color photography of Freddie Young and a lively, original score by Ennio Morricone. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Audrey Hepburn, Ben Gazzara, (more)
- 1977
In this complex story, set in the late 18th century, two brothers with contrasting principles feud against one another. One, who refuses to knuckle under to authority and militarism, shoots an English military recruiter when he comes to seek men to fight on the British side against the American colonists during the American Revolution. He is forced to take to the hills and adopts the motto of "death or freedom." His efforts are deliberately misrepresented by his dastardly brother to their father. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Sattmann, Erika Pluhar, (more)
The Serpent's Egg, or Das Schlangenei is director Ingmar Bergman's second English language production (The Touch was his first). It is, however, his first completely non-Swedish production, made after his voluntary self-exile from Sweden over taxation issues. Set in Berlin in the early 1920s, it explores the fear and despair the city evokes in Manuela and Abel Rosenberg (Liv Ullmann and David Carradine), two Jewish trapeze artists. The suicide of Manuela's husband (Abel's brother), has stranded them in Berlin. Berlin is shown to already possess the sinister elements of cruelty and anti-Semitism which laid the groundwork for the later Nazi takeover. A series of misadventures gets them sent to a medical clinic for treatment. However, the clinic is actually a site for Nazi-type "racial" experiments on humans, which generally either madden or kill the subjects. Das Schlangenei was savaged by the critics for its improbable-seeming story and more particularly, for casting David Carradine (best known for his earlier appearances in the Kung Fu U.S. television series) in a crucial role. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liv Ullmann, David Carradine, (more)
- 1975
An Italian-French-Spanish version of the much-filmed Agatha Christie story, this film is strangely set in Iran, not Great Britain. Ten guests are invited to a remote desert inn and informed that the mysterious host has described in a nursery rhyme how they will all die during the gathering. One by one, the characters, played by such Continental stars such as Elke Sommer and singer Charles Aznavour as well as Britons Oliver Reed and Richard Attenborough, dwindle in number, each in accordance with a verse of the nursery rhyme, until only a few remain. The final characters then plot to ensnare the criminal mastermind behind the weekend of mayhem. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Oliver Reed, Elke Sommer, (more)
- 1974
- PG
When a master thief (Jacques Champreux) sets his sights on the centuries-old treasure of the Knights Templar, he must struggle to outwit the devoted keepers of the fortune. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gayle Hunnicutt, Jacques Champreux, (more)
- 1973
The Man Without A Face is an archvillain, comic-book style, and in this French action movie, he proves to be a worthy foe. The villain has an extensive crime network, including a retreat under the streets of Paris. He has discovered that the Knights Templar, outlawed many hundreds of years before, still exist as a secret society, and that they have access to a hidden treasure of gold. He wants it, and it is up to the daughter of a murdered Templar and a few none-too competent policemen to prevent him from getting it. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Luchino Visconti (Count don Luchino Visconti di Modrone) was a film director, true, but he was also a nobleman and a grand patron of traditional European culture: opera, art, music, crafts and literature. These interests enliven many of his films, but few have been so inspired as the four-hour epic, Ludwig, about the castle-building "mad king" of Bavaria. This long film, made very near the end of Visconti's life, suffers greatly when shortened, as every moment is essential to the story. There are at least four different versions of the film (from just under three hours to over four hours in length); the uncut four-hour version is the most coherent, even though many might find it rather long. The disintegration of aristocratic individuals is a continuing theme of Visconti's, though Ludwig's is the most thorough decay he filmed. The last ruling king of Bavaria (1845-1886) is noted for many things besides his eccentricities: he sold Bavaria to Germany, ending the rule of the Bavarian monarchy; he built amazing castles all over his country (with the proceeds from the sale); and he was Richard Wagner's main sponsor. He was also a notorious recluse, conducting a lifelong platonic love affair with Empress Elizabeth of Austria, and finally succumbing to his adoration of handsome men in a series of outrageous affairs and orgies. His excesses eventually led to his being declared mentally incompetent and being held prisoner in his own castle. The film depicts this incredible life from his coronation at age 19 to his (unproved) assassination well over 20 years later. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helmut Berger, Romy Schneider, (more)
Originally billed as merely $, Dollars stars top box office draws Warren Beatty and Goldie Hawn. Beatty plays a security whiz, employed in Hamburg, Germany. He devises a clever method of robbing the secret bank vaults of notorious criminals, reasoning that the crooks will never turn to the cops. The notion that the crooks may have a few words to say to him does not dissuade Beatty as he and gold-hearted hooker Hawn work out their carefully calculated, meticulously timed robbery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Beatty, Goldie Hawn, (more)
- 1969
- G
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This slapstick comedy concerns the annual auto race in Monte Carlo and boasts an international cast of all-star thespians. Sir Cuthbert Ware-Armitage (Terry-Thomas) is the scheming villain and auto tycoon who will stop at nothing to win the car race. When Chester (Tony Curtis) wins half of the car company in a card game with the villain, a winner-take-all, race is proposed. Bourvil, Dudley Moore and Jack Hawkins also appear in this lighthearted comedy. Jimmy Durante sings the title tune of this pic that features several exciting stunt-driving scenes that ensue between the beginning and end of the international racing competition. The film is an obvious take off of Those Magnificent Men And Their Flying Machines but fails to live up to the quality of it's predecessor. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bourvil, Peter Cook, (more)
One of the stars of Walt Disney's Mary Poppins, Dick Van Dyke, is re-united with that film's composer and lyricist, Richard M.Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, in this big budget and bloodless children's fantasy musical, based on the children's book by James Bond author Ian Fleming. Van Dyke plays Caractacus Potts, a failed inventor who lives in a big house with his two children -- Jemima Heather Ripley and Jeremy Adrian Hall -- and eccentric father Lionel Jeffries. Potts has to raise 30 shillings so his children can buy a broken-down racing car from the junkyard. After a disastrous attempt to sell his invention of whistling sweets to Lord Scrumptious (James Robertson-Justice), the local candy maker, he finally gets enough money for the car by doing a Dick Van Dyke dance routine at the county fair. Potts takes the car and miraculously transforms the vehicle into a shiny new car named Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. While on a picnic with the children and Truly Scrumptious (Sally Ann Howes), Lord Scrumptious' beautiful daughter, Potts concocts a fantasy tale about the magical powers of the car, which can now float on water and fly. In the tale, Baron Bomburst (Gert Frobe) wants the car for himself and kidnaps the automobile and the inventor. But Bomburst captures Grandpa by mistake along with the wrong car, so Potts, Truly, and the children have to enlist Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on a rescue mission to Bomburst's lair to save Grandpa. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, (more)
- 1968
Caroline (France Anglade) is the heroine who is pushed by her father into a loveless marriage with a lawyer. Unknown to her new husband, she lost her virginity to a handsome young officer the day the peasants stormed the Bastille. When her husband flees the revolutionary fervor, Caroline engages in a series of adventures. She is seduced, then raped before her husband returns and relative calm has been restored. The officer, now a member of Napoleon's court, and her husband are now safe. She conspires to leave her husband and return to the arms of her true love, the dashing officer to whom she has given her all. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
Produced in the wake of the all-star "comedy spectacular" Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, Fantastic Flying Fools (originally titled Blast-Off, and also released as Those Fantastic Flying Fools) is based very loosely on a Jules Verne novel. A 19th century British newspaper offers a prize to the first scientist who is able to construct and launch a rocket to the moon. Contestants from all over the world compete for the prize, including Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines cast members Terry-Thomas and Gert Frobe. Much of the slapstick is tiresome and derivative, but there is one cute closing gag involving villains Terry-Thomas and Lionel Jeffries and a Siberian chain gang. There's precious little of the spirit of Jules Verne in Fantastic Flying Fools, save for the woodcut illustrations which decorate the opening credits. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burl Ives, Troy Donahue, (more)
- 1967
Adapted from his autobiography The Eddie Chapman Story, this is the story of a British safecracker who was in prison when WWII broke out. When the Germans occupied the area, he offers to work for them if they will set him free and they do so, sending him as a spy to England. Once there, however, he offers his services to the British and becomes a double agent. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Plummer, Yul Brynner, (more)
- 1967
This uneven docudrama concerns the monk Rasputin (Gert Frobe) and his friendship with Felix Youssopov (Peter McEnery). Rasputin's healing powers endeared him to the family of Czar Nicholas II with his ability to care for the Czar's hemophiliac son and heir to the throne, Alexei. Rasputin's friendship with Felix ultimately led to the much-publicized demise of the mad monk. The film deals with the events that led to Rasputin's death as supposedly recalled by his killer. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gert Fröbe, Peter McEnery, (more)
- 1966
In this crime drama, two middle-aged gangsters attempt to run an international smuggling ring and begin looking for new people to sneak their illicit gold across Europe. They take on a jobless journalist to assist, not realizing he is really a US government agent who is looking to see if the two crime lords are affiliated with an American crime boss who runs illegal guns to Cuba. The agent discovers that the two are not affiliated with the Mafia. The American Mafioso wants them to be though and eventually sabotages their operation and forces them to join. During a meeting between the two sides, the smuggler pretends to willingly acquiesce to the American. He also manages to surreptitiously plant a bomb that explodes and kills everyone but him. The US agent is impressed and compliments the wily old smuggler. The smuggler shrugs him off. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Gabin, George Raft, (more)
- 1966
Paul (Gert Froebe) is a gangleader who gives the former safecracker Georg (Mario Adorf) a job as a pimp after he is released from prison. Georg discovers his sweetheart Nelly (Karin Baal) has joined the joy girls he oversees. Jealousy among other mobsters cause them to make plans to eliminate Georg, who is more than willing to give up his job as flesh pedlar in this offbeat crime comedy. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mario Adorf, Karin Baal, (more)
In 1944, with Paris on the verge of Liberation by the allies, Adolph Hitler ordered that the City of Light be blown up and burned to the ground. General Dietrich Von Choltitz, after much rumination, decided that he didn't want to go down in history as the man who destroyed Paris. His refusal to follow Hitler's orders would make him a pariah in Germany for the rest of his life; nor was his gesture ever rewarded by the Allies. From this very human story in the midst of one of the most inhuman conflicts in history grew the screenplay (by Gore Vidal and Francis Ford Coppola) of the all-star, internationally produced Is Paris Burning? Whereas the earlier The Longest Day was able to support a castful of celebrities and brief subplot vignettes, Is Paris Burning? seems more weighted down than weighty. Still, a modern audience will have fun playing "spot the star" throughout the film, especially when those spotted stars include the likes of Gert Frobe (as Choltitz), Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon, Kirk Douglas (as Patton), Glenn Ford (as Bradley), Yves Montand, Simone Signoret, Robert Stack, and even Anthony Perkins as a wide-eyed GI. Filmed on a gargantuan scale, Is Paris Burning? was based on a book by Larry Collins and Dominique LaPierre. The film was lensed in black and white, save for the Technicolor finale (in the original road-show prints). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Charles Boyer, (more)
- 1965
- G
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Ken Annakin's large-canvas comedy Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines is set in 1910. In order to boost circulation of his newspaper, Lord Rawnsley (Robert Morley) offers 10,000 pounds to the first person who can fly across the English Channel. A huge number of hopefuls enter the contest, including the scheming Sir Percy Ware-Armitage (Terry-Thomas), who, with the help of his henchman Courtney (Eric Sykes), attempts to sabotage the other entries. There is also a love triangle featuring Orvil Newton (Stuart Whitman) and Richard Mays (James Fox) competing for the heart of Patricia Rawnsley (Sarah Miles). ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stuart Whitman, Sarah Miles, (more)
- 1965
This crime drama is a remake of Fritz Lang's The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933). This time, the malignant Mabuse attempts to enact his evil schemes by hypnotizing another to do them in his stead. A series of strange crimes sets a detective on the case. The hapless detective soon finds himself captured by Mabuse's evil pawn who tortures the investigator with electroshock treatments. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
