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
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)
- 1963
- NR
Before Greed in the Sun was released to the States by way of MGM, this French/Italian co-production had made the European rounds under the titles 100,000 Dollars au Soleil and Centomilia Dollare al Sol. As any good linguist can gather, the catalyst for this action melodrama is 100,000 dollars---actually 100,000 dollars worth of guns and ammunition, unknowingly transported to African insurrectionists by truck driver Reginald Kernan. Fellow trucker Jean-Paul Belmondo teams with his girlfriend Andrea Parisy to hijack the shipment. Gert Frobe, head of the trucking company, offers Kernan a large reward for the return of the truck and its contents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Lino Ventura, (more)
Based on a novel by Richard Hughes, this drama takes an unusual look at both seafaring pirates and the true nature of children. The Thorntons, a British family living in Jamaica, decide to pull up stakes and sail back to England after Frederick Thornton (Nigel Davenport) and his wife (Isabel Dean) decide that life in the Caribbean is having a negative effect on her children's sense of order and discipline. While returning home, their ship is attacked by Capt. Chavez (Anthony Quinn), who along with his first mate Zac (James Coburn), begins to loot the ship for valuables. However, in the midst of the confusion of the pirate raid, the Thornton children scurry onto the pirate ship, and it's not until they've left the other ship behind that Chavez and Zac discover that they have new passengers. While most of the pirates are unenthusiastic about having a pack of kids on board, Chavez declares that they must be allowed to stay on board until they can be taken to a safe port. As they get to know each other, Chaven develops a soft spot for the children, especially ten-year-old Emily (Deborah Baxter), but in time, the kids' mischievous playfulness begins to transform itself into something more sinister. The supporting cast includes Dennis Price, Lila Kedrova, and Gert Frobe. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Quinn, James Coburn, (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)
- 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)
- 1948
Long before he played the corpulent Goldfinger, German actor Gert Froebe was a scarecrow-skinny comedian. In Berliner Ballade, Froebe makes his screen debut as Otto, a feckless Everyman who tries to adjust to the postwar travails of his defeated nation. Stymied by black-market profiteers and government bureaucrats, Otto begins fantasizing about a happier life at the end of that ever-elusive rainbow. Director R. A. Stemmle doesn't have to strive for pathos: he merely places his gangly star amidst the ruins of a bombed-out Berlin, and the point is made for him. Filmed in 1948, Berliner Ballade was later released in the U.S. as The Berliner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
The pitfalls of idolizing the green god of money are tritely and predictably displayed in this drama by Alfred Vohrer. Jupp Grapsch (Gert Froebe) and his wife Lisbeth (veteran actress Luise Ulrich) have valiantly struggled for years to survive when Jupp finally strikes it rich and they can luxuriate in their newfound life. But life after poverty is not what the couple had in mind -- Jupp ends up divorcing Lisbeth and leaving her and the children because he has fallen for a younger woman. His betrayal soon backfires though, when his new love starts to have a change of heart. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Corny Collins
- 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)
- 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
- 1957
Filmed on the island of Crete and set in the early 1920's, when Greece was occupied by the Turks, Jules Dassin's Celu Qui Doit Mourir (He Who Must Die) tells the story of a small village's efforts to stage their Passion Play, an event that occurs once every seven years. The leading citizens, including the wealthy Patriarcheos (Gert Frobe) and the priest Grigoris (Fernand Ledoux), have managed to keep the local Turkish military ruler (Carl Mohner) satisfied with their quiet subservience, each protecting his status and authority within the community in the process. But when Grigoris makes his selections for the roles in the Passion Play, there are unintended consequences, particularly for Manolios (Pierre Vaneck), a tongue-tied, stammering young shepherd who is chosen to play Jesus. On the eve of the celebration and the play, a large group of refugees, survivors of a town burned by the Turks, led by the priest Photis (Jean Servais), arrives seeking help. Grigoris and the other town leaders turn them away, at first spreading the lie that the refugees carry cholera to make the townspeople fearful of them. But Manolios and two others are troubled by the seeming contradiction between the priest's behavior and the teachings of Jesus -- which Manolios is starting to take very seriously. Confronted by the starvation deaths of children and old men among the refugees, Manolios soon finds himself facing an array of unpleasant truths about the failings of the men he has always respected. The village is soon divided, friend against friend and father against son, as Manolios appeals to the better nature of his neighbors -- his closest allies include Patriarcheos's son and Katerina (Melina Mercouri), the village prostitute. These events further enflame Grigoris's anger over what he perceives a open rebellion and the threat of disorder, which the Church will not condone -- and he soon must appeal to the Turkish occupiers, to stop Manolios and all that he represents. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Servais, Fernand Ledoux, (more)
- 1957
Zizi Jeanmaire, the delightful French singer/actress who previously brightened such American films as Hans Christian Andersen and Anything Goes, is the star of Charmants Garcons (Charming Boys). Jeanmaire is appropriately cast as a nightclub entertainer named Lulu, who is surrounded by a throng of "Stage Door Johnnies" of all ages. Lulu is too gracious and generous to say "Non!", and as a result her heart is broken again and again. It isn't until the very end that she finds true love with the most unlikely of fellows. Future Goldfinger star Gert Froebe is terrific as a lecherous zillionaire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zizi Jeanmaire, Daniel Gélin, (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)
- 1958
Originally Das Madchen Rosemarie, this German "musical tragedy" has a lot in common with the Bertold Brecht/Kurt Weill theatrical pieces The Threepenny Opera and The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahoganny; in fact, the music heard throughout was taken from Weill's backlog. Austrian beauty contest winner Nadja Tiller plays the prostitute heroine, based on a real-life call girl whose predilection for blackmailing her high-profile customers ended with her mysterious death in 1957. The film was advertised as a "satire," with the satirical level exemplified by a chorus of capitalist businessmen rhythmically opening and closing their briefcases. The "frivolity" of Rosemary is punctuated by moments of chilling horror, including the film's bleak denouement. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nadja Tiller, Peter Van Eyck, (more)
- 1962
Evil genius Dr. Mabuse hypnotizes the director of an insane asylum in this remake of Fritz Lang's 1933 cinematic landmark. Noted German actor Wolfgang Preiss stars. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- 1954
Das Zweite Leben (Double Destiny) is based on Siegfried, a short story and play by Jean Girardoux. Michel Auclair stars as a young French xpert ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Auclair, Simone Simon, (more)
- 1961
In the early 1960s, two separate series of second features based on the novels of prolific (and long-dead) suspense author Edgar Wallace were inaugurated. One series was subsidized by London's Jack Greenwood productions and filmed principally for television. The other series, assembled in West Germany, was closer in spirit to the blood-and-thunder Wallace originals. The Green Archer is the tale of a masked avenger who kills his victims with bow and arrow. Gert Frobe is the detective assigned to identify the elusive Green Archer and stem his activities. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Hampered by over-orchestrated music, smeary color photography and (in the English version at least) poor dubbing, this 1963 French/German adaptation of the Kurt Weill-Bertolt Brecht piece The Three Penny Opera nonetheless has its attractions. Not least of these is the central performance of Curt Jurgens as robber captain MacHeath, whose romance with Polly Peachum (June Ritchie), daughter of beggar king J. J. Peachum (Gert Frobe), puts his life in jeopardy. Hildegarde Neff has an effective cameo as whore-ish Pirate Jenny. For the film's American release, distributor Joseph E. Levine hired Sammy Davis Jr. to play the Ballad Singer, who narrates the story, introduces the scenes, and sings the opera's most famous song "Moritat (The Ballad of Mack the Knife)." Unlike the music in the rest of the film, Davis' rendition of "Mack the Knife" is rearranged in Bobby Darin "pop" fashion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sammy Davis, Jr., Curd Jürgens, (more)
