Kurt Gerron Movies

Kurt Gerron was an actor, filmmaker, and musician who rose to acclaim and stardom in Germany in the late '20s and early '30s. Gerron appeared in The Blue Angel alongside Marlene Dietrich, starred in the inaugural production of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's groundbreaking The Threepenny Opera, and directed a string of successful movie musicals. Gerron, however, was also a Jew, and while he had the good sense to flee to Amsterdam after the early Nazi programs when Holland fell under Axis occupation, he was later deported back to Germany. Unable to join such colleagues as Peter Lorre and Billy Wilder in the United States, Gerron found himself using his talents acting in vile Nazi propaganda films such as Der Ewige Jude (aka The Eternal Jew), and was finally forced to direct Theresienstadt (1944, aka The Fuhrer Gives a City to the Jews), a remarkable bit of fabrication which portrayed one of the Third Reich's death camps as a safe haven for Jewish refugees. Gerron's reward for his hard work on the film was a one-way trip in a railroad car to a gas chamber. Prisoner of Paradise is a documentary which chronicles Gerron's remarkable and tragic life story, in which his desire to create and his need to work in the limelight led him to both betrayal and his doom. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Feature Documentary. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Popular German film star Hans Albers plays the brother of drug-addicted opera star Gerda Maurus. When Albers takes Gerda to a sanitarium, they both become targets of slimy dope peddler Peter Lorre, who fears that Gerda will blow the whistle on him. Lorre kidnaps the woman, leading Albers on a frantic chase. With the help of another opera singer (Trude von Molo), Albers discovers the secret behind Lorre's drug-smuggling operation, rescues his sister, and exposes the respectable "Mr. Big" behind the whole narcotics racket. Filmed in Germany, White Demon (Der Weisse Damon) was also lensed in a French-language version, which also costarred Peter Lorre. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Einbrecher (Burglars) is a vehicle for Lillian Harvey and Willy Fritsch, designed as a follow-up to their copacetic pairing in Drei von der Tankstelle. Like most operettas of this nature, the plot is the film's least important element. The story has something to do with an ingenuous young bride (Harvey) who gets involved with a gang of Runyonesque underworld types. One of the crooks, played by Fritsch, falls in love with the girl and vows to deliver her back to her husband. Featured in the cast is Viennesse stage actress Margarethe Koeppke, whose supporting role was pared down after her untimely death. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this German comedy, an enterprising American uncle comes from Chicago goes to the tiny town of Groditzkirchen to make a fortune on credit even though he only has $10 to his name. To do so, he enlists the aide of a bank clerk and begins posing as a millionaire. The bank clerk is aware that it's all a sham and may fail dismally, but he is an adventurous soul and decides the risk is worth it if he can acquire a fortune for his girlfriend and himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This German romantic drama was based on the stage play Grand Hotel -- not the famous version written by Vicki Baum (later transformed into an Oscar-winning film), but on a less memorable Grand Hotel penned by Paul Frank. Martha Eggerth stars as a famous dancer, the "kept woman" of a millionaire industrialist. A poor young man falls in love with Eggerth but despairs because he knows he can never support her in the manner to which she is accustomed. To absolutely no one's surprise, the girl abandons her wealthy patron in favor of a life of blissful poverty. Eine Nacht im Grand Hotel was also released in a French-language version. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The queen wants to take a vacation, and she wants passage aboard a ship whose crew is waiting for their pay. The captain has a winning streak and acquires enough money to pay the crew, but he doesn't know when to stop and loses all of the cash. He demands that the casinos of Monte Carlo refund his money or claims he will bomb the city. The queen, who has remained aboard, orders his arrest. Unwilling to be taken captive, he jumps ship and is saved by the crew of a ship which is going to Honolulu. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Throughout his directorial career, E. A. Dupont endeavored to match the success of his 1926 silent classic Variety. Like the earlier film, Salto Mortale has a circus background and is predicated on a romantic triangle, but that's where the resemblance ends. The title refers to a particularly treacherous acrobatic feat, which is performed four times in the picture as a sort of connecting link. The protagonists are three acrobats, two men and a woman. The fact that both men are in love with the woman results in some pretty tense moments under the Big Top, leading to a near-tragedy in the middle of a performance of the "salto mortale." Heading the cast are Anna Sten and Adolf Wohlbrueck (aka Anton Walbrook), both of whom went on to brief Hollywood careers. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Despite its title, the German musical comedy Bomben auf Monte Carlo is not a war picture -- not in the traditional sense, anyway. Hans Albers stars as a naval captain from a small, mythical kingdom who heads to his consulate in Monte Carlo, complaining that neither he nor his crew have received their wages in months. The Queen (Anna Sten), travelling incognito, overhears the Captain's beef and sells her pearls to pay his salary. Not knowing the queen's true identity, the captain accompanies her to the gaming tables, where they win an enormous sum of money -- only to lose it all on the draw of a single card. Once more unable to pay his crew, the captain threatens to aim his ship's guns at Monte Carlo and blow up the casino unless his money is returned. At this point, the queen reveals her true identity, then relieves the captain of his command. He jumps ship, she jumps after him, and the two fall in love. Such was Hans Albers' popularity in 1931 that few cared whether his films made sense or not. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi