Walter Gross Movies
- 1964
In this German comedy-melodrama, the exploits of a plucky WW II orphan as he moves from foster family to foster family are chronicled. He is first taken in by a Yankee pilot who subsequently dies during the Korean War. As a teen, he is then adopted by a German family and soon falls for his step-sister. He really wants to join the US Air Force, so he steals a uniform and fakes the appropriate documentation to get in. With the help of an understanding sergeant, the ploy works, but just as he is about to be sent Stateside, the truth is exposed and he is booted out. Later the sergeant offers to adopt him, but the youth decides to stay in Germany with his love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Don't try to make sense of the title: just sit back and enjoy this daffy German-Turkish farce. Oskar Sima plays a successful fruit merchant who is busily preparing for the wedding of his daughter (Ruth Stephan). At the same time, Sima is celebrating half a century in the fruit business. One of his biggest suppliers, a Turkish potentate, gratefully offers Sima an anniversary present: A collection of lovelies from his harem. The veiled, bewelled ladies cause no end of consternation for Sima, who tries to keep them hidden as the deadline for his daughter's wedding approaches. Originally released as Die Turkischen Gurken, Turkish Cucumber was distributed in the US by the redoubtable K. Gordon Murray under a variety of titles, including Wedding Present and Daddy's Delectable Dozen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Director Akos von Rathony, perhaps best known for his 1960 Mrs. Warren's Profession, guides a talented cast of American and German actors in this entertaining comedy that pokes fun at cultural morés on both sides of the Atlantic. Helmut (Michael Hinz) is an orphan with plenty of Yank friends, enough to make him desperate to get to the U.S. To that end, he nabs an Air Force uniform and the proper credentials and then makes a brave attempt to hop on an American military jet. In the meantime, Inge (Christine Kaufmann) has her own ideas about Helmut's future and they do not include any trip that takes him away from her. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christine Kaufmann, Michael Hinz, (more)
- 1960
This is a fairly entertaining comedy by F.J. Gottlieb with a dash of music thrown in for good measure. Conny Froboess plays the niece of a man who used to be a singer and now owns and runs a record company. The niece loves to sing and one day decides to disguise herself and enter a singing contest to try to further her ambition -- and she wins. Meanwhile, her uncle is suspicious so he hires a detective to find out about what his niece is really doing, which happens to be impersonating her imaginary singer and being herself in contradictory and amusing situations. Soon the detective and the niece make contact and take a liking to each other, complicating matters considerably. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cornelia Froboess, Fred Bertelmann, (more)
- 1956
It took nerve for director Harald Braun to attempt an all-talking remake of F.W. Murnau's silent masterpiece The Last Laugh, though it can't be denied that Braun's version has its moment. Still, the remake, Der Letze Mann (The Last Man) lacks the originality and nuance of the silent film, if only because it is retreading familiar ground. In the earlier version, Emil Jannings starred as a proud, self-reliant hotel doorman whose whole world disintegrates when he is demoted to washroom attendant. In the remake, Hans Albers plays a headwaiter who is professionally humiliated when the ownership of the hotel changes hands. The Murnau version ended with an ironically comic coda, which may or may not have been a figment of the protagonist's imagination. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hans Albers, Romy Schneider, (more)
- 1936
In this romantic melodrama, a widowed Russian noblewoman finds her torn asunder by the 1917 revolution. Just before she is to return home, she attends a grand ball. There she encounters a handsome young officer. Following the dance, she leaves her 7-year old with her maid and leaves in the company of friend and confidant who has secretly loved her for years. They are halfway there when the Bolsheviks attack the train. The lady then learns that her lover and best friend have been captured. Her friend joins the Reds and when the soldier is slated for execution, he intervenes and saves him. Meanwhile, the woman hides out with a priest and keeps looking for her daughter who disappeared during the struggle. She also searches for her friend and lover. Time jumps ahead to 1930. Now the woman works as a nightclub singer in Shanghai. There she runs into her old friend Again he proposes, and again she rejects him as she still pines for the dashing soldier. Later, they attend an Easter gala for expatriate Russians, and the woman discovers that the soldier has also become a singer. She is shocked, and further shocked to learn that he has become engaged to none other than her estranged daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pola Negri, Gustav Diessl, (more)
- 1933
The title of this German musical comedy translates as Night of the Great Love. Czechoslovakian opera star Jarmila Novotna plays a famed diva who falls in love with much-younger naval officer Gustav Froehlich. Alas, Novotna is compelled to wed an elderly diplomat for the sake of her daughter Christiane Grautoff -- who is likewise smitten by Froelich. Surprise of surprises, Grautoff and Froelich aren't paid off in the final scene. Nacht der Grossen Liebe was filmed by the still-thriving German division of Universal Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jarmila Novotna, Gustav Fröhlich, (more)
