Paul Henckels Movies
- 1957
Confessions of Felix Krull was adapted from the last novel by German author Thomas Mann. Horst Buchholtz stars as a German soldier sent to Paris during World War I. He casts aside his uniform and gets a job as an elevator operator. A handsome lug, Buchholtz is pursued by virtually every female who enters his little compartment. But the lad is shy, and besides, he'd rather discuss anthropology. You'll have to watch the film for yourself to see what, if anything, Felix Krull has to confess. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Horst Buchholz, Liselotte Pulver, (more)
- 1955
Adapted from a novel by W. F. Fischelscher, The Dancing Heart combines music, dance, whimsy and fantasy. Herta Staal plays Annchen, who hopes to save her toymaker father from losing his shop. To that end, she ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gertrud Kückelmann, Gunnar Moeller, (more)
- 1954
Koenigliche Hoheit (His Royal Highness) was adapted from a novel by Thomas Mann -- who, according to all reports, was pleased with the film version. Ruth Leuwerick stars as an American heiress raised in Europe. She falls in love with Dieter Borsch, a handsome but shy German prince. Their romance seems doomed when Borsch is obliged to enter into a marriage of convenience to save his country from bankruptcy. A fortuitous 11th-hour plot-twist prevents the film from being merely another variation of The Student Prince. Contemporary viewers felt that Koenigliche Hoheit might have benefited from a lighter directorial touch than the one displayed by Dr. Hans Braun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dieter Borsche, Ruth Leuwerik, (more)
- 1954
Two of Charlie Chaplin's talented offspring -- Charles Jr. and Sidney -- make a rare joint appearance in the German comedy Columbus Entdeckt Kraehwinkel (Columbus Discovers Kraehwinkel). The Chaplin boys play a couple of American ex-GIs who return to the tiny Teutonic village of Kraehwinkel after the war, there to be reunited with their fraulein sweethearts. They also intend to bring Kraehwinkel into the 20th century by "Americanizing" the place, despite fierce opposition from the tradition-bound locals. Their scheme works so well that one of the boys loses his girlfriend to the town's new pro-USA burgomeister. A film that has apparently long since disappeared, Columbus Entdeckt Kraehwinkel might prove an interesting rediscovery for Chaplin buffs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eva Kerbler, Charles Chaplin, Jr., (more)
- 1949
It must be noted that the "Paul Verhoeven" credited with the direction of the German Palace Scandal is not the current Dutch director of Robocop and Basic Instinct fame. Now that that's been established, on to the plot. Set in the 19th century, this amiable comedy stars Elfie Meyerhoffer as Christine Holm, a popular singer who returns to her hometown. Christine wants to learn the true identity of her father, and when she does, it's quite a jolt for everyone concerned. A clue to daddy's identity can be found in the film's title. Filmed in eye-pleasing Agfacolor, Palace Scandal might have made an entertaining operetta with the addition of a few more songs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Erich Ponto
- 1937
Like the title says, "every woman has a secret," especially Annemarie Kolper (Karin Hardt). Upon finding an abandoned train ticket, Annemarie decides to take a trip to Baden-Baden. Here she is assumed to be a young heiress, who'd thrown away the ticket rather than marry a man she didn't love. Forced to keep up the charade, poor Annemarie does her best to hobnob with High Society, even comically participating in a charity steeplechase. Like the heiress, however, Annemarie spurns the chosen fiance, plighting her troth instead with Hans Juergen (Hans Soehnker), an advertising man who ends up promoting the perfume that the heroine's father has invented! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karin Hardt, Hans Söhnker, (more)
- 1937
Though the witty, epigrammatic style of Oscar Wilde would seem best suited to the rhythms of the English language, a surprising number of Wilde's plays and short stories were filmed in Europe. The German Ein Idealer Gatte is a fairly faithful adaptation of Wilde's 1895 play An Ideal Husband. The title character is Lord Chiltern (Carl Ludwig Diehl), a prosperous steel magnate. Blackmailed by an old flame, Gloria Chevney (Sybille Schmitz), Lord C. is at last rescued by the real brains of the Chiltern family, his loyal, supportive and eminently courageous wife (Brigitte Helm). Film buffs take note: Ein Ideal Gatte affords a rare opportunity to see Metropolis star Brigitte Helm and Vampyr star Sybille Schmitz in the same picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karl Ludwig Diehl, Brigitte Helm, (more)
- 1937
The English-language title of this German period comedy is A Night With the Emperor -- and it's not a Marx Brothers film. The time is the early 19th century: ambitious young actress Lisa Grossinger (Jenny Jugo) tries to advance her career by romancing Napoleon Bonaparte (Hans Zesch-Ballot) and securing his backing for a show she's appearing in. Lisa sneaks into the imperial palace by posing as a vegetable vendor (evidently these guys had full run of the place back then). Our heroine is deflected from her petty machinations by Heinz Bechmann (Frederick Benfer), a young patriot who enlists her aid in toppling Napoleon from his throne. "Then," noted the critic for Variety, "the story gets really screwy." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jenny Jugo, Richard Romanowsky, (more)
- 1937
Lessons in Love is the streamlined English-language title for this musical farce. It's another story of romantic misunderstandings and misinterpretations, replete with disguise scenes and indignant renunciations. During the course of the story, hero Alois Weinberl (Paul Horbiger) finds it expedient to assume two false identities. That's nothing compared to heroine Sophie Bruninger (Luise Ulrich), who pretends to be three different people. There's nothing witty or subtle in the proceedings, but apparently that's how German audiences of the 1930s liked it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Luise Ullrich, Paul Hoerbiger, (more)
- 1936
Schabernack (Hoax) gets under way when heroine Eva (Trude Marlen) finds herself too broke to open her hotel for the season. Next door to Eva's establishment is a sanitarium, chock full of wealthy eccentrics. When the sanitarium burns down, its occupants move into Eva's hotel, whereupon it is assumed by the townsfolk that the girl is now in charge of a lunatic asylum. Thus it is that a wealthy and decidedly non-eccentric customer who checks in at the hotel is considered to be crazy and treated accordingly. All of this Marx Brothers-like zaniness is offset by the "normal" romance between Eva and her headwaiter Peter (Paul Hoerbiger). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Hoerbiger, Trude Marlen, (more)
- 1936
Ave Maria was the second film-starring vehicle for legendary operatic tenor Beniamino Gigli. Mourning the loss of the only woman he ever loved, concert singer Tino Dossi (Gigli) is temporarily shaken from his doldrums by vivacious Montmartre entertainer Claudette (Kaethe Von Nagy). Dossi doesn't realize that Claudette is merely using him to advance her own singing career. Ultimately won over by Dossi's sincerity and courtesy, Claudette falls in love with him for real, only to suffer the pangs of conscience as a result. About to kill herself, she decides instead to return to Dossi's arms, vowing never to confess her original mercenary intentions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Beniamino Gigli, Kaethe von Nagy, (more)
