Paul Hoerbiger Movies

Willy Fritsch and his son Thomas co-star in this Austrian comedy directed by Axel Von Ambesser. Clemens Andermann (Willy) is a successful businessman and ladies man whose son Andreas (Thomas) is equally unsuccessful in love and the business world. Andreas does score big in the theater before moving onto motion picture stardom. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

This is an unpretentious teen-oriented musical with enough songs and dances (including that of the title) to keep the younger set entertained. As is usual in these types of films, the storyline is primarily an excuse to bring in as much singing and dancing talent as can fit into the running time. In this case, Johann Ebeseder (Paul Hoerbiger) is the manager of a theater that is about to buckle under. The powers-that-be want to tear the building down, but when one of these men meets Johann's granddaughter, he is smitten by her charms. That offers some hope of fighting the establishment. Then a disastrous fire settles the problem of the theater -- though one has not yet heard the last from Johann. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

German only story of Wachauer boarding school for boys with singing by the Wiener Bubenchor. ~ Rovi

Life Begins at 17 in this all-too-typical example of the "art" of quickie producer Sam Katzman. Plain little Carol Peck (Luana Anders) is wooed by arrogant punk Russ Lippincott (Mark Damon). What Carol doesn't know is that Russ is only interested in her knockout older sister Elaine (Dorothy Johnson). When she finds out she's being used, Carol exacts a typically feminine means of revenge ("typical" by 1950s B-movies, that is). Meanwhile, Elaine finds happiness with true-blue boyfriend Jim (Edd "Kookie" Byrnes). Ann Doran, who played James Dean's mother in Rebel Without a Cause, does same for the two heroines of Life Begins at 17. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Tomi Streiff directs this screwball road movie about a guy, a girl, and a cow. Country bumpkin Ela Thier (Isabella Parkinson) is a librarian journeying off for a new job in a remote German village. A trusting soul, she gets bilked out of all her money by a sleazy con man and is forced to hitchhike. She is lucky enough to be picked up by burly plumber Tim (Oliver Reinhard), who is driving his truck back to his black forest burg. He is set to get hitched in a couple of days -- his wedding gift, the titular bovine, is in the hauling bay -- and he is beginning to have second thoughts. With the appearance of Ela, Tim starts having third and fourth thoughts about his impending nuptials. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

The classic British stage farce Charley's Aunt is given a Teutonic flavor in this 1956 release. The story is updated and the character names changed, but the plot, about a young man forced by circumstances to dress up as a middle-aged woman, remains intact. Heinz Ruehmann stars as Dr. Otto Dernburg (originally "Lord Fancourt Babberly"), whose friends Charley (Walter Giller) and Ralf (Claus Biederstadt) are expecting female visitors. The girls won't show up without a chaperone, so Otto is inveigled into disguising himself as "Charley's Aunt, from Brazil, where the nuts come from." The comedy of errors and misunderstandings is played to the hilt, with time out for an unexpected musical number. Charley's Tante was one of Germany's biggest film hits of the mid-1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi