Robert Hoffman Movies

Dashing Austrian actor Robert Hoffmann stars as Luciano Luthring, a small-time hood who rises quickly to to the ranks of ruthless professional criminal, only to be betrayed by his beautiful moll (Lisa Gastoni). This fact-based crime thriller, directed by veteran Carlo Lizzani, also contains a fine supporting performance by Gian Maria Volonte as the cunning inspector who psychologically manipulates Gastoni into turning on her lover by playing on her guilty conscience. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

This 99-minute film constitutes the first half of Robert Siodmak's mammoth two-part epic Der Kampf um Rom (Fight for Rome). The film depicts the Goths' sacking of Rome in 526 AD. No expense was spared in bringing this story to the screen: for example, Siodmak utilized six companies of Rumanian cavalry for the battle sequence, and the epic packs in an all-star cast including Laurence Harvey as Celhegus, Orson Welles as Justinian and Sylva Koscina as Theodora. The film carefully lays a groundwork of corruption and infighting, suggesting that the siege of Rome was virtually justified. Screenwriter Ladislas Fodor (a former government agent best known for his espionage yarns) adapted his script from the best-selling novel by Felix Dahn. The second half, Der Kampf um rom 2: Der Verrat (which also clocks in at just over 1.5 hours) was issued in 1969, a year after the first; Four years after that (c. 1973), the two parts of Der Kampf um Rom were edited together, cut down to 94 minutes, and distributed as a single entry in the United States.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This uneven and humorless drama is taken from the writings of Sholom Aleichem. Unfortunately, this movie version falls short of the tragic comedy presented in the original text. Tovie is a poor milkman who must work hard to support his wife and seven daughters. One by one, the young women leave the house when they reach the age when they can marry. The film was shown at the Cannes Film Festival and was partially financed by government funds from Germany and Israel, though it seems a shame that the money wasn't better spent. Perhaps purists were upset at the theatrical success of the musical Fiddler on the Roof and wanted something more solemn and reverential. The stories of the great Yiddish author were adapted by Norman Jewison just three years later into a vastly superior film of the musical, which captured the comedy and pathos of the rural Jewish poor so ably rendered in the stories. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The literal translation of this title is Certain, Very Certain, As a Matter of Fact...Probable. This indeed was the title by which this trivial Italian comedy was known during its limited American release. The star is international glamour plate Claudia Cardinale, improbably cast as a telephone switchboard operator. It is believable that Cardinale is using her job as a means to trap a man for herself. When she is stood up by her first conquest, Cardinale teams with Catherine Spaak to romance and fleece eligible rich bachelors (and a few wealthy husbands) up and down the European continent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When Laura (Melissa Gilbert) adopts a baby raccoon whom she names Jasper, Charles (Michael Landon) gently warns her that the animal may not ever be domesticated. Things take a perilous turn when Jacob bites both Laura and another child and escapes into the woods. With the animal nowhere to be found, there is no way of telling whether or not the children have contacted rabies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On their first day at school, Laura and Mary Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert, Melissa Sue Anderson) run smack dab into the snooty snobbery of Nellie Oleson (Alison Arngrim), who haughtily refers to the sisters as "country girls." Assigned to write an essay, Laura is unable to finish the assignment. But she manages to emerge triumphant through the simple expedience of standing before the classroom and speaking from her heart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ray Tracey plays Joe Panther, a young Seminole Indian who is ambivalent toward the white world. Although he has achieved some recognition as an alligator wrestler, he seeks the wisdom of an old chieftain in his efforts to understand the white society he finds himself in. However, Turtle George (Ricardo Montalban) dispenses advice to the young man. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

After a photographer accidentally snaps pictures of an alien spacecraft, he becomes embroiled in a government cover-up. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

In this popular Austrian comedy, a mother and her conniving son are well on their way to achieving their goal of lifetime comfort and ease. They have fraudulently gotten the will of their wealthy landlord altered in their favor, and now that she is dead, they have begun to live a little. Imagine their distress when a long-lost daughter of the wealthy woman shows up on their doorstep. Since she is a poorly dressed woman who speaks no German, having grown up in the Balkans, they soon come to believe that they can probably con her into marrying the son. This will have the dual benefit of keeping them out of jail and will save them the inconvenience of having to kill her. Little do they suspect that despite her unstylish appearance and undeveloped language skills, she's far from stupid, and before long the frumpy girl from the country has taken these two con-artists well in hand. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide