Claus Holm Movies

German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder both directed and photographed The Third Generation (Die Dritte Generation). Displaying a sense of humor that can most kindly be described as perverse, Fassbinder follows the exploits of a group of well-heeled German terrorists. Without truly taking sides, the director demonstrates how the terrorists are essentially shooting themselves in the foot. The more havoc they spread, the tighter the government restrictions against other radicals. Eddie Constantine, the sang-froid leading man of many a Lemmy Caution espionage film, is ironically cast in The Third Generation. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In 1944, with Paris on the verge of Liberation by the allies, Adolph Hitler ordered that the City of Light be blown up and burned to the ground. General Dietrich Von Choltitz, after much rumination, decided that he didn't want to go down in history as the man who destroyed Paris. His refusal to follow Hitler's orders would make him a pariah in Germany for the rest of his life; nor was his gesture ever rewarded by the Allies. From this very human story in the midst of one of the most inhuman conflicts in history grew the screenplay (by Gore Vidal and Francis Ford Coppola) of the all-star, internationally produced Is Paris Burning? Whereas the earlier The Longest Day was able to support a castful of celebrities and brief subplot vignettes, Is Paris Burning? seems more weighted down than weighty. Still, a modern audience will have fun playing "spot the star" throughout the film, especially when those spotted stars include the likes of Gert Frobe (as Choltitz), Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon, Kirk Douglas (as Patton), Glenn Ford (as Bradley), Yves Montand, Simone Signoret, Robert Stack, and even Anthony Perkins as a wide-eyed GI. Filmed on a gargantuan scale, Is Paris Burning? was based on a book by Larry Collins and Dominique LaPierre. The film was lensed in black and white, save for the Technicolor finale (in the original road-show prints). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this uneven combination of mystery and comedy directed by Wolfgang Schleff, newly convicted killer Eva (Eva Bartok) is given some days of freedom before starting her sentence, due to pressing matters. Eva's problem is that she did not kill her husband, and with her short reprieve, she plans on finding out who did. She and her lawyer find evidence leading to a shady matrimonial agency that employs a certain Christinow Tomkin (Carlos Thompson) to lure wealthy women into their clutches. The challenge is to find the killer -- and proof -- before Eva is due to be jailed for the next fifteen years. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This unrealistic, routine drama is the second half of a story that began with Der Tiger von Eschnapur. This sequel was later cut slightly, combined with the first story then released in English as Journey to the Lost City. Both halves were written by Thea von Harbou and the 1959 films are both directed by Fritz Lang, von Harbou's former husband. In this continuation, Seetha (Debra Paget) and the architect Harald (Paul Hubschmid) have fallen in love. The biggest stumbling block to their romance is Chandra, the Maharaja of Eshnapur (Walther Reyer). He wants Seetha for himself. Because of that, the lovers fled from Eshnapur and are now being hunted by the Maharaja's henchmen. That leads to inevitable killings, cruelties, and inhuman conduct until the Maharaja himself is the only one left who can right the situation. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In this version of the popular Swedish romantic novel by Selma Lagerlof, a maid tries to commit suicide after her sleazy employer impregnates her. She is saved. Later when her cad of a boss is killed, the maid is finally allowed to marry her true love. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Writer/director Robert Siodmak based his German-filmed The Devil Strikes at Night on an actual case. Set during the last months of the Hitler regime, the film concerns a series of rapes and stranglings of young women. Gestapo officer Rossdorf (Hannes Messemer) and non-party member Axel Kersten (Claus Holm) investigate the trail of evidence. They discover that the criminal is Bruno Leudke, a mental defective (played by Mario Adorf). An open-and-shut case...except for the fact that Adorf is a loyal Nazi Party member! The dilemma now is to stem the crime spree without publicizing the embarrassing fact that "Aryan supremacy" is capable of yielding a monster like Adorf. Originally titled Nachts, Wenn der Teufel Kam, The Devil Strikes at Night has also been released as Nazi Terror at Night and Nights When the Devil Came. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This fictional story tells of a small village that builds a new steamship dock in hopes of getting lots of tourists. Only one shows up, but she manages to save the village from financial ruin. ~ Rovi

In this emotional melodrama, a woman is devastated to discover that her beloved has fathered the child of her closest friend. With many tears, she breaks their engagement and moves into the country where she eventually falls in love with a handsome schoolmaster. Unfortunately, this sets local tongues to wagging and, unable to bear the scandal, she leaves. Time passes and when she learns that the teacher has been horribly burned while saving someone from a fire, she returns to marry him. Unfortunately, while helping a friend's ailing child she catches diphtheria. Just before she passes on, she vows that she will love the teacher forever. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this tragic true story based on the novel by Arnold Zweig, a butcher was called upon to execute four Communists with a meat axe in 1938 because the normal executioner was ill. When author Zweig read about the execution, and then later read about the suicide of a butcher later in the same year, he came to the realization that both butchers were the same person, and he wrote this story. In the film Erwin Geschonneck plays the butcher who suffers miserably from his act and he is not alone in his misery -- his wife commits suicide while in deep despair. Unable to function properly, the butcher loses his customers and soon he himself cannot face living any longer. This 1951 East German movie was banned in West Germany and West Berlin until its well-attended 1983 premier at a retrospective for its director Falk Harnack. A 1982 documentary by the same title provides the background and the story of the butcher. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi