Maria Holst Movies
- 1956
A free-spirited nun is sent to work as the nanny for an Austrian baron's seven children and helps them to become a renowned singing group. The Baron is a good man, but he runs his family with the discipline of a drill sergeant. The former novitiate feels that children should be allowed to have fun and so teaches them to start enjoying life. She also encourages the talented septet to sing. When the Baron discovers his children acting frivolously, he is enraged. He is just about to fire her when he hears the sweet singing of his children. He keeps her on a little longer and even begins falling in love with her. But then she must return to her convent to renounce her vows. Later they are reunited and the family begins traveling and singing until the Nazis take over and the Trapp family is forced to flee to the U.S. Based on a true story, it was later reworked and remade as the classic musical The Sound of Music. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ruth Leuwerik, Hans Holt, (more)
- 1949
This Austrian comedy has a plotline that would never pass muster in these days of political correctness. O.W. Fischer plays a randy Romeo of the love-'em-and-leave-'em variety. When he falls genuinely in love with a woman (Nadja Tiller), she wants nothing to do with him. So he gets the girl's attention by kidnapping six other lovely young ladies! Strangely, reviewers in 1949 saw nothing morally suspect about these actions; their only complaint was that the film failed to meet its potential. Evidently, Maerchen vom Glück was Nadja Tiller's second film, following her debut feature Eroica; perhaps significantly, it is missing from most "official" lists of her credits. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- O.W. Fischer, Maria Holst, (more)
- 1940
German musical-comedy favorite Willy Forst is writer, director and star of Operetta. Produced in 1940, the film did not receive an American release until long after WW II had ended. The story concerns 19th-century impresario Franz Jauner (Forst), who battles with opera diva Marie Geistinger (Maria Holst) to win the hearts and minds of Viennese music lovers. Geistinger loses the battle, but wins the love of Jauner. Amidst several well-staged operetta vignettes, the film offers impersonations of such musical greats as Johann Strauss and Franz von Suppe. The latter character is portrayed by opera singer Leo Slezak, the father of actor Walter Slezak and grandfather of soap-opera star Erika Slezak. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Holst
- 1936
In this convoluted melodrama, an elderly thespian falls for a rising young starlet. He admits his love for her and then announces that he will retire from the stage. The young woman pretends she loves him too, but her real motive is to give her struggling lover, also an aspiring actor, a break. The old actor learns the painful truth and though wounded, understands that the relationship would never have worked. When the young actor attempts to end his life, following the loss of his job at the Burg Theatre, it is the elderly actor who saves him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Werner Krauss
