Ewald Balser Movies
- 1962
Intended as an adult parable (meaning intellectually not for small kids), this symbolic drama by director Gottfried Reinhardt has only rhymed dialogue which may be a drawback since prose dialogue is enough of a challenge for most scripters. "Everyman" is played by Walther Reyer, someone who starts to reconsider his life as he faces up to the fact that his mortality might bring him up short very soon. Along with "Everyman" are characters like God (Ewald Balser), Death (Kurt Heintel), Paramour (Ellen Schwiers), the wily Devil (Heinrich Schweiger), and Faith (Paula Wessely) that each play obvious parts in the drama to get Everyman headed on the right path. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ewald Balser, Kurt Heintel, (more)
- 1959
A surgeon's assistant is discovered as a former Nazi raising doubts about surgeon. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1958
A Swiss-French coproduction, It Happened in Broad Daylight is an austere but shocking story of the hunt for a human monster. A forest community is terrorized by a child murderer, who per the title strikes in broad daylight. Whereas such a criminal might be more easily tracked down in the confines of a big city, the village police are obliged to comb miles and miles of mountains and wooded wilderness. A detective (Heinz Ruhmann) goes undercover to trap the murderer, posing as a workman with a wife (actually a local widow) and child. Veteran French character actor Michel Simon briefly appears as a falsely accused suspect, who commits suicide rather than face the shame of being branded a child killer. Slightly marred by some clumsy plot contrivances and by the rather crude dubbing in the English-language prints, It Happened in Broad Daylight is nonetheless one of the more accomplished European suspensers of the 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Heinz Rühmann, Sigfrit Steiner, (more)
- 1958
This German only performance tells the story of a doctor and a nurse and their budding relationship. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1958
Based on an operetta by Franz Schubert, the film is partially biographical. Franz (Karlheinz Boehm) is in love with Hannerl (Johanna Matz) but is too shy to reveal his feelings. After composing a love song, he engages a young baron to sing to her. Hannerl instead falls in love with the baron. The girl's parents lament over the problems of Hannerl and her two sisters, who are all young women living at home and eligible for marriage. Beethoven (Ewald Balser) and legendary music publisher Diabelli (Richard Romanowsky) are Schubert's famous contemporaries, giving historical perspective to the three music legends. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karl Heinz Böhm, Gustav Knuth, (more)
- 1955
This 1955 drama was based - like Istvan Szabo's masterful Colonel Redl (1985) - on the life story of Alfred Redl, a Ukrainian man who worked his way up through the hierarchy of the Austrian army in the early 20th century, while concealing his own homosexuality. In time, when others learn of his gayness, Redl is blackmailed by the Russians into taking counter-espionage maneuvers against the Austrians, and is ultimately forced to commit suicide. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ewald Balser
- 1954
Sauerbruch is the true story of the famed German surgeon of the same name. Adapted from the title character's own memoirs, the film stars Ewald Balser as Professor Sauerbruch. The film recounts the Professor's tireless humanitarian activities during WWII, and his equally vital work in the immediate postwar era. Since Sauerbruch was a national hero in Germany, filmgoers flocked to see his life played out on the screen. American audiences were somewhat less impressed, though admittedly Sauerbruch wasn't really intended for anything other than a domestic release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ewald Balser, Heidemarie Hatheyer, (more)
- 1949
As suggested by its title, Eroica is a re-creation of events in the life of Ludwig Von Beethoven. Ewald Balser stars as the legendary composer, while Marianna Schoenaper and Judith Holzmeister co-star as the two women in Beethoven's life. The dramatic nucleus of the film is the composition of the titular symphony, written as a paean to Napoleon. Beethoven comes to regret his earlier admiration of the "the little corporal" when the latter appoints himself emperor. The final scenes detail Beethoven's adjustment to his encroaching deafness. Eroica was lensed on location in Vienna, often in the actual places where Beethoven worked and relaxed; accordingly, the music is provided by the Vienna Philharmonic, the Vienna State Symphony, the Vienna State Opera and the Vienna Boys' Choir. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ewald Balser, Judith Holzmeister, (more)
- 1948
Though the title of this German historical drama translates as The Trial, it bears no relation to the Franz Kafka novel of the same name. Instead, the film is based on a true story which took place in 19th century Hungary. When a young peasant girl commits suicide, the superstitious villagers, stirred up by the odiously anti-Semitic Baron Onody (Heinz Moog), immediately assume that she was the victim of a Jewish sacrificial ritual. Despite an utter lack of evidence (or common sense), all the Jews in town are rounded up and subjected to a mass trial. Risking his reputation and possibly his life, idealistic lawyer Dr. Eövötes (Ewald Balser) defends the Jews, forcing all of Hungary to come face to face with its blind and stupid prejudices. The first postwar effort by director G.W. Pabst, Der Prozess has been interpreted by some as Pabst's act of attrition after his reluctant professional association with the Nazis during WWII. Whatever the case, the film, which earned Pabst a Best Director award at the 1948 Venice Film Festival, remains one of the director's finest works. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ewald Balser, Ernst Deutsch, (more)
- 1942
Artist biography. The life of the popular painter. German language only. ~ All Movie Guide
