Wolfgang Kieling Movies
- 1936
Maria (Hilda Koerber) is the personal maid of opera star Alice (Hilde Hildebrandt). Much too busy to look after her 6-year-old son, Alice leaves the kid in Maria's care. The maid takes a shine to the boy, devoting as much attention to him as if he were her real son. The girl is so devoted to the youngster that she keeps postponing her marriage to poor Franz (Hans Schlenck). Her obsessiveness comes to an end when Alice decides to at long last assume her proper maternal responsibilities. Maria is fired, but she has little time to grieve since faithful Franz is still waiting for her. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hilda Koerber, Hilde Hildebrand, (more)
- 1957
East Germany's contribution to the 1957 Cannes Film Festival was the wartime melodrama Betrogen bis zum Juengsten Tag. Had the film been released in the U.S., the title would probably have translated to Duped Till the Last. The film condemns the Nazi mindset by concentrating on a particularly odious cover-up. When his son is involved in the accidental killing of a girl, a Gestapo general pulls strings to save the boy from prosecution. The general manages to pin the blame for the killing on a group of Russians, whereupon he gives the men under his command carte blanche to round up and execute as many innocent Russians as they wish. This act of brutality is contrasted with the pangs of guilt suffered by the son and his co-conspirators. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wolfgang Kieling
- 1959
A surgeon's assistant is discovered as a former Nazi raising doubts about surgeon. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1961
Mrs. Cheney (Lilli Palmer) is a genteel widow whose outward appearances hide her involvement as a thief. With the help of her faithful butler, she steals diamonds from a wealthy matron. When she falls in love with a handsome international playboy, her thoughts quickly change from larceny to love in this light comedy. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lilli Palmer, Carlos Thompson, (more)
- 1963
In this French drama, set upon the Riviera, a widow works a jewel thief on the side. She keeps this up until she meets a handsome gent. She soon cleans up her act. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Three men plot to assassinate the dictator of their country, but their plan fails and one of them is captured and imprisoned. Even after considerable torture and interrogation, the revolutionary maintains his silence as to the names of his accomplices. Soon he is killed, though no one seems to know who is responsible for his death. Four years later another regime has been established, and a former inmate of the dead revolutionary finds himself in a position of power. He now intends to find out who was responsible for the man's death. After this German tale first took the form of a radio play and then a stage production, character actor Peter Carsten decided to produce this film version. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Erik Schumann, Wolfgang Kieling, (more)
- 1965
When the Nazis invade Prague, they sweep though the Jewish quarter to round up the "undesirables" in this compelling World War Il drama. Bozena (Jana Brejchova) is a young Czech girl who joins the resistance movement after witnessing Nazi atrocities. Soon she falls in love, but the Gestapo is on the trail of the members of the underground fighting against the Germans. When the film was rejected by the committee of the Cannes Film Festival in 1965, the public uproar in Germany caused even more people to see the film. This was not the only questionable rejection by the Cannes committee, as Satyajit Ray's drama Charulata was also inexplicably excluded that same year. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jana Brejchova, Edith Schultze-Westrum, (more)
A double agent has to contend with enemies on both sides of the political fence as well as the woman he loves in this thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Prof. Michael Armstrong (Paul Newman) is an gifted American physicist who, at the height of the Cold War, decides to defect to East Germany. To his surprise, his fiancée, fellow scientist Sarah Sherman (Julie Andrews) follows him, and she soon discovers Armstrong is no traitor, but acting as a secret undercover agent. As Armstrong attempts to ingratiate himself with political and scientific factions in East Germany, Gromek (Wolfgang Kieling) becomes his guide, though Armstrong is aware he's a government agent assigned to trail him, and as he tries to shake Gromek, Armstrong realizes his new "friend" knows what his real agenda happens to be. Torn Curtain was one of the rare Hitchcock films from his "classic" era which did not feature a score by Bernard Herrman; due to objections from his studio, Hitchcock removed Herrman from the project, though excerpts from the score he had begun were included as a bonus on the film's DVD release in 2002. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Julie Andrews, (more)
- 1967
Felix Manderville (Vincent Price) is a traveling magician who manages to make young women disappear in this exploitation thriller. The trouble is, Felix drugs the femmes and sells them to white slave traders with the help of his mind-reading assistant Rebecca (Martha Hyer). Marie Armstrong (Anne Smyrner) and her husband Stephen (George Nader) are American tourists who fall into the trap of the felonious flesh pedlars. Price plays the part with his usual suave and sinister manner in this routine production. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Price, Martha Hyer, (more)
- 1967
If you happened to catch Joachim Fuchsberger in a late-60's film, chances are he was appearing in a Edgar Wallace mystery. The German Hand of Power is no exception to this rule. Fuchsberger plays an inspector in search of an elusive criminal who uses a scorpion-shaped ring, filled with poison, to dispatch his victims. As is customary in films of this nature, the villain is a lot more colorful than his dedicated but drab Scotland Yard pursuers. But Edgar Wallace was averse to promoting a "crime pays" message, so rest assured that the Hand of Power is stilled by the time the film's alotted 88 minutes has passed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
An ingenious thief steals Michelangelo's Pieta, worth $30 billion in the farce. The trouble is, he has no buyers and so lets an American gangster have it for $40 and a spaghetti dinner. Meanwhile, the Vatican, not wanting the abduction to become public, sends out a priest to find the thieves and retrieve the statue. The priest, a former Indy 500 winner, proves himself to be more than well-equipped for job. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee) is the internationally known criminal mastermind back for another round of evil deeds. The objects of his malevolence are the police chiefs of the world, in particular the head of Scotland Yard. With the help of his equally evil daughter Lin Tang (Tsai Chin), Fu Manchu deals with shadowy figures of the underworld to reach his objectives. The felonious Fu assumes the leadership of all the world's crime syndicates to exact his revenge, striking fear into the hearts of every law-abiding crime fighter. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Carsten, Tony Ferrer, (more)
- 1968
Amsterdam Affair was adapted from the novel Love in Amsterdam by Nicholas Freeling. Wolfgang Kieling heads the cast as Inspector Van Der Valk, called in to investigate a woman's murder. The prime suspect is a novelist (William Marlowe) who had conducted a lengthy affair with the dead woman. The case has been designated as open and shut by the police and the press, but Van Der Valk wants to probe a little deeper. Amsterdam Affair was filmed on location in Holland with an essentially British crew; it was released in the US by the broadcast conglomerate Group W. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Marlowe, Catherine Schell, (more)
- 1969
- R
An international cast headlines this espionage comedy that centers on a world-wide hunt for stolen American defense papers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Lawford, Ira VonFurstenberg, (more)
- 1969
This East German propaganda film gives praise to East Germany and the Soviet Union. The story chronicles the preparation of West Germany for World War III and explains that the East Germans are the only ones who have successfully moved out of the shadow of Adolph Hitler. Film footage of student revolts being crushed by the police is shown to espouse the virtues of the East Germans in their pompous and ridiculous claims of political and social superiority. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- 1970
In this futuristic sci-fi film, a 21st-century spaceship is lost and another is sent out to find it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Originally billed as merely $, Dollars stars top box office draws Warren Beatty and Goldie Hawn. Beatty plays a security whiz, employed in Hamburg, Germany. He devises a clever method of robbing the secret bank vaults of notorious criminals, reasoning that the crooks will never turn to the cops. The notion that the crooks may have a few words to say to him does not dissuade Beatty as he and gold-hearted hooker Hawn work out their carefully calculated, meticulously timed robbery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Beatty, Goldie Hawn, (more)
- 1979
Near Lake Constance, a messiah wannabe named Kristlien, or "Little Christ," attempts to take care of society's outcasts, in this movie based on the novel by Martin Walser. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Franz Buchrieser, Hannelore Elsner, (more)
- 1981
This historical drama is the story of Jacob Paul von Grundling (Wolfgang Kieling) and his fluctuating, turbulent relationship with King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia (1713-1740). This period was one of wars and of intellectual debate and literary accomplishments. It is that setting that is embodied in Grundling, a professor of literature, history, and law, and a court historian of sorts. When King Friedrich Wilhelm I first comes to power, he dismisses Grundling from his university position in disagreement with his views. Grundling then writes a treatise against certain widely-held religious tenets that attracts the king's attention and his favor. Soon Grundling is back at court, parrying his wit and knowledge against his detractors -- though since he will not compromise on his strict ideals, his stays at court are punctuated with exiles or with disfavor. This up-and-down relationship with the king and the hardship it imposes on Grundling have inevitable bad effects: he begins to drink more heavily, vacillating back and forth on some of his ideals, but never giving up on them entirely. Since Grundling's very existence depends on the good will of the king, his viewpoints often put him in serious jeopardy -- and his fate will be determined by whether or not he can compromise either his beliefs or his intellectual acuity. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wolfgang Kieling, Götz George, (more)
- 1984
Man under Suspicion begins at a German political assembly reduced to chaos by neo-fascist activists. Someone has to defend the principal instigator in court, and that responsibility falls on the shoulders of Maximillian Schell. Probing into his client's background, Schell uncovers some uncomfortable truths as to how so ostensibly unpopular a movement as fascism can fester in an "enlightened" Germany. Though slow going until the climactic scenes, Man under Suspicion is disturbing, provocative entertainment, with Maximillian Schell's mature performance an interesting contrast to his firebrand defense attorney in 1961's Judgment at Nuremberg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maximilian Schell, Lena Stolze, (more)
