Maria Koppenhofer Movies

After spending the 1930s as the Third Reich's principal cinematic chronicler, Leni Riefenstahl returned to fictional films with Tiefland. According to Riefenstahl, she had refused to make any more propaganda pictures--"for good reasons," she explained enigmatically--choosing instead to direct a period romance, based on an old Spanish play and opera by Eugen d'Albert. Riefenstahl cast herself as the central character, Marta, a Spanish dancer who becomes the romantic bone of contention between humble shepherd Franz Eichberger and imperious marquis Bernhard Minetti. While the material seems to cry out for music, Riefenstahl plays the story straight, though much of the acting can certainly be described as operatic. In one scene, the director utilized a band of gypsies as atmosphere extras; as soon as their scenes were completed, the gypsies were returned to their Nazi concentration camp--where most of them were doomed to extermination. Personally financed by Riefenstahl, Tiefland was filmed between 1942 and 1944, which explains the presence of Maria Koppenhofer (who died in 1948). Final editing was not completed until around 1953, at which time Riefenstahl personally accompanied her print of the film to selected showings in Germany and Austria. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally filmed under the title Was Tun Sibylle (What Now, Sibylle) the title of this German seriocomedy was rechristened Jugend von Heute (Youth of Today), subtly implying that the film represented the Aryan "ideal" as espoused by National Socialism. Hans Liebert plays handsome high-school professor Fromann, much beloved by his female students. Fromann's affection for his charges is equally strong, leading him to perform random acts of kindness to help them deal with life. When one of the girls is falsely accused of a robbery, Fromann and the other students team up to capture the genuine miscreant. All is straightened out by fadeout time, as the blond, blue-eyed heroines strike a blow for Teutonic solidarity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Der Herrscher (The Sovereign) was based on Before Sunset, a play by Gerhart Hauptmann. The great Emil Jannings stars as Mathias Clausen, a self-made businessman who is forced to do a great deal of soul-searching when his wife unexpectedly dies. Determining to start life anew, he falls in love with his secretary Inken (Marianne Hoppe) and impulsively takes a vacation to Italy. Clausen's selfish grown children, not wishing to share their father's affections -- nor his money -- with his new wife-to-be, go to court demanding that Clausen be declared mentally incompetent. Upon finding this out, Clausen flies into a rage, leaving the audience to wonder whether or not he really as gone off his trolley. Der Herrscher was directed by Veit Harlan, more famous (or notorious) for his viciously anti-Semitic Jud Suess (1940). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Schlussakkord (released in the U.S. as Final Accord) is the melancholy tale of a young mother who leaves her child behind in Germany to join her no-good husband in America. Hubby eventually kills himself, rendering the heroine all alone in the world. Meanwhile, her son is adopted by a kindly orchestra conductor and grows up in an atmosphere of luxury and love. In the tradition of East Lynne, the conscience-stricken mother contrives to get a job as a governess in the orchestra leader's home, hoping to be nearer her son -- but never intending to reveal her true identity. The story takes a startling turn when the woman falls in love with the conductor, whereupon both are implicated in a nasty murder case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The story of a military officer during the Weimar Republik who runs away to China, gets involved with some Volga Germans. They get a train, repair the rails and head back to Germany. German language only. ~ All Movie Guide

Also known as Unholy Tales, the German-made Tales of the Uncanny is a talking-picture homage to the impressionistic "nightmare" films of the German silent cinema. In the manner of the later British Dead of Night, several horror stories are linked together with a central set of characters. Paul Wegener stars as a mad doctor who murders his wife and walls her up in the basement, a la Poe's The Black Cat. He runs from the authorities with a reporter in pursuit; their flight leads them to a brace of additional gory episodes. A brief sojourn in a mental institution develops into an update of Poe's The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Feather, as Wegener locks up the real doctors and permits the lunatics to run wild. After this escapade, the reporter catches up with Wegener at a curious club where the members murder one another--a variation on Robert Louis Stevenson's The Suicide Club. Tales of the Uncanny was released in the US eight years after its completion, then sliced and diced into an inferior version titled The Living Dead (what living dead?). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Also known as 24 Hours in a Woman's Life, this perceptive romantic drama was based on the novel by Stefan Zweig. Henny Porten plays Alice, a widow who undergoes a lifetime worth of emotional turmoil during a weekend vacation in Italy. After getting caught in a rainstorm and boarding the wrong boat, Alice ends up in a casino, where she meets an impoverished young man named Thomas (Walter Rilla). The two spend the night together then promise to meet again in the forest the following day. Upon discovering that Thomas is a military deserter and chronic gambler, Alice pays all of his debts, extracting a promise from him that he'll quit gambling and return home to face up to his responsibilities. Alas, Thomas soon retreats to the gaming tables, whereupon their relationship is permanently and irrevocably severed. The Zweig novel was refilmed in 1953 as Affair in Monte Carlo, then again in 1968 under its original title. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide