Fritz Kortner Movies

In Hands of a Stranger, concert pianist James Stapleton loses his hands in a traffic accident. Doctor Paul Lukather grafts on a new pair of hands, which were "donated" by a murder victim. Distressed that his new extremities are radically different from his old ones, Stapleton suffers a severe emotional breakdown. He subsequently causes the deaths of several people, both directly and indirectly; the most chilling moment is the death of young Barry Gordon, the son of the now-blinded cab driver whom Stapleton holds responsible for his accident. This was an unofficial screen version (the fourth up through that time) of the novel Hands of Orlac; previous versions were made in 1924 (as Orlacs Hände), 1935 (as Mad Love) and 1960 (as Les Mains d'Orlac). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The positive public response to such productions as Crossfire and Gentleman's Agreement led to a mini-cycle of postwar anti-prejudice films. One of these was The Vicious Circle, based on a true incident which had previously been dramatized in G. W. Pabst's The Trial. In the late-19th century, an anti-Semitic Hungarian baron (Reinhold Schunzel) foments a pogrom against his country's Jews when a 14-year-old servant girl commits suicide. Falsely accused of subjecting the girl to a ritualistic murder, five Jewish farmers are put on trial for murder. Defying the slings and arrows of public condemnation, defense attorney Karl Nemensch (Conrad Nagel) intends to prove the farmers' innocence -- and to expose anti-Semitism for the poisonous scourge that it truly is. The Vicious Circle was based on The Burning Bush, a play by Herald and Geza Herczeg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Raymond Chandler's famed detective Philip Marlowe (George Montgomery) is hired by a rich, eccentric widow, Mrs. Murdock (Florence Bates) to find and return a stolen gold coin. Marlowe quickly finds himself involved an a case which includes robbery, blackmail and murder. Just as Marlowe begins to solve the mystery, he is savagely beaten by Vannier (Fritz Kortner). Marlowe finally puts all the pieces of the puzzle together when he discovers a blackmail scheme involving Murdock's mentally-ill secretary, Merle Davis (Nancy Guild) which leads him to suspect his employer. The Brasher Doubloon, adapted from Chandler's novel, The High Window, and beautifully photographed by Lloyd Ahern captures a proper film noir sensibility with its moody, low-key images and dense, dark background shots, while failing to capture the complexity of the novel. Director John Brahm, who also directed the excellent films The Lodger and Hangover Square, is disappointing, failing to create the depth of characterization and plot which he showed in these films. The Brasher Doubloon remains bland, with undistinguished acting by the entire cast. The only exception is Fritz Kortner, a veteran character actor molded in the expressionist cinema of pre-war Berlin, who creates the grotesque character of Vannier, bringing a sense of evil vitality to an otherwise bland production. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Alexandre Dumas' famous fictional count gets revenge in this lively sequel to the original story. The Monte Cristo count begins by returning to Paris under an assumed name. There he helps the beleaguered poor who most suffered from the early 19th-century revolution. The cloaked count soon finds himself pursued by a cruel policeman. The count's brave wife throws the cop off her husband's scent by dressing up as the masked avenger herself and by proving that she too is most competent with a sword. Swashbuckling mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Though it takes several liberties with facts and motivations, The Hitler Gang is a reasonably absorbing chronicle of Hitler's rise to power. An obscure German corporal in WW1, Adolf Hitler (played by Robert Watson, better known for his comic portrayals of Der Fuhrer), embittered by the Versailles treaty, joins a minor-league politcal party called the National Socialists. With the help of some clever "spin doctors" like Joseph Goebbels (Martin Kosleck) and Heinrich Himmler (Luis van Rooten), Hitler takes the Nazis over from the ineffectual Captain Roehm (Roman Bohnen). Arrested for such political imbroglios as the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch, Hitler is sentenced to a short prison term, during which he writes his manifesto "Mein Kampf." Quickly enlisting the support of other disenfranchised losers, Hitler becomes a force to conjure with, finally winning political respectability when a senile General Von Hindenburg (Sig Ruman) appoints him to a choice political post. With the death of Hindenburg in 1933, Hitler is able to completely dominate the German government, whereupon he immediately embarks upon indoctrinating Germany's youth in the "glories" of Nazism, slaughtering his political enemies, and fomenting the second World War. Though the film was made in 1944, it ends on a note of hope, assuring the audience that Hitler and his minions could not long endure the Allied counterrattack (the filmmakers were far less certain of this than they would be some six months later). Understandably propagandistic, The Hitler Gang cannot be termed 100 percent accurate: For example, Hitler's persecution of the Jews is depicted as a cynical political tactic rather than the end result of deep-set European anti-semitism, while the death of his niece Geli Raubal (Pobly Dur) is misrepresented as a murder rather than a suicide. But considering the lies that were being spewed forth by the Nazis on a daily basis, the few factual gaffes in The Hitler Gang are eminently forgivable. The film's only real drawback is Robert Watson's two-dimensional portrayal of the title character, though even such accomplished actors as Alec Guinness and Derek Jacobi have found Hitler a virtually unplayable part. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though technically a Republic "B", the 58-minute The Purple V has glossy production values commensurate to a top-of-the-bill A picture. German expatriate Fritz Kortner plays the largest role, as an anti-Nazi schoolmaster who helps a downed American flyer (John Archer) reached Allied lines with vital war information. As usual, the Nazis are incredibly stupid and lead-footed, enabling the flyer to accomplish his mission. Featured in the cast is Peter Lawford in one of his first major roles of the 1940s (contrary to popular belief, Lawford was not "discovered" in this film, having made his American screen debut in 1938's Lord Jeff). The only drawback to the film is the lackluster performance by leading lady Mary McLeod. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When his Hollywood starring career dried up in the mid-1930s, matinee idol Charles Farrell headed to England, where he played newspaper reporter Brian Gaunt in the fast-paced meller Midnight Menace. The storyline acknowledges the fact that Television was firmly established in England in 1937, with the BBC beaming out programs on a regular schedule. On this occasion, however, a TV device is being used for nefarious purposes by a gang of foreign munitions manufacturers, operating out of a stationery shop in Soho. Head villain Peters (Fritz Kortner) intends to destroy a London disarmament conference in a midnight air raid, all the while posing as the head of a pacifistic organization. The fearless Brian Gaunt gets wind of this scheme and races against time to avert disaster. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Crouching Beast was based on Clubfoot, an espionage novel by Valentine Williams. Set in 1915 Constantinople, the story is motivated by the sinister activities of Turkish secret agent Ahmed Bey (Fritz Kortner), better known as Clubfoot. Wynne Gibson stars as American newspaperwoman Gail Dunbar, who becomes inadvertently involved in Clubfoot's skullduggery, and at one point is subjected to a torturous interrogation by the villain. She escapes in time to aid a British agent in stealing plans of the Dardanelles fortifications. Originally released at 79 minutes, The Crouching Beast was shown of a reel's worth of footage before its American release through RKO Radio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Evensong is based on the teary novel by Beverly Nichols, which had previously spawned a lachrymose (and enormously successful) stage play (Kismet) by Nichols and Edward Knoblock. The stunning Evelyn Laye stars as Irela, an Irish prima donna who rises to success sans a lover to share it with. Her domineering manager Kober (Fritz Kortner) has spent his entire career forbidding Irela to seek out romance, and as a result she loses the one true love of her life, handsome Archduke Theodore (Carl Esmond). The drama reaches an emotional high tide when the elderly, washed-up Irela sits alone in her dingy dressing room, with only the scratchy recordings of her old songs to keep her company. Evelyn Laye made only a handful of film appearances, of which Evensong was arguably her finest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This pre-WW II German costume drama chronicles the French Revolution with a particular focus upon Danton, Robespierre, and Marat. They are seen preparing for and executing the revolution. The film also presents an interesting, if not historically inaccurate, portrayal of Louis XVI. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Leading German actor Fritz Kortner made his film directorial debut with Der Brave Suender (The Good Sinner). In his first talking picture, Max Pallenberg is cast as a cashier who through no fault of his own finds that there's a deficit in his records. Suspecting that there's an embezzler involved, Pallenberg traces the lost money to his superior, Heinz Ruhmann. This leads to a series of misunderstandings and deceptions which have a startling effect on both Pallenberg and Ruhmann. The film was based on the best-selling novel Die Defraudanten. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide