Hardy Kruger Movies
Tall, blonde, handsome German actor Hardy Kruger was 16 when he appeared in his first film, Junge Adler (1943). His early ascendency to stardom planted the seed of the widespread belief that Kruger had "favored" status with Goebbels as a member of the Hitler Youth. Whatever the case, his film career didn't really sprout wings until after the war, with the 1952 feature Illusion in Moll. Extremely popular in his own country, Kruger was also seen to good avantage in British films (The One That Got Away [1957] etc.) and rugged American adventure pictures (Hatari [1962], Flight of the Phoenix [1966]). During the '70s and '80s, Kruger directed a number of European television documentaries. Hardy Kruger is the father of actress Christiane Kruger. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1965
French novelist Henri-Francois Rey adapted his novel Les Pianos Mecaniques with director Juan Antonio Bardem for this French/Italian/Spanish co-production, set in Spain. Vincent (Hardy Kruger) is recovering from a nervous breakdown in a seaside village on the Costa Brava. He enters into an affair with nightclub owner Jenny (Melina Mercouri), but their relationship changes when she falls for alcoholic author Pascal Regnier (James Mason), who is struggling to resume his writing career. Vincent eventually returns home, leaving Jenny to stay on with Pascal and his young son Daniel (Didier Haudepin). Their love enables him to start writing again. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melina Mercouri, Hardy Kruger, (more)
Based on Elleston Trevor's novel, The Flight of the Phoenix opens with a well-staged plane crash in the middle of the Sahara desert. The pilot (James Stewart) and the navigator (Richard Attenborough) do their best to maintain order among the survivors, a group of oil men not well-suited for survival in the desert wastes. Some of those who appear to be the most resourceful reveal themselves to be inept or cowardly, while other less prepossessing types -- notably bespectacled Standish (Dan Duryea) -- demonstrate surprising inner reserves of strength. The ultimate fate of the survivors rests in the hands of Heinrich Dorfmann (Hardy Kruger), who uses the wreckage of the old plane to design a new one. The Flight of the Phoenix was dedicated to the memory of veteran stunt pilot Paul Mantz, who was killed while filming the take-off scene of the new plane. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, (more)
- 1962
Sundays and Cybele (original French title: Les Dimanches de Ville D'Avray) stars Hardy Kruger as a former bomber pilot. Emotionally shattered by a tragic wartime incident, Kruger goes into semi-seclusion in a small Parisian suburb. He is drawn out of his shell by 12-year-old orphan girl Patricia Gozzi. The nuns in charge of Patricia bless the relationship, assuming that Kruger is the girl's father. A warm, chaste friendship develops between the older man and the bright-eyed girl, culminating in their mutual decision to spend Christmas together in a nearby woods. Unfortunately, nurse Nicole Courcel, suspecting that Kruger is a pedophile, calls the police--a move that can only result in disaster for all concerned. Based on a novel by Bernard Eschasseriaux, the exquisitely photographed Sundays and Cybele won the 1962 Best Foreign Film Academy Award. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hardy Kruger, Nicole Courcel, (more)
- 1962
The friendship between two rival soldiers provides the basis of this comedy. The tale is set during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. The soldiers meet while swimming in the same place. They become friends. When they get out of the water, they accidentally trade uniforms. Together they go to a farmhouse. There they meet an old farmer and his pretty granddaughter. They engage in friendly rivalry for the girl, go for another swim and get their proper uniforms back. They then bid each other adieu and return to their troops. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Hatari! is Swahili for "danger"--and also the word for action, adventure and broad comedy in this two-fisted Howard Hawks effort. John Wayne stars as the head of a daring Tanganyka-based group which captures wild animals on behalf of the world's zoos. Hardy Kruger, Gérard Blain and Red Buttons are members of Wayne's men-only contingent, all of whom are reduced to jello when the curvaceous Elsa Martinelli enters the scene. In tried and true Howard Hawks fashion, Martinelli quickly becomes "one of the guys," though Wayne apparently can't say two words to her without sparking an argument. The second half of this amazingly long (159 minute) film concerns the care and maintenance of a baby elephant; the barely credible finale is devoted to a comic pachyderm stampede down an urban African street, ending literally at the foot of Martinelli's bed. The other scene worth mentioning involves comedy-relief Red Buttons' efforts to create a fireworks-powered animal trap. Not to be taken seriously for a minute, Hatari is attractively packaged and neatly tied up with a danceable-pranceable theme song by Henry Mancini. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Hardy Kruger, (more)
- 1960
In this WW II adventure, a band of French soldiers must escort a group of high-ranking German officers across the North African desert. Along the way a strange bond develops between the men, one of whom is Jewish. Just before they reach their destination, they are attacked by their own troops who do not recognize them. Only one of them survives. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lino Ventura, Hardy Kruger, (more)
- 1959
In a routine, unexceptional drama by Alfred Weidenmann, Robert (Hardy Krueger), Georg (Mario Adorf), and Willy (Horst Frank) are a trio of would-be safecrackers out to pull off a heist. The trio do not live in perfect equanimity, and eventually one of them lets jealousy get the best of him and he turns tail, betrays his cohorts, and talks to the police. The resultant round-up has its moments, with the leader Robert involved in a long chase by the cops. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mario Adorf, Horst Frank, (more)
- 1959
Award-winning director Joseph Losey guides this suspenseful mystery through its paces, beginning with an apparently guilty Dutch artist, Jan Van Rooyen (Hardy Kruger), caught in an upscale cottage where a woman lies murdered. Hard-nosed, irritable Inspector Morgan (Stanley Baker) is certain Van Rooyen is guilty and begins to grill him about his story. The artist finally admits that he and the dead woman, Jacqueline Cousteau (Micheline Presle), had met by accident and eventually began a love affair. She was married, so they kept their liaison a secret. Inspector Morgan then informs him that the woman was single but involved with a high-level diplomat. So what is going on? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hardy Kruger, Stanley Baker, (more)
- 1959
The Rest Is Silence, a German-made attempt to update Shakespeare, is one of the best and least self-conscious of this minor genre. As indicated by the title, the film's script is a "mufti" version of Hamlet, with young Hardy Kruger trying to prove that his uncle (Peter van Eyck) has killed his father. Direct references to the Shakespeare original abound, right down to the re-enactment of the crime for the benefit of the Uncle and the periodic appearances of the ghost of the hero's father. Interestingly, this 1960 film was released at the same time as a "straight" German version of Hamlet, made for television and starring Maximillian Schell. The original title of Rest Is Silence was Der Rest Ist Schweigen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hardy Kruger, Peter Van Eyck, (more)
- 1959
Effective in its message that war itself is idiotic, this slowly, slowly evolving, conventional comedy drama by director Helmut Kautner takes place during the Franco-Prussian hostilities of 1870. Jumping into its main point early on, the story has two soldiers, one French and one German, accidentally changing uniforms when one of them is swimming. Now that they are for all exterior appearances on the opposite side of the fence, they meet up at a farmhouse where a friendship starts between them. They share a few adventures as they help out some people who need it -- and then a potential disaster strikes when some Prussian forces intrude on their private hiatus from war. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Richard, Hardy Kruger, (more)
- 1958
Bachelor of Hearts stars Hardy Kruger as Wolf, a German exchange student attending Cambridge University. Initially arousing the distrust and disdain of his classmates (WWII was, after all, only thirteen years in the past), the affable Wolf slowly wins them over. He also finds romance in the lovely form of an English miss named Ann (Sylvia Sims)-but only after he has gotten himself in quite a pickle by lining up several dates simultaneously (hence the film's title). Filmed on location at Cambridge, Bachelor of Hearts affords ample screen time to the music of the university's highly regarded Jazz Club. The script was cowritten by Leslie Bricusse, later the composer/lyricist/librettist of such filmusicals as Dr. Dolittle and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hardy Kruger, Sylvia Syms, (more)
- 1958
In this drama, a doctor must clear his name after his mistress is murdered. Of course, the married M.D. is the prime suspect in the case as the woman's body was found at the site of their frequent trysts. The media soon sensationalizes the case and the police decide that the doctor will take the fall, regardless of his innocence. Another murder occurs. As a result the doctor is cleared of wrong doing. Unfortunately he must now live within a community that spurns him, and a depressed wife who recently tried to kill herself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Der Fuchs von Paris (The Fox of Paris) is set in Paris, not long after the Allied invasion of the continent in 1944. Hardy Kruger stars as Captain Eustenwerth, a German officer who turns his back on the losing Nazi cause and joins the Resistance. In a similar vein, General Quade (Martin Held) struggles to save the lives of the men he has left by tacitly defying orders from the German High Command. Through a series of unfortunate coincidences and misunderstandings, both of these idealistic individuals find themselves on opposite sides of the fence, culminating in impending execution for Eustenwerth. Director Paul May had helmed a similar story, Duel with Death, in 1947. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marianne Koch, Hardy Kruger, (more)
The title character in this fact-based POW drama is Franz von Werra, played by Hardy Kruger. Shot down early in the war, Luftwaffe pilot von Werra is incarcerated in an English prison camp. He refuses to submit to camp routine, insisting that he's on the brink of escaping. After two failed attempts, von Werra is transferred to a camp in Montreal. If you want to know what happens next, take a squint at the title. If you want to know how he does it and why he gets away with it, catch the film. One That Got Away was based on a novel by Kendal Burt and James Leasor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hardy Kruger, Colin Gordon, (more)
In this variation of the Tarzan legend, a beautiful white woman is found living with a tribe in the jungles of Africa. Thought to be the granddaughter of a rich Englishman, she is brought back to London. However, she finds that she is in as much danger in the city as she would be in the jungle. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marion Michael
- 1954
In this German drama, a mediocre actress is quite happy to have a steady stream of bit movie roles. Unfortunately, an egocentric director sees her and vows to make her a star whether she wants to be one or not. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1953
Ich und Du (I and You) is totally reliant upon the charms of its stars. Hardy Krueger (later Kruger) and Liselotte (later Lilo) Pulver star as young marrieds Peter and Brigette. After a silly spat, the couple divorces, each refusing to admit that he/she was wrong. The film is predicated upon the couple's realization that they could patch things up at any moment, but who feel obligated to go through the motions of "typical" divorced folks. Lucie Mannheim, a German actress best known to American viewers as the opening-reel murder victim in Hitchcock's 39 Steps, plays a family friend who tries to smooth out the domestic wrinkles in the story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liselotte Pulver
- 1953
This is the story of a chaste young TV-commercial actress (Maggie McNamara) who is romanced by a playboy architect (William Holden). Despite all sorts of temptations, the girl refuses the architect's invitation to become his mistress, holding out for marriage or nothing. Meanwhile, middle-aged rake David Niven tries to move in on the girl himself, with an equal lack of success. So why was this harmless little comedy so controversial? It seems that director Otto Preminger decided to film the play as written, retaining such words as "virgin," "seduce," and "mistress" in the script. The antediluvian Motion Picture Production Code refused to approve the film so long as those naughty words remained in the dialogue; thus, Preminger released the picture minus the Code's seal of approval. Rather than hurt the film's chances at the box office, Preminger's bold move resulted in a major financial success -- not to mention the beginning of the end for the ancient, wheezy Production Code. However, in the meantime, troubles piled up; the Jersey City Municipal Court -- at the hands of Secaucus' Justice George King -- fined Alfred Manfredonia, manager of the Stanley Theatre, 100 dollars for screening the film (declaring him guilty of violating a city ordinance), and a ban was imposed on the picture by the Maryland State Board of Motion Picture Censors. While The New York Times' Bosley Crowther dismissed the accusations of prurience, he blithely observed, "The Moon Is Blue is not outstanding, either as a romance or as a film...at times, it gets awfully tedious...Its charm...will depend on how much one delights in its choice of words." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Holden, David Niven, (more)
