Lucie Mannheim Movies

Based on the mystery novel by Marryam Modell (using the pseudonym Evelyn Piper), Bunny Lake Is Missing is a bizarre study in motherhood, kindness, enigma, and insanity. Ann Lake (Carol Lynley), an American freshly relocated to England, wishes to drop off her daughter Bunny for the girl's first day at a new nursery school. Oddly, Ann cannot locate any teachers or administrators, only the school's disgruntled cook (Lucie Mannheim). She is forced to leave Bunny unsupervised in the building's "first day" room, under the reassurance that the cook will be responsible for the child. When Ann returns in the afternoon, the cook has quit and Bunny Lake is missing. The school's remaining employees vehemently deny ever seeing the child, and Ann desperately calls her older brother Stephen (Keir Dullea) for help. Ann was raised fatherless and never married; she and Bunny have lived under Stephen's care and protection for the majority of both their lives. Stephen is enraged by the irresponsibility of the staff, but as Scotland Yard begins its investigation, it comes to light that he had never officially enrolled a child at the school. When Police Superintendent Newhouse (Laurence Olivier) begins to unravel the Lakes' lives and search their belongings, he discovers that not only did Ann once have an imaginary childhood daughter named "Bunny," but that the young Bunny seemed to have no tangible possessions at the Lake apartment. Bunny Lake (whom we have yet to see onscreen) may not be missing: she may not even be real. Terrified that Newhouse will now abandon the search for the girl, the hysterical Ann sets out to prove her sanity and, in the process, surprisingly uncovers the true psychosis behind the disappearance of her little Bunny Lake. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide

One of several films helmed by internationally renowned actor-director Fritz Kortner after his return to Germany in 1947, Die Stadt ist Voller Geheimnisse was released in English-speaking countries as Secrets of the City, City of Secrets and This Town is Full of Secrets. Adapted from a stage play by Curt J. Braun, the film takes place in a mid-sized German industrial town. When the local factory closes its doors, the townsfolk are thrown into confusion and dismay. The story concentrates on a dozen laid-off workers, relating their individual life stories and detailing their hopes, aspiration and fears. Though the ensemble acting is excellent, Die Stadt ist Voller Geheimnisse might have been more effective had it dealt with fewer characters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A Georges Simenon novel was the source for the Anglo-American The Man Who Watched Trains Go By. Claude Rains stars as Kees Popinga, chief clerk for a Dutch trading company. Scrupulously honest, Popinga goes off the deep end when he discovers that his employer has been cooking the books to support a mistress. Upon learning that his boss intends to abscond from Brussels to Paris with company funds, Popinga prevents this from happening by stealing the money himself. Through a series of wild coincidences, he winds up entangled with the very woman (Marta Toren) who'd caused his boss' downfall. The Man Who Watched Trains Go By was released in the U.S. as Paris Express. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Nachts aut den Strassen (Detour) stars German film favorite Hans Albers as a middle-aged truck driver named Heinrich. Coming across a traffic accident, Heinrich finds a small bagful of money. Figuring that no one will miss it, he pockets the cash and in so doing, condemns himself to a Living Death. The dramatic thrust of Nachts auf den Strassen is not so much that Crime Does Not Pay, but that no man can ever escape his most diligent nemesis -- himself. The film represented the first postwar effort from producer Erich Pommer, whose name hadn't been seen on screen since the 1940 Hollywood production They Knew What They Wanted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Yellow Canary was one of several wartime collaborations between British producer-director Herbert Wilcox and Hollywood's RKO Radio Pictures. The film stars Wilcox's wife Anna Neagle as pretty aristocrat Sally Maitland. Having alienated many of her friends with her prewar Nazi sympathies, Sally continues hobnobbing with the Third Reich once war has been declared. Actually, her pro-German activities are a sham; she's actually working hand and glove with the British government to smash an Axis spy ring in Canada. Along for the ride is British intelligence officer Jim Garrick (Richard Greene), who ultimately falls in love with Sally. There's a "mystery" angle to the plotline of The Yellow Canary, but it is largely ignored when the story takes a melodramatic turn in the last few reels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With a plot that twists like a plumber's snake, this is more a story of family secrets than anything else, in which the British commander of a West African garrison has to prevent the exposure of an ugly scandal involving his daughter. The story was based on a novel by Lewis Robinson entitled The General Goes Too Far. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

This classic British thriller was one of Alfred Hitchcock's first major international successes, and it introduced a number of the stylistic and thematic elements that became hallmarks of his later work. Richard Hannay (Robert Donat), a Canadian rancher on vacation in England, attends a music hall performance by "Mr. Memory" (Wylie Watson); in the midst of the show, shots ring out and Richard flees the theater. Moments later, a terrified woman (Lucie Mannheim) begs Richard to help her; back at his room, she tells him that she's a British spy whose life has been threatened by international agents waiting outside. Richard is certain that she's mad until she reappears at his door in the morning, near death with a knife in her back, a map in her hand, and muttering something about "39 Steps." Discovering that a group of thugs are indeed waiting outside, Richard slips away and takes the first train to the Scottish town on the dead woman's map. Richard learns that he's now wanted by the police for murder, and he must find a way to clear his name. He begins trying to do so with the help of a woman he meets en route, Pamela (Madeleine Carroll), who serves as his unwitting assistant, even after she tries to turn him in. The 39 Steps was later remade in 1959 and 1978 -- both without Hitchcock's participation. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by Helen Nimirosky, The Ball was filmed simultaneously in German and French-language versions. The French adaptation, Le Bal, served to introduce 14-year-old Danielle Darrieux to the picture-going public. Darrieux plays the daughter of a pair of delicatessen owners who suddenly come into a huge sum of money. Striving to buy their way into society, the couple utterly neglects their daughter, who naturally grows resentful. When they plan to throw a huge fancy-dress ball to curry favor with the glitterati, Darrieux gets even by destroying all of the invitations, and as a result no one shows up. This results in a near-breakup for the couple, but eventually they realize that their daughter has done them an enormous favor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Young Steyer (Eugen Klopfer) lives on a remote mountain farm with his parents and his daughter from a previous marriage, Aenne (Lucie Mannheim). Defying his elders, Steyer takes a second wife, Ludmilla (Aud Egede Nissen), not realizing that she is still lovers with the hunter Lauer (Wilhelm Dieterle). Hoping to stay closer to her lover, Ludmilla convinces the family to sell the farm and betroth Aenne to Lauer. They agree and sign a deed of sale for the farm. A snowstorm arises and Ludmilla takes shelter with Lauer in his house. Steyer finds them together and strikes Lauer, causing Ludmilla to faint. When the storm ends, Steyer's marriage is in ruins, and his parents leave the farm, unwilling to live there after it has been sold to a stranger. Note who plays the adulterous Lauer: Wilhelm Dieterle, who as William Dieterle would direct such Hollywood classics of the 1930s and '40s as The Hunchback of Notre Dame and All That Money Can Buy (aka The Devil and Daniel Webster). 23/65 ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide