Harald Maresch Movies
- 1960
In this psychological thriller an Austrian nobleman tries to stay sane in the face of Nazi torture during World War II. The story is told in flashback after the protagonist is seen at a chess tournament with a champion. He is thrown into jail after the Nazis overran Austria. When he is not being mentally tortured into revealing important secrets, the man is in solitary confinement. To stay sane, he conceals a chess book in his cell. The intricacies of the game help him concentrate. Unfortunately his valiant attempts fail and he breaks down. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Curd Jürgens, Claire Bloom, (more)
- 1960
The English title of this different type of wartime drama refers to a chess player's attempts to stay sane while Nazi interrogators mentally and psychologically torture him. Werner von Basil (Curt Jurgens) is an Austrian who has been helping the church by smuggling its art treasures out of the country to protect them from the Nazis. When the Nazis roll into Austria, he is on their hit list and after being spotted at a chess tournament, he is picked up and imprisoned. His brutal jailers subject him to long hours of interrogation meant to break down his hold on sanity and accept their own scenario as the truth. When not being brutalized in this manner, von Basil is kept in solitary confinement, with only a hidden chess book to keep his mind focused and logical. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Curd Jürgens, Claire Bloom, (more)
This German-Yugoslav coproduction first surfaced in 1960 under the title Ein Toter Hing Im Netz. Egyptian leading man Alex D'Arcy plays a talent agent who escorts seven gorgeous chorus girls to a club date in Singapore. En route, their plane crash-lands in the ocean. D'Arcy and the girls make their way to a seemingly idyllic island, where they come across a huge spider's web-and the dessicated body of a scientist. The giant spider sinks its teeth in D'Arcy, turning the poor fellow into a werewolf! Then the fun begins, depending upon your idea of fun. Released in America to general distinterest in 1962, It's Hot in Paradise fared no better a few years later, when it was recut and retitled Horrors of Spider Island. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alex D'Arcy
- 1956
The fact-based Viele Kamen Vorbei (Many Passed By) was inspired by a well-publicized series of sex killings along the highways of Germany. The principal character is an innocuous-looking psychopath who picks up young, female hitchhikers, sexually assaults his victims, then strangles them. Though handled in a methodical, documentary-style fashion, the more exploitational aspects of the story still rise to the surface. Harald Maresch is disturbingly convincing as the handsome, personable killer. Viele Kamen Vorbei was acquired for worldwide distribution by RKO Radio. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Harald Maresch, Francis Martin, (more)
- 1956
Owen Crump, the documentary filmmaker whose short subjects on the Korean conflict earned a great deal of critical praise, served as producer/director for the fictional anti-Red melodrama The River Changes. The scene is a peaceful village in a mythical European country. When the nearby river changes course, the villagers suddenly find themselves under communist rule. Unable to tolerate the despotism of their new "people's government" rulers, the villagers make plans to escape across the heavily-guarded river. A subplot involves the Romeo-Juliet romance between Eastern-Bloc border guard Kurus (Harald Marsech) and lovely village lass Mayram (Rosanna Rory). During the 1960s, The River Changes was a mainstay of American television; today, it has apparently completely disappeared. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rosanna Rory, Harald Maresch, (more)
- 1954
Two of Charlie Chaplin's talented offspring -- Charles Jr. and Sidney -- make a rare joint appearance in the German comedy Columbus Entdeckt Kraehwinkel (Columbus Discovers Kraehwinkel). The Chaplin boys play a couple of American ex-GIs who return to the tiny Teutonic village of Kraehwinkel after the war, there to be reunited with their fraulein sweethearts. They also intend to bring Kraehwinkel into the 20th century by "Americanizing" the place, despite fierce opposition from the tradition-bound locals. Their scheme works so well that one of the boys loses his girlfriend to the town's new pro-USA burgomeister. A film that has apparently long since disappeared, Columbus Entdeckt Kraehwinkel might prove an interesting rediscovery for Chaplin buffs. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eva Kerbler, Charles Chaplin, Jr., (more)
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