Joseph Meinrad Movies

The trilogy on Franz Josef, Emperor of Austria and his queen Empress Elizabeth by director Ernest Marischka has been cut and spliced to make this interesting though slow-paced, two and a half-hour compilation costume drama. The tale starts out with the courtship of the future queen, known as "Sissi" (Romy Schneider, who made her screen debut in the first of the three dramas), an attractive and lively young woman. After Franz Josef (Karl Boehm) falls in loves and captures Sissi's heart, they plan their wedding and head into the topic of the second feature in the series, the coronation of Franz Josef in Budapest. Finally, Sissi is shown as being instrumental in helping to keep the peace -- or obtain it -- among the belligerent nations of Europe. The original titles of each of the three separate dramas were Sissi, Sissi, die Junge Kaiserin, and Sissi, Schicksalsjahre Einer Kaiserin. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This musical drama is not quite up to the level of its 1956 prequel, Die Trapp Familie -- the inspiration for the immensely popular The Sound of Music. Now the famous singing family, having survived World War II by escaping Austria, are in the U.S. and trying to make a go of it. Their voices are excellent and their talent is obvious, yet the Baroness Maria von Trapp (Ruth Leuwerik) and the Baron (Hans Holt) cannot figure out why they are not more popular. They can barely get an audience together. After much trial and tribulation, it hits them that maybe the fault lies in the songs they choose to perform, so a rehaul of their program is in order. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The indefatigable Willi Forst was back in 1957 with Die Unentschuldigte Stunde (The Unexcused Hour). Following his usual pattern, Forst not only directed the picture, but also collaborated on the screenplay. Based on the popular stage play by Stefan Bekeffi and A. Stella, the story concerns a pretty young student (Erika Remberg) who marries her professor (Adrian Hoven). Our heroine continues pursuing her academic career, causing all sorts of complications for her husband. The film's title refers to the fact that student and teacher can never enjoy a moment alone -- unless it is an "unexcused absence." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This tuneful swashbuckler follows closely the plot of Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni" and chronicles the scandalous life and times of the amoral womanizer Don Giovanni, who after a life of hedonistic debauchery finds himself personally escorted to the gates of Hell by the slain father of one of the women he wronged. The songs are abbreviated from Mozart's opera and the costumes, production design and cinematography are exceptional. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Trouble rears its ugly head when the young emperor and empress of Austria arrive in Budapest for their coronation. ~ Rovi

This comical mix up features a baron who falls for a young woman on her way to visit her aunt in Vienna. When he call to ask for the girls hand in marriage, he calls the wrong aunt about the wrong niece. ~ Rovi

Eva (Susi Nicolette) is a Viennese shopgirl who inherits "Paradise." More specifically, she falls heir to a resort hotel that has definitely seen better days. Despite the opposition of a rival female hotelier (who, of course, holds all the aces legally and financially), Eva vows to renovate her hotel and make it a winning proposition. This extends to hiring "bathing beauties" (who are neither good-looking nor swim) as waitresses and engaging the services of a seedy jazz band. In true comic-opera fashion, goodness prevails. Eva Erbt das Paradies bears faint echoes of all those hokey prewar Viennese musicals, with a soupcon of postwar realism. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Though the title of this German historical drama translates as The Trial, it bears no relation to the Franz Kafka novel of the same name. Instead, the film is based on a true story which took place in 19th century Hungary. When a young peasant girl commits suicide, the superstitious villagers, stirred up by the odiously anti-Semitic Baron Onody (Heinz Moog), immediately assume that she was the victim of a Jewish sacrificial ritual. Despite an utter lack of evidence (or common sense), all the Jews in town are rounded up and subjected to a mass trial. Risking his reputation and possibly his life, idealistic lawyer Dr. Eövötes (Ewald Balser) defends the Jews, forcing all of Hungary to come face to face with its blind and stupid prejudices. The first postwar effort by director G.W. Pabst, Der Prozess has been interpreted by some as Pabst's act of attrition after his reluctant professional association with the Nazis during WWII. Whatever the case, the film, which earned Pabst a Best Director award at the 1948 Venice Film Festival, remains one of the director's finest works. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi