Grete Mosheim Movies
- 1978
Moritz Stuckmann (Micheal Kebschultt) is a strange young man, very much a loner, who confides his troubles to his pet rat and practices the saxophone in the basement. In this film, he has a number of gruesome fantasies about his teacher and the neighbor's cat. His father is preoccupied with having gone bankrupt, his mother can't be bothered to pay any attention to him, and his grandmother in the nursing home is asking for some extra sleeping pills so that she can commit suicide. Little wonder then, that he feels a bit isolated. Music gives him an avenue to the outside world; a band which appreciates his saxophone-playing asks him to join it. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kyra Mladeck
- 1976
In this film, outspokenly homosexual filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim has documented his encounters with friends in the New York "underground" arts movement, the better-known of whom are William Burroughs (who says nothing for the camera), Andy Warhol (seen in the distance) and Fernando Arrabal (who is interviewed in Spanish). The emigrants named in the title are notable Germans who left the country before World War II, such as Greta Keller and Grete Mosheim. Reviewers at the time of the film's release considered it to have been a sort of paid vacation for the filmmaker rather than a serious effort. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- William S. Burroughs
- 1940
In this German drama, a French military officer finds himself discriminated against during a trial because he is Jewish. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
In this romance, a poor girl spends her spare time window shopping for pricey goods. On a lark, she goes into an auto dealership to price a Rolls Royce. She feigns outrage when she learns the car has already been sold. She petulantly demands that she be sold that particular car. Her feisty actions are observed by a wealthy playboy who immediately falls in love with her. Much to the shock of her parents, who own a small antique shop, a brand new Rolls is delivered right to the front of their shop. Her mother goes to the dealer and demands to know who bought the vehicle for him. The dealer tells her that her daughter "won" it. Of course, it was the playboy who bought her the car on the sly. When at last they meet, the two fall in love. They encounter difficulty when the playboy discovers that she works at his father's musical instrument factory. He must conceal his identity to avoid scandal, but it cannot be avoided. The truth comes out and it is a while before the couple can get back together. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Mills, Mark Lester, (more)
- 1932
This German flag-waver recounts the life and career of famed 19th-century Prussian military leader General Yorck. Werner Krauss, who 13 years earlier had starred in Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, plays the title role. The film's dramatic high-water mark is the moment in 1812 that Yorck refuses to obey his wrong-minded King, whereupon he is branded a rebel. Within a few years, the German film industry would be nationalized by the Nazi party, whereupon any film in which a courageous general dared to stand up to his country's leader would be rejected out of hand. Ironically, by that time the fervently patriotic Werner Krauss would be designated an "Actor of the State." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Werner Krauss, Grete Mosheim, (more)
- 1927
Primanerliebe was the first of director Robert Land's films to gain a release in the United States. The title translates as Student's Love, which also neatly sums up the plotline. Hero Rolf is a boarding-school student who falls in love with Ellen, the headmaster's daughter. The school is a particularly strict and severe one, with at least one student driven to suicide by the tyranny of the teachers. Rolf gets himself in dutch with the authorities by penning a fervent anti-war essay. Expelled from school, Rolf is averse to returning home, knowing full well that his sadistic uncle will punish him mercilessly. Instead, he follows the lead of his classmate by contemplating suicide, pausing long enough to bid farewell to Ellen. Upon calling on the girl, he finds that she is being manhandled by a rapacious opera singer. Drawing the gun he'd intended to use on himself, Rolf shoots the would-be rapist, whereupon the headmaster forgives the boy for his inflammatory essay and allows him to return to school -- with the implication that Rolf is welcome to call upon Ellen any time he likes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fritz Kortner, Grete Mosheim, (more)
Filmed in 1924 by the brilliant Danish director Carl Theodore Dreyer, the German drama Michael (Mikael) was released in the U.S. three years later under the more lurid title Chained. It was subsequently reissued as The Story of the Third Sex, an unsubtle allusion to the plotline's homosexual subtext. Fellow director Benjamin Christensen stars as "The Master," a world-renowned painter. Celebrated for his portrait of a "beautiful" young male art student named Mikael (played by a slim, 22-year-old Walter Slezak), the Master graciously accepts the plaudits of his acolytes. Inwardly, however, he is tormented by his strong, passionate feelings for Mikael. Ironically, both men have a falling out over the affections of a woman (Nora Gregor) -- and when The Master dies, Mikael is accused of his murder. It turns out that the old artist actually died of natural causes, but Mikael is condemned in the court of public opinion for turning his back on The Master during his last days on Earth. Astonishingly, Chained was dismissed as "junk" by the reviewer for the trade magazine Variety, who felt that the film would have been better if Michael had murdered The Master in actuality rather than symbolically. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Benjamin Christensen, Walter Slezak, (more)
