Lilli Palmer Movies

Lilli Palmer stars in the German Teufel in Seide (Devil in Silk). Lilli plays Melanie, the new wife of famed concert pianist Thomas Ritter (Curd Juergens--later known as Curt Jurgens). It isn't long before Ritter discovers that his wife is jealous to the point of insanity. When Melanie finds Ritter in the arms of another, she kills herself, carefully arranging the evidence to make it seem as though her husband killed her. Based on a novel by Gina Kaus, Teufel in Seide was released in the US with English subtitles, though Lilli Palmer certainly could have dubbed her dialogue into English had she been asked to do so. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jan de Hartog's two-person stage play The Fourposter has always seemed to attract married acting couples, a tradition established by the play's first Broadway stars Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy. The film version featured Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer, who (you guessed it) were man and wife at the time. The story traces the history of a marriage from the wedding night in 1890 to the death of the wife in the 1930s; all crucial scenes are acted out in the couple's boudoir, near the fourposter bed they'd received as a wedding present. The passing years, and the triumphs and tragedies of the couple, are wittily represented by transitional animation sequences produced by the UPA cartoon studios. A musical version of The Fourposter titled I Do I Do opened on Broadway in 1966, breaking precedent by starring Mary Martin and Robert Preston, who were happily married but not to each other. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rex Harrison's extramarital relationship with Patricia Wayne comes to an end when Wayne is murdered. All evidence points to Harrison; we know that he's innocent, but the detectives don't have this advantage. With his faithful wife Lilli Palmer at his side, Harrison goes on trial for his life. Anthony Dawson, the genuine murderer, intends to confess after Harrison is hanged. Thanks to a governmental quirk, Dawson's letter reaches the authorities just a few steps ahead of the hangman. Anthony Bushell, co-director of Long Dark Hall, is featured as Harrison's defense attorney. The film was co-scripted by Hollywood's Nunnally Johnson and based on a novel by Edgar Lustgarden. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Another interesting effort from independent Enterprise Productions, No Minor Vices stars recent French import Louis Jourdan. Into the staid, conservative lives of pediatrician Perry Ashwell (Dana Andrews) and his wife April (Lilli Palmer) comes the flamboyantly eccentric Greenwich Village artist Otavio Quaglini (Jourdan). Insisting upon sketching the hidden "inner selves" of the Ashwells, Quaglini causes nothing but disharmony and dissension between Perry and April. Conversely, the artist's visit has a positive effect on Ashwell's lovelorn assistants Miss Darlington (Jane Wyatt) and Dr. Sturdivant (Norman Lloyd). No Minor Vices doesn't always work, but it's fun to watch Louis Jourdan plug his way through a role that Burgess Meredith or Hans Conried could have played blindfolded. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This riveting 1947 drama, regarded by many as the greatest boxing movie of all time, centers on a former pugilist who looks back on his life in and out of the ring and realizes that self-respect is a more important prize than winning. John Garfield is Charlie Davis, a former boxing champion who began fighting in order to save himself and his mother from poverty after his father was killed in a mob-related bombing. William Conrad plays Quinn, a veteran boxer-turned-trainer who discovers that Davis has the potential to be a professional fighter. Eager to take on all contenders, Davis eventually defeats the world champion, but winning has cost him more than he bargained for. He falls in with the mob and takes to a life of easy women and plentiful booze, winning easy bouts with second-rate opponents. In the end, Davis realizes the error of his ways -- but is it too late? With all the odds against him, and knowing that the fight has already been fixed, Davis is forced to make the choice between what's expected of him and what he expects of himself. The fight sequences were filmed on roller skates with a hand-held camera, adding a realism that strengthens the film's verisimilitude. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by Stefan Zweig, this is the story of a baroness who believes she has found love with an officer but discovers that his marriage proposal was not made for love but because of her physical handicap and his pity for her. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

English without Tears is a gentle satire of the temporary relaxation of class barriers in wartime England. Michael Wilding portrays the faithful family butler to a fabulously wealthy household. Each member of the family greets the news of upcoming world conflict with a different reaction, the most altruistic of which is that of the daughter (Penelope Dudley Ward), who joins the home service. When the butler rises to the army rank of lieutenant, the daughter sees him in a whole new light and falls in love with her onetime employee. There's little in this frivolous film that hasn't been done elsewhere, except perhaps for the opening-scene romantic complications in Geneva, which set the stage for the film's finale. English without Tears was released in the US in 1948 as Her Man Gilbey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Robert Ardrey's theatrical semi-fantasy Thunder Rock was transformed in 1944 into one of the most successful British films of the year. Michael Redgrave stars as a disillusioned war correspondent, David Charleston, who shuts himself away from society by taking up residence in a Lake Michigan lighthouse. During one particularly stormy evening, Charleston's solitude is invaded by several strangers, all dressed in 19th century costume. It develops that these strangers are the ghosts of immigrants whose ship went down some 100 years earlier. Through their optimistic example, Charleston renews his own spirits and gives the world a second chance. When Thunder Rock threatens to get too ethereal for its own good, it is brought back to earth by the sardonic presence of James Mason, playing a live visitor to the lighthouse who spars both verbally and physically with the self-pitying Charleston. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

There's no folly like a Blind Folly, as scripters H.F. Maltby and John Hunter strive to prove in this British comedy. Gus McNaughton plays the head of a criminal gang who heads to the spot where they had long before hidden their stolen loot. Alas, the cache of cash is now sequestered somewhere in a roadhouse that has been built on the site of the hiding place. Now the criminals are forced to steal what they've already stolen--and to keep Clifford Mollison, the inn's current owner, in the dark. Lilli Palmer provides decoration as Mollison's girlfriend. Blind Folly was distributed in the United Kingdom by RKO British. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Crackerjack tells the story of Jack Drake (Tom Walls), who is seemingly an ordinary, foppish member of England's idle rich, a true ne'er-do-well. He has a secret, however (actually, several) -- the first being a heart of gold and a social conscience, which motivate him to help the less fortunate; the second is an array of special, stealthy skills that permit him to be a master thief, so masterful that he can even steal from other thieves without their knowledge. His exploits, attributed to a master thief known as "Crackerjack," are even chronicled in an anonymously authored bestseller entitled Crackerjack (which even the Scotland Yard superintendent is reading). Its royalties are all directed to a charity. As he explains to his valet/social secretary, Burdge (Charles Heslop -- the only person who knows his secret), he never steals from anyone who would actually miss the money in any material way, and he does it because they're "too mean to give it away themselves." He is also in love with the Baroness Von Haltz (Lilli Palmer) and the two interests converge at a costume party thrown by Mrs. Humbold (Muriel George) -- he plans to court the baroness and steal the Humbold pearls. But all plans of romance are swept aside when the quartet of American entertainers at the party turn out to be armed robbers who kill one of the guests. Now a cat-and-mouse game ensues: Crackerjack on the one side trying to steer Scotland Yard to the American gang, the gang trying to get a line on Crackerjack to get the Humboldt pearls, and Scotland Yard caught between them, and on top of that, baroness is in jeopardy. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

In this French crime comedy, the headmaster of a school located near a prison is inadvertently involved in stealing the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. The trouble begins with one of his students who is, unbeknownst to the headmaster, the son of a famous art thief. The father has been planning the robbery for a long time and this is why the boy is enrolled in the school. When the father innocently asks the headmaster if he can stay for a while at the school, the headmaster is happy to oblige him and even ends up helping him pull off the heist. Later, the school boys rally together to help their poor teacher return the painting. In the end the schoolmaster is considered a national hero. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide