Werner Peters Movies
German actor (and sometimes producer) Werner Peters was active in his own country's film industry from 1948 onward. He was something of a regular in the Dr. Mabuse melodramas of the 1960s, appearing prominently in The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse, Return of Dr. Mabuse, and The Invisible Dr. Mabuse. His English-language film credits include The Counterfeit Traitor (1962), 36 Hours (1965), and A Fine Madness (1966). Werner Peters was also active on European television, starring in the 1972 German series Novellen aus dem Wilden Western. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
In this tense espionage drama set in 1942, William Holden plays Eric Erickson, an American-born Swede who is put on the Allied blacklist for trading oil with the Nazis. Collins (Hugh Griffith), a British intelligence agent, offers to expunge Erickson's name from the blacklist after the war in return for information on the Nazis. Erickson agrees to the plan and proceeds to make it look as if he is pro-Nazi. This subterfuge causes him to be branded a traitor, and his wife, believing Eric to be a Nazi, walks out on him. Nevertheless, Eric continues with his deceit and makes the Germans think that he is planning to construct an oil refinery in Sweden to serve as a fuel supply for Germany. As a result he is allowed entrance to four German oil refinery, and he passes on the information to Collins. But Eric is being put under surveillance by the Nazis. They discover that Eric's lover, Marianne (Lilli Palmer) is working for the Allies. Suddenly both Marianne and Eric are arrested and thrown into Moabit Prison -- with dire consequences for both of them. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- William Holden, Lilli Palmer, (more)
- 1962
Though director Fritz Lang, who started the "Dr. Mabuse" ball rolling back in 1922, had washed his hands of the series in the early 1960s, the Mabuse films kept popping up throughout the decade. This one stars Lex Barker as a New York detective investigating the criminal activities of the supposedly deceased evil genius Mabuse (Wolfgang Preiss). The bad doctor wants to get his paws on "Operation X", a serum that makes people invisible. Karin Dor, playing the daughter of the facially disfigured inventor of Operation X, is kidnaped by Mabuse and becomes a human bargaining chip. The Invisible Dr. Mabuse (original German title: Die Unsichtbaren Krallen des Dr. Mabuse) was released in some markets as The Invisible Horror. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1961
The first of the "Dr. Mabuse" films not directed by Fritz Lang, the French/German/Italian Return of Dr. Mabuse stars Wolfgang Preiss in the title role. Supposedly dead and buried, Mabuse returns to his criminal activities, once more using hypnotized flunkeys to carry out his dirty work. While the doc's longtime foe Inspector Lohmann (Gert Froebe) probes and prods in his usual methodical fashion, hotshot American detective Lex Barker and dauntless girl reporter Daliah Lavi take the more direct approach to weed out Mabuse. This time around, the diabolical doctor wants to sabotage a nuclear reactor, then take over the world (he never does anything by halves). Return of Dr. Mabuse was released in Europe as Im Stahlnetz des Dr. Mabuse, Le Retour Du Docteur Mabuse and FBI Contro Dr. Mabuse; in some American cities, it was shipped out as Phantom Fiend. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Back in Germany for the first time since 1933, director Fritz Lang returned to the screen character that brought him enormous success in his pre-Hollywood years. The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse is not so much a sequel as an extension of Lang's early Dr. Mabuse (1922) and Testament of Dr. Mabuse. Set in 1960, the film begins with a series of unsolved murders in a Berlin hotel. The modus operandi of the murderer is the same as that of long-dead megalomaniac Dr. Mabuse. Police detective Gert Frobe and amateur sleuths Peter Van Eyck and Dawn Addams suspect that the killer is a man who believes that he is the reincarnation of Mabuse. Could the culprit be secretive insurance salesman Werner Peters, or blind seer Wolfgang Preiss? The title refers to the hotel's sophisticated TV surveillance system--dozens of roving cameras and TV monitors, inspired (claimed Lang) by a sophisticated bugging method used by the Nazis during World War II. The renewed popularity of the Dr. Mabuse character spawned five movie sequels, none of which were directed by Lang, who had washed his hands of the project. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gert Fröbe
- 1960
A man finds his peaceful existence thrown into turmoil when he recognizes the town's public prosecutor as the former Nazi who almost had him killed for stealing two chocolate bars in a concentration camp in this drama. Strangely the former inmate feels no hostility, nor holds a grudge against the man; instead he wants to put the whole nightmare behind him. Unfortunately, the attorney recognizes him too and is afraid that the man will expose him so he uses his power to try to get the man thrown out of town. As none of the other townsfolk will help him, the man steals some chocolate from a store so he will have to be brought to trial. Sure enough his theft causes the prosecutor to fly into a blind rage during the trial. He then leaves the courtroom and the man is at last free. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Martin Held, Walter Giller, (more)
- 1959
In this drama, following the retreat of the Germans from Stalingrad, a deserter is sentenced to die. A pastor speaks to the condemned man and learns that the man deserted to protect a Russian widow who was being threatened from both sides. Still, despite the pastor's best efforts, he cannot save the man from execution. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bernhard Wicki, Ulla Jacobsson, (more)
- 1959
In this war drama, three Nazi survivors are rescued after their battleship sank. Initially they are given heroes' accolades for their courage, but then it becomes apparent that these men actually jumped ship three hours before the boat sank. The men are tried and subsequently executed. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1958
Originally Das Madchen Rosemarie, this German "musical tragedy" has a lot in common with the Bertold Brecht/Kurt Weill theatrical pieces The Threepenny Opera and The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahoganny; in fact, the music heard throughout was taken from Weill's backlog. Austrian beauty contest winner Nadja Tiller plays the prostitute heroine, based on a real-life call girl whose predilection for blackmailing her high-profile customers ended with her mysterious death in 1957. The film was advertised as a "satire," with the satirical level exemplified by a chorus of capitalist businessmen rhythmically opening and closing their briefcases. The "frivolity" of Rosemary is punctuated by moments of chilling horror, including the film's bleak denouement. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nadja Tiller, Peter Van Eyck, (more)
- 1958
Writer/director Robert Siodmak based his German-filmed The Devil Strikes at Night on an actual case. Set during the last months of the Hitler regime, the film concerns a series of rapes and stranglings of young women. Gestapo officer Rossdorf (Hannes Messemer) and non-party member Axel Kersten (Claus Holm) investigate the trail of evidence. They discover that the criminal is Bruno Leudke, a mental defective (played by Mario Adorf). An open-and-shut case...except for the fact that Adorf is a loyal Nazi Party member! The dilemma now is to stem the crime spree without publicizing the embarrassing fact that "Aryan supremacy" is capable of yielding a monster like Adorf. Originally titled Nachts, Wenn der Teufel Kam, The Devil Strikes at Night has also been released as Nazi Terror at Night and Nights When the Devil Came. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mario Adorf, Claus Holm, (more)
Heinrich Mann's influential novel Der Untertan serves as the inspiration for this once-banned satirical comedy about a fearful young boy who uses the power of groveling to become of the Kaiser's most trusted lackeys. As a young boy, Diedrich Hesserling was afraid of everything. But the older Diedrich grew, the more he realized how quickly he could advance in life by licking the boots of his superiors and using everyone else as a stepping stone to success. And the technique serves Diedrich well, too, as he quickly advances from beer-guzzling cadet to tyrannical factory owner and, ultimately, right hand man to the Kaiser himself. The Murderers Are Among Us director Wolfgang Staudte helms a biting comedy that, while banned in Germany at the time of its original release, is now considered an important film classic. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Werner Peters, Paul Esser, (more)
This powerful, World War II drama frequently cited as one of the most important films in German history tells the heated tale of a family divided over supporting the Nazis or fighting for the equality of all races and creeds. Originally censored by the Soviets for its unwavering message of pacifism, Rotation finds father turning against son as the troubled family patriarch agrees to print up Nazi fliers in hopes of improving the family finances before being betrayed by his Hitler Youth son. When the bombs stop dropping and the bullets stop flying, father and son are forced to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives despite their troubled past. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Rating Systems
Blockbuster
BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster L.L.C.
2013 Blockbuster L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Corporation. 2013 Rovi Corporation.