Helmut Berger Movies
Best known for his portrayal of anguished souls, sinister villains, and twisted Nazis, Teutonic actor Helmut Berger has earned international acclaim. Born Helmut Steinberger in Salzburg, Austria, but raised in Stuttgart, Germany, Berger learned to act at the University of Perugia in Italy and started out in English and French television commercials. He first worked in movies as an extra until he was discovered by Italian director Luchino Visconti and given the lead in his controversial, powerhouse drama The Damned (1969). From there he found steady employment in European and occasionally American films. In the U.S., Berger spent a season on television nighttime soap Dynasty. Berger also has a busy television career and occasionally directs both TV shows and feature films. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1966
This Dino De Laurentiis production from 1965 is actually an anthology of five different directors' work, each telling their own stories about witches. The five stories are "The Witch Burned Alive," "Civic Sense," "The Earth As Seen From The Moon," "The Girl From Sicily," and "A Night Like Any Other." Silvia Mangano appears in all five, with Clint Eastwood starring in the last featured vignette. Like many gang-directed projects, this film is also plagued by a lack of continuity and by the pretentiousness of the individual directors. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvana Mangano, Annie Girardot, (more)
- 1968
A group of spoiled rich kids look for kicks before they assume the responsibilities of adulthood and their family legacies. They divert a million dollars bound for a Swiss bank to some less-fortunate individuals. Fast cars, loveless sex, Russian roulette and general rebelliousness drive the teens to the brink of disaster. They look for anything to rebel against and take advantage of every opportunity to show up their well-meaning but vapid parental figures. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helmut Berger, Vanni de Maigret, (more)
- 1969
This comedic political satire lampoons Russian communist leader Josef Stalin and ridicules the brief period of communism in Italy following World War II. The leader has sex on a bedspread with his own likeness. A hammer and sickle, along with a swastika, is prominently displayed on the posterior of his lovely mistress. The film continues with a series of sight gags, puns and short sketches with some brief interludes of female nudity. The finale finds Stalin's coffin being removed from the mausoleum in Red Square in Moscow and Italy finding another government. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helmut Berger
In 1969, The Damned (La caduta degli dei) was director Luchino Visconti's most controversial film to date. Set in the 1930s, the film zeroes in on a Krupp-like family of German munition manufacturers. The Essenbeck clan is headed by the Baron (Rene Kolldehoff), but daughter Sophie (Ingrid Thulin) wants her Nazi boyfriend to take over the business. Soon the Baron is dead and Bruckman (Dirk Bogarde) becomes company president. Son Martin (Helmut Berger) is the dope-addicted teenager who sleeps with his mother and drags her into her own dependence on drugs. Ever in pursuit of more millions to add to their already bulging coffers, the family plays along with the Nazis, descending into corruption, betrayal and murder all along the way. The film was originally released in the U.S. with an X rating. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dirk Bogarde, Ingrid Thulin, (more)
- 1970
- R
- Add The Garden of the Finzi-Continis to QueueAdd The Garden of the Finzi-Continis to top of Queue
Vittorio De Sica directs the lyrical war drama Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini (The Garden of the Finzi-Continis), based on a book by Giorgio Bassani. In Ferrara, Italy, at the beginning of WWII, anti-Semitism is spreading. Mussolini has passed several laws that forbid Jews from going to public schools, joining the army, or marrying non-Jews. While many middle-class Jewish families flee the country, the Finzi-Continis believe it's safe inside their sprawling estate. As a wealthy, aristocratic Jewish family, they think their luxurious garden walls will protect them from fascism. Micol Finzi Contini (Dominique Sanda) and her brother (Helmut Berger) invite their Jewish friends to join them in the estate for parties, tennis, and games while the war ravages on. Middle-class Jew Giorgio (Lino Capolicchio) attends the parties with his friend Malnate (Fabio Testi). Giorgio and Micol are childhood sweethearts, but she begins to reject him in favor of Malnate. She also refuses to accept that there's a war going on. Eventually they can pretend no longer, and the war closes in on them. The Garden of the Finzi-Continis won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1971. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dominique Sanda, Lino Capolicchio, (more)
- 1970
- R
The classic story of evil by Oscar Wilde is a plodding, campy, trashy production that gives the viewer moments of unintentional laughter. Dorian Gray (Helmut Berger) is the vain young Englishman who sells his soul to the devil to remain eternally youthful in appearance. His portrait is being painted by Basil (Richard Todd), much to the delight of his first true love Sybil (Marie Liljedahl). Lord Henry Wolton (Herbert Lom )is Dorian's partner in collaborating with evil. Gray remains the same but the picture reflects his image to show the ravages of old age and time. The drama, mystery and psychology of the original book is absent from this poorly made remake done 25 years earlier. Herbert Lom goves the only noteworthy performance of the film. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helmut Berger, Richard Todd, (more)
- 1971
Helmut Berger is Alain, a real sicko, who may be so because his mother was a prostitute. He can only make love with a "decent" woman when she is drugged senseless, though he can manage one-time encounters with prostitutes and also gladly suffers the abuse of his boyfriends. He seems to have deliberately driven his first wife to suicide, and now he has married Nathalie (Virna Lisi). A police inspector (Charles Aznavour) has gotten wind of these doings, and attempts to intervene before a second tragedy can occur, but his superiors will not allow him to. This is a French language film, with no dubbing or subtitles. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Luchino Visconti (Count don Luchino Visconti di Modrone) was a film director, true, but he was also a nobleman and a grand patron of traditional European culture: opera, art, music, crafts and literature. These interests enliven many of his films, but few have been so inspired as the four-hour epic, Ludwig, about the castle-building "mad king" of Bavaria. This long film, made very near the end of Visconti's life, suffers greatly when shortened, as every moment is essential to the story. There are at least four different versions of the film (from just under three hours to over four hours in length); the uncut four-hour version is the most coherent, even though many might find it rather long. The disintegration of aristocratic individuals is a continuing theme of Visconti's, though Ludwig's is the most thorough decay he filmed. The last ruling king of Bavaria (1845-1886) is noted for many things besides his eccentricities: he sold Bavaria to Germany, ending the rule of the Bavarian monarchy; he built amazing castles all over his country (with the proceeds from the sale); and he was Richard Wagner's main sponsor. He was also a notorious recluse, conducting a lifelong platonic love affair with Empress Elizabeth of Austria, and finally succumbing to his adoration of handsome men in a series of outrageous affairs and orgies. His excesses eventually led to his being declared mentally incompetent and being held prisoner in his own castle. The film depicts this incredible life from his coronation at age 19 to his (unproved) assassination well over 20 years later. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helmut Berger, Romy Schneider, (more)
- 1973
A woman undergoes a surgeon's scalpel in a last-ditch attempt to win back her husband in this drama. Barbara Sawyer (Elizabeth Taylor) has been married to her husband, Mark (Henry Fonda), for 30 years, and she's afraid the spark has gone out of their relationship. Barbara is convinced the problem is her appearance -- the years have taken a heavy toll on her, and her haggard, saggy appearance is a far cry from the beauty she possessed in her youth. Determined to save her marriage, Barbara checks into a clinic in Switzerland for extensive plastic surgery, and arranges to meet Mark at a nearby ski lodge once she's recovered. After having her face, breasts, and bottom lifted, Barbara leaves the hospital looking as beautiful as Elizabeth Taylor, and as she waits for Mark to arrive in Switzerland, she allows herself to be seduced by Erich (Helmut Berger), a handsome young playboy, to prove to herself she has regained her allure. However, her new face and figure isn't enough to save her marriage when Mark informs her he's decided to leave her for another woman. Ash Wednesday features detailed footage of actual plastic surgical procedures, some of which were far too bloody for the comfort of most audiences. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Taylor, Henry Fonda, (more)
- 1973
The temptation to roll one of his wealthier customers is too great for casino croupier Kosta (Helmut Berger) to resist. It's too bad the man dies. Luckily for him, the only witness to his crime, Lara (Françoise Fabian), thinks he's too pretty to turn over to the police; she wants him for her bed. Still, the local police inspector has been keeping a sharp eye on him. Things don't turn out quite the way anyone expects in this sly French crime drama. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helmut Berger, Françoise Fabian, (more)
- 1974
An introverted American professor (Burt Lancaster) has retired to an Italian house, but finds his life interrupted when a decadent family moves upstairs. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Silvana Mangano, (more)
- 1975
- R
- Add Mission to Kill to Queue
Order to Kill was originally shipped out to Spanish-speaking theatres under the title El Clan de los Immorales. The story concerns a mob family, headed by gambling czar Jose Ferrer. When one of family's hit men (Helmut Berger) fails to come up to expectations, Ferrer orders the man's execution. This turn-the-tables circumstance manages to sustain the audience's interest for nearly 2 hours. Besides, it's always fun to watch the lofty Ferrer let his hair down in a cheapie. The same applies to Kevin McCarthy, who likewise appears in Order to Kill. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helmut Berger, Kevin McCarthy, (more)
- 1975
Tom Stoppard and Thomas Wiseman's intricate script for The Romantic Englishwoman credibly explores the notion that a writer can manipulate the people in his life as deftly as he can manipulate the characters in his imagination. The title character Elizabeth, played by Glenda Jackson, is the wife of Lewis (Michael Caine), a novelist. At this point in his life, Lewis thinks in nothing but literary terms: Elizabeth is vacationing in Europe alone, ergo she must be having an affair. Half out of frustration, she confirms her husband's suspicions by romancing German drug dealer Thomas (Helmut Berger). Things get even dicier when Lewis invites Thomas into his home, requesting his technical advice on a screenplay he is working on. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenda Jackson, Michael Caine, (more)
- 1976
Within months after the spectacular July 4, 1976 rescue of hostages from Uganda's Entebbe airport, there were two competing TV movies on the subject. The longest (and least) of the two was Victory at Entebbe, hurriedly shot on videotape. The story begins when Arab terrorist capture a civilian airliner and force a landing at Entebbe. Ugandan president Idi Amin (Julius Harris, substituting for recently deceased Godfrey Cambridge), struts about at the airport, insisting that he can do nothing--but apparently siding with the terrorists, especially when the Arabs begin separating and mistreating the Jewish passengers. A surprise Israeli commando raid masterminded by defense minister Shimon Peres (Burt Lancaster, who more than compensates for his miscasting with an excellent performance) rescues most of the hostages, though at least one of the passengers (played by Helen Hayes with a Jewish accent that wouldn't convince a duck) is apparently killed out of retribution while en route to hospital. The teleplay's bad dialogue, and the producers' Airport-like decision to use only big stars in the major roles (Richard Dreyfuss, Elizabeth Taylor, Kirk Douglas et. al.) tends to trivialize one of the most auspicious acts of selfless heroism of the 1970s. A far better dramatization of the incident, Raid on Entebbe, was telecast a few months later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
There's nothing more terrifying than a Beast With a Gun, and when psychotic criminal Nanni Vitali (Helmut Berger) and three violent thugs stage a jailbreak, the streets will run red with blood in the final film from notorious director Sergio Grieco. Taking to the pavement in a horrific frenzy of rape, robbery, and revenge, Vitali seals his own grim fate when, in brutalizing a beautiful young woman, he catches the attention of a determined cop (Richard Harrison) bent on bringing the murderous madman to justice. As his relentless slide into darkness speeds to a furious race against death, Vitali seems determined to avoid going back into his cage even if it means going down in a hail of bullets and gunsmoke. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helmut Berger, Marisa Mell, (more)
- 1977
- PG
The American prints of Battle Force credit the direction to one Humphrey Longan, but in fact the man behind the megaphone of this European war flick was Umberto Lenzi. Orson Welles narrates this crazy-quilt of stock battle footage and hapharzardly staged new scenes. A lot of potent acting talent -- Henry Fonda, Stacy Keach, Helmut Berger, Samantha Eggar -- is squandered herein. Since we know who won the war, it serves no purpose to offer a random series of events leading up to the victory if they aren't going to be interestingly presented. Originally titled Il Grande Attaco, this one was also shipped out as La Battaglia di Mareth, The Biggest Battle and The Great Battle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
"Thou shalt not kill" is the fifth of the ten commandments handed down to Moses on Mount Sinai. In this movie, Bernhard and Leo Redder (Helmut Berger and Peter Hooten), who have grown up in an abusive family, escape into the streets at the earliest opportunity. In the Germany of the 1920s, especially in the Ruhr valley, the people they wind up hanging out with are members of radical political groups, especially the Nazi Stahlhelm and Freikorps organizations. They become involved in Nazi excursions and become wanted men for their involvement in robberies and murder. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helmut Berger, Peter Hooten, (more)
- 1979
Set in 1919, this confusing, slow-paced, labyrinthian political drama focuses primarily on the confrontation between two military leaders, Konrad von der Berg (Franco Nero) and Erich von Lehner (Helmut Berger). The implication is that the outcome of their meeting will determine whether Germany will be dominated by the Nazis or not. As the two men confront each other in a deserted military camp, they display a wide range of emotions and a seemingly unflagging ability to talk. Flashbacks reveal the history of their relationship. In the end, one destroys the other but then he has to go back and face the rising Nazi menace. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Franco Nero, Helmut Berger, (more)
- 1980
The wages of heroin on body, mind, and spirit are compassionately portrayed in this drama by Massimo Pirri. Without hammering out a message or moralizing, Pirri shows his protagonists facing the daily challenge of obtaining a fix at any cost. Marco (Helmut Berger) used to be a school teacher, but now he and his lover Pina (Corinne Clery) live in a junkyard in an abandoned bus. Gangsters and other violent lowlifes show up now and again to make their life even more of a living hell. On a typical day, the pair go to Marco's pusher's house, and while he shoots up in one room Pina may be providing sexual favors in another for cash or drugs. There is nothing too base or dangerous to do if it will provide another fix. The duo will hook children on drugs, sell out friends, and even steal from each other as death patiently waits in the wings for its cue. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helmut Berger, Corinne Clery, (more)
- 1982
Several criminal lawyers reunite every year in the Swiss mountains to entertain themselves with fake trials and murder mysteries. At one year's party, an unwitting American becomes part of the game. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1982
A hunting party arrives at a lodge in the Tatra mountains in Slovakia, near Hungary (the director of this film, Karoly Makk is Hungarian), where one woman (Barbara Sukowa) in the party had "accidentally" shot and killed her first husband some time ago. She has returned with her new mate (Mel Ferrer), very rich from inheriting her first husband's fortune, and she greets her former lover Boris (Helmut Berger) who is a game warden in the area. Boris was the only witness to the earlier shooting, and now history threatens to repeat itself as Boris and the new husband enter into an antagonistic relationship that begins to escalate. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Sukowa, Mel Ferrer, (more)
- 1982
Susanne (Angelika Domroese) has her hands full with a mother who does not leave her in peace, a daughter who ignores her, an unsatisfactory lover, and a few women friends who are not doing much better than she is. Into this vale of emotional ennui enters an attractive young man -- suggesting that life might become more interesting at last. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angelica Domröse, Günter Lamprecht, (more)
