Karl Platen Movies

Anny Ondra is the whole show in the musical comedy Der Junge Graf (The Young Count). Ondra plays Billy, the daughter of circus owner Preissnitz (Hans Junkerman). To keep production costs low, our heroine performs as a blonde female aerialist, then dons a black wig and poses as a male acrobat. Her dual identity results in a series of complications reminiscent of (but not copying) Viktor und Viktoria. When Der Junge Graf was distributed in the U.S., it was sold on the basis of Anny Ondra's marriage to heavyweight boxing champ Max Schmeling. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Der Bettelstudent (The Beggar Student) was based on the same-named operetta by Carl Miloecker. The plot is implicit in the title, as a seemingly impoverished scholar triumphs over his wealthier rivals and claims the girl of his dreams. Such German film favorites as Fritz Kampers, Ida Wuest and Marika Roekk do not disappoint their fans as they go through their customary musical paces. There's also room for some traditional comedy relief, handled in traditional fashion by Ernst Behmer. The highlight of Der Bettlestudent is the second-act ballet, splendiferously photographed by a full cadre of UFA cameramen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Schwarze Walfisch (The Black Whale) is the German-language version of the Marcel Pagnol masterpiece Fanny. Replacing the virtually irreplaceable Raimu as philosophical innkeeper Panisse is Emil Jannings, no small talent in his own right. When Panisse's son Marius (Franz Nicklisch) goes off to sea, he leaves his pregnant sweetheart Fanny (Angela Sokker) to fend for herself. The old barkeep tries to patch things up by marrying off Fanny to his middle-aged friend Cesar (Max Guelstorff), who adopts the girl's baby as his own. Years later, Marius returns, demanding that both Fanny and the child return to him. But by now Fanny is loyal to her homely but faithful Cesar, and it is Marius who ends up empty-handed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fritz Lang directed this sequel to his nearly four-hour Dr. Mabuse silent of 1922 (often shown in two parts, Dr. Mabuse: Der Spieler/The Gambler and Dr. Mabuse: King of Crime). The film opens with Detective Hofmeister (Karl Meixner) spying on the activities of a criminal syndicate. Not realizing he has been seen, Hofmeister is attacked by the thugs and later turns up out of his mind. He is placed in the institution of Professor Baum (Oscar Beregi), who becomes increasingly obsessed with another patient -- the master criminal and hypnotist Dr. Mabuse (Rudolf Klein-Rogge). Baum's assistant, Dr. Kramm (Theodor Loos), connects Mabuse's writings to a series of the syndicate's recent criminal activities, and is murdered for his knowledge by crime lord Hardy (Rudolf Schündler) who takes orders from a hidden Mabuse. Putting all these pieces together is chief investigator Lohmann (Otto Wernicke), whose story plays out simultaneously with that of ex-cop Thomas Kent (Gustav Diessl), a member of the gang who is torn between his need for money and his love for a young woman named Lilli (Wera Liessem). Various clues lead Lohmann to suspect Mabuse's involvement, but when he arrives at the asylum, Baum reveals that Mabuse has died. Meanwhile, Kent's decision to confess to the cops lands himself and Lilli in a room with a hidden bomb. Lohmann traps the gang in a moll's house, leading to a wild shootout. Kent and Lilli escape and race to Lohmann to tell him that Mabuse is behind the crimes. They all race back to the asylum where they discover that Mabuse has taken control of Baum, who sets a monstrous fire at a chemical factory. The mad doctor then leads Lohmann and Kent on a wild car chase back to the asylum where the mystery behind the Baum-Mabuse-Hofmeister connection takes a disturbing turn. ~ Patrick Legare, All Movie Guide

Zum Goldnen Anker (The Golden Anchor) was the German-language version of the Marcel Pagnol masterpiece Marius. Jakob Tiedtke steps into the central role of Marseilles tavernkeeper Cesare, the character immortalized in the French-language version by the great Raimu. Cesare's irresponsible son Marius (Karl Ettinger) seduces the lovely Fanny (Lucie Hoeflich), who hopes that this indiscretion will lead to marriage. Alas, Marius begins to show signs of restlessness, whereupon Fanny magnanimously offers to give him his freedom, even though there's a baby on the way. Despite Cesare's insistence that Marius make an honest woman of Fanny, the girl makes certain that Marius will be able to follow his heart and set off to sea. Albert Bassermann co-stars as wealthy middle-ager Panisse, who it is inferred will become Fanny's husband once Marius is out of the picture. While the original Marius was followed by a brace of sequels, Zum Goldnen Anker was not. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fritz Lang's classic early talkie crime melodrama is set in 1931 Berlin. The police are anxious to capture an elusive child murderer (Peter Lorre), and they begin rounding up every criminal in town. The underworld leaders decide to take the heat off their activities by catching the child killer themselves. Once the killer is fingered, he is marked with the letter "M" chalked on his back. He is tracked down and captured by the combined forces of the Berlin criminal community, who put him on trial for his life in a kangaroo court. The killer pleads for mercy, whining that he can't control his homicidal instincts. The police close in and rescue the killer from the underworld so that he can stand trial again in "respectable" circumstances. Some prints of the film end with a caution to the audience to watch after their children more carefully. Filmed in Germany, M was the film that solidified Fritz Lang's reputation with American audiences, and it also made a star out of Peter Lorre (previously a specialist in comedy roles!). M was remade by Hollywood in 1951, with David Wayne giving a serviceable performance as the killer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lumpenbal (Vagabond's Ball) is another early-talkie German operetta, with music and farce dispensed in equal measure. An aging roue and his son-in-law conspire to ditch their wives so that they can escort a pair of toothsome young sisters to a ball. The wives find out about their spouses' scheme and head to the ball themselves, compelling the errant husbands to take a run-out powder. The wives proceed to get roaring drunk, whereupon the homelier of the two is crowned "Queen of the Ball." Upon returning home the next morning, the hungover wives receive a harsh lecture from their two "pious" husbands! Didn't this plot later resurface as an episode of TV's The Flintstones? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Student Sein (To be a Student) once again musically paints a picture of campus life that has precisely no connection with reality. The students of Wurzberg University spend most of their time singing, drinking and flirting mit der pretty frauleins. Things take a serious turn when the BMOC hero (Franz Baumann), the son of a wealthy man, falls in love with a poor girl. Separated by their stations in life, the boy and girl finally come together when the hero's bankrupt father commits suicide, putting him on the same economic level as the heroine. Though Franz Baumann was far too old to convince as an undergrad, his singing could not be faulted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rosenmontag (U.S. title: Carnival's End) was based on the novel of the same name by Otto Erich Hartlebein. Thanks to ugly gossip, a young Army lieutenant is convinced that his sweetheart is an unfaithful trollop. He becomes engaged to another woman then marches off to war, having promised to forsake all other women. Eventually, he discovers that the stories about his first love were all lies. He returns to her and rekindles the romance, whereupon he remembers vowing eternal devotion to his present fiancee. Rather than sacrifice his honor, the lieutenant resorts to extreme and tragic measures to keep his promise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Just before launching the American phase of his career, filmmaker Alexander Korda directed his actress-wife Maria Corda in the German production A Modern DuBarry. Corda plays Toinette, a saucy, somewhat amoral scullery maid. Bouncing from bed to bed, Toinette becomes the mistress of Count Martel (Alfred Gerasch) and, ultimately, the King of Andalia (Jean Bradin). This final liaison very nearly topples the Andalian government, but Toinette manages to survive this ordeal with nary a hair out of place, though she does cry and cry a lot when things don't go her way. It was Modern DuBarry, completed in 1926, that landed Korda his Hollywood contract -- and the rest, as they say, is history. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A jealous husband becomes enraged with his dinner guests when they pretend to kiss the silhouetted shadow of his beautiful wife. Fritz Kortner, Ruth Weyher, Gustav Von Wagenheim, and Alexander Granach co-star in this German feature where a seemingly innocent romantic indiscretion is met with violent retribution. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide