Elisabeth Bergner Movies

Ariane was Hungarian director Paul Czinner's first talking picture. Starring in the title role is Czinner's charming wife, Elizabeth Bergner, likewise making her talkie debut. Young, naive Ariane sets herself for an emotional fall when she falls in love with Konstantin (Rudolf Forster), a much older and very married businessman. For his part, Konstantin regards the girl as just another harmless fling -- until he realizes a shade too late that he's really in love with her after all. Filmed in German, Ariane was simultaneously lensed in an English-language version, The Loves of Ariane. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bel Canto, The Tenors of the 78 Era, Vol. Two: Tauber, Schmidt, and Slezak contains three episodes, each featuring musical performances by one master tenor. Celebrated singers Tauber, Schmidt, and Slezak, among several others, are referred to as tenors of the 78 era because they made recordings in 78 rpm format. The Tauber episode contains London performances of Carmen, Pagliacci, Hoffman, and the Fiedermaus overture. Professional commentators include Richard Bebb, Elisabeth Bergner, Alan Bilgora, and Charles Castle. Schmidt sings songs Africana, Marta, and Juive. The Schmidt episode received Special Jury Mention at the Musee du Louvre's 1998 Classique en images international film competition and includes commentary by Alan Bilgora, Fred Bredschneyder, Jurgen Kesting, Paula Lindbergh-Salomon, and Stefan Zucker. The Slezak episode documents performances at Lake Tegern, Bavaria. Commentators include Clemens Hoslinger, Jurgen Kesting, Fritzi Schlesinger, and Stefan Zucker. The video consists of black and white film footage. ~ Betsy Boyd, All Movie Guide

The inimitable Vincent Price puts an interesting spin on this otherwise pedestrian witch-hunt exercise -- a rehashing of Witchfinder General (aka The Conqueror Worm) and several of Roger Corman's numerous Poe variations from the previous decade. Here Price plays Edward Whitman, a corrupt, sadistic magistrate in 16th-century Ireland who puts a quick and deadly stop to the activities of a local Druidic coven... but not before the sect's leader Oona (Elisabeth Bergner) puts a curse on him and the Whitman family line, calling up a vengeful spirit known as a "sidhee" which takes flesh in the form of an otherwise mild-mannered stable boy (Patrick Mower). As swift and violent retribution works its way through the Whitman family, so does this film snowball toward its bizarre and muddled conclusion -- made all the more confounding by rather choppy editing. Just like Conqueror Worm and half a dozen others, this was fallaciously marketed by distributor American International Pictures as yet another adaptation of the works of Edgar Allan Poe -- as if AIP hadn't kicked Poe's corpse around enough in the '60s. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Two elderly residents of a rest home escape for a day of fun in their Berlin neighborhood. Despite the fact that they are confused about their whereabouts, their charm and wit make friends for them wherever they go. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Dreaming Lips was lovingly assembled by filmmaker Paul Czinner as an "ideal" vehicle for his popular actress wife Elizabeth Bergner. The star plays Gabrielle, the glamorous, spoiled wife of world-famous orchestra leader Peter (Romney Brent). Left alone by her constantly touring husband, she inaugurates a romance with brilliant but reclusive violinist Miguel de Vaye (Raymond Massey). Booked for an American tour, De Vaye insists that Gabrielle accompany him -- and that she tell her husband about their affair. But when Peter falls seriously ill, Gabrielle dutifully remains by his side, never telling him of her indiscretion. Torn between two lovers, Gabrielle eventually decides to kill herself -- leaving a nonplused Peter to wonder just why his wife was so distraught. Overlength is the only significant flaw of this luxuriously produced three-hanky picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The action in this comedy is set within a 24-hour period, as unusual events unfold in the lives of two elderly sisters, Else (Elisabeth Bergner) and Hilde (Lilli Palmer). The sisters were living together in the family mansion in Hamburg when Else got tired of that life and hit the streets to make a go of it as a bag lady, collecting enough each week to send a regular five marks to an orphanage in India. Her older sister stayed in the mansion and made sure that Else always had enough to live on, without letting her know about it. One day -- at the beginning of the fateful 24-hour period -- Else gets evicted from her squatter's apartment in West Berlin and after she leaves with her cart and belongings, she makes a stop at the bank to send the weekly money to the orphanage. Fate has it that two thieves complete a bank robbery just as Else is leaving, throwing their loot into a flower truck by mistake -- much to their dismay and to the total ignorance of the truck driver. Meanwhile, back at the mansion, Hilde is right in the middle of a conversation with Harms (Hardy Kruger), her favorite man of the moment, when she is visited by banking representatives that tell her she has lost it all. Her money manager made some bad financial moves and ran her fortune to the ground, killing himself because of it. Else reads about his suicide in the newspaper, and decides she had better go console her sister -- but not alone. She unwittingly takes the two bank robbers with her, along with a street wino, and when she arrives, the bank robbers drop their facade and threaten to blow everything up if they do not get some cash soon. Meanwhile, Hilde's friend Harms is on the way to join them with the original loot from the bumbled morning robbery in his car (it had fallen out of the flower truck and into his vehicle). Soon everyone and the cash are going to be in one place -- a situation rife with possibilities ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Also known as Der Traumende Mund and Dreaming Lips, Melo was filmed in both French- and German-language versions by director Paul Czinner. Based on a play by Henry Bernstein, the film focuses upon a romantic triangle: orchestra violinist Peter, his wife Gaby, and their concert-violinist friend Michael. Gaby loves both Peter and Michael with equal fervor, making the situation all the more unbearable. When no other solution seems possible, Gaby kills herself rather than hurt either one of her lovers. In the French version of Melo, Gaby was played by Gaby Morlay; in the German version, the role was essayed by Czinner's wife Elisabeth Bergner. Both versions were eventually banned in Germany because virtually everyone involved in the production was Jewish. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Made just before America's entry into World War II, Paris Calling is one of the earliest French Underground adventures. When the German march into Paris, a polyglot of French patriots organize to undermine the Nazi occupation troops (represented by Lee J. Cobb, who plays his character with a surprising amount of depth). Elizabeth Bergner plays a French aristocrat who learns that her ex-fiance (Basil Rathbone) is a collaborator; she agrees to help the Underground, even unto killing her former lover. Gale Sondergaard, normally a villain, is sympathetically cast as a blowsy waterfront entertainer whose waterfront dive serves as Resistance headquarters. And how do the neutral Americans figure into all of this? Yankee-doodle-dandy Randolph Scott parachutes into view as a pilot for the RAF. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Michael Strogoff (John Phillip Law) is the courier to the Czar who is helped by Nadia (Mimsey Farmer) to repel Tartar barbarians led by Feofar Khan (Kurt Meisel) from raping and pillaging in the steppes of Siberia. Ivan (Hiram Keller) is the Tartar sympathizer and activist who conspires against the Czar and his minions. Several expansive battle scenes employ the beautiful Bulgarian countryside to re-enact the clash between the rival factions. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide