Charles Regnier Movies

Douglas Sirk directed this doomed World War II love story, seen from the German side of the war, as filtered through a distinctly late-'50s Hollywood banality. The film is based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, the author of the classic World War I anti-war novel All Quiet On the Western Front -- and who makes a cameo appearance in the film as an elderly schoolteacher. The film stars John Gavin as Ernst Graber, a young Nazi soldier home on leave during the height of World War II. While on leave, he falls in love and marries Elizabeth Kruze (Lilo Pulver). With bombs falling all around the young couple, they set up house with a kindly old woman. Then Elizabeth becomes pregnant. But before Ernst can grasp the reality of his becoming a father, he is sent back to the war -- to fight the brutal battle along the Russian front. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

O.E. Hasse stars in this "retro" German historical biography as Admiral Canaris, who during WW2 was the man in charge of Germany's home defenses. The film takes great pains to point out the Admiral's essential dislike of Nazism, suggesting that he was sympathetic to the aims of the German underground, even though he himself could not participate. In 1944, Canaris joins the plot to overthrow Hitler, ending up in a concentration camp when the military coup fails. The villain of the piece is Obergruppenfuehrer Heydrich (Martin Held), whose assassination in Czechoslovakia prompted the German high command to order the liquidation of the town of Lidice--thereby thoroughly souring Admiral Canaris on the Hitler regime. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Cascadeur" is the French term for a film action coordinator, which actor-producer Hardy Martins did on German films for a decade, also training for 24 months at the Los Angeles International Stunt Association, before directing this $4 million German action-adventure in the Indiana Jones tradition. In Caracas, art-history student Christin (Regula Grauwiller) tracks a dying Nazi, acquires a unique key that leads to the Amber Room and a $150 million treasure stolen from Leningrad by the Nazis during WWII. Captured by a German intelligence Colonel (Heiner Lauterbach) during a Caracas chase, Christin is sent on a plane to Bavaria but escapes in a parachute, landing near former stuntman Vincent (Hardy Martins). Tracked by the Colonel's men, Vincent and Christin set out across Bavaria to find the Amber Room. Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

This overdone German film relies on a repetitive plot centered around bedroom antics worthy of daytime dramas. A call girl (Hildegard Knef) teaches the "ways of love" to a boy (Thomas Fritsch). The boy uses the knowledge to seduce the young wife (Alexandra Stewart) of his professor (Martin Held). Meanwhile, the professor carries on with his secretary (Daliah Lavi). The story continues in like fashion, with little else to give it strength. ~ Lucinda Ramsey, All Movie Guide

An idealistic young doctor (Tadeusz Lomnicki) takes a job at a woman's hospital in this routine medical drama. He loses his confidence and questions whether the medical field is right for him before a series of interactions between patients and their families restores his faith and dedication to heal the afflicted. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The Rest Is Silence, a German-made attempt to update Shakespeare, is one of the best and least self-conscious of this minor genre. As indicated by the title, the film's script is a "mufti" version of Hamlet, with young Hardy Kruger trying to prove that his uncle (Peter van Eyck) has killed his father. Direct references to the Shakespeare original abound, right down to the re-enactment of the crime for the benefit of the Uncle and the periodic appearances of the ghost of the hero's father. Interestingly, this 1960 film was released at the same time as a "straight" German version of Hamlet, made for television and starring Maximillian Schell. The original title of Rest Is Silence was Der Rest Ist Schweigen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This mystery is based on an Edgar Wallace tale and centers upon an enigmatic, seemingly supernatural abbot who lives in a tower connected to an abandoned old country manse said to contain a fabulous treasure. It is the black-hooded monk's duty to keep thieves at bay. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A trio of crooks just out of prison plan their next scheme to strike it rich in this amusing crime comedy. Kurt (Curd Jurgens) is a handsome ladies man, with Charly (Walter Giller) as a dim-witted dolt and Roland (Charles Regnier) as the criminal mastermind. Their scheme is to ship Volkswagens to the United States, sell them for a profit, and eliminate the nearly 18 months waiting time the car buyers normally had to endure. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Loosely based on the colorful, combustible life and career of German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder, A Man Like Eva (Ein Mann Wie Eva) stars actress Eva Mattes in male drag as an obsessive, sadomasochistic movie director. Eva is currently working on a filmization of Dumas' Lady of the Camelias, and in so doing mercilessly uses and abuses everyone in "his" cast and crew. Attempting to sustain a "family" atmosphere on the set, Eva succeeds only in driving everyone crazy--and at least one person to suicide. After a while, A Man Like Eva takes on the dimensions of a genuine Fassbinder film, though one suspects that the late director might have been able to tighten up the sometimes slack plotline. Trivia note: in 1973, star Eva Mattes was the leading lady in Fassbinder's Jail Bait. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The destructive nature of a rising Nazi menace is the subtext in this drama about a young man in Germany in the late '20s. While he enjoys a certain immunity from hard times because of a rich friend and female companionship, he is not blind. He sees mounting injustices in the society around him and cannot always reconcile them with his own views. After his love life gets a jolt and he loses his job, he debates whether or not to work for a Nazi newspaper as the future seems to look worse each day. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide