Walter Rilia Movies

Also known as 24 Hours in a Woman's Life, this perceptive romantic drama was based on the novel by Stefan Zweig. Henny Porten plays Alice, a widow who undergoes a lifetime worth of emotional turmoil during a weekend vacation in Italy. After getting caught in a rainstorm and boarding the wrong boat, Alice ends up in a casino, where she meets an impoverished young man named Thomas (Walter Rilla). The two spend the night together then promise to meet again in the forest the following day. Upon discovering that Thomas is a military deserter and chronic gambler, Alice pays all of his debts, extracting a promise from him that he'll quit gambling and return home to face up to his responsibilities. Alas, Thomas soon retreats to the gaming tables, whereupon their relationship is permanently and irrevocably severed. The Zweig novel was refilmed in 1953 as Affair in Monte Carlo, then again in 1968 under its original title. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A father-son conflict set against the tumultuous background of the First World War lies at the center of this high-class soap opera. S.I. Rupp (Emil Jannings) is a former butcher who has been elevated to the pinnacle of success in postwar Europe, by virtue of having made a few correct decisions about business during the recently ended world war. Now he is one of the wealthiest men on the continent, and beloved of the press and public for his charitable work, his beef company feeding thousands every day who would otherwise starve; and he has in his employ, at his beck-and-call, numerous members of the former aristocracy, reduced to penury by the dissolution of countries and governments. Rupp is a decent man but also a crude man, given to acting on his impulses, and like many a self-made man he also has a tendency to brook no contradiction or interference when he thinks he's right, which is most of the time. The one person in the world whom he loves and respects is his son, Fred (Hermann Thimig), by his first marriage, who, among his other attributes, is a champion-level racing-car driver. Rupp's personal life explodes, however, when he agrees to marry a beautiful former aristocrat; through a misunderstanding, Rupp thinks his son is also interested in his bride-to-be, and father and son end up estranged, just when Rupp's enemies and rivals are preparing to destroy him and his empire. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Confessions of Felix Krull was adapted from the last novel by German author Thomas Mann. Horst Buchholtz stars as a German soldier sent to Paris during World War I. He casts aside his uniform and gets a job as an elevator operator. A handsome lug, Buchholtz is pursued by virtually every female who enters his little compartment. But the lad is shy, and besides, he'd rather discuss anthropology. You'll have to watch the film for yourself to see what, if anything, Felix Krull has to confess. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Following the same storyline as the more successful Asphalt Jungle but set in Cairo, this crime caper about a jewel heist is directed by Wolf Rilla. The focus of attention is Tutankhamen's jewels on display in the Cairo National Museum -- quite a topical topic since the treasures from King Tut's tomb were making the rounds of U.S. exhibition sites around the time this film was released. The lecherous Major Pickering (George Sanders) has been cooling his heels in a German prison, waiting to get out so he can go to Cairo and set the wheels of his big King Tut heist into motion. The jewels are on display, and he is certain he can get his hands on them. To that end he recruits Willy Roberts, Nicodemos, Al Hassan, and Kamel Kuchuk -- stereotypical characters whose talents are supposed to contribute to the success of the robbery. The Major soon discovers that even if a robbery is successful, getting hot property out of a country can be quite another ball game. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this action film, an American detective is hired by an aging millionaire to investigate the murder of his valet. The detective journeys to South Africa and discovers that the murder is linked to Nazi POWs who never went back to Germany. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on a popular novel by Horst Wifram Geissler, Der Liebe Augustin is a carefully-wrought, sometimes slow-paced story about a young Romeo who lived around 1800 in the region of Lake Constance. Augustin (Mathias Fuchs) is a sentimental, likeable lothario whose first big romance is with Lady Ann (Ina Duscha), a woman who may not have been such a good choice. His next real love, perhaps the love of his life, is Friederike (Nicole Badal), a charming princess who reciprocates his feelings but whose family lines are too royal to allow for any permanent union. That loss is hard to bear, yet Augustin finds some solace in Susanne (Veronika Bayer) woman more of his own background -- and a sturdier romance begins to grow. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by Martin Albrand, Desperate Moment is set in postwar Germany. Simon van Halder (Dirk Bogarde) serving a life term for murder, escapes to prove innocence. After linking up with his girlfriend Anna de Burgh (Mai Zetterling), Simon relates, in flashback, the events leading up to his current dilemma. He also explains why he initially confessed to the crime. To tell more would be to tell all. It's rather enjoyable to watch the hero and heroine outwitting both British and German authorities, who aren't depicted as stupid, simply not equipped for so resourceful a fugitive. Billed at the bottom of the cast list, Theodore Bikel has a pivotal role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 1930 Hollywood feature Laughter, which starred Nancy Carroll and Fredric March, was also lensed in two foreign-language versions. Both the German Die Manner um Lucie and the French Rive Gauche were directed by Alexander Korda. Liane Haid, Walter Rilla and Oskar Karlweis star in this Teutonic spin on the original Harry D'Arrast-Douglas Doty screenplay (D'Arrast also directed the English-language Laughter). Liane assumes the Nancy Carroll role as a Follies dancer who marries likeable millionaire Karlweis. He denies her nothing, not even an extramarital fling with composer Rilla. The complications that follow are both sophisticated and logical, with the characters behaving like human beings rather than French-farce stick figures. We'll let the auteur theorists argue over whether Alexander Korda's direction was any more accomplished than Harry D'Arrast's. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on an actual post-war murder in Frankfurt, this standard docudrama by Rudolf Jugert is a serious treatment of the story as compared to the earlier, satirical film The Girl Rosemarie. The history of the case of Rosemarie, a hooker, and how she came to be strangled in her apartment is not completely clear. One of the suspects in the case was first charged, later acquitted, but never really free of an aura of culpability. British actress Belinda Lee plays the title role with her voice dubbed over in German. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This was popular tenor Mario Lanza's last film before he died in Rome of a heart attack at the age of thirty-eight. The story follows the career and love interest of opera star Tonio Costa (Lanza), who is careless in regard to his professional engagements. Being more than a little irresponsible, he is his own worst enemy when it comes to his singing future. That is true until he meets a deaf woman, Christa (Johanna von Koczian), and falls in love with her. She turns his life around, as he dedicates himself to performing all he can in order to raise the needed funds to help her to hear again. Several highlights from well-known operas are included in the performance segments of the story, showing to full effect Lanza's stunning tenor voice. First thrown into the spotlight in the 1958 film The Student Prince, Lanza's performance in films got him unjustly banned from the stage at the Metropolitan Opera. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Filmed in 1935, the British Hell's Cargo finally received a US release in 1939, capitalizing on the recent outbreak of war in Europe. Most of the story takes place on a cargo ship, slowly inching its way through treacherous waters with a cargo consisting of a top-secret poison gas. When the ship's intoxicated doctor reveals the nature of the cargo to a good-time girl in a foreign port, chaos ensues, culminating in the death of the treacherous doctor at the hands of the ship's three commanding officers: Englishman Falcon (Kim Peacock), Frenchman Lestallieur (Walter Rilla), and Russian Tomasov (Robert Newton). The question: if a murder is committed in to maintain the Peace of the World, can it truly be considered murder? Hell's Cargo was based on a story by French writer/director Leo Joannon, whose later seafaring efforts included Laurel & Hardy's Atoll K (1951). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The modest but intriguing British melodrama At the Villa Rose was released in the U.S. by Monogram and given the more prosaic title House of Mystery. A gang of clever thieves kill a wealthy woman in hopes of stealing her gems. But the thieves aren't clever enough to ascertain the location of those gems, so they consult a phony spiritualist (Ruth Maitland). Then they decide to dispose of the mystic by framing her for the murder. Inspector Hanaud (Kenneth Kent) is called in on the case, meticulously piecing the puzzle together and determining the identities of the real culprits. House of Mystery was based on a story by A.E.W. Mason, better known for such British-empire tomes as The Four Feathers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This 1967 spaghetti western stars a master of that genre, Lee Van Cleef, as an aging, half-mad gunfighter. In an effort to regain his fearsome reputation, Van Cleef shoots down a local sheriff. He then finds he must deal with his young protégé Giuliano Gemma, who happened to be the sheriff's best friend. The climactic showdown finds Van Cleef facing down his former Gemma, with each man knowing the other's every move and thought. Also known as Day of Anger, this superior Italian oater was originally released as I Giorni dell'Ira. Its director was onetime Sergio-Leone-assistant Tonino Valerii. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide