Barbara Rutting Movies

This strange comic-thriller was one the final entries in the West German "krimi" series based on the mystery novels of Edgar Wallace and his son. Fred Williams plays Scotland Yard detective Robert Redford, who is hunting a mysterious knife-throwing murderer through London. His search leads him to the Flamingo nightclub and a drug-dealing doctor named Blackmoor (Siegfried Schuerenberg) whose secretary's supposedly dead husband Charles (Horst Tappert) is posing as a dead mystery writer while "ridding the streets" of undesirables. Luis Morris provides comic relief as a photographer who mistakenly hands people nude photographs instead of evidence, and there are some slapstick moments involving London's Finest. The film is undeniably amusing, but Manuel Merino's photography is too dark in many places and it isn't as gripping as Werner Klingler's 1963 version of the same story, Das Geheimnis der Schwarzen Koffer. There are some odd scenes typical of director Jesus Franco, however, such as the cartoon-like "boing-g-g-g" noise whenever the killer's knife finds its target, and the director appears as a knife expert, saying things like "To you he's just another murderer. To me he's an idol." ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

This big-budget, big-studio espionage film is set in the last years of World War II. George Peppard, Tom Courtenay and Jeremy Kemp parachute into Germany, with orders to destroy the Nazis' rocket base at Peenemunde. Featuring Sophia Loren as the wife of the Nazi collaborator whom Peppard is pretending to be, Operation Crossbow failed badly in its first release; MGM, deciding that the title misled moviegoers into thinking that the picture was a "Robin Hood" derivation, cleared up matters by renaming the film The Great Spy Mission. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this action adventure, a courageous young girl journeys through the Amazon to look for clues concerning her father's death. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The German The Squeaker is the third film version of the Edgar Wallace mystery novel of the same name. The title character is an omnipotent "fence" who has cornered the diamond-smuggling racket. The fence travels in polite society under the guise of a wealthy philanthropist. A Scotland Yard detective pretends to be an ex-convict in order to infiltrate the Squeaker's gang and to track down the stolen gems. The Squeaker was one of several German Edgar Wallace adaptations of the 1960s, ground out simultaneously with Britain's long-running Wallace B-picture series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This Swiss/German coproduction is set in a girl's reform school. Headmistress Barbara Rutting feels uniquely qualified to divert teenaged streetwalker Leni von Friel from her tawdry lifestyle; before being hired by the school, Barbara had herself been a prostitute. When Leni escapes from the school, Barbara goes after her. On the street, she confronts her ex-pimp, who threatens to reveal Barbara's past if she interferes in Leni's "training". Barbara kills the pimp and is sent to prison--and it is this sacrifice which finally earns her the respect of the chastened Leni. Also known as Shadows Grow Longer, Defiant Daughters was originally released as Die Schatten Werden Laenger. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A surgeon's assistant is discovered as a former Nazi raising doubts about surgeon. ~ Rovi

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, Rovi

In this German espionage film, made after WW II, the life of Admiral Canaris, the former head of Nazi counterintelligence, is profiled. Much of the focus is upon the Admiral's gradual disenchantment with Hitler's vision. As the war progresses, Canaris begins looking into anti-Hitler organizations. It is only in 1944 that he grows angry at the destruction of Germany and commits himself to overthrowing Hitler. He fails and ends up losing his rank and being sentenced to a concentration camp. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this emotional melodrama, a woman is devastated to discover that her beloved has fathered the child of her closest friend. With many tears, she breaks their engagement and moves into the country where she eventually falls in love with a handsome schoolmaster. Unfortunately, this sets local tongues to wagging and, unable to bear the scandal, she leaves. Time passes and when she learns that the teacher has been horribly burned while saving someone from a fire, she returns to marry him. Unfortunately, while helping a friend's ailing child she catches diphtheria. Just before she passes on, she vows that she will love the teacher forever. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Das Zweite Leben (Double Destiny) is based on Siegfried, a short story and play by Jean Girardoux. Michel Auclair stars as a young French xpert ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi