Ellen Schwannecke Movies
- 1938
The Czechoslovakian Die Sextanerin was released in the U.S. under the title The College Girl. Ellen Schwannecke plays the eponymous heroine, a bright-eyed coed named Inge. She really begins to buckle down to her studies when she falls in love with handsome professor Storm (Rolf Wanka). What she doesn't know is that Storm is a famous poet, hiding out from his throngs of female admirers within the ivy-covered walls of academia. Meanwhile, lady teacher Miss Volmar (Iris Arlan) also sets her cap for the charming Storm. Filmed in both Czechoslovakian and German versions, Die Sextanerin was completed in 1936, reportedly the first Czech talking picture ever made. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rolf Wanka
- 1936
Originally Der Konigswaltser, The Royal Waltz is a lighthearted opera with no message or moral whatsoever. As he often would be during his long career, Curd Jurgens (here billed as Juergens) is cast as Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria. Set in Munich in 1852, the story concentrates on the impending marriage between the Emperor and Duchess Elisabeth of Bavaria (Carola Hoehn), affectionately known as "Cissy." Their love affair is counterpointed with the backstairs flirtation between young Count Ferdinand (Willi Forst) and humble caterer's daughter Theres Tomasoni (Beli Finkenzeller), which sparks a scandal that only Franz Joseph himself can iron out. The English subtitles of Royal Waltz undercut the film's charm with such anachronistic exclamations as "She's hot stuff!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Hoerbiger, Carola Hoehn, (more)
- 1932
Ein Toller Einfall (A 'Phantastic' Idea) features comic actor Max Adelbert as a "poor rich man," who in spite of his magnificent mansion and priceless possessions hasn't a penny in the bank. Heading to England to negotiate the sale of his mansion, he leaves the place in the care of his nephew Willy Fritsch. In Adelbert's absence, Fritsh transforms the mansion into a hotel, packing in the customers with an elaborate floor show. Naturally, this helps to put Adelbert back on his feet, leading inexorably to a happy ending. Dorothea Wieck and Ellen Schwanecke, previously teamed in the controversial Maedchen in Uniform, portray entirely different characters in Ein Toller Einfall. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Willy Fritsch, Jacob Tiedtke, (more)
- 1932
The pressbook for Kadetten (Cadets) claims that the film was written by Dr. Alfred Schirokauer, "after motives of a novel from Peter Muir." Whatever that means. The hero, played by newcomer Franz Fiedler, is a young cadet in a Prussian military school. Upon learning that his superior officer has tried to seduce his pretty young stepmother, Fiedler heads to the officer's home for a confrontation. Upon arriving, he discovers that the officer has been killed. Accused of the crime, Fiedler refuses to offer details to the police for fear of exposing his stepmother to scandal. This leads to tension-laden courtroom climax, dominated by that grand old trouper Albert Basserman. Incidentally, the "Peter Muir" who wrote the novel on whose "motives" Kadetten was based was a pseudonym for journalist Sven von Muller, the husband of actress Mady Christians. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Albert Basserman, Trude von Molo, (more)
- 1931
Kinder von Gericht was predicated on a real-life courtroom controversy. The question: Should children's depositions be taken seriously in court, and can a verdict be contingent upon a child's testimony. This film takes the opposing viewpoint; so far as director George C. Klaren is concerned, children should be seen but not heard -- even in the hallowed halls of justice. To illustrate his thesis, Klaren offers an instance in which a child's lies cause tragedy for the falsely accused hero (Hermann Speelman). It's not likely that the film's viewpoint would hold water in the 1990s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carla Barthell, Ellen Schwannecke, (more)
- 1931
Inspired by Christa Winsloe's play Gestern und Heute, Maedchen in Uniform is one of the most memorable and moving of the pre-Hitler German talkies. Hertha Thiele plays a new student in an exclusive girls' boarding school. Achingly lonely because she feels deserted by her family, Hertha keeps her distance from the rest of the girls. Persecuted for her solitary stance by principal Emilia Unda, Hertha is drawn to her sympathetic teacher Dorothea Wieck. What starts as a friendship blossoms into a romance. While public revelation of this relationship proves disastrous to both student and teacher, it is ultimately the unforgiving principal Unda who suffers most. Maedchen in Uniform was antiseptically remade in 1958, with some of the frankness but little of the honest eroticism of the original. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emilia Unda, Dorothea Wieck, (more)
