Gisela Trowe Movies

Adapted from the novel of celebrated German writer Ingrid Noll, Kalt ist der Abendhauch bounces back and forth over a span of 50 years to tell the darkly comic tale of a destructive love affair between two people. When the film opens, octogenarian Charlotte (Gisela Trowe) has just received a letter from Hugo (Heinz Bennent), an old friend who is coming for a visit. The news of Hugo's impending arrival takes Charlotte back to the year 1936, when she was 16. One of four children born to middle-class parents, young Charlotte (Fritzi Haberlandt) carries a torch for handsome stud Hugo (August Diehl), and is understandably put out when he marries her older sister Ida (Georgia Stahl). An even deeper pall is cast over the couple's union when Charlotte's brother shows up at the wedding dinner wearing a dress, then proceeds to hang himself in the attic. A few years later, Charlotte enters into an unsatisfying marriage with Bernhard (Andre Hennicke), a dull schoolteacher with whom she has two children. Bernhard disappears during the course of World War II and is presumed dead, making it easy for Charlotte to consummate her long-simmering lust with Hugo when he drops by one day after the war. However, on a proverbial dark and stormy night, Bernhard reappears at Charlotte's doorstep, wet, unkempt, and hungry for sex. Hugo's arrival fifty years later exposes -- literally -- five decades of family secrets and dysfunction, thanks in part to the gruesome discovery of a body buried in the cellar. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi

Leo Bergert's (Dieter Hallervorden) life is centered around his mania for inventing, and his latest attempt at creating a substitute for gasoline (driven, no doubt, by the cost of petrol in Europe) has succeeded in nearly blowing his house to smithereens. Defeated by this failure and hopelessly in debt, Leo decides to hire a hit man to do him in for his insurance policy. Just as the contract has been signed, Leo's Aunt comes through with a wad of money that is all his -- if he will at last marry. The dilemma of course, is that marriage is a lot easier to arrange than stopping the hit man -- whom Leo has never seen. This, of course, leads to many a case of mistaken identity as Leo sets out to undo his imminent demise. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This comedy finds actors and actresses lip-syncing to opera, classical music and modern pop. Hilarious mimicry accompanies the music in this expertly filmed feature. The film took the top prize for most original picture at the 1969 Mannheim Film Festival, the Josef von Sternberg award. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Der Verloreue (The Lost One) was the only directorial effort by actor Peter Lorre. In keeping with Lorre's established screen persona, this is a tale of stark terror, disillusionment and defeatism. The actor stars as Dr. Rothe, a German research scientist who during WW2 discovers that his fiancee has been selling his scientific secrets to the British. In a fit of pique, he murders her, but is not punished for the crime, which is passed off by the Nazi authorities as justifiable homicide. Unable to console himself to his sweetheart's betrayal, Rothe wanders the countryside, killing every woman who reminds him of his lost love - while the Gestapo dutifully continues covering his tracks, even declaring him legally dead so that he can escape imprisonment. In a plot twist worthy of Fritz Lang, Lorre puts himself on trial and metes out his own punishment. Not entirely successful, Der Verloreue is still a fascinating exercise in fatalism from one of the cinema's most distinctive talents. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this drama, a German Jew is made to appear responsible for an accountant's death. Although the film is set between the world wars, anti-Semitism is still an important factor in the corrupt prosecutor's decision to pursue a conviction of the innocent man. In German with English subtitles. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi