Emilia Unda Movies
- 1935
As indicated by its title, Baracole is adapted from The Tales of Hoffman. Gustav Froelich stars as Colloredo, who enjoys nothing more than boasting about his sexual conquests. A friend wagers that Colloredo will be unable to seduce the beautiful Giacinta (Lida Baarova). It so happens that Giacinta's wily husband Zubaran (Willy Birgel) overhears the wager, thereby setting in motion a counter-wager that will ultimately result in Colloredo's downfall. The ultimate winner in these sordid surroundings is Giacinta, who is never made aware that she has become a pawn in a dirty game of sexual one-upmanship. Though set in Venice, Baracole was shot entirely within the confines of Germany's UFA studios. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lida Baarova, Edwige Feuillère, (more)
- 1931
Das Ekel translates as The Grouch; in any language, it's an apt description of curmudgeonly protagonist Adalbert Bulcke (Max Adelbert). A small-town bureaucrat, Bulcke carries his officious, obstreperous manner into his own home. His dictatorial edicts are subtly challenged by Quitt (Heinz Koenecke), the sweetheart of Bulcke's daughter Katherine (Evelyn Holt). Before even he is aware of what's happening, "The Grouch" is completely transformed into "The Pussycat." Of course, it does take a term in jail before the metamorphosis is complete. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Max Adalbert, Emilia Unda, (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)
- 1930
Abschied (Farewell) represents the directorial debut of fledgling screenwriter Robert Siodmak. Co-written by Emeric Pressburger, the story concentrates on the various amours of boarding-house resident Hella (Brigitte Horney). After playing the field for several reels, she finally settles down with vacuum-cleaner salesman Peter Winkler (Aribert Mog). Costing a mere 60,000 marks, the film cannot help but look cheap; it is Siodmak's "avant-garde" directorial style, freely borrowed from several of the filmmakers whom he most admired, that carries the day. Though Abschied didn't make much of a dent at the box office, the reviews were good, encouraging producer Eric Pommer to keep young Robert Siodmak in the director's chair -- thereby launching a career that would endure well into the 1960s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brigitte Horney, Aribert Mog, (more)
- 1921
This stylized melodrama was one of the lesser films to come out of German silent cinema. Ship owner William Cunningham (Hans Anderson) wants to expand trade into Asia, so he sends his representative, Arnold Cooper (Arthur Schroeder) -- who is engaged to his daughter, Eleanor (Lotte Klinder) -- to the kingdom of Hamar, where he is expected to negotiate a treaty. A group of Chinese conspirators murder the ruler's daughter and pin the crime on Cooper. The girl's brother, Tantara Bagha (Paul Otto, who also directed), swears to avenge her death and follows Cooper back to Germany. He makes several attempts on Cooper's life and falls in love with Eleanor. Bagha kidnaps Eleanor and takes her back to Hamar, but once home he discovers who the real killers were. He lets Eleanor go and kills himself in front of an altar to Buddha. This film was based on a novel, Der Tod und die Liebe. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Otto
