Grethe Weiser Movies
One of the few true comediennes of Nazi-era German films, blond Grethe Weiser made a career of playing the typical noisy Berlin girl, her almost incomprehensible local patois much admired in her day. Weiser had been in films since the early years of sound but played supporting roles until Die Goettliche Jette (1937) made her a star. She played a Berlin chanteuse and even got to imitate Marlene Dietrich. Often portraying wisecracking maids, Weiser was in many ways a German pendant to Hollywood's Marie Wilson, whose career at Warner Bros. almost paralleled Weiser's at Ufa. Weiser's popularity continued unabated through the postwar era and she was one of the busiest German screen actresses of the 1950s and 1960s. The veteran comedienne was killed along with her producer husband Hermann Schwerin in a car accident near Bad Tölz in Bavaria. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1970
A German language film in which a man needs a wife and children in order to get a job. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1961
A movie - the story of a young man who wants to be a millionaire until he meets one and realizes that money does not make life easier. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1960
Die Junge Suenderim is a teen-centered drama about Eva Reck (Karin Baal), a nineteen-year-old woman born into a kind of respectable poverty, with a working-class father as the head of the family. Because she is beautiful, Eva tends to attract all manner of men, most of whom do not have innocent, romantic love on their minds. When she does fall in love with a student, she gives him up because one of her best friends is also in love with him. Eva continues on with her pure-hearted existence as yet another possible husband comes into view, and this time her chances of marriage and happiness look good. As might be deduced from the plot alone, there is not much depth of character in this film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karin Baal, Vera Tschechowa, (more)
- 1957
This French-Italian musical starts out in the eponymous French gambling establishment. Vittorio de Sica plays Gordy, an ageing playwright who decides to transform a music-hall singer named Catherine (Caterina Valente) into a dramatic actress. Just as his protegee achieves stardom, Gordy dies. But when Catherine visits her late benefactor's villa, she is romanced by Gordy's ghost, who turns out to be a much younger man (Gilbert Becaud). Rather stagebound, Casino de Paris only comes to life during the all-stops-out musical production numbers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gilbert Becaud, Caterina Valente, (more)
- 1957
This comical feature tells the story of Delores, the star showgirl, whose family thinks she works nights as a nurse in a private clinic. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1955
This German language film, features two couples sharing their memories of the years after the war. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1955
This comic mix-up features a con man's accomplice as he puts the make on a furrier, and the furrier tries to turn the tables on them. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1955
One of several films helmed by internationally renowned actor-director Fritz Kortner after his return to Germany in 1947, Die Stadt ist Voller Geheimnisse was released in English-speaking countries as Secrets of the City, City of Secrets and This Town is Full of Secrets. Adapted from a stage play by Curt J. Braun, the film takes place in a mid-sized German industrial town. When the local factory closes its doors, the townsfolk are thrown into confusion and dismay. The story concentrates on a dozen laid-off workers, relating their individual life stories and detailing their hopes, aspiration and fears. Though the ensemble acting is excellent, Die Stadt ist Voller Geheimnisse might have been more effective had it dealt with fewer characters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karl Ludwig Diehl, Werner Fuetterer, (more)
- 1953
That venerable Leo Fall operetta Die Rose von Stamboul was given a serviceable screen treatment in 1953. The fetchingly underdressed (Inge Egger) plays a pasha's niece, who agrees to a "marriage of convenience" to a supposedly stuffy diplomat. Alas, the girl has eyes only for a handsome composer (Albert Lieven). Imagine what will happen when she discovers (as the audience already has) that the diplomat and the composer are one in the same. Though well-directed and acted, Die Rose von Stamboul is saddled with rather lackluster photography, at least in the prints available for television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Inge Egger, Albert Lieven, (more)
- 1952
Originally released in Europe as simply Tromba, this German melodrama was distributed in the U.S. by Lippert Studios. The title character, played by Rene Deltgren, is a circus tiger trainer. To keep his beasts in line, Tromba utilizes hypnotism. This works so well on the job that Tromba begins mesmerizing women to do his bidding. To do this, he employs a special drug, a fact that proves to be his undoing when one of his castoff mistresses wreaks a terrible revenge. Most of Tromba was filmed through the auspices of the Krone Circus of Germany. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rene Deltgen, Angelika Hauff, (more)
- 1952
Tanz ins Gluck (Dance into Happiness) is another attempt by the Austrian film industry to revive the popular prewar operetta genre. Though Johannes Heesters is afforded top billing, the plot is motivated by Heester's leading lady Lucie Englisch. The plot is one of those forgettable concoctions about a harmless romantic misunderstanding mushrooming into a comic disaster. Oscar Levant once described a musical comedy as "a series of catastrophes, ending with a floor show"; let this suffice as a description for Tanz ins Gluck. The music, by popular composer Robert Stoltz, is the most memorably aspect of the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johannes Heesters, Waltraut Haas, (more)
- 1952
In this German sci-fi comedy, the chaos begins when an amateur scientist invents a machine to make himself invisible. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1950
Gabriela (Zarah Leander) is a popular nightclub singer who has recently divorced her millionaire husband Thomas Lorenzen (Siegfried Breuer). Just before running off with her lover, pianist Charlie (Carl Raddatz), Gabriela kidnaps her own daughter Andrea (Vera Molnar), who'd been left in her father's custody. Leaving her daughter in the care of a kindly mountain family, Gabriela and Charlie embark on a decade-long series of trials and tribulations, with occasional pauses for songs. A major box-office hit in Germany, Gabriela scores on its strong characterizations, from the leading character to the lowliest bit player. The film also represented the return to the screen of musical-comedy favorite Zarah Leander, who'd "officially" retired to her native Sweden in 1943, much to the dismay of her most fervent fans (including Hitler and Gobbels!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zarah Leander, Carl Raddatz, (more)
- 1949
In this lively German comedy, a stodgy accountant begins spending a little too much time with his buddies at the local watering-hole while his wife is away on vacation. His poor children begin fearing that their father has taken a mistress and so begin sending him mysterious notes signed by "friends of your wife" (the English translation of the title). The merry mix-ups continue when the wife suddenly returns. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
