Ralf Wolter Movies

In a failed attempt at comedy, the German pop group called The Trio do double duty in this film about double-takes -- each member of the Trio looks exactly like a dictator in Latin America. Once the dictators catch on to this coincidence, they develop a scheme to safely get their hands on the illegal fortune they have siphoned out of their countries and into Swiss bank accounts. The plan is to assassinate the Trio and fool their enemies back home into thinking they themselves have been killed -- leaving the door open to safely raid their loot in Switzerland. Most of the story then revolves around cases of mistaken identity. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Based on a non-fiction bestseller of the same name by Rolf Hochhuth, Eine Liebe In Deutschland is about a tragic and forbidden love affair between Stanislaw, a Polish POW (Piotr Lysak) and Paulina (Hanna Schygulla) a fruit-and-vegetable vendor in a small town in Germany along the border with Switzerland. Their affair would have gone undetected except for the busybody women of the village, and when Stanislaw is picked up by a German stormtrooper (Armin Müller-Stahl) and brought in for a mock trial, he is given a chance to prove his racial purity and so perhaps escape execution. As for Paulina, she is ostracized by the villagers and imprisoned for consorting with someone who was not of the same high Aryan caste as herself. Depressing, yet politically relevant to Poland of the early 1980s, this film by acclaimed director Andrzej Wajda) is an effective and emotional statement on the nature of oppression. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The Serpent's Egg, or Das Schlangenei is director Ingmar Bergman's second English language production (The Touch was his first). It is, however, his first completely non-Swedish production, made after his voluntary self-exile from Sweden over taxation issues. Set in Berlin in the early 1920s, it explores the fear and despair the city evokes in Manuela and Abel Rosenberg (Liv Ullmann and David Carradine), two Jewish trapeze artists. The suicide of Manuela's husband (Abel's brother), has stranded them in Berlin. Berlin is shown to already possess the sinister elements of cruelty and anti-Semitism which laid the groundwork for the later Nazi takeover. A series of misadventures gets them sent to a medical clinic for treatment. However, the clinic is actually a site for Nazi-type "racial" experiments on humans, which generally either madden or kill the subjects. Das Schlangenei was savaged by the critics for its improbable-seeming story and more particularly, for casting David Carradine (best known for his earlier appearances in the Kung Fu U.S. television series) in a crucial role. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

A film in German only, this is the story of the saving of a homestead. When a student inherits a hotel in a sad state of disrepair and about to be defaulted out from under her, she uses her imagination and her friends to turn it into a money-making affair. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

A young letter carrier possesses the unlimited gift of loving, much to the delight of the females on his postal route. His daily "special deliveries" are welcomed by the distaffs but severely curtails the business of a local psychiatrist. The frustrated shrink grows vampire fangs, but he tries to kill the postman with more conventional means. Guns, knives and traps fail to snare the intended victim, and the psychiatrist ends up killing himself. The local priest soon discovers the dead man is not in his grave, after a series of supernatural events point to the presence of a jealous vampire. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Susanne (Terry Torday) is the hostess of a popular hotel on the Lahn River. When she vacations in Paris, she becomes romantically involved with the emperor Napoleon. She sets him up with a bride and manages to uncover some military secrets in the court of the amorous emperor. There is plenty of nudity and suggestive dialogue to spice up what is otherwise a routine script with little imagination. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The thin plot of this film takes place during the Napoleonic invasion of Germany and is a backdrop for displaying several nude females. Susanne (Terry Torday) is the hostess of a well-known house of ill repute on the Lahn River. Susanne travels to Italy to deliver a message to Count Enrico (Jeffrey Hunter), an amorous lover under the spell of Napoleon's sister. She sets him up with a bride and manages to uncover some military secrets in the court of the amorous emperor. Folk songs were written about this actual historical hostess who dazzled young students with her legendary beauty. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, two Yankee con artists pose as tourists visiting scenic Naples. There they intend to rob an old church. Before pulling the caper, the two enlist the aid of a local criminal. The theft succeeds, but afterwards the crooks begin double-crossing each other. Murder and mayhem ensues as one American murders the other and then heads for the airport dressed as a nun. "Her" loot is, in turn, captured by the Italian crook and his friend. The local thief then heads for Switzerland accompanied by a bogus "cardinal" who protects him. Unfortunately for the crook, the cardinal turns out to be the real thing and takes the treasure back to its original home. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide