Ralf Wolter Movies

A biting and effective semi-experimental film about Nazism in Germany, director Kurt Hoffmann tells the story in a long flashback, starting in 1913 and playing out like a silent movie on a small screen. Every once in awhile, the action scenes, which are narrated in a voiceover, are paused for a little ironic piano music and accompanying lyrics. Hans (Hansjorg Felmy) is an anti-Nazi journalist who loses his job because he will not join the party. Bruno (Robert Graf) is a dim-witted, brutal, pro-Nazi follower who joins up to gain the recognition he desires. Years later, Bruno is a ruthless industrialist whose Nazi tactics and philosophy have not changed at all, and Hans is a VIP editor now dedicated to exposing men like Bruno for what they were during the war. The result and the accompanying commentary are quite hard-hitting. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

A man finds his peaceful existence thrown into turmoil when he recognizes the town's public prosecutor as the former Nazi who almost had him killed for stealing two chocolate bars in a concentration camp in this drama. Strangely the former inmate feels no hostility, nor holds a grudge against the man; instead he wants to put the whole nightmare behind him. Unfortunately, the attorney recognizes him too and is afraid that the man will expose him so he uses his power to try to get the man thrown out of town. As none of the other townsfolk will help him, the man steals some chocolate from a store so he will have to be brought to trial. Sure enough his theft causes the prosecutor to fly into a blind rage during the trial. He then leaves the courtroom and the man is at last free. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In his last starring film (it was supposed to be his last film, but Ragtime came along in 1981), James Cagney plays Coca-Cola executive C.R. MacNamara. Assigned to manage Coke's West Berlin office, MacNamara dreams of being transferred to London, and to do this he must curry favor with his Atlanta-based boss, Hazeltine (Howard St. John). Thus, MacNamara agrees to look after Hazeltine's dizzy, impulsive daughter, Scarlett (Pamela Tiffin), during her visit to Germany. Weeks pass, and on the eve of Hazeltine's visit to West Berlin, Scarlett announces that she's gotten married. Even worse, her husband is a hygienically challenged East Berlin Communist named Otto Piffl (Horst Buchholz). The crafty MacNamara arranges for Piffl to be arrested by the East Berlin police and to have the marriage annulled, only to discover that Scarlett is pregnant. In rapid-fire "one, two, three" fashion, MacNamara must arrange for Piffl to be released by the Communists and successfully pass off the scrungy, doggedly anti-capitalist Piffl as an acceptable husband for Scarlett. MacNamara must accomplish this in less than 12 hours, all the while trying to mollify his wife (Arlene Francis), who has learned of his affair with busty secretary Ingeborg (Lilo Pulver).

Seldom pausing for breath, Billy Wilder's film is a crackling, mile-a-minute farce, taking satiric scattershots at Coca-Cola, the Cold War (the film is set in the months just before the erection of the Berlin Wall), Russian red tape, Communist and capitalist hypocrisy, Southern bigotry, the German "war guilt," rock music, and even Cagney's own movie image. Not all the gags are in the best of taste, and most of the one-liners have dated rather badly, but Cagney's mesmerizing performance holds the whole affair together. Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond adapted their screenplay from an obscure play by Ferenc Molnár. Watch for Red Buttons in an unbilled cameo as a military policeman, and listen for the voice of Sig Rumann, emanating from the mouth of actor Hubert Von Meyerinck (the Count von Droste-Schattenburg). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Although filmed by a joint German-Yugoslav crew, this European western is set in the Southern United States and involves an oddly-named hero, Old Shatterhand (Lex Barker of Tarzan fame). O.S. has a sidekick, Winnetou, an Apache chief played by a rather understated Pierre Brice. The fuel behind the drama is a hidden map that shows where a secret treasure is buried somewhere around Silver Lake. A gang of outlaws headed by Cornel Brinkley (Herbert Lom) is intent on retrieving the map and the treasure. Just as intent on stopping them are Old Shatterhand, Winnetou, and Fred Engel (Goetz George) whose father was killed by the outlaws' leader. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This 1963 Eurowestern begins with a dead rancher and some Indians, indicating that the Apaches have broken their peace treaty. Only a young boy knows that the killings (which include his parents) were actually done by ruthless land grabbers hoping to start a war between the Indians and the settlers. Shatterhand (played by Lex Barker), who is the adopted brother to the Apache's chief, tires to clear his friends' names and follows the trail of deception which leads right back to the gates of the Cavalry's fort. ~ Cub Koda, Rovi

Kara Ben Nemai (Lex Barker) is a German adventurer who sets out to find the villainous Yellow Devil who has been terrorizing the residents of Monte Negro. When Kara learns the mystery man is posing as a prosperous carpet merchant, he chases his adversary over the scenic mountains of Yugoslavia. Several gun battles and fist fights occur as Kara tries to capture the criminal. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

A group of children play a game on their island home of Ruegen in the Baltic Sea. They revise an ancient heathen ritual one cold March day by standing in the frigid water. The one who lasts the longest in the icy cold will be referred to as the king of Kummerow. They befriend a poor shepherd who is something of a social outcast, and the group makes fun of a pompous preacher and the mean, miserly miller who tries to drive their shepherd friend out of town. The children rejoice when their nemesis the miller is hauled off to jail to pay for his past crimes in this engaging, heartwarming story. West German producer Walter Koppel used an East German crew, taking advantage of a recently developed color process called Orwocolor. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi