Sonja Ziemann Movies

This bleak World War II action drama, directed by John Guillermin, concerns the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen -- the last remaining span across the Rhine into Germany during the final days of the war in 1945. German General von Brock (Peter Van Eyck) is ordered to blow up the bridge rather than let it fall into American hands. Von Brock is reluctant to carry out the orders, however, because that would mean abandoning 50,000 soldiers to the on-coming Americans. Putting Major Paul Kreuger (Robert Vaughn) in charge, he tells him to try to hold the bridge as long as possible. Meanwhile, U.S. Brigadier General Skinner (E.G. Marshall) is trying to trap the retreating Germans by making a push to the Rhine. Leading the offensive is Major Barnes (Bradford Dillman), an officer held in contempt by most of the men. Platoon leader Lieutenant Phil Hartman (George Segal) takes a particular dislike to him. Hartman is also at odds with Sergeant Angela (Ben Gazzara), a scavenger who likes to steal from the corpses of dead German soldiers. As the Americans push onward to Remagen, the Germans step up their resistance. When the Americans reach Remagen, Krueger unsuccessfully attempts to blow up the bridge and throws all his soldiers into a full-assault on the Americans. Skinner orders that the American soldiers must push forward and take the bridge intact. In the face of heavy German opposition, Hartman and Angelo find that they must put aside their differences and fight for a common cause -- to take the bridge at all costs. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Filmed in South Africa, Journey into Nowhere stars Tony Wright as a compulsive gambler. Heavily in debt to the mob, Wright has 48 hours to pay off, lest he lose the use of his life. He meets Sonja Ziemann, a blind girl who is contemplating suicide. Wright talks Ziemann into taking out an insurance policy, planning to kill her (with her permission) in order to pay off his debts. But the couple falls in love, and Wright is unable to carry out his plan. One of the mob members accomplishes what Wright fails to do; Wright grimly collects on Ziemann's policy, losing his true love and his sole reason for living in the process. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This routine, slow-paced biographical drama is based on the 1929 autobiography of Swedish doctor Axel Martin Fredrik, The Story of San Michele. The drama follows the physician, psychiatrist, and adventurer as he travels the distances from Lapland to his Villa San Michele on Capri, with special stops in Paris and Rome. Personal physician to Queen Victoria, also physician to the Swedish royal family (he spent his last years living in the Royal Palace in Sweden), "Axel Munthe" knew everyone from the poorest clients to the most well-endowed. His love of animals, his support of bird sanctuaries, his involvement with architecture as he constructs his impressive villa over a period of five summers, and his interests in archaeology and hypnotism are all explored. O.W. Fischer's portrayal of the doctor is sometimes criticized as having more Fischer than Munthe in it. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The "WHO" in A Matter of Who isn't a "who" but a "what". The word is an anagram for the World Health Organization, a curious subject for a British comedy--especially one which utilizes a communicable disease as a plot device! WHO operatives Terry-Thomas and Alex Nicol trace the outbreak of a smallpox epidemic to ruthless oil millionaire Guy Deghy. Offsetting the (literal) unhealthiness of the plotline is Terry-Thomas' romance with Sonja Ziemann, the widow of a smallpox victim. A Matter of WHO was picked up for U.S. distribution by MGM. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the worst of many inhuman aspects of World War II were the "penalty" battalions in the German army, dramatized in this excellent film about several men serving in these units. Director Harald Phillipp spares no ounce of realism in first relating what kinds of men are conscripted, and then how they are treated. One man's crime was not returning to his unit on time, another did not follow unscrupulous orders, yet another supposedly mutilated himself in order to escape the draft. Once in a penalty battalion, the assignments and the superior officers are brutal. The men are sent to the most dangerous battle fronts, they are asked to de-mine without equipment, and no one balks at leaving them without weapons if a hasty retreat is in order. Sobering and well-photographed, the men's stories are engrossing from beginning to end. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Though much of its glory had faded by 1958, France's Tabarin nightclub still held a fascination for tourists and patrons. Filmed on location at the fabled nightspot, Tabarin is a colorful 110-minute dramatized documentary. Its narrative is held together by the efforts of American choreographer Lee Sherman, who works at the Tabarin in hopes of someday opening a club of his own. This thinnish scenario is essentially an excuse for an endless parade of flashy dance numbers, featuring fetchingly underdressed chorines. Gloriously old-fashioned in approach and appeal, Tabarin proved moderatly successful upon its first release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romantic comedy, a cocquette playfully pursues any man she can find. She is most enamored of a handsome playboy whom she pursues through some of Europe's most scenic sights including St. Moritz, Switzerland, Berlin, and Hamburg. After many adventures, the young flirt finally settles down with a less glamorous but true-blue fellow who has been there to pick her up everytime one of her romantic schemes fails. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The plot and comedy of this German effort is summed up by its English-language title: Nothing but Trouble with Love. Based on Herman Bahr's popular stage comedy The Concert, the film stars Victor de Kowa as a naïve music instructor. Trouble ensues when De Kowa invites his pretty pupil Winnie Markus to a mountain-climbing party. Before long, our hero is the recipient of painful "physical culture" from Winnie's jealous husband. Sonja Ziemann costars as the professor's sweetheart, who likewise doesn't buy De Kowa's protestations of innocence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide