Karl Anton Movies
- 1960
If you're into stories about disgruntled postal employees, you'll probably get an extra kick out of the gory German melodrama The Avenger. The "hero" is a criminal who uses the European mail services to (literally) dispatch his victims. First he slices off the heads of his enemies. Then he neatly packages up those heads and sends them through the mail. We'd like to say that he's foiled by insufficient postage, but we'd be fibbing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 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)
- 1936
Letzte Rose (The Last Rose) was adapted from Frederich von Flotow's opera Martha. Set in a very Teutonic-looking England, the story concerns a royal lady-in-waiting named Harriet (Carla Spletter) who is promised in marriage to an aristocrat, Lord Tristan (Georg Alexander). Alas, Harriet has fallen in love with humble peasant Lyonel (Helge Rosenwange). All seems lost for Harriet and Lyonel until Queen Elizabeth unexpectedly rules that the English peasants are now permitted to be landowners, putting Lyonel on equal footing with the huffy Tristan. Considering the fact that the film deals in individual personalities, it's surprising that most of the musical highlights in Letzte Rose are group production numbers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hanna Ralph, Huguette Duflos, (more)
- 1932
Monsieur Albert (Noel-Noel) is the headwaiter of a fancy Parisian restaurant. Falling in love with the beautiful Sylvia (Betty Stockfield), our hero follows her to a Swiss vacation resort, where she mistakes him to be a member of royalty. With the help of a fun-loving European King (Baron Fils) who owes the waiter a favor, Albert manages to pull off his charade all the way to the alter. Amusingly, the main restaurant set bears a striking resemblance to a real-life Parisian dining establishment known as Albert's. The stellar French leading lady Edwige Feuillere shines in a subordinate role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Stockfeld, Edwige Feuillère, (more)
- 1932
Le Cordon Bleu doesn't refer to a ham-and-veal delicacy, though there is plenty of ham in this Gallic comedy. The scene is a posh Parisian hotel-restaurant, which ends up a hotbed of infidelity and mistaken identity. Hotel cook Regina (Cora Lynn) is romantically involved with her boss Octave (Pierre Bertin), the husband of Irma (Jeanne Herbling). Mistaken for another woman, Irma is passionately pursued by Bernereau (Baron Fils), whose wife gets involved with someone else's husband, whose wife gets involved with . . . This keeps going for 85 minutes, by which time the audience is as winded as the cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marguerite Moreno, Jeanne Helbling, (more)
- 1932
Criez-Le Sur Les Toits (Shout It From Housetops) was the French-language version of the 1931 Paramount comedy It Pays to Advertise. Saint Granier assumes the old Norman Foster role as the son of autocratic soap manufacturer Pauley (in the role originally played by Eugene Pallette). To prove his value to his father -- and himself -- Granier successfully promotes an entirely fictitious soap product, forcing Pauley to bargain with Granier on the boy's terms. Simone Heliard co-stars as the loving secretary who helps our hero succeed in his goal; in the original It Pays to Advertise, this part was essayed by Carole Lombard. Criez-Le Sur Les Toits was the popular Saint Granier's final film on his Paramount contract. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Burnier, Paul Pauley, (more)
- 1932
The "little lady in the train" is Meg Lemonnier, cast as Irene, the flighty wife of a bourgeois Parisian. Hoping to escape her husband for a rendezvous with her boyfriend, she pretends to board the wrong train. Things take an unexpected turn when the train on which Irene is supposed to be riding is involved in a terrible accident. Presumed to have been killed, our heroine is able to dally a bit longer than expected with her sweetheart -- but she's in for quite a few surprises when she returns home to tell her husband the truth. Top billing in Une Petite Femme dans le Train was bestowed upon Henri Garat, who shortly after completing this film headed to Fox Studios in hopes of establishing himself as a Hollywood favorite (he didn't, but not for lack of trying). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meg Lemonnier, Henri Garat, (more)
- 1931
Das Maedel von der Resperbahn (Girl from the Resperbahn) was based on a story by Benne Vigny. When young Hanna (Olga Tschekova) is washed up on shore after a shipwreck, she is rescued by lighthouse keeper Uwe Bull (Hans von Schlettow). Out of gratitude, Hanna marries her savior, though she does not love him. The story takes an ominous turn when Hanna falls hard for a young sailor (Josef Rowensky). Reviewers in 1930 were less impressed by the stars of this film than they were by popular baritone Andre Pilot, cast in a marginal role as a cabaret singer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hans Adalbert von Schlettow, Olga Tschechowa, (more)
- 1931
Based on the best-selling book by Egon Erwin Kisch, this Czechoslovakian production tells the true story of one of the most flagrant turncoats in European history. A officer on the pre-WWI Austrian military staff, Colonel Redl has no qualms about accepting bribes from and passing secrets to the hated Russians. Playing both sides of the fence, Redl also accepts gratuities from his fellow Austrians to get the goods on "undesirables" from within. His justification? As a member of the "lower orders," Redl feels that he could never have cracked the aristocratic upper circles of the European military without resorting to treachery. The real Redl's homosexuality is not an issue in this film, though it certainly would be in Istvan Szabo's 1985 production Colonel Redl (not a remake of the 1931 film, but instead adapted from John Osborne's A Patriot for Me). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Theodor Loos, Lil Dagover, (more)
