Horst Buchholz Movies
Wiry and intense German leading man Horst Buchholz appeared in many British and Hollywood films where he was usually cast as a romantic lead. During his youth he frequently appeared on radio and stage; he entered films as a voice-over actor in the dubbing of foreign pictures. After appearing at Berlin's Schiller Theater, he was discovered by director Julien Duvivier, who gave him his debut screen role in Marianne de ma Jeunesse (1955). That same year he appeared in Helmut Kautner's Sky Without Stars, for which he won the Cannes Film Festival Best Actor award. Buchholz broke through as a major star after playing the title role in the internationally successful The Confessions of Felix Krull (based on the 1957 Thomas Mann novel), leading him to Hollywood. Although he had a slight German accent, he made his American debut as a cowboy in The Magnificent Seven (1960). He is married to French actress Myriam Bru. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1954
Peter De Mendelssohn's novel Marianne of My Youth was the source for this mystical romantic drama. Marianne (Marianne Hold) is the Bavarian sweetheart of wealthy young Argentinian finishing-school student Vincent (Pierre Vaneck). Hero meets heroine when his schoolmates lock him in a crumbling mansion as part of a fraternity initation. The ethereal Marianne insist that she's the prisoner of the ogre of the castle--her ageing, debauched lover. An idyllic romance follows. . .but is Marianne all that she claims to be? Can it be that Marianne is merely a figment of Vincent's youthful imagination? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marianne Hold, Pierre Vaneck, (more)
Rising young German leading man Horst Buccholz followed up his award-winning performance in Sky Without Stars with his starring role in Die Halbstarken. The title translates to "The Half-Strong Ones", in reference to the film's juvenile-delinquent protagonists. Though virtually irredeemable, Buccholz's gang-leader character is softened somewhat by his love for tenement girl Karin Baal. With the exception of Buccholz, most of the young toughs in the film are nonprofessionals, exuding a raw energy that many "pros" could not emulate. Most of Die Halbstarken was lensed on location in genuine gang-ridden urban neighborhoods. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Horst Buchholz, Karin Baal, (more)
- 1957
17th century author Daniel Defoe is assisted by a group of children in this drama. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1957
Monpti is better known by its English-language title Love From Paris. Romy Schneider stars as Anne Claire, a seamstress who pretends to be wealthy in order to crash society. In this guise, she meets and falls in love with starving artist Monpti (Horst Buchholz), who has no time for women of wealth. Sensing a challenge, Anne pursues Monpti, keeping her true identity a secret. What starts as a light-hearted romp unexpectedly deepens into tragedy. The film is narrated by a wry, all-knowing Parisian who, at closer inspection, turns out to be director Helmut Kautner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Romy Schneider, Horst Buchholz, (more)
- 1957
Confessions of Felix Krull was adapted from the last novel by German author Thomas Mann. Horst Buchholtz stars as a German soldier sent to Paris during World War I. He casts aside his uniform and gets a job as an elevator operator. A handsome lug, Buchholtz is pursued by virtually every female who enters his little compartment. But the lad is shy, and besides, he'd rather discuss anthropology. You'll have to watch the film for yourself to see what, if anything, Felix Krull has to confess. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Horst Buchholz, Liselotte Pulver, (more)
- 1957
Set in the late 1700s, this grim Danish psychological drama chronicles the mental breakdown of Sweden's young monarch amidst the intrigue and treachery. The king ascended his throne at age 19. His stepmother, the queen, objects and schemes to have him replaced by her natural son. Her plan is to have the depressive king declared mentally incompetent to rule by a noted specialist. Unfortunately, the doctor offers an honest diagnosis and the king keeps his throne. The doctor begins treating him and soon the king's melancholia abates and he begins ruling properly. He rewards the physician by naming him Prime Minister and his closest confidant. Unfortunately, problems arise when the new minister finds himself unable to resist the charms of the king's British wife. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
When a made-up story crafted to meet a rapidly approaching deadline spirals out of control, a young reporter takes it upon himself to warn the public and his journalistic peers of the dangers of sensationalism in this long-lost film noir directed by Frank Wisbar and starring Horst Buchholz. Aspiring journalist Greg Bachmann (Buchholz) has just been released from prison and is looking for some honest work. Soon hired as assistant to influential yellow journalist Cesar Boyd (Martin Held), Bachmann is shocked to discover that his new employer has concocted the story of a blind Nazi soldier discovered in a bunker years after the end of World War II in order to meet a looming deadline. When other reporters latch on to the story and run a phony picture of the long-lost soldier, a peaceful protest aimed at pressuring authorities to release the man quickly elevate into a full-scale riot. Now, with all of Europe in chaos, Bachmann must race to expose the fraudulent scoop and spread the word about the dangers of tabloid reporting. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Horst Buchholz, Martin Held, (more)
- 1959
Twelve-year-old Hayley Mills made her film starring debut in the location-filmed melodrama Tiger Bay. Horst Buchholz plays a Polish sailor who, while docked in Cardiff, jealously murders his ex-girlfriend Yvonne Mitchell. The killing is witnessed by Hayley, a lonely, hoydenish preteen whose only interest in the crime is Buccholz' abandoned gun. Hayley picks up the weapon, intending to impress the other kids in town. She succeeds only in attracting the attention of police inspector John Mills (Hayley's real life father), who wants to know where she found the gun and under what circumstances. An experienced liar, Hayley drives the inspector crazy with her fabrications. Sent home with a stern reprimand, Hayley is kidnapped by Buccholz, who doesn't want to kill the child, but doesn't want to be revealed to the police, either. Convinced that Buchholz means her no harm, Hayley offers to help him escape. He returns the favor by rescuing her from a watery grave, at the cost of his own freedom. On the basis of her performance in Tiger Bay, Hayley Mills not only won a special prize at the Berlin Film Festival, but was invited to star in Disney's Pollyanna (1960). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Mills, Horst Buchholz, (more)
Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai (1954) is westernized as The Magnificent Seven. Yul Brynner plays Chris, a mercenary hired to protect a Mexican farming village from its annual invasion by bandit Calvera (Eli Wallach). As Elmer Bernstein's unforgettable theme music (later immortalized as the "Marlboro Man" leitmotif) blasts away in the background, Chris rounds up six fellow soldiers of fortune to help him form a united front against the bandits. The remaining "magnificent six" are played by Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen, Horst Buchholz, Robert Vaughn, James Coburn, and (the one that everybody forgets) Brad Dexter. Though jam-packed with action, William Roberts's screenplay pauses long enough to flesh out each of its characters, allowing the audience to pick their own favorites. The Magnificent Seven was followed by three sequels, not to mention dozens of imitations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, (more)
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, All Movie Guide
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Horst Buchholz, (more)
Fanny was adapted from the Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was based on the final chapter of Marcel Pagnol's "Marseilles Trilogy". Pagnol's original, titled Cesar, ends with protagonist Marius returning to the sea, leaving behind his lover Fanny and their son. Expanding upon the original, Fanny picks up the narrative nine years later. Marius (Horst Buchholtz) finally meets his son and is reunited with Fanny (Leslie Caron). She tells him that Panisse (Maurice Chevalier), the elderly suitor who married Fanny to save her from disgrace, is dying. On the verge of shuffling off his mortal coil, Panisse gives Fanny and Marius his blessings, hoping that they'll marry at long last. Charles Boyer co-stars as Cesar, the philosophical gent portrayed in the 1930s film versions of the Pagnol trilogy by the great Raimu. Fanny goes its merry way without any of the songs in the original Broadway score, despite the proven musical talents of Caron and Chevalier. Producer/director Joshua Logan saved himself plenty of embarrassment when he agreed not to release this film as Joshua Logan's Fanny. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, (more)
- 1963
This drama follows the nine hours that came before the assassination of Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi by a Hindu radical. Naturam Godse (Horst Buchholz), a Brahmin who was rejected for service in the British Army and is horrified by the fighting between Moslem and Hindu fanatics, comes to the conclusion that the only solution to the civil unrest is to kill Gandhi (J.S. Casshyap), believing that the leader's philosophy of non-violence has only fanned the flames of unrest. In love with a married woman, Rani Mahta (Valerie Gearon), Godse spends a guilty afternoon with her as he flashes back on his life of violence and mistreatment; he also pays a call to Sheila (Diane Baker), a prostitute. Meanwhile, as civil unrest flares around him, Ghandi goes about his daily rounds, despite warnings from police chief Gopal Das (Jose Ferrer) that his life is in danger. J.S. Casshyap was a 64-year-old teacher and author before being cast as Gandhi in this, his first film role. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Horst Buchholz, José Ferrer, (more)
- 1964
Horst Bucholz plays Dino, a painter who realizes he has no artistic vision and decides to move back into his wealthy mother's (Betty Davis) home. Just before he does this, however, he falls in love with beautiful and self-serving Cecilia (Catherine Spaak). Though Dino diligently attempts to convince her to marry him, she refuses, but offers to be his lover until someone better strikes her fancy. When that becomes an actuality, Dino does not fare well under the emotional trauma and has a nervous breakdown. With the help of his mother, Dino recovers to find he may not be completely devoid of talent after all. Based on La Noia, an Italian novel by Alberto Moravia. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bette Davis, Horst Buchholz, (more)
- 1965
In this spy comedy, a jet-setting playboy takes time off from his daredevil endeavors to help a seductive FBI agent save a nuclear scientist from a nefarious megalomaniac with designs on controlling the world. The sexy agent and the playboy are also pursued by a ring of Chinese agents who also want the scientist. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1965
Tony (Horst Buchholz) is an international adventurer who is called on to find a kidnapped scientist in this Bond-style spy saga that never sags. After being deported from the U.S., he leaves his gambling club to find the missing man and collect the million dollar reward. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Horst Buchholz, Sylva Koscina, (more)
- 1965
Co-directed by French filmmakers Noël Howard and Denys de La Patellière, La Fabuleuse aventure de Marco Polo is a star-studded, epic retelling of the story of the famed thirteenth-century Venitian explorer. Filmed on location in France, Italy, Yugoslavia, Egypt and Afghanistan, the film stars Horst Bucholz as Polo, the ambitious young voyager who, along with his faithful servant Akerman (Orson Welles), ventures to China, where he joins Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan (Anthony Quinn) in his fight against rebelling forces. Also starring Omar Sharif, La Fabuleuse aventure de Marco Polo was released in the United States and Great Britain under the title Marco the Magnificent. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Quinn, Elsa Martinelli, (more)
- 1968
When Paola (Daniele Gaubert) feels her husband Marco (Philippe Leroy) is neglecting her, she willingly falls for his best friend Alberto (Horst Buchholz). Marco allows the affair to proceed and Paola experiences feelings of love she never knew were possible. She returns to her marital commitments but allows her romantic fantasies of Alberto and a Lesbian lover to continue. Marco soon experiences the positive benefits of his wife's imagination as their romantic romps take a favorable turn for the better. Nude scenes could mark this film as an exploitation feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniele Gaubert, Philippe Leroy, (more)
- 1968
In this comedy, a casino owner in Barcelona absconds with a gangster's fortune and is chased to Monte Carlo where he impersonates a millionaire. While there he weds a wealthy American widow. When the gangster learns of the marriage, he and the thief's ex-mistress team up and head for Monte Carlo where they plan on winning back the mobster's missing fortune. Meanwhile the thief thinks about murdering his bride for her money. Unfortunately, the vengeful gangster does it first and frames her new husband for the death. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1969
- PG
This epic Spanish biopic chronicles the life of Cervantes, Spain's great novelist, playwright and poet, during the 16th-century, when as a young man he goes to Italy to become a soldier for the Pope. Later he helps the Pope's emissary wage war against the Spanish Moors. His exploits win him great favor. He falls in love with a famous Italian courtesan and she with him. Unfortunately, the Pope splits them apart with his newest decree which demands that all prostitutes leave the city. Upset, Cervantes goes to fight in the famed sea battle of Lepanto and comes back a hero. Later he is captured by Barbary pirates and ransomed by Trinitarian friars. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
