Maximilian Schell Movies
Maximilian Schell may not be a household name, but he is internationally respected, particularly in Europe, as an award-winning actor/director of stage and screen. He was born in Vienna, Austria, on December 8, 1930, but raised in Switzerland after his parents, Swiss author/poet Hermann Ferdinand Schell and Austrian actress Margarethe Noe von Nordberg, fled there to escape the effects of Nazi Germany's forcible annexation of Austria in 1938. As a young man, Schell studied at three universities -- Zurich, Basel, and Munich -- before making his professional stage debut in 1952. In 1955, he appeared in his first film, Kinder, Mütter und ein General. He next debuted on Broadway and then in Hollywood, playing a German officer who befriends fellow soldier Marlon Brando in The Young Lions (1958).Schell earned an Oscar in 1961 for his intriguing performance as a defense attorney in Judgment at Nuremberg, and would subsequently be nominated for Oscars for his work in The Man in the Glass Booth (1975) and Julia (1977). In 1968, he produced Das Schloss (The Castle) and made his feature film directorial/screenwriting debut with Erste Liebe (First Love) in 1970. The latter film earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film, as did his 1973 effort Der Fussgänger. The latter also won him a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film. As a director and producer, Schell distinguished himself on the international stage with productions such as the remarkable Tales From the Vienna Woods and the modern opera Coronet. In addition to film and stage work, he has occasionally worked on television, winning a Golden Globe for his supporting role as Lenin in the HBO miniseries Stalin (1992) and additional acclaim for his work in Peter the Great (1986) and Joan of Arc (1999).
Since the late '80s, Schell's screen appearances became sporadic, and he rarely branched out from acting. Notable films from the '90s included a rare comic role opposite Marlon Brando in The Freshman (1990), a dramatic turn as a stern patriarch in screenwriter Joe Eszterhas' autobiographical Telling Lies in America (1997), Tea Leoni's father in Deep Impact (1998), and a cardinal in John Carpenter's Vampires (1998). When not busying himself on stage, screen, and television, he has distinguished himself as a concert pianist and conductor. He has performed with Claudio Abado, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony, and Leonard Bernstein. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1986
A TV mini-series, this is a visually pleasant movie about the life of Russia's colorful ruler, from childhood on. Big name cast is wasted on small roles, however. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Man under Suspicion begins at a German political assembly reduced to chaos by neo-fascist activists. Someone has to defend the principal instigator in court, and that responsibility falls on the shoulders of Maximillian Schell. Probing into his client's background, Schell uncovers some uncomfortable truths as to how so ostensibly unpopular a movement as fascism can fester in an "enlightened" Germany. Though slow going until the climactic scenes, Man under Suspicion is disturbing, provocative entertainment, with Maximillian Schell's mature performance an interesting contrast to his firebrand defense attorney in 1961's Judgment at Nuremberg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maximilian Schell, Lena Stolze, (more)
The fifth directorial effort of German film star Maximillian Schell, Marlene is an unorthodox documentary of the legendary Marlene Dietrich. After years of resisting Schell's entreaties, Dietrich finally agreed to participate in this project-but refused to appear on camera. Thus, a tape recording of a Dietrich-Schell interview is heard throughout, while the screen is filled with images of Marlene culled from stills, dramatic films (The Blue Angel, Shanghai Express et. al.) and newsreel footage. Still far from cooperative, Dietrich ignores Schell's questions, preferring to spin her own version of the Marlene mystique. Despite her efforts at self-protection, we are left with a fuller and more honest portrait of the actress than might have been possible in a traditional question-and-answer format. Originally released in Europe in 1984, Marlene was given its first wide American distribution in 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Set during World War II, The Assisi Underground deals with the efforts made by a handful of hardy European souls to rescue Jews from the Holocaust. Ben Cross plays a dynamic young Catholic priest who puts his own life on the line to save thousands of refugees from Nazi-occupied Italy. While the role of the Vatican in the war is still a matter of hot debate, there can be no denying that individuals like Cross existed: in fact, virtually every event depicted in this film is based on an actual event. Featured in the all-star cast are James Mason, Irene Papas, and Maximillian Schell. When originally released, Assissi Underground clocked in at 178 minutes, resulting in a well-intentioned but frankly boring wartime epic. The producers whittled the running time down to 118 minutes for its general release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Cross, James Mason, (more)
- 1983
This 1983 TV adaptation of Gaston Leroux's 1908 novel Phantom of the Opera was the fourth film version of the vintage chiller--and the one with perhaps the highest rate of digression from the original novel. This version is set in Budapest (where it was filmed) rather than Paris, obliging scripter Sherman Yellen to change all the character names. Protagonist Maximillian Schell is an orchestra leader whose singer wife Jane Seymour commits suicide after receiving a devastatingly bad review. Assaulting the critic, Schell is burned with acid, and scurries away to the catacombs beneath the Budapest opera house. Years later, he has become the never-seen Phantom of the Opera, and from his shadowy "home" he is coaching an aspiring young singer--who is the living image of his late wife (Jane Seymour essays both roles). Not so much a remake as a revision, this 1983 Phantom of the Opera is perhaps the most obscure of all the versions, overshadowed by the 1990 two-part TV adaptation starring Michael Caine, as well as the smash Broadway musical. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maximilian Schell, Jane Seymour, (more)
The overemphatic acting of Robby Benson was something of an endurance test to certain critics of the 1980s, but even these carpers were impressed by Benson's outstanding performance in The Chosen. Set in the Brooklyn of the 1940s, the film elucidates the friendship between two young Jews of differing factions. Benson is Hassidic, while Barry Miller is a Zionist. Though separated ideologically, the boys find a common bond through their love of stickball. Rod Steiger costars as Benson's rabbi father, delivering a performance virtually devoid of the mannered stridency that has marred many of his more recent film work. Based on a novel by Chaim Potok, The Chosen has become an annual Hannukah-season TV attraction in many cities; years after its release, the film served as the basis for a short-lived Broadway musical. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maximilian Schell, Rod Steiger, (more)
- 1980
The diary of teenaged Holocaust victim Anne Frank was first published in book form in 1952, then adapted into a Pulitzer Prize-winning stage play by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett two years later. Director George Stevens converted The Diary of Anne Frank into a film in 1959, an effort which required three hours' running time. This TV movie version, which first aired November 17, 1980, telescopes the material into two hours, downplaying the story's suspense in favor of character development. Melissa Gilbert stars as Anne Frank; Maximilian Schell and Joan Plowright play her parents; Melora Marshall is seen as Anne's sister, Margot. Doris Roberts and James Coco are cast as the Van Daans, with Scott Jacoby as their son (and Anne's first love), Peter. Clive Revill appears as fussy, obnoxious dentist Dussel. Rounding out the cast are Erik Holland and Anne Wyndham as the non-Jewish Dutch citizens who hid Anne, her family, Dussel, and the Van Daans in a tiny Amsterdam garret for two years during World War II. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melissa Gilbert, Maximilian Schell, (more)
- 1979
- R
In a resort town near Rome, Louise (Jacqueline Bisset) attempts to cope with her divorce, a new career, and John (Maximilian Schell), a boyfriend who is not much of an improvement on the husband she left behind. She has a demanding son, a demanding career, a demanding lover, and makes some impossible demands on herself. She gets together with a couple of girlfriends, including one who has just had a liaison with her boyfriend John, and decides that women haven't made nearly as much progress as they might have thought. Louise has also been having an affair with Henry (Terence Stamp), but isn't getting much joy from that relationship either. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacqueline Bisset, Maximilian Schell, (more)
- 1979
- PG
A young man and an older woman wonder if tennis is the only place where love means nothing in this romantic drama. Twenty-something Chris (Dean Paul Martin) is a rising star on the professional tennis circuit. Nicole (Ali MacGraw) is an artist in her early 40s who's involved with a wealthy man. Chris falls for Nicole, but while she's certainly attracted to him, she's not sure if she should give up her life of luxury in order to follow Chris in his uncertain future. Players is loaded with cameos from major tennis stars, including John McEnroe, Guillermo Vilas, and Ilie Nastase; Pancho Gonzales has a major supporting role as Chris' coach. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ali MacGraw, Dean Paul Martin, (more)
- 1979
- PG
Lee Marvin plays a CIA agent who lures a Soviet biological warfare expert aboard a European train in the hopes of murdering the expert, thus eliminating a world threat. Things go awry when the train is caught in an avalanche. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Shaw, Lee Marvin, (more)
- 1979
Marianne (Birgit Doll) is driven from her father's home when she is impregnated by Alfred (Hanno Poeschi), a vagabond loafer who abandons her after he has his fun. She goes to Vienna and takes a job in a strip club to provide for herself and her baby. Her father discovers his daughter's tawdry vocation when he and his buddies go to the club for a night of leering and drinking. Marianne later has no choice but to go back to the butcher to whom her father promised her in marriage before she fell for Alfred. The story is taken from a play by Oedoen Von Horath and is directed with flair by Maximilian Schell. Watch for silent movie star Lil Dagover playing the role of Helene. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Birgit Doll, Helmut Qualtinger, (more)
An ambitious sci-fier from the Disney folks, The Black Hole takes place in the future. A quintet of space travelers stumble across a "black hole." Not wishing to be sucked into the void, the crew prepares to flee, but stops long enough to investigate a mysterious space vessel near the entrance of the hole. Manning this craft is mad scientist Dr. Hans Reinhardt (Maximillian Schell), who intends to explore the black hole in hopes of finding the universe's energy source. The cast includes Anthony Perkins, Robert Forster, Yvette Mimieux, and others. The Black Hole marked one of the Disney company's first PG-rated films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, (more)
The film traces the lifelong relationship between playwright Lillian Hellman and Julia, a wealthy girl who turns her back on her upbringing to follow her ideals. In the 1930s, while the adult Hellman (Jane Fonda) struggles to establish herself as a playwright with the help of her lover, Dashiell Hammett (Jason Robards), Julia (Vanessa Redgrave) battles the exigencies of the Nazi regime. Visiting Julia in Germany, Lillian realizes how much her friend's idealism has cost her, both physically and financially. Lillian is asked by Julia's friend Johann (Maximilian Schell) to smuggle a large sum of money from Paris to Germany, the better to combat the Nazis from within. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and four acting awards, Julia won for Alvin Sargent's screenplay and Robards' and Redgrave's performances, leading to Redgrave's infamous "Zionist hoodlums" acceptance speech. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, (more)
It's late 1944, and the Allied armies are confident they'll win the World War II and be home in time for Christmas. What's needed, says British general Bernard Law Montgomery, is a knockout punch, a bold strike through Holland, where German troops are spread thin, that will put the Allies into Germany. Paratroops led by British major general Robert Urquhart (Sean Connery) and American brigadier general James Gavin (Ryan O'Neal) will seize a thin road and five bridges through Holland into Germany, with paratroops led by Lieutenant Col. John Frost (Sir Anthony Hopkins) holding the most critical bridge at a small town called Arnhem. Over this road shall pass combined forces led by British Lieutenant Gen. Brian Horrocks (Edward Fox) and British Lieutenant Col. Joe Vandeleur (Michael Caine). The plan requires precise timing, so much so that one planner tells Lieutenant Gen. Frederick Browning (Dirk Bogarde), "Sir, I think we may be going a bridge too far." The plan also has one critical flaw: Instead of a smattering of German soldiers, the area around Arnhem is loaded with crack SS troops. Disaster ensues. Based on a book by historian Cornelius Ryan, A Bridge Too Far is reminiscent of another movie based on a Ryan book, The Longest Day. Like that movie, it is loaded with more than 15 international stars, including Sir Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, Hardy Krueger, Gene Hackman, Maximilian Schell, and Liv Ullman. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, (more)
Ex-crime reporter turned novelist Raymond St. Ives (Charles Bronson) is drawn back into the world of his former profession by wealthy Abner Procane (John Houseman). St. Ives is hired to locate a stolen set of ledgers that, if made public, could trigger an all-out mob war. Amazingly, St. Ives fails to recognize who his real friends and enemies are in the course of his investigation, and it takes all his mental and physical resources to keep from being exterminated. One of the characters who isn't all that she seems is sexy Janet Whistler (Jacqueline Bisset). While the "main" cast is serviceable, the lineup of future stars in minor roles (Daniel J. Travanti, Jeff Goldblum, Robert Englund, Michael Lerner) is fascinating. Based on The Procane Chronicle, a novel by Oliver Bleeck. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Bronson, John Houseman, (more)
A quote from Bertolt Brecht ends this bitter and angry war film by Sam Peckinpah: "Do not rejoice in his defeat, you men. For though the world has stood up and stopped the bastard, the bitch that bore him is in heat again." Peckinpah's intense and belligerently non-commercial work, (based on the book by Willi Heinrich), is a World War II tale told from the German perspective, following a platoon of German soldiers in the Russia of 1943, when the German Wehrmacht forces had been decimated and the Germans were retreating along the Russian front. James Coburn is Steiner, a German corporal and recipient of the Iron Cross who feels that he owes his loyalty to his family and fellow soldiers and not to Hitler and the German war machine. But when a new commander, Captain Stransky (Maximillian Schell), takes over the platoon, Steiner and Stransky come into immediate conflict. Stransky is a career soldier, the complete opposite of Steiner, and a man who pledges himself heart and soul to Hitler and the war. But he envies Steiner for having been awarded an Iron Cross and deeply desires one himself. The problem is Stransky is a complete coward and recognizes that the only way he can be awarded an Iron Cross would be to get the bitter Steiner on his side. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Coburn, Maximilian Schell, (more)
Actor/writer Robert Shaw's powerhouse stage play The Man in the Glass Booth was transferred to the screen as part of the American Film Theatre series. Maximilian Schell plays Arthur Goldman, a Jewish businessmen living in Manhattan in 1965. A group of Israeli underground agents barge into Goldman's office and kidnap him. He is brought to Israel, placed in a bulletproof glass booth, and put on trial. His accusers charge that Goldman is not a Jew, but in fact a notorious Nazi war criminal, guilty of unspeakable crimes against humanity. Robert Shaw's name does not appear in the credits of The Man in the Glass Booth; he was so displeased with Edward Anhalt's screen adaptation that he had his name removed from the project. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maximilian Schell, Lois Nettleton, (more)
- 1975
Actor Maximillian Schell functioned as coproducer and director of End of the Game. Conversely, director Martin Ritt is the leading actor in this existentialist crime story. Ritt plays Hans Barlach, a Swiss police inspector who has spent 30 years trying to pin the murder of the woman he loved on Richard Gastmann, an "untouchable" industrialist (Robert Shaw). When Barlach's assistant Donald Sutherland is killed while trying to get the goods on Gastmann, the inspector puts idealistic detective Walter Tschantz (Jon Voight) on the case. Jacqueline Bisset costars as Anna Crawley Sutherland's girl friend, who attempts to solve the case on her own. Author Friedrich Durrenmatt, long fascinated with the intangible aspects of Guilt and Innocence, wrote the novel (The Judge and His Hangman) upon which End of the Game is based. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Voight, Jacqueline Bisset, (more)
- 1975
When the only surviving heir to the Emperor of Austro-Hungary, Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand (Christopher Plummer) was killed by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist, on June 28th, 1914, his death set in motion a chain of events which resulted in the First World War. This movie chronicles the events surrounding that death and it aftermath. The assassination gave the Germans and Austrians reason to fear that Russia was actively fomenting unrest in the Balkans, for Serbia was a bone of contention throughout the region. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Plummer, Florinda Bolkan, (more)
- 1975
Based on the best-selling novel by Nobel-laureate Heinrich Böll, this drama is a passionate indictment of Catholicism. Hans Schnier (Helmut Griem) has earned his living as a clown, though he is in fact a very covert sort of social critic. After enduring a difficult childhood in Bonn during the Second World War, including his mother's fanatic Nazism, he is appalled to discover many of the people he knows and loves swept deeply into involvement in the Catholic Church. His complete estrangement from his family and friends, who are now either bourgeois or passionately Catholic (or both), is demonstrated to him, after he makes a series of efforts to make contact. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helmut Griem, Hanna Schygulla, (more)
The Odessa File is set in Hamburg in the winter of 1963. Jon Voight plays Peter Miller, a German reporter who is investigating the whereabouts of missing Nazi war criminals. After reading the diary of a Holocaust survivor who has recently committed suicide, Miller goes on the trail of in-hiding SS officer Eduard Roschmann (Maximilian Schell). The reporter finds his investigation blocked by members of a secretive group called Odessa. With the help of Israeli activists, Miller persists in his search. Schell's sister Maria also appears in The Odessa File as Miller's mother, the widow of a German soldier. Based on a nailbiting novel by Frederick Forsyth, The Odessa File is highlighted by the exquisitely Teutonic score of Andrew Lloyd Webber. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Voight, Maximilian Schell, (more)
- 1974
The Pedestrian (Der Fussganger) was the second filmed directorial effort of German actor Maximillian Schell. Billed third under Gustav Rudolf Sellner and Ruth Hausmeister, Schell plays Andreas Giese, a Krupp-like industrialist whose past suddenly returns to haunt him. A newspaper article reveals that Giese was responsible for the wartime destruction of a Greek village and the wholesale slaughter of the villagers. Whether or not Giese feels remorse for his actions is ultimately beside the point: his family is torn apart and his son kills himself as a result of the accusation. Here as in other films, Schell exhibits his fondness for female European film stars of days gone by: Elizabeth Bergner, Lil (Metropolis) Dagover, Francoise Rosay and Peggy Ashcroft appear in key minor roles. The winner of several international awards and a "best foreign picture" Oscar nominee, The Pedestrian was also produced and written by Schell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Liv Ullman portrays a female pope -- based on a long-held rumor that the papacy was held by a woman between the reigns of Leo IV and Benedict III -- in this rambling saga directed by Michael Anderson. The British version of the film has been cut, not only removing twenty-one minutes of the film but also an entire contemporary framing story. In the full version, a modern-day woman evangelist, played by Ullman, who feels an affinity to the legendary Pope Joan, pays a visit to her psychiatrist (Keir Dullea). Searching through her past lives to see whether she is the reincarnation of Pope Joan, the film then flashbacks 1000 years to pick up Joan (Ullman in an earlier incarnation of her character) undergoing a succession of trials and tribulations. Joan then meets up with and becomes the mistress of Adrian (Maximilian Schell), a monk with an artistic bent. After the death of Charlemagne when roving bands of Saxons are raping women and ransacking the countryside, Joan flees the country by cutting her hair short and dressing like a man. Together Joan and Adrian escape to Greece. In Greece, Joan's street-corner preaching draws the attention of Pope Leo IV (Trevor Howard), who is impressed by her impassioned rendering of the Gospel. Still disguised as a man, Pope Leo, clueless as to her true sex, hires her as his secretary. From there, she rises up the ladder of the Roman Catholic Church, becoming a cardinal and then Pope Leo's successor. But then she becomes pregnant by a lover from her past (Franco Nero) and Joan must hide her delicate condition from the papal authorities and the rowdy masses. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liv Ullmann, Trevor Howard, (more)
- 1972
This French film is a tragic tale of thwarted love, set among the upper classes in turn-of-the-century Italy. As the only daughter in a large household, surrounded by watchful relatives, Paulina (Olga Karlatos) can only dream of romance. Between her romantic dreams and her deep religious devotion, she finds some solace. As an adult she finds love with the Count, (Maxmillian Schell) a married nobleman. Their love is strong, but he is unable to divorce his wife, and his position in society requires them to be extremely secretive. This is very unpleasant for her, and she attempts to flee the situation by becoming a nun. Though her love darkens her life, she cannot forget it, and she returns to secular life and arranges to meet him once again. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eliana de Santis, Olga Karlatos, (more)
- 1971
The subject of this bleak German historical film is the deterioration of the life of a man who failed to adapt to the changes in Austria after the World War I. Trotta (Andras Balint) is a minor nobleman, who, along with his peers, cheers the advent of the war. The war causes many financial reverses for his family, and his marriage becomes chaotic; his wife leaves him to live with a woman, though she comes back to his bed from time to time. As conditions worsen, he is forced to rent rooms in what had been his family's mansion. His wife, who had returned to live with him during a pregnancy, leaves again, and he contemplates suicide. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
