Otto Waldis Movies
With his learned countenance and a correct Germanic manner that could be avuncular or threatening, Otto Waldis was one of the more familiar European character actors in Hollywood and on television in the years after World War II. Born Otto Brunn in Vienna, Austria, in 1901, he turned to acting in his twenties and made his screen debut in an uncredited role in Fritz Lang's M in 1931.... (read more) He worked in one more movie that year -- Kinder Vor Gericht -- and then was unseen in films until after the war. Waldis' career resumed in 1947 in Hollywood under the aegis of his fellow European expatriate, director Max Ophüls, in the latter's The Exile. He was fully employed over the next decade, working constantly in television and movies, his performances covering a wide swath of entertainment. In 1948 alone, before he'd even made the jump to television, Waldis worked in popular, big studio productions like Henry Hathaway's Call Northside 777, Jacques Tourneur's Berlin Express, and independent films such as Ophüls' Letter From an Unknown Woman. He went on to play character roles in lighter fare, including the comedies I Was a Male War Bride and Love Happy (both 1949). With his wizened, bespectacled presence and correct Austrian bearing, Waldis was suited to roles ranging from valets to scientists; in The Whip Hand (1951), he played an unrepentant Nazi germ-warfare expert, while in Unknown World (1951) and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958), he played more benign scientists. But in 5 Fingers (1952), he was a Pullman porter, and in the Adventures of Superman episode "The Whistling Bird," he was part of a criminal conspiracy. He would occasionally play much more offbeat parts, such as Patch-Eye in Prince Valiant (1954). He closed out the 1950s portraying a police officer in Edward Dmytryk's disastrous remake of The Blue Angel (1959). Waldis' activity slackened considerably in the '60s, a period in which he made his first appearances in German films since the '30s. He was back in Hollywood during the '70s and had just been signed to appear in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein at the time of his death from a heart attack in early 1974. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
Hogan's Heroes: The Swing Shift
1967
In order to destroy a German ammunition factory, Hogan and his men go undercover as workers in the target factory. Their plans to blow up the place hit a snag when, through a...
The Phantom of Soho
1966
In this mystery, a beautiful mystery writer helps a Scotland Yard detective look into the murders of several important business man. She solves the mystery before the cop and...
Wild, Wild West
1965
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The Untouchables: The Death Tree
1962
Charles Bronson guest stars as Janos Kolescu, a renegade gypsy hired by the Syndicate to establish a new illegal-liquor market amongst his own people in Chicago. Kolescu has an...
Judgment at Nuremberg
1961
After the end of World War II, the world gradually became aware of the full extent of the war crimes perpetrated by the Third Reich. In 1948, a series of trials were held in...
Have Gun, Will Travel: Brother's Keeper
1961
Journeying through the mountains, Paladin (Richard Boone) is mauled by a cougar. Seeking the aid of two men named Cull (Wright King) and Boggs (Ben Wright), the injured...
Pier 5, Havana
1959
Having the unique distinction of being perhaps the only American drama filmed in Cuba just after Fidel Castro's revolution, Pier 5, Havana is also distinctive because the...
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman
1958
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman may well be one of the worst science-fiction films of all time, but that's not to say that it isn't thoroughly enjoyable. Allison Hayes achieved...
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Little White Frock
1958
An old backstage legend is the source for this, the final episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents' third season. Herbert Marshall stars as over-the-hill actor {%Colin...
Perry Mason: The Case of the Pint-Sized Client
1958
The Hargrove Finance Company has been robbed and Frank Anderson (James Anderson) lies dead. Identified by witnesses as one of the robbers, old Pop Renzi (Eduardo Ciannelli)...
Maverick: Diamond in the Rough
1958
In San Francisco, Bart (Jack Kelly) suspects that one of the town's leading citizens, Van Buren Kingsley, is a swindler. Before long, Kingsley shows his hand by arranging for...
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Lamb to the Slaughter
1958
This classic Emmy-nominated episode stars Barbara Bel Geddes as Mary Maloney, the wife of philandering police chief Patrick Maloney (played by former cowboy star Allan...
Perry Mason: The Case of the Empty Tin
1958
Doris Hocksley (Toni Gerry, long-lost daughter of the late Adam Hocksley and sole heir to Hocksley's estate, arrives in Los Angeles and contacts Alan Neil (Warren Stevens),...
Man from Del Rio
1956
The dramatic weight of Man From Del Rio rests securely on the broad shoulders of star Anthony Quinn. Cast as an indigent Mexican gunslinger, Quinn is asked by an old pal to...
Ride the High Iron
1956
Ride the High Iron originated as the 74-minute pilot episode of the proposed TV anthology Command Performance. When the series failed to sell, the film was released...
Sincerely Yours
1955
At the height of his TV fame, flamboyant pianist Liberace starred in the lavish Warner Bros. production Sincerely Yours. A remake of the old George Arliss vehicle The Man Who...
Port of Hell
1955
In this early disaster film, the tough-minded and strict Los Angeles Harbormaster must use his courage and wits when the communists announce they have planted an atomic bomb on a...
Desert Sands
1955
Although the French Foreign Legion became increasingly anachronistic in the 1950s, films like Desert Sands helped to perpetuate the glamorous legend of this mercenary...
Running Wild
1955
One of the earliest examples of the hot rod/juvenile delinquency flick, Running Wild featured William Campbell as a rookie cop infiltrating a gang of teenagers that are...
Knock on Wood
1954
With the exception of the brilliant The Court Jester, Knock on Wood must rank as the best of Danny Kaye's movie vehicles. Capitalizing on the star's recent successful...