ZeddaZogenau Reviews

The Garden of Allah (1936)

Hollywood Classic with Marlene DIETRICH and Charles BOYER

[6/10 · 21 May 2024]

Five years after her phenomenal Hollywood debut with MOROCCO (ACADEMY AWARD nomination for Marlene!), DIETRICH went into the desert again. This time even in the colors of TECHNICOLOR and not for her home studio PARAMOUNT PICTURES, but for the independent producer SELZNICK INTERNATIONAL. The story told was based on a novel by Robert SMYTHE HICHENS and directed by Richard BOLESLAWSKI.

The pious Domini Enfilden (Marlene DIETRICH) inherits a huge fortune after her father's death. Exhausted from long-term care, the young woman doesn't know what to do with her future life. On the advice of Mother Superior Josephine (Lucille WATSON), who raised her, Domini goes to the Sahara to experience the meaning of life through retreats. There she meets Boris Androvsky (Charles BOYER), who is surrounded by a big secret. Only after her wedding to him does the God-fearing Domini find out that she is married to a runaway Trappist monk. After some back and forth, they both make a momentous decision...

In post-Pre-Code Hollywood, films full of religious fervor could once again be made. Unbelievable and close to kitsch, but with beautiful colors and powerful images of the desert near Yuma. Marlene DIETRICH probably didn't get along particularly well with her film partner Charles BOYER (four ACADEMY AWARD nominations). Severe sandstorms also affected the overpriced production.

The later Sherlock Holmes actor Basil RATHBONE (two ACADEMY AWARD nominations) and John CARRADINE can be seen in other roles. The Vienna-born ACADEMY AWARD winner Joseph SCHILDKRAUT (he won the award in 1938 for his role as Alfred Dreyfus in THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA) has a very enjoyable role as Batouch. In 1960, Joseph SCHILDKRAUT also played Anne Frank's father (in THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK), for which he received a GOLDEN GLOBE nomination. The Viennese Tilly LOSCH (1903 - 1975) can be discovered as a dancer in a small role.

The Viennese composer Max STEINER (1888 - 1971) received an ACADEMY AWARD nomination for his beautiful music.

THE GARDEN OF ALLAH is definitely not the strongest film in Marlene DIETRICH's long career! But you can experience the beautiful Berliner in color and at the height of her fame. That alone is worth a viewing, which the BERLINALE recognized a few years ago when it brought this aesthetically impressive film back to the big screen as part of a retrospective.

The House That Screamed (1969)

Spanish Horror Shocker with Lilli PALMER

[8/10 · 20 May 2024]

How well known the two-time GOLDEN GLOBE nominee Lilli PALMER was internationally can be seen in this Spanish shocker (in giallo and slasher style) from 1969. And another continuity: As in GIRL IN UNIFORM (1958) with Romy SCHNEIDER once again plays PALMER, a boarding school teacher, albeit in a villainous development of her role in the West German classic. Lilli PALMER (1914 - 1986) received her two GOLDEN GLOBE nominations in 1960 for the Hollywood comedy BUT NOT FOR ME and posthumously in 1987 for the mini-series PETER THE GREAT.

Senora Fourneau (Lilli PALMER) is the formidable head of a girls' boarding school where a lot of things aren't right. The blossoming young ladies are strictly encouraged to practice discipline and order. But appearance is deceptive. There is a rude tone among each other, bullying is almost mandatory! The strict headmistress tries to keep her own son (John MOULDER-BROWN) away from the morally neglected young women as much as possible. Of course that doesn't work. Schoolgirls disappear without a trace, the aging building is on its last legs. Some students (Cristina GALBO, Mary MAUDE and Maribel MARTIN) discover a bizarre secret...

This remarkable horror-shocker attracted 2,924,836 visitors to Spanish cinemas. This was probably mainly due to the extensive shower scenes of the enchanting young ladies. But Lilli PALMER also does her job very well as usual. John MOULDER-BROWN was supposed to be seen as FELIX KRULL in the mini-series of the then West German television station ZDF in 1982.

Really good shocker from Spain, which served as a model for later films in the giallo and slasher genres!

Adagio (II) (2023)

Italian Crime Movie with Pierfrancesco FAVINO, Toni SERVILLO and Adriano GIANNINI

[8/10 · 19 May 2024]

Rome is on fire! There is a fire somewhere near the Italian capital. Unbearable heat hangs over the Eternal City as Vasco (Adriano GIANNINI) prepares pasta for his two sons. But his eyes keep wandering to the tablet, which shows pictures of a strange party. There, 16-year-old Manuel (Gianmarco FRANCHINI), who has just been looking after his father (Toni SERVILLO) who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, is on some strange mission. Due to the forest fire nearby, there are frequent short power outages. The events at the party become increasingly obscene. It soon becomes clear that Manuel is not there voluntarily. He just wants out. But in the relentless city of Rome, in some circles you can't survive without the right people. In Manuel's case, these are his father's old friends (Valerio MASTANDREA as Pol Niuman and Pierfrancesco FAVINO as Cammello). With these veterans of Roman crime, Manuel can take on his blackmailers...

Director Stefano SOLLIMA only gradually allows his audience to decipher the complex background of his story. In beautiful images of the city of Rome, which shimmer with heat even at night, we experience a modern crime story with the ever-new ingredients of corruption, blackmail, murder and lost honor. Masterfully staged!

Two mega stars of Italian cinema deliver an absolute brilliant performance. Pierfrancesco FAVINO (EUROPEAN FILM AWARD Nominee 2019 for IL TRADITORE and 2022 for NOSTALGIA) and Toni SERVILLO (EUROPEAN FILM AWARD Winner 2008 for IL DIVO and 2013 for LA GRANDE BELLEZZA) could be aging revenants from the heyday of Italian gangster films of the 1970s and the 1980s. There is even a clever quote from the Hollywood classic THE USUAL SUSPECTS (1995), about which, however, we shouldn't reveal too much.

As the son of ACADEMY AWARD nominee Giancarlo GIANNINI (nominated for PASQUALINO SETTEBELLEZZE in 1977), Adriano GIANNINI is certainly very familiar with CINECITTA's genre masterpieces. With films that Stefano SOLLIMA's father Sergio SOLLIMA could have directed. Adriano GIANNINI was also able to tame mega star MADONNA in SWEPT AWAY (2002) 20 years ago. Here he plays a devoted father who goes too far with his excessive duty of care and also drags two colleagues (Francesco Di LEVA and Lorenzo ADORNI) into the hellhole of crime.

In 2015, director Stefano SOLLIMA impressed heavily with the Italian gangster film SUBURRA. After that he was ready for Hollywood: SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO (2018) and WITHOUT REMORSE (2021). After earning money, he was now able to deliver a genre masterpiece again in Italy. The patience has paid off. In 2023, SOLLIMA was represented in competition at the Venice Film Festival with his remarkable genre film. In my opinion, an accolade that also honors all the films of the POLIZIOTTESCHI genre of the 1970s and 1980s!

In the box office, the film only managed to make $1,225,737 (source: IMDb). May he have more viewers in the programming of the streaming giant NETFLIX!!!

Elfriede Jelinek - die Sprache von der Leine lassen (2022)

Documentary about Austrian NOBEL Laureate Elfriede JELINEK

[8/10 · 18 May 2024]

When the Austrian writer Elfriede JELINEK was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2004, it came as a bit of a surprise at the time. The author was also very well known in other language countries, and her numerous works were available in various translations. In Austria itself she had largely withdrawn from the public eye.

Between 1985 and 1995 things looked completely different. As a television viewer in those years, one had the impression that public life in neighboring Austria was no longer conceivable without "the JELINEK" (see also a corresponding song by the Austrian music group WANDA). It all started in the mid-1960s, when Elfriede JELINEK came to prominence primarily through experiments with language and literature. In this documentary film about her work, this becomes very clear in her work on the hit lyrics of the EUROVISION winner Udo JÜRGENS (for Austria he won the EUROVISION Song Contest in 1966 with MERCI, CHERIE!). In the 1970s she also worked as a translator. She translated the century novel GRAVITYs RAINBOW by Thomas PYNCHON into German. Her best novel, THE PIANO PLAYER, followed in the early 1980s, which was successfully made into a film 20 years later by ACADEMY AWARD winner Michael HANEKE.

However, JELINEK only became truly (scandalously) famous in 1985, when she addressed the involvement of the iconic actress Paula WESSELY in the Nazi propaganda film HEIMKEHR (1941) in the play BURGTHEATER. From then on there was no stopping him. The two literary critics Sigrid LÖFFLER and Marcel REICH-RANICKI argued bitterly about JELINEK's novel LUST on the German television station ZDF. She resurrected the ghosts of the past like a zombie in THE CHILDREN OF THE TOTEN. Also a work worth reading by this remarkable author.

Even after the Nobel Prize, Elfriede JELINEK remained very productive. Today she is still one of the most frequently performed contemporary playwrights in the German-speaking theater landscape. It makes sense to dedicate an insightful documentary film to her. The true meaning of this writer can be found in her illuminating writing. Experiencing a JELINEK play in a German-speaking theater is and remains an event. A merit of this documentary is to spark a desire for it.

Shark Hunter (2001)

Shark Horror Movie with Antonio SABATO Jr.

[3/10 · 17 May 2024]

In the wake of the surprise success "Deep Blue Sea" (1999), which is still well worth seeing, this less ambitious follow-up was made in inexpensive Bulgaria.

Antonio Sabato Jr. Goes on the hunt for the legendary ancient shark Megalodon with a motley crew. The young, dynamic marine researcher (Sabato Jr. With long hair like the ones nerds wore at the turn of the millennium) carries a traumatic childhood experience with him and, despite all the difficulties, can now face the final battle with the monstrous primal fish .

As a former underwear model, Antonio Sabato Jr. Of course, he sometimes takes off his shirt and shows off his abdominal muscles, but he doesn't achieve the charisma of his father Antonio Sabato (GOLDEN GLOBE nomination in 1967 for GRAND PRIX).

The megalodon has more charisma, as it can bare its teeth in a fearsome manner. The rest of the crew consists of Christian Toulali, Grand L. Bush and the very blonde Heather Marie Marsden, none of whom rise above stereotypical portrayals.

You can watch it if you like shark horror!

Intimate Encounters (1986 TV Movie)

Television Movie with Donna MILLS and James BROLIN

[5/10 · 16 May 2024]

Raunchy TV movie starring Donna Mills and James Brolin

When this film was broadcast on American television on September 28, 1986, Donna Mills, born in 1940, was at the peak of her television career. Her Abby Fairgate Cunningham Ewing from the PrimeTime soap KNOTS LANDING was, despite her bad lies and notorious schemes (she had just shaken off her responsibility for the kidnapping of Valene Ewing's (Joan Van ARK) twins in the series and rose like a phoenix from the ashes) incredibly popular with US audiences. So it naturally fit into the picture that she was allowed to play a good housewife who discovered her nymphomaniac tendencies almost overnight and then lived them out to the fullest. Of course, somewhat demurely so that the television viewers weren't too frightened! James Brolin, who was the star womanizer in the series HOTEL in those days, can be seen as her cuckolded husband. Cicely Tyson, Mitchell Anderson and Michael Greene also star. The uncrowned queen of horror classics, Veronica Cartwright (The Birds, Alien), is also on board.

Interesting memory of the eighties with TV stars of the time!

Congress Dances (1931)

UFA Classic with Lilian HARVEY and Willy FRITSCH

[9/10 · 14 May 2024]

In 1992, the German director Helmut DIETL remembered in his global success SCHTONK! (ACADEMY AWARD nomination 1993) not only to the fake Hitler diaries, but also to the operetta bliss of the large German film company UFA. "It only happens once, it won't happen again," sang the unforgettable Lilian HARVEY in the opulent operetta film THE CONGRESS DANCES by Erik CHARELL from 1931.

Christel Weinzinger (Lilian HARVEY) is an ordinary Viennese girl who happens to meet Tsar Alexander of Russia (Willy FRITSCH) at the Heurigen at the time of the Congress of Vienna (1815) and spends a few nice days in Vienna with this world ruler. An inconsequential story, but one that is told in such a sensual and sparkling way that it is still one of the classics of German-language entertainment films. The romantic banter includes a mysterious Tsar double (of course also Willy FRITSCH), a jealous fiancé (Carl Heinz SCHROTH) and of course the legendary Prince Metternich (Conrad VEIDT). It's wonderful how the busy prince has installed a listening system so that he is always well informed. The gentlemen from Silicon Valley seem to have apprenticed with him. Other roles include Lil DAGOVER, Adele SANDROCK and Otto WALLBURG, who was murdered in the Auschwitz extermination camp in 1944. What a shame!

Paul HÖRBIGER has a particularly beautiful appearance as a Heurigen singer in Grinzing. Tasting a glass of wine there should be part of the standard program of every visit to Vienna to this day.

This classic, shot at the STUDIO BABELSBERG, should be familiar to every film lover, even if it will be able to celebrate its 100th birthday in a few years. By the time Lilian HARVEY begins her triumphal procession through Vienna to the tunes of "That only happens once," not a single eye will remain dry.

Carl Heinz SCHROTH (1902 - 1989), who plays her neglected fiancé, experienced a wonderful television comeback from Christmas 1982 to 1989 when he filmed several episodes of the series JAKOB AND ADELE on the then West German television station ZDF alongside Brigitte HORNEY (1911 -1988).

After his escape from Nazi Germany, Conrad VEIDT (1893 - 1943) also became a superstar in the Anglo-American world. He played in the classics THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1940) and CASABLANCA (1942).

And Lilian HARVEY was the biggest star of the 1930s in German-speaking countries. EIN BLONDER TRAUM and GLÜCKSKINDER are other films that she made alongside Willy FRITSCH.

Port of Desire (1958)

French Noir (set in Hamburg) with Hildegarde NEFF and Daniel GELIN

[8/10 · 12 May 2024]

The French director Yves ALLEGRET certainly had his best films behind him in 1958. Ten years earlier he had filmed the classic DEDEE d'ANVERS (1948) with his then wife Simone SIGNORET. A French Black Series masterpiece! But now he staged the West German world star Hildegard KNEF as a GIRL FROM HAMBURG.

The sailor Pierre (Daniel GELIN) is back in Hamburg with his ship. Fifteen years earlier he had been exploited as a prisoner of war in the port of Hamburg. He met a young girl named Maria (Hildegard KNEF), who he hasn't been able to get out of his mind since then. While on shore leave, he and his friend (Jean LEFEBVRE) immediately set out in search of the beauty he hadn't seen for a long time. And Pierre actually finds what he is looking for: in the entertainment district of St. Pauli, he recognizes Maria as a vulgar mud-catcher. The years have passed, and what has changed is not necessarily beautiful and lovely. Maria also works as an entertainer and works for her pimp. Nothing is anymore as the glorified look into the past suggested. But not everything went well for Pierre either; his marriage in France almost failed. Despite initial misgivings, the two disillusioned people in their mid-thirties become closer. A new beginning seems possible, but of course a film from the Black Series cannot have a happy ending...

Produced by the legendary French film studio PATHÈ, this film is largely a West German production. A lot of local color from Hamburg, the economically miraculous development of the port after the lost World War is an important part of the plot.

Hildegard KNEF (1925-2002) speaks in German and French. After her Broadway career ended with SILK STOCKINGS, the actress gradually regained her footing in the West German film industry. A year later she was awarded the GERMAN FILM AWARD for her supporting role in THE MAN WHO SOLD HIMSELF (1959). For Hildegard KNEF herself, LA FILLE DE HAMBOURG was one of her five favorite films from her own work. This is very understandable!

Daniel GELIN (1921-2002) can also be heard saying a few sentences in German. The actor is known from the Hitchcock classic THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1956) with Doris DAY and James STEWART. In 1989 he was seen for a few episodes on the then West German television station ZDF as the French lover of Countess Guldenburg (Christiane HÖRBIGER) in the popular family series DAS ERBE DER GULDENBURGS / THE LEGACY OF THE GULDENBURGS.

Yves ALLEGRET (1905-1987) has created a beautiful film noir that is harmoniously and atmospherically set in the port city of Hamburg in the late 1950s. Shortly after his death, the director was awarded the CESAR FILM AWARD (h.c.).

Der Zinker (1963)

GERMAN GRUSEL with Heinz DRACHE, Barbara RÜTTING and Klaus KINSKI

[7/10 · 11 May 2024]

With this horror crime thriller from the popular West German Edgar Wallace film series, some important changes have been established. For the first time, the iconic intro with the greeting by Edgar Wallace could be seen and heard. This was also the first Wallace crime film to be shot using the ULTRASCOPE process. In addition to proven forces such as Heinz DRACHE as an inspector, Eddi ARENT as an idiot journalist and Klaus KINSKI as a madman on duty, audience favorites such as Barbara RÜTTING, Günter PFITZMANN and Agnes WINDECK made their debut in the WALLACE CINEMATIC UNIVERSE.

For years, a cunning fence known as ZINKER / SQUEAKER has been making London unsafe by sending competitors and enemies to the afterlife with the poison of the Black Mamba. Luckily, the inspector gets access to Nancy Mulford's (Agnes WINDECK) pet shop, where things seem to be going wrong. Niece Beryl (Barbara RÜTTING) and managing director Frank (Günter PFITZMANN) are also pretty much in the dark until more and more murders occur...

This horror crime thriller thrives particularly on its succinct cast. Agnes WINDECK in particular makes a remarkable debut: You shouldn't mess with this old lady at all. The two GERMAN FILM AWARD winners Barbara RÜTTING (awarded in 1953 for DIE SPUR FÜHRT NACH BERLIN) and Klaus KINSKI (awarded in 1979 for NOSFERATU) enhance every production anyway. The fabulous Inge LANGEN plays a fine key role and Siegfried SCHÜRENBERG, as publisher Sir Geoffrey, is already warming up to the senior police service. Until this film, Günter PFITZMANN had hardly been seen in leading roles in films, as he was a busy theater actor at the time (MY FAIR LADY in the West Berlin version). From 1987 he became the main actor in the popular family series PRAXIS BÜLOWBOGEN on the then West German television station ARD.

Producer Horst Wendlandt and director Alfred VOHRER have once again gotten a lot out of the Wallace original THE SQUEAKER. At that time, 2,900,000 visitors (source: InsideKino) wanted to see the film in West German cinemas, slightly fewer than DAS GASTHAUS AN DER THEMSE the year before.

Definitely worth seeing!

Civil War (2024)

All About War Photographers with Kirsten DUNST and Cailee SPAENY

[8/10 · 10 May 2024]

All about Jessie

Just as Anne BAXTER in the Hollywood classic ALL ABOUT EVE (1950) sneaks up on the oh-so-adored Bette DAVIS as a Broadway star actress under a flimsy pretext, so in CIVIL WAR it is the young photographer Jessie (Cailee SPAENY) who approaches the war photographer Lee (Kirsten DUNST), who she supposedly admires. But unlike Bette DAVIS in ALL ABOUT EVE, Kirsten DUNST sees through the scheming game from the start and, after a brief resistance, lets it happen. The two women in CIVIL WAR ultimately pursue a trade that cannot be mastered without a certain killer instinct for the MONEY SHOT, i.e. The perfect photo at the right time.

The film catapults the audience into a USA of the very near future. A fascist-tinged US President (Nick OFFERMAN) has given himself a third term in office and is now holed up in the White House. A Western alliance led by California and Texas is advancing toward Washington, DC, to overthrow this president by force. The country is in the midst of a civil war that is not explained in detail, which produces endless cruelty, but also islands of bizarre graveyard calm.

The war photographer Lee and her journalist colleague Joel (Wagner MOURA) want to conduct one last interview with the doomed president. To do this, they have to cross from New York City through an area devastated by the civil war to DC, which is definitely not a Sunday trip under these conditions. In addition to newcomer Jessie, they also have reporter legend Sammy (Stephen Mc Kinley HENDERSON) on board. What these four journalists experience on their journey into the heart of American darkness is truly not for the faint of heart.

There hasn't been a political thriller as powerful as CIVIL WAR for a very long time. Director, ACADEMY AWARD nominee (nominated for EX MACHINA in 2016) and best-selling author Alex GARLAND (THE BEACH) has delivered an outstanding shocker here for the independent gem A24. The main actors Kirsten DUNST (ACADEMY AWARD Nominee 2022 for THE POWER OF THE DOG / Silver Palm 2011 for MELANCHOLIA), Wagner MOURA (Golden Bear 2008 for the Brazilian classic TROPA DE ELITE) and Cailee SPAENY (Coppa Volpi 2023 for PRISCILLA (PRESLEY)) are all outstanding. The worst scene in the film is dominated by DUNST's husband Jesse PLEMONS (ACADEMY AWARD Nominee 2022 for THE POWER OF THE DOG) wearing red sunglasses. Since his appearance in the fifth season of BREAKING BAD, PLEMONS has probably not been as frightening as he is here in CIVIL WAR. Masterful!

This film, which has already grossed over 100 million USD (source: IMDb) in the worldwide box office (as of May 8, 2024), should definitely be experienced on the big screen. It will be a bitter pleasure, but it is necessary!

Memories Never Die (1982 TV Movie)

Television Movie with Lindsay WAGNER and Gerald Mc RANEY

[7/10 · 9 May 2024]

This television film was first broadcast on American television on December 15, 1982. He approaches a very difficult topic very effectively and at the same time sensitively.

Joanne Tilford (Lindsay Wagner) returns to her family after six years in a psychiatric hospital. Her loving husband (Gerald McRaney, known from "Simon & Simon" and "The Neverending Story") suffers from heart problems and wants to gradually reintegrate her into family life. Everyone else - including her two children - reacts violently to Joanne's return. The young woman doesn't know how to react to this rejection. Only gradually does she realize the extent of a terrible family tragedy.

I have fond memories of this television film. When I first saw it on West German television sometime in the 1980s, I was not familiar with the phenomenon of extended suicide.

Good film - important topic!

Raging Fire (2021)

Blockbuster Cinema Made in China

[5/10 · 5 May 2024]

For several years now, more and more Chinese films (whether in Mandarin or Cantonese) have been making their way into the phalanx of the Top 1000, i.e. The 1000 highest-grossing films of all time. To get there, a film must gross $170 million in the box office worldwide. This action hit from Hong Kong definitely achieves that with USD 211 million. The film was directed by the recently deceased Benny Chan (1961-2020).

So what does Chinese cinema offer its audience? First of all, an ordinary cops-versus-gangster thriller in which Donnie Yen as an upright police officer and Nicholas Tse as a devious villain are allowed to fight and shoot their way through half of Hong Kong. The action is first class, the plot and character drawing are not so much. Generic home cooking! Of course, ultra-evil drug dealers are being tortured and murdered here, but the suspicion that the Hong Kong (and Chinese) police might treat pro-democracy protesters in the same way remains uncomfortably persistent. The final fight between Yen and Tse, whose hairstyle is very reminiscent of Bollywood action ace Vidyut Jammwal, in a church is interesting. A statue of the Virgin Mary, the wounds of Christ and the arrowhead pointed at Saint Sebastian play an unusually Christian role. Possibly a hidden tip from director Chan, who wasn't able to fully finish his film himself.

There remains a bad aftertaste, but the sales figures speak for themselves. The money is now and will be earned in Chinese cinemas in the future.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Tom CRUISE as Hunt,...Ethan Hunt!

[8/10 · 4 May 2024]

What an entertaining action thriller!

With the Cinquecento over the Spanish Steps and through Via Condotti! A detour to the Metropolitana di Roma! Just by the way, the Italian capital of Rome still only has three subway lines because of the many ancient finds, so you have to be lucky if you come across one of the three. And then it turns out that Tom CRUISE's motorcycle jump was actually just a promotional McGuffin for the audience. Because the exceptional ride on the Orient Express is really the masterpiece of the entire film and is definitely worth seeing on its own.

Popcorn cinema at its finest!

Bluebeard (1963)

An Early Chabrol Movie with Hildegarde NEFF

[6/10 · 3 May 2024]

At the time of the First World War, a Parisian father (Charles DENNER) murders wealthy women on an assembly line. The French director Claude CHABROL made this film in 1962. His later sharpness in many socially critical films already shines through, but this film still seems a bit too theatrical. The ladies who are chased down the chimney by Monsieur Landru are worth seeing: Stephane AUDRAN, Danielle DARRIEUX, Juliette MAYNIEL and Michele MORGAN. The German actress Hildegard KNEF (1925-2002) has a very special say in this. Her role is small but nice.

The previously missing French scenes have now been added to the German dubbed version. This also gives you more information about the trial against the convicted woman murderer.

Not a masterpiece, but definitely interesting for film enthusiasts!

The Mark (1961)

British Drama with Stuart WHITMAN and Maria SCHELL

[8/10 · 2 May 2024]

In 1961, this remarkable British film by Guy GREEN (winner of the Cinematography OSCAR for GREAT EXPECTATIONS by David LEAN in 1948) was released in cinemas after being nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Jim Fuller (Stuart WHITMAN) is released after a three-year prison sentence and starts a new life in a strange city. He gets help from his psychoanalyst (Rod STEIGER) and an initiated boss (Donald WOLFIT, known as Hildegard KNEF's hypnotist in SVENGALI (1954)). Soon everything is going very well. He finds a furnished room with the nice, if sometimes somewhat pushy, Cartwright couple (Brenda DeBANZIE and Maurice DENHAM), gets along well at work and soon gets to know the executive secretary Ruth (Maria SCHELL) who works there. But the demons of the past don't completely let go of Jim. Severely insecure due to an unhappy childhood, he was suspected of molesting a child, for which he then had to serve a prison sentence. When everything comes out through the unscrupulous actions of a tabloid journalist (Donald HOUSTON), the situation threatens to escalate...

The film, based on the novel of the same name by Charles E. ISRAEL, deals with a topic that is still considered explosive more than 60 years later. Basically, a psychoanalytic healing process is discussed with great sensitivity and precision, which certainly demands a lot from the audience. Some of it may be outdated by now, but the courage to make this film alone is very impressive.

The acting performances are all terrific! Stuart WHITMAN, who stood in for Richard BURTON, plays the prisoner with a Canadian background so convincingly that he was nominated for an ACADEMY AWARD in 1962.

ACADEMY AWARD Winner Rod STEIGER (awarded in 1968 for IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT), standing in for Trevor HOWARD, plays the psychoanalyst blessed with a lot of understanding and benevolence very well. It's amazing what enormous range this exceptional actor has shown in his long career.

BAFTA AWARD nominee Maria SCHELL (nominated for THE HEART OF THE MATTER in 1954 and for GERVAISE in 1957) impresses as a widowed single parent who also works. That was also very remarkable for the time! Her Ruth Leighton is shown as a Swiss-born woman who found work and true love in England after the war. The exceptional actress Maria SCHELL, who is often underestimated as a "little soul / Seelchen", especially in German-speaking countries, plays this with a naturalness that is impressive.

Because of the explosive nature of the topic, the film was shot in Ireland, which sounds quite surprising at first. In West Germany, the explosive film with audience favorite Maria SCHELL was seen by at least 304,000 visitors (source: InsideKino), which corresponds to a box office of the equivalent of 234,080 EURO.

When her playing partner Stuart WHITMAN was nominated for the ACADEMY AWARD in 1962, Maria SCHELL (1926 - 2005) had to make a difficult decision. Her little brother Maximilian SCHELL (1930 - 2014) was also nominated in the same category for JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG. SCHELL won the OSCAR, the rest is history!

The Mad Butcher (1971)

Victor BUONO as Vienna Strangler

[8/10 · 1 May 2024]

It's not for nothing that Otto Lehmann (Victor BUONO) is considered the best butcher in all of Vienna. However, he can also be quite short-tempered and has had to go to a psychiatric hospital at the instigation of his wife Hanna (Karin FIELD). Back home, things don't get any better for the man who was released as cured. When his wife catches her husband secretly watching the busty Berta (Franca POLESELLO) in the neighborhood, there is no stopping him. The nagging wife is unceremoniously strangled and made into boiled sausage. It's a good thing that Vienna has a resourceful reporter like Mike Lawrence (Brad HARRIS) who is investigating the missing person cases that will soon follow! Especially since the well-trained writer also has his eye on the blonde Berta...

In this nasty horror comedy by Guido ZURLI, ACADEMY AWARD nominee Victor BUONO (he was nominated in 1963 for his supporting role in WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?) can play a great role. The film's outdoor shooting took place in Vienna, which makes for beautiful images. Franca POLESELLO (1930 - 2021) and Brad HARRIS (1933 - 2017) can stroll through imperial Vienna. The plot of the film, produced by Dick RANDALL, is certainly horrific, but the horror takes place primarily in your own head. This makes the film a charming and enjoyable horror film gem.

Definitely worth seeing!

Gustav Adolfs Page (1960)

German-Speaking Classic with Liselotte PULVER and Curd JÜRGENS

[6/10 · 30 April 2024]

Based on the well-known novella by the Swiss writer Conrad Ferdinand MEYER (1825 - 1898), director Rolf HANSEN tells an unheard of incident from the time of the Thirty Years' War. The young Gustl (Liselotte PULVER) lives as an orphan with her uncle (Hans NIELSEN), who is the mayor of Nuremberg. As an ardent admirer of the Swedish King Gustav Adolf (Curd JÜRGENS), she seizes the opportunity and becomes the successful warlord's page instead of the overly anxious mayor's son (Eddi ARENT). To do this, of course, she has to pretend to be a man. After THE WIRTSHAUS IM SPESSART (1958), another "trouser roll" for the tomboyish Liselotte PULVER. But it's not just Gustl's mistress Korinna (Ellen SCHWIERS) who soon discovers the young page's secret. The Swedish king's numerous enemies soon sense their chance...

Beautiful pictures from picturesque Rothenburg ob der Tauber and a tried and tested literary adaptation! This really can't go wrong! The chemistry between Lilo PULVER and BAFTA AWARD nominee Curd JÜRGENS (in 1959 he was nominated for THE INN OF THE SIXTH HAPPINESS with Ingrid BERGMAN) simply doesn't work. The film wasn't well received at the West German box office either. Only 1,218,000 visitors wanted to see the film, which was now considered too old-fashioned. With an average entry fee at the time of EUR 0.74 (source: InsideKino), that makes a BOX OFFICE the equivalent of only EUR 901,320.

For Liselotte PULVER, one of the superstars of the West German film industry, it was also annoying that she had to turn down two lucrative offers because of her commitments to GUSTAV ADOLFS PAGE: She would have been cast as Esther (who was then played by the Israeli actress Haya HARAREET) in the MGM Production BEN-HUR and as the female lead (Sophia LOREN) in EL CID! PULVER may have reconciled that she met her long-time husband Helmut SCHMID on GUSTAV ADOLFS PAGE, who was part of the cast alongside Walter REYER and Gabriele REISMÜLLER.

Angel (1937)

Marlene DIETRICH and The Weimar Touch by Ernst LUBITSCH

[8/10 · 29 April 2024]

Only once in her long Hollywood career did ACADEMY AWARD nominee Marlene DIETRICH (she was nominated for her role in MOROCCO in 1931) work with director Ernst LUBITSCH (1892 - 1947).

In ANGEL from 1937, Marlene DIETRICH plays a woman from upper society named Maria Barker who has a happy marriage to the influential politician Sir Frederick Barker (Herbert MARSHALL). It's just stupid that the husband has to travel to the League of Nations in Geneva so often to conduct important negotiations there. Maria is a bit bored alone in London, so she sets off on a weekend trip to Paris. In the salon of Grand Duchess Anna (Laura Hope CREWS), who fled the Soviet Union, she meets the charming Anthony (Melvyn DOUGLAS), to whom she does not reveal her real name. For him she is simply an angel! Back in London, things happen as they have to: it turns out that Frederick and Anthony know each other from the First World War and are almost like old friends. Can Maria hide the Parisian flirtation from her husband? And which of the two men will the neglected model wife choose? Questions upon questions...

Based on the piece ANGYAL by the Hungarian writer Melchior LENGYEL (also provided the template for NINOTSCHKA with Greta GARBO) and with music by the German composer Friedrich HOLLAENDER (1896 - 1976)! This film is certainly not the best film by ACADEMY AWARD (h.c.) winner Ernst LUBITSCH (he received the honorary OSCAR a few months before his death in 1947), but the whole thing is very cleverly and elegantly staged. Just Lubitsch touch!

The actor Melvyn DOUGLAS (1901 - 1981) received OSCAR honors twice more at an advanced age. In 1964 (HUD) and in 1980 (BEING THERE) he was awarded an ACADEMY AWARD. He received an additional nomination in 1971 for I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER. A Hollywood career spanning nearly five decades! Respect!

For Marlene DIETRICH (1901 - 1992), this film marked the end of her usual Hollywood seven-year contract with the major studio PARAMOUNT PICTURES. Since she was now considered "box office poison," the contract was not renewed. It was only through a supporting role in the Western DESTRY RIDES AGAIN two years later that DIETRICH was able to return to the front row of Hollywood stars. The audience probably wanted to see Marlene DIETRICH more as a half-silk Tingeltangel star and not as a fine lady.

In any case, this only collaboration between DIETRICH and LUBITSCH is definitely worth seeing. After all, you can always use an ANGEL.

Stalingrad (1993)

German Classic by Joseph VILSMAIER

[9/10 · 28 April 2024]

At the beginning of the 1990s, there was only one director who managed to attract an audience of millions to the cinema with serious German-language films: Joseph VILSMAIER (1939 - 2020). After his two box office successes HERBSTMILCH (1988) and RAMA DAMA (1991), the time seemed to have come for such an ambitious work as STALINGRAD. The elaborate film was produced by Hanno HUTH (SENATOR FILM) and Günter ROHRBACH (BAVARIA FILMKUNST). Since STALINGRAD DOGS, DO YOU WANT TO LIVE FOREVER? (1959), there had been no more German-language feature films about the devastating Battle of Stalingrad.

Thomas KRETSCHMANN (KING KONG / INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY), who has now become a global star, plays an ambitious lieutenant named Hans von Witzland. Together with soldiers from his unit (Dominique HORWITZ, Jochen NICKEL, Sebastian RUDOLPH and Sylvester GROTH) he ends up in the terrible scenery in and around Stalingrad, which is illustrated with terrible and impressive images from the hell of war. You can clearly see that Joseph VILSMAIER originally came from camera work. The images of horror that VILSMAIER delivers are definitely not for the faint of heart! These scenes were created with the collaboration of the Prague studio BARRANDOV, which 30 years later was also significantly involved in the German film ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (2022), which won four ACADEMY AWARDs.

Mark KUHN (known from the German mini-series REGINA ON THE STUFEN) and Martin BENRATH (1926 -2000) also act in other roles. BENRATH plays a general who shouts perseverance slogans against his better judgment. The actor had a particularly impressive role in 1965 when he played alongside two-time ACADEMY AWARD winner Marlon BRANDO and ACADEMY AWARD winner Yul BRYNNER in MORITURI by ACADEMY AWARD nominee Bernhard WICKI.

VILSMAIER's wife Dana VAVROVA (1967 - 2009), who already shone as Little Red Riding Hood in the legendary Czech series ARABELA (1980), has a small role as the Soviet Russian Irina (Sonja ZIEMANN had a similar part in STALINGRAD DOGS, DO YOU WANT TO LIVE FOREVER?).

In the cinema year 1993, the film attracted 1,321,000 visitors to German cinemas. With an average price at the time of EUR 4.58 (source: InsideKino), this corresponds to a BOX OFFICE of EUR 6,050,180.

The film is still definitely worth seeing even after 30 years!

Perfect Days (2023)

Koji YAKUSHO and Wim WENDERS under the Sky Tree of Tokyo

[9/10 · 27 April 2024]

It all probably started when the German director Wim WENDERS (GOLDEN PALM 1984 for PARIS, TEXAS) wanted to make a documentary about the particularly ornate toilet facilities in the Shibuya district of Tokyo. This project fell through because the master director did not consider it to be productive enough as a film material without fictionalization. Smart decision!

The slightly older Mr. Hirayama (Koji YAKUSHO) lives in seclusion in the somewhat poor district on the Sumida River and is a toilet man responsible for the toilets in the posh Shibuya district, which are really worth seeing. With great dedication and meticulous precision, this silent man cleans the numerous toilet facilities every day. His entire life follows a practiced routine that clearly gives the man strength and brings him joy. Towering above everything is the Sky Tree, which can be seen from afar and sparkles in various colors. But even a man as reserved as Mr. Hirayama has a past and people who are genuinely fond of him...

The now four-time ACADEMY AWARD nominee Wim WENDERS (he was nominated in 2000 (BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB), 2012 (PINA), 2015 (THE SALT OF THE EARTH) and in 2024 for PERFECT DAYS) is credited with this wonderful film (the camera images are from again by Franz LUSTIG from Freiburg im Breisgau) a silent masterpiece has been achieved. As an audience, we follow the everyday life of a loner in the largest megacity on earth. Mr. Hirayama may be alone a lot, but he has a sense of the beauties of life that can be transmitted to those watching. Koji YAKUSHO, who recently played the lead role in the NETFLIX series THE DAYS about the horrific reactor accident in Fukushima, succeeds in creating a wonderful portrait of a man who has been marked by life, but who has found his inner center and is therefore by no means unhappy. The Japanese actor was rightly honored with the Silver Palm at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023.

How is it possible that such a quiet film without action-packed climaxes is so successful at the box office worldwide (BOX OFFICE according to IMDb, as of April 27, 2024: 24.1 million USD)? This is probably because the audience can relate very well to the story of a man who consciously decided to continue living in the analogue age, even though Tokyo in particular is certainly a hotspot for digitalized life. Instead of streaming music, Mr. Hirayama maintains his now valuable collection of music cassettes. And reading authors like Patricia HIGHSMITH and Nobel Prize winner William FAULKNER has gone out of style for younger generations.

In a very funny scene in a cassette vintage shop in Moloch Tokyo, director Wim WENDERS can be seen in a nice cameo as a browsing customer. May he be blessed with many more such early works!

The Captain from Köpenick (1956)

West German Classic with Heinz RÜHMANN

[10/10 · 24 April 2024]

The year 1956 marked the high point of the West German film industry. More than 800 million visitors were welcomed in West German cinemas. 264 million tickets (source: InsideKino) were purchased for German-language films alone. German cinema has not experienced such a successful year since. The film of the year was THE CAPTAIN OF KÖPENICK with Heinz RÜHMANN (1902 - 1994) in the title role. Helmut KÄUTNER's film was nominated for the GOLDEN LION at the Venice Film Festival. The following year there was even an ACADEMY AWARD nomination. In West Germany, 14,445,000 visitors saw the film in cinemas, which corresponds to a box office of the equivalent of EUR 8,667,000. A gigantic success!

The play by Carl ZUCKMAYER (premiere: March 5, 1931) struck a chord with the audience in its tragic exaggeration of German deference to authority and enthusiasm for the military. GERMAN FILM AWARD winner Heinz RÜHMANN (he received his second film award in 1961 for THE BLACK SHEEP) played one of the roles of his acting life as cobbler Wilhelm Voigt. As a small man who comes into conflict with the law, takes possession of a uniform and quickly occupies the town hall in Köpenick, RÜHMANN played his way back into the hearts of the German-speaking audience after his involvement in the Nazi cinema.

Other roles that shine include GERMAN FILM AWARD winner Martin HELD (awarded in 1955 for CANARIS), Hannelore SCHROTH, GERMAN FILM AWARD prize winner Walter GILLER (awarded in 1960 for ROSEN FÜR DEN STAATSANWALT / ROSEN FOR THE STATUS ATTORNEY and in 1962 for ZWEI UNTER MILLIONEN / TWO UNDER A MILLION), Maria SEBALDT and Siegfried LOWITZ.

The wonderful Berlin actress Edith HANCKE (1928 - 2015) has a particularly tragic appearance in one of her first film roles as Lieschen, a girl suffering from tuberculosis who is comforted by Schuster Voigt.

Of course, filming could not take place in Köpenick, which was part of East Berlin at the time of filming. Instead, motifs were found in and around Hamburg.

An immortal classic of the West German film industry! Definitely worth seeing!

Tatort: Das Mädchen, das allein nach Haus' geht (2022) Season 1, Episode 1,201

Last TATORT Episode with Meret BECKER

[7/10 · 22 April 2024]

The television film festival in the German spa town of Baden-Baden is now called TELEVISIONALE film and series festival. This TATORT episode is one of the ten nominated German-language television films from last year, which will be shown again on the television channel 3SAT. And rightly so! That was the best episode of last year's TATORT season.

At the same time, the film was also Meret BECKER's farewell as crime scene detective from Berlin. But even more memorable were the young actors Bella DAYNE (The Man in the High Castle) and Oleg TIKHMOMIROV (Deutschland 89) as a Russian mafia couple, of whom we will certainly see more in the future.

The First Omen (2024)

Shocking Moments in Rome

[7/10 · 21 April 2024]

In the years from 1968 onwards, the major Hollywood studios were in transition. The usual large-scale productions no longer worked at the box office. Society was on the move, old certainties were dissolving. This is how films with a scary Antichrist theme became mainstream box office successes. ROSEMARIE's BABY (1968) from PARAMOUNT PICTURES, THE EXORCIST (1973) from WARNER BROTHERS and THE OMEN (1976) from TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX were shown successfully in cinemas worldwide and caused many a shocking moment.

TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX is now part of the DISNEY Group, and it makes sense to revive old successful models in a time of new confusion. While the devil Damien in THE OMEN had long since crawled into hiding with his foster parents (Gregory PECK and Lee REMICK), THE FIRST OMEN finally tells us what actually happened shortly before the birth of the jackal's son in the Holy City of Rome. Young Margaret (Nell Tiger FREE) comes to Rome from America to finally take her vows. But very strange things happen with the nuns around Sister Silva (Sonia BRAGA), which prompt Margaret to investigate. Something monstrous comes to light...

This history has it all. Just don't let yourself be fooled by the light-filled images from the city of Rome. Selected scenes pay homage to the three horror classics mentioned above from the heyday of the Antichrist cinema. Glass windows, clouds of fog (and in Rome!!!), black masses and body horror play a huge role. Ralph INESON and ACADEMY AWARD nominee Bill NIGHY (he was nominated for LIVING in 2023) can also be seen in other roles. The performances of Charles DANCE and Andrea ARCANGELI will be particularly remembered by the audience.

And the music can also be heard. In addition to the original sounds by Jerry GOLDSMITH, the canzones by Raffaella CARRA (DOMANI and RUMORE) provide a typically Italian flair.

The production by Arkasha STEVENSON is quite impressive. Sometimes the screen simply remains black for a moment, so that an appropriate film image is found for the nasty use of knockout drops.

Yes, this prequel to THE OMEN is extremely successful. Gregory PECK, who can be seen briefly in a photo, would certainly have been happy.

Not Just Another Affair (1982 TV Movie)

Television Movie with Victoria PRINCIPAL

[5/10 · 18 April 2024]

Charming screwball comedy in which wonderfully coiffed Dallas star Victoria Principal plays an attractive but celibate marine biologist named Dr. Plays Diana Dawson, who meets a notorious womanizer (Gil Gerard). What will happen there!?!

When this film was shown on American television on October 2, 1982, Victoria Principal was at the peak of her popularity as Pamela Barnes Ewing. That year she was still in a private relationship with the extremely attractive singer Andy Gibb (1958-1988), who left his shirts open to his belly button as a matter of principle, but unlike his equally successful brothers (the BeeGees), he soon fell victim to his drug addiction .

Robert Webber, Markie Post (sometimes also in the crime series THE FALL GUY) and the young Sharon Stone can be seen in other roles in this television film.

Victoria Principal as Doris Day in the eighties! Nice to look at, but definitely not a masterpiece!

Crash Landing (2005)

Action Flick with Antonio SABATO Junior

[5/10 · 18 April 2024]

The only thing that's remotely interesting about this American-Canadian action film, which was just released on DVD, is the cast. The hero is the son of CINECITTA Divo and GOLDEN GLOBE winner Antonio Sabato (1943-2021), born in 1972. Antonio Sabato Jr. Had developed from a sexy underwear model to a busy actor in low-budget films.

Kevin Dobson (1943-2020), who had leading roles in the popular television series KOJAK and KNOTS LANDING, stars as the father of the spoiled little daughter who has to be saved by the hero. John Beck, who plays a general here, is also known from the television series FLAMINGO ROAD and DALLAS.