Claus Theo Gärtner

Private detective Josef Matula is with his usual companion, the dog Dr. med. Renz, on the way to Italy, when his rickety minibus engine fails. During his subsequent unplanned stay in a small mountain village he discovers the body of a mountaineer while hiking. He begins to investigate the death and by the look of it, it could be either accident, suicide or even a murder. However, the conspiratorial community is not very enthusiastic about his investigations and when he comes close to solving the case, his own life is in danger too.

7.1/10

Private detective Josef Matula investigates again. More bad than right, he hits in Frankfurt as a department store detective until it leads him to a new order to the North Sea coast.

6.3/10

A docudrama about Germany's former chancellor Helmut Kohl, whose 16-year tenure during the 80s and 90s included the reunification of the country after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

6/10

Aunty Agatha has passed away at a healthy ninety years. She had known all along, that her family wanted nothing more than to get their hands on her riches. That's why she devised a cunning plan before leaving her kin - in a state discord: She hires former journalist Vincent to give her eulogy. Vincent's ex-wife Victoria, who runs an exclusive florist's shop branded "Leaf and Blossom" is to provide the floral arrangements for her funeral. Of course aunt Agatha didn't tell either half of the former couple, whose marriage didn't end too harmoniously either, that their ex was involved. When the will is read Agatha's family doesn't take it well that Victoria and Vincent are also bequested and it doesn't help that the total value of the legacy seems to be much lower than they hoped for. But aunty is sending her avaricious offsprings onto a deviously plotted scavenger hunt that's leading them to the real fortune. Victoria and Vincent of course are given the crucial clues to take the lead.

5.9/10

Ein Fall für zwei is a German television series, which premiered on September 11, 1981 on ZDF. The series, located in Frankfurt am Main, features two main characters who solve crimes: a defense attorney and a private investigator. Josef Matula, a former German police officer, has gone into private business. His method of investigation is very effective and direct, and he sometimes even resorts to dirty tricks. Claus Theo Gärtner has portrayed the role since the start of the series. In contrast, the attorney character has changed several times. The first attorney was Dr. Dieter Renz. Dr. Renz retired in episode #60 and was replaced by Dr. Rainer Franck. In episode #149, Dr. Franck took a job as a law school teacher, and was replaced by Dr. Johannes Voss. In episode #182, Dr. Voss was shot dead by an escaping criminal, and was in turn replaced by Dr. Markus Lessing. Most of the episodes follow a simple pattern. Someone is murdered, and the police arrest the most likely suspect. The suspect, claiming to be innocent, hires the attorney in the series as his lawyer. The attorney does all the paperwork, talks with the police and attends court. Meanwhile, Matula does all the actual research and detective work - "gets his hands dirty", so to speak. Matula often gets into fights, and even though he is in his early sixties, he often knocks out the bad guys. In the end, the original suspect usually turns out to be innocent after all, and the real culprit is found.

6.4/10

The intertwined lives of people of both Polish and German extraction who live on the pre-World War II border between the two countries are explored in this drama. Valeska is the Polish/German matriarch of a family living on the German side of the border. Her son is involved with the Hitler youth, but nonetheless keeps secret the presence on family land of a Jew who is hiding from the authorities. When the son inadvertently kills a soldier to prevent his sister from being raped, he runs away after borrowing money from the Jewish man. When soldiers come to the family's door looking for the missing soldier who had been billeted there, the Jewish man commits suicide. In another episode, one of the family's daughters marries a German soldier in a ceremony presided over by a Polish priest.

7/10

A spaceship returns to Earth after several years of space exploration and finds it desolate. Landing in what they believe is Mexico, the crew decides to travel north, and try to find out what happened to Earth during the years they were gone.

6.4/10

Psychological thriller that focuses on the intense conflict between a university professor and a blackmailer.

6.8/10

Frau Kutzer und andere Bewohner der Naunystraße features the war-widow Frau Kutzer, the philosopher-guest worker Niyazi, as well as other characters passing through the street. The street itself bears silent witness to the deferred good life of the laborer. If Germany is “a little America,” as the narrator tells us, could there have been a “German Dream” for the migrant worker? Or is Berlin-Kreuzberg rather the site of an ongoing nightmare filled with the specters of Germany’s past? How do stories of place and of people converge on Naunystrasse? And how does this documentary speak to us today?

It was a "cult" movie when I watched this movie in the theater in germany in 1971. "Siggi" played by Giulia Folliana had some very funny and original lines. Still a teenager in the early 70's, I was a big fan of hers. She should have made way more movies like this one, and the producers and moviemakers should have discovered her great star potential. I'm sure that would have happened in hollywood. Unfortunately she had to work in germany, where her talents where wasted in corny, dull and superficial movies. I voted an "8" for this well crafted 70's period peace.

7.8/10

Directed by Volker Vogeler

7.4/10