Dolly Haas
A chronicle of the rescue of oppressed intellectuals and artists from Europe before the outbreak of World War II. It studies the cultural and intellectual impact of this emigre population on American life.
A portrait of three remarkable women who were once celebrated figures in the German cultural scene: film star Dolly Haas, dancer Lotte Goslar and artist Maria Ley, Erwin Piscator's widow
Based on extensive interviews, shot on 16mm in a series of static long takes, Filmemigration aus Nazideutschland, is one of the most fascinating examples of "Film history on film" ever produced. Straschek devoted years to researching the topic and accumulating both film and non-film materials. Apart from some radio features and articles, however, this 290-minute TV programme remains the only published trace of Straschek's lifelong work on the emigration of film personnel. He had intended to publish a three-volume book, encompassing all available data about 3,000 emigrants originating from the centre and peripheries of film production, but the book never materialised.
Hat check man Louis Blore is in love with nightclub star May Daly. May, however, is love with a poor dancer, but wants to marry for money. When Louis wins the Irish Sweepstakes, he asks May to marry him and she accepts even though she doesn't love him. Soon after, Louis has an accident and gets knocked on the head, where he dreams that he's King Louis XV pursuing the infamous Madame Du Barry.
Egbert Sousé becomes an unexpected hero when a bank robber falls over a bench he's occupying. Now considered brave, Egbert is given a job as a bank guard. Soon, he is approached by charlatan J. Frothingham Waterbury about buying shares in a mining company. Egbert persuades teller Og Oggilby to lend him bank money, to be returned when the scheme pays off. Unfortunately, bank inspector Snoopington then makes a surprise appearance.
A Chinese missionary comes to England. He helps a young girl ill-treated by her father. A remake of D. W. Griffith's "Masterpiece".
Exiled French patriot helps to find the men who want to betray emperor Napoleon III by selling military secrets to the German government.
The Duke of Bridgewater sends for the heir he's never seen. His heir is Patricia, and the Duke is a woman-hater, so Patricia disguises herself as a boy.
Dolly Haas is employed as a (supposedly male) servant at a Hotel.
Young French student Madeleine Duchanel wants to go to the theater and therefore pulls out of the well-protected environment of her school. In Paris she hopes to make a career, but in her naivety she ends up on the street.
The accounting department of an insurance company is looking for a new secretary. To prevent a repeat of the eternal love affairs between the employees, the head of personnel -- no doubt taking advantage of the not-yet-existent anti-discrimination laws -- is seeking the ugliest troll of a woman he can find to do the office typing. And he believes he's found her in the nondescript Lotte. But the bookkeeper Fritz is deeply offended by such mean, discriminatory practices. He decides he's going to correct the boss' disgusting behaviour by going one better: to prove that even ugly people deserve to reproduce, he's going to hit up on Lotte. And obviously, this leads to all sorts of problems and funny situations...
The street urchin Scampolo (which means, "A Nothing"), who sleeps at night in a telephone booth and earns a little money running errands for a laundry, falls in love with a despondent, out-of-work bank manager in Depression-torn Germany, and thereby becomes a woman in the eyes of other men.
A man swallows a diamond - and suddenly all people around him change their attitude towards him.
Leopold Pichler (Pallenberg) is a very orderly and trustworthy chief cashier who is asked by his boss to get a large sum of money from the bank which the boss urgently needs on a trip to Vienna. Due to some circumstances, getting the money takes a little longer than expected and the director leaves for Vienna without it. But Pichler sees himself as a reliable man, and so he and his assistant Wittek (Rühmann) follow the director to Vienna with the money kept in a bag. In Vienna, the two provincials however are mistaken for guests of the director and spend an evening at a posh night club. But when it transpires that the director actually won't come to the night club that evening, Pichler and Wittek have to pay the bill with the money from the bank. And their subsequent attempts at reimbursing the money lead to situations of ever-increasing hilariousness...
The two happy fitters Eddy and Tommy are doing overtime to ensure the great travel-exhibition of the department store they work in is ready for display. Outside, they see a poor newspaper seller, who looks longingly at the beautiful things in the display window. So they simply decide to smuggle the unfortunate inside and compete to win her favor by giving her gifts from the shelves of the department store. In their frenzy of happiness, they don’t notice that the girl is taking the fun little game for the truth. When she realizes that she has to give back the alleged gifts, she runs away.
