Heinrich Schroth
German chancellor Otto von Bismarck promises the dying emperor Wilhelm I. to be loyal to his grandson. But the gap between young Kaiser Wilhelm II. and old Bismarck is rapidly widening. It soon appears that an era is coming to an end.
Already a famous painter, Rembrandt van Rijn is commissioned to paint the Amsterdam Archers' Guild. But upon completion of the picture, the men of the guild feel duped, because they don't consider themselves flatteringly depicted in the painting. They therefore decline to pay for the work. During this dispute, the painter finds out his wife is close to death. He finds himself terribly lonely after her passing and suffers from depression until he decides once more to marry.
In the spring of 1905, the water conduit project in the Canadian city of Canitoga is set to be completed. For years, the completion had been marred by sabotage. Engineer Oliver Montstuart commands the last blasting operation. But again, the explosive charge is too large and thus, further construction is forestalled again. When Montstuart confronts foreman Westbrook, the foreman threatens him with a knife. In self-defence, Montstuart shoots him. Now, he has to flee.
1936: Fahnrich Peter serves on a torpedo boat. Peter loves Carmita, the pretty sister of a fellow seaman. But then his superior officer falls in love with her, too, who offers to marry Carmita and who accepts. Disappointed, Peter's relationship to his superior turns sour, but eventually improves after recognition of his heroic behaviour handling a fire on board his ship. Later on, his unit is sent off to fight in Spain against the Reds. In those same waters, Carmita and her father are taken prisoner by the Communists when they commandeer their cruise ship. Peter's commander receives the order not to take action against the Spanish communist pirates, but Peter and his buddies take it upon themselves to take the situation in hand. However, Peter and his buddies find themselves prisoners of the Commies, too and now his superior must decide what to do about it.
The film depicts the love affair between William I and Elisa Radziwill.
Séraphine and her mother arrive in Paris to visit the 1867 World Exhibition. In an overcrowded city they must be accommodated in separate hotels. During the night the mother, who wasn't feeling very well, gets suddenly worse. When next morning Séraphine goes to meet her every trace of her presence has disappeared and everybody denies having ever met her. The bewildered young woman must find someone who believes her. Previous version of So Long at the Fair (1950).
Der Herrscher (The Sovereign) was based on Before Sunset, a play by Gerhart Hauptmann. The great Emil Jannings stars as Mathias Clausen, a self-made businessman who is forced to do a great deal of soul-searching when his wife unexpectedly dies. Determining to start life anew, he falls in love with his secretary Inken (Marianne Hoppe) and impulsively takes a vacation to Italy. Clausen's selfish grown children, not wishing to share their father's affections -- nor his money -- with his new wife-to-be, go to court demanding that Clausen be declared mentally incompetent. Upon finding this out, Clausen flies into a rage, leaving the audience to wonder whether or not he really as gone off his trolley. Der Herrscher was directed by Veit Harlan, more famous (or notorious) for his viciously anti-Semitic Jud Suess (1940).
This 1936 film tells the story of the doings of foreign agents in Germany and their allies among the German population. Having placed an ad in a local paper looking for "contact with bigwigs in German industry", enemy agents Morris and Geyer end up making contact with an engineer named Brockau. Brockau has developed an improvement in turning oil into gasoline and that's just what these enemy agents are looking for. Brockau, for his part, needs money, because his girlfriend is a selfish cow who demands more and more toys and trinkets, which has put our naive little nerd deep into debt. Brockau, however, is not the only unwitting maroon to fall into the clutches of the evil agents: the former bank agent Hans Klemm, now doing his service in the Wehrmacht, ends up being contacted by an agent from the other side and ends up getting blackmailed into working for them.
The clever Zacharias Bräsig is a good friend to all and tries to help out, where he can. Bräsig also meddles in the relationships of young people, so that by the end of the film, there's a double marriage.
For three difficult orphans living by her aunt the former employee of the family searches a new premouth; he releases with it a result of tumultuous involvements. - Humble-entertaining mistake farce, completely fitted on Hans Moser.
Baron von Goret is an impoverished landowner, whose estate is about to go into receivership. And so, for that reason, he wishes to marry off his son Hermann with his well-off girlfriend Helga. But Hermann is in love with the farmer’s daughter Dorothea. He leaves his father’s estate with her and makes his way to Berlin to make a name for himself. He’s not successful in this and, so as not to stand in his way, Dorothea leaves him. Hermann’s aunt brings him back to his father’s estate, where, depressed over losing Dorothea, works tirelessly to clear the estate of all its debts.
Based on the true story of a cobbler who bought a second-hand captain's uniform, assumed command of a troop of guardsmen, declared the town of Köpenick under military law, arrested the mayor and confiscated the town treasury.
In this German comedy, an enterprising American uncle comes from Chicago goes to the tiny town of Groditzkirchen to make a fortune on credit even though he only has $10 to his name. To do so, he enlists the aide of a bank clerk and begins posing as a millionaire.
Franz Biberkopf has served four years in prison. His return to normal life is not successful.
Hanns Heinz Ewers' grim science-fiction novel Alraune has already been filmed twice when this version was assembled in 1928. In another of his "mad doctor" roles, Paul Wegener plays Professor Brinken, sociopathic scientist who combines the genes of an executed murderer with those of a prostitute. The result is a beautiful young woman named Alraune (Brigitte Helm), who is incapable of feeling any real emotions -- least of all guilt or regret. Upon attaining adulthood, Alraune sets about to seduce and destroy every male who crosses her path. Ultimately, Professor Brinken is hoist on his own petard when he falls hopelessly in love with Alraune himself. Alraune was remade in 1930, with Brigitte Helm repeating her role, and again in 1951, with Hildegarde Knef as the "heroine" and Erich von Stroheim as her misguided mentor.
The story of a Berlin tenement and its inhabitants. A silent drama by Gerhard Lamprecht.
Rupp (Jannings) is a former butcher, made rich in the meat packing industry as a result of the reversal of fortunes brought on by WWI. He is crude, uncouth and uneducated. His son, Fred, is the apple of his father's eye and is an auto enthusiast. The widowed Rupp falls in love with a former aristocrat, Helen, now down on her luck and pawning her last heirloom. He proposes marriage and she accepts in order to save her ailing mother who needs a monetary influx to avoid death. Her former boyfriend, Platen, warns Helen against Rupp's intentions - he and Rupp are enemies, Rupp having caused his being fired for protecting a chorus girl against Rupp's unwanted advances. Meanwhile, Graf, a shyster, arranges purchase of a near bankrupt auto manufacturing firm, Phoenix, to Rupp's great advantage with practically no monetary recognition to Graf, who swears revenge. Rupp comes upon his son begging Helen not to marry his father but to return to Platen.
An adaptation of Homer's epic Greek poem THE ODYSSEY, this was one of a series of 1920s adventure films starring Luciano Albertini and directed by Max Obal. Albertini goes through a series of acrobatic and life-threatening adventures as he is pursued across city streets while pursuing the love of the woman he loves.
This is a film produced by and starring German comedienne Wanda Treumann, and co-written and co-directed by Rosa Porten. Rosa Porten made films in the 1910s together with her husband Franz Eckstein, using the pseudonym Dr. R. Portegg. According to contemporary press, they were known for their proficient direction. The film mixes comedy with romance and social drama. It focuses on the interrelations of gender and class and on a factory girls independent spirit, business competence, and sense of humour. The plot has a serious undertone, but both its comic twists and Treumanns guileless acting lend it a striking breeziness and a pro-lib edge.
Dr. Robert Hart visits his friend Ursula von Hohenau in Saxony in July 1914. There he hears about the Austrian ultimatum to Serbia. He immediately returns to his home town where, just before mobilisation, he meets the Polish count Bransky and his daughter Jadwiga, the French Vicomte Latour and the Russian counsellor of embassy count Bronislaw Krascinsky. Bronislaw is madly in love with Jadwiga and jealous of Dr. Hart. After the outbreak of the war Dr. Hart works close to the Polish frontlines. Bronislaw leads the Russian troops in this area. When Bronislaw is wounded during a battle with the Germans Dr. Hart finds him and takes care of his wounds.
A young married woman's attraction to a violinist sours as his behaviour grows more and more aggressive.
