Michael Bohnen
Wanting a lavish production to mark the 25th anniversary of UFA, the German film studio, Joseph Goebbels, director of the Nazi propaganda machine, commissioned an adaptation of Baron von Münchhausen‘s “autobiographical” stories. Baron von Münchhausen (1720-97) was an eccentric figure in European history, whose tall tales about his adventures rival anything to be found in the legends of Paul Bunyan or classic figures like Odysseus. This film recounts some of the episodes from the Baron’s sensational stories, which are set in the world of the 18th century.
Nazi biography of the Rothschilds, a Jewish family whose members rose to the top of the European banking community during the Napoleonic era.
This is the war and everybody in Germany should beware : the enemy is listening. One family in particular had better be even more careful than the average citizen of the Reich : the Kettwigs. Indeed they own an armament factory and their engineers, technicians, workers and of course themselves belong to a highly sensitive sector. They are under the constant scrutiny of those who want to get hold of the secret weapons devised in the plant, notably of a wire which, when attached to a balloon, may become the most effective anti-aircraft ever. For sure, they should distrust everybody. Isn't Nolte, the waiter, an enemy agent? Should young Bernd Kettwig allow himself to be seduced by this pretty woman ? As for Bernd's secretary, is she right when she lets this handsome man woo her?
Tom Finberg and Nick Dorland, two highly competent divers working for the Caribbian Oil Company, have been the best friends in the world since the day they met. But this wonderful friendship is endangered by their falling in love with the same young woman, Juana, the young owner of a hacienda. Worse, following a misunderstanding, generated by the belle's scheming uncle, Pedro de Alvarado, the two men fall out with each other. But when Tom is trapped under the surface of the burning ocean, Nick finally comes to his rescue.
This Italian-German co-production was released in English-speaking countries as Mother Song. Italian opera favorites Beniamino Gigli and Maria Cebotari star in this tale about the romance between two temperamental singing stars. Highlights include a lengthy selection from Faust, with Gigli making a most impressive Mephistopheles. The plot takes a melodramatic turn towards the climax, with the lives of the characters mirrored in their on-stage behavior. Director Carmine Gallone was something of an expert in the field of filmed opera, as witness his Tosca, Rigoletto and Il Trovatore.
"The Secret Power" - Hardly anyone who strays into the emigrant's restaurant "Strange Bird" would suspect that the porter once was a general, the waiter a prince and the cook an admiral, and that the lady at the bar is actually the princess Sinaide forced was leaving their home.
The story: While her husband is becoming famous in the war, the marshal of Werdenberg's wife consoles herself in the arms of the youngster Octavian and tries to arrange the love affairs of her cousin, the baron Ochs, by presenting him to young Sophie. This baron is taken with her and the Marschallin proposes Octavian to be his "Rosenkavalier" in order to present the traditional silver rose to his fiancée. But youngsters are youngsters and sex hormones hold sway over the whole world so for that reason immediately Octavian and Sophie fall in love with each other…
Maud Gregaards travels to China in search of a fabled treasure said to have belonged to the Queen of Sheba. Once there, she is taken captive by an evil man and nearly killed in the belief she is a witch.
