Lars-65

This movie, which is based on the famous Strauss-operetta of the same title, is fine example of escapism. It was made in Prague during the final days of World War II, but edited by the East-German DEFA in 1946. It enjoyed great popularity on its release, since people were graving for a bit of wholesomeness and enjoyment. However, this film, which was only the 12th German movie made in colour before 1945, had suffered greatly during the final days of war. There was only a hint of colour left and the sound left a lot to be desired. Things didn't change much until 2002, when this film was painstakingly restored by Bibo TV. For the first time ever "Die Fledermaus" was released on Video and DVD earlier this months. The german TV-Channel ARD will premiere the restored version of this film on 14th December 2003, on the occasion of the 100th Birthday of this movie's leading actor Johannes Heesters. Mr. Heesters attended the cinematic re-release of this film last December. If you get a chance to see this movie, please do so. I highly recommend it.

Willi Forst, the master of the Vienna operetta movie genre, created another little gem with this movie. The story is set in the old Vienna of the 1890's, and Hans Moser and Theo Lingen are excellent as the two rivalling butlers. The strong supporting cast, including Willy Fritsch, Maria Holst and - last but not least - Fritz Imhoff also deliver top notch performances. If you like this kind of movies, and also if you are a fan of Hans Moser and Willy Forst, then I also recommend the movie "Wiener Madeln" (1945).

Willi Forst, the master of the Vienna operetta movie genre, created another little gem with this movie. The story is set in the old Vienna of the 1890's, and Hans Moser and Theo Lingen are excellent as the two rivalling butlers. The strong supporting cast, including Willy Fritsch, Maria Holst and - last but not least - Fritz Imhoff also deliver top notch performances. If you like this kind of movies, and also if you are a fan of Hans Moser and Willy Forst, then I also recommend the movie "Wiener Madeln" (1945).

While being on leave, the German soldier Hans meets Monika, whom he falls in love with. Before returning to the battlefields of WW2, the two of them get married, and dream of a happy live in some cosy apartment after the war. However, after the war reality looks different and. Berlin is badly destroyed. Hans returns but the longed-for life in a dream-home does not become reality. Monika shares one tiny room with her odd grandfather William, and Hans has to stay with one of his friends' mother. Therefore, the situation for the newly-wed couple is less than ideal. However, since necessity is the mother of invention, the two love birds find ways to make the best out of their situation.

Bruni Löbel (‘The Big Lift', 1949) is lovely as ever, and the comedian Wilhelm Bendow (‘Münchhausen', 1943)delivers a great comic performance.

Endless refugee treks are passing through the destroyed Germany in search for a new home. Meanwhile, emaciated men and women are standing in the ancestral portrait gallery of a country estate, and receive documents that certify their claim on a piece of the newly divided land. The previous owner, a wealthy landlord, has fled to West-Germany. One of the new resettlers is Mrs. Jeruscheit, whose husband has been reported missing during the war. During the long trail one of the children died and was buried along the way. Now she seems the have found a new home, where she can settle down with her other children. Slowly her life becomes some meaning again. All the resettlers support each other and work hard to cultivate their new land - and one day the missing Mr. Jeruscheit returns to his family.

`Freies Land' [Free Country/Land] -being the only DEFA film until the mid-1950s that dealt with the hardships of East-Germany's rural life - was only the second film of the newly founded DEFA studio. This film, which is rarely shown today, is heavily influenced by the Italian Neorealism of that time. Most people in this film weren't professional actors but farmers.

This film was created in 1952 during the peak of cultural/political dogmatism in the GDR. During this time, films were officially supported if they portrayed "typical fates in typical situations" with "positive heroes" in the lead roles who could convince viewers of the victory of socialism.

Director Slatan Dudow chooses another, less conspicuous and didactic method. His protagonist, Conny, a womanizer from West Berlin, is the archetypal bourgeois adventurer. The film presents him in relations to four women: a law student who is almost ruined by her love for him; a designer who becomes pregnant with his child, loses her job in West Berlin and moves to East Berlin; another woman who, in an attempt to impress him, steals a dress and later becomes guilty to the death of her brother; and lastly, another student who rebuffs Conny the first time they meet.

For Slatan Dudow, the positive heroes are the women, not the men. This interpretation was hardly shared by the political leadership in the GDR. During an SED film conference, The Destinies of Women received harsh criticism. Despite the declamatory scenes and black/white portrayals of East and West Berlin, The Destinies of Women provides an accurate picture of the times and proves to be a substantial political study. Stylistic innovation and a striking montage approach make this film a DEFA classic.

What starts out as another typical day in the life of the Mitchell family turns into a nightmare when a nuclear bomb is dropped on New York City, fifty miles from the Mitchell home. A horrifying story of the aftermath of the nuclear attack unfolds in this gripping dramatisation. This movie made during the time of Cold-War-paranoia of the 1950s – providing the viewer with the disturbing vision of a nuclear holocaust – would make a good double bill with the 1983 movie `The Day After'. Watch out for a very young Walter Matthau!!!

Directed by Alexander Ford `Ulica Granicza' (Border Street) is a recreation of the doomed Warsaw Ghetto uprising in which a small but heroic band of Jews, herded into a ghetto by German occupation forces, chose to resist the Nazis rather than to face deportation to Auschwitz or Treblinka.

`Ulica Granicza' was a prize winner at the 1948 Venice Film Festival.

`Wunschkonzert' (Request Concert) – whose inspiration came from Goebbles – provides an idealised self-portrait of National Socialism's society of spectacle. It starts with Hitler's arrival at the 1936 Olympics and takes us on a tour of Berlin. Its subsequent points of interest include the battlefield of war, an affair of the heart, and above all a popular radio broadcast that binds private destinies to an imaginary collective fate. The film features many of Germany's movie- and show-stars. `Wunschkonzert' is filled with popular (German) songs of the 1930s and 40s and therefore, was a big success with the soldiers on the front.

Paul -(The Golem)- Wegener's `Ein Mann will nach Deutschland' (A German Wants to Go Home), an UFA-production that premiered on 26th July 1934, portrays a German engineer living in South America who hears in 1914 of war in Europe. Realising his obligation for his ‘fatherland', he sets out for Europe, joined by a German comrade. The journey to Germany involves physical hardships, treacherous terrain, and hostile seas, obstacles faced by patriots who have only one thought: home to Germany to help a fatherland under attack.

This Nazi-propaganda picture was one of many made during that time, gradually preparing the Germans for the next war.

The acting is wooden and the intention of this movie all too obvious.

`Das blaue Licht' (The Blue Light) tells the legend of Junta, a strange woman living in the Alpine heights above a Tyrolean village, who has privileged access to a cave of crystals. On full-moon nights a blue light emanates from this secret grotto, luring young men from the valley to seek out the force of the radiant beam. Their quest invariably end in death and causes the towns-people to vilify junta. A painter from Vienna, Vigo, befriends the outcast woman. He becomes her protector and falls in love with her. Following her one blue-lit night, he discovers the way to the cave. He draws a map, thinking that the safe passage to the grotto will serve the best interest of both Junta and the villagers. The towns-people arm themselves with tools and climb to the cave, plundering the valuable crystals and celebrating their new found fortune.

Riefenstahl's film -(fantasy) sanctifies nature and reflects a fascination with beauty and harmony. The photography of this picture is visually stunning, and Riefenstahl's masculine beauty and physical abilities make her the perfect choice for the role of Junta. `Das blaue Licht' is one of the last great Weimar films and a ‘must see' not only for movie buffs.

A German doctor in Africa discovers and proves the efficacy of a cure for sleeping sickness- a serum called `Germanin'- despite British harassment during and after World War One. Made during World War Two, this movie – with strong anti-British undertones – features the famous Austrian mountain climber Luis Trenker in the role of the German doctor.

In this romantic comedy set during World War two, a young soldier on furlough in Berlin falls in love with a Red Cross worker. This was one of the few Third Reich films to offer glimpses of everyday wartime life.

A pair of Soviet Spies use seduction and blackmail to discover the secrets of a new German tank. This is another war propaganda movie, with strong anti-Soviet tendencies. Scandinavian actress Kirsten Heiberg is a pleasure to look at in this otherwise below average movie.

A longtime civil servant in Lübeck is unjustly forced to retire, but he voluntary returns to his post after his city is hit by Allied bombing in World War Two. Heinrich George, who plays the lead, is great to watch as always, and although being a typical propaganda feature this German movie is one of the few of its time that depicts everyday life in Germany during the war.

In this spectacular depiction of the TITANIC's disastrous voyage , the stories of many passengers are told, including the British shipowner Ismael, whose greed is responsible for the disaster, and the ship's first officer – a fictive upright German – who tries to forestall it.

Scenes of the sinking were used uncredited in the 1958 British film `A Night to Remember'. Directed by Herbert Selpin - who shortly after died in a Nazi prison – this film features a strong cast an some impressive visual effects.

After seeing this film, Propaganda Minister Goebbles thought the scenes of mass panic were not appropriate viewing for Germans who were then being subjected to British bombing. So he allowed only foreign release, with the film premiering in Paris in 1943. Beginning in late 1949 Germans could see the film, but the Allis forbade the film to be shown in West Germany in 1950 because of its anti-British propaganda.

Though uncredited, the Maupassant story `Les bijoux' was the inspiration for this poignant drama. In late 19th century France, the wife of a bookkeeper is is blackmailed by her husband's boos after he discovers she is also the mistress of a famous composer. This beautifully made film has a sensitive delicacy that is unusual for Third Reich cinema. The cast – directed by the brilliant Helmut Käutner – is outstanding. Although Goebbles didn't like this film very much, Käutner went on and made to other brilliant melodramas before the end of the war. He directed Hans Albers in the superb colour feature `Grosse Freiheit Nr. 7' (1944) and helmed the equally brilliant `Unter den Brücken' (1945).

A woman's marriage to a wealthy landowner is threatened when her childhood sweetheart, now a famous musician, returns after a long absence. Loosely based on Theodor Storm's novella, this melodrama was set in rural North Germany. Directed by the notorious `Jud Süß'- director Veit Harlan and featuring his wife Kristina Söderbaum in the female lead, this film offers some stunning colour photography.

Veit Harlan directed this dram based on the Austrian Richard Billinger's play `Der Gigant' (The Giant). In Czechoslovakia, a German farmer's daughter leaves her father to go Prague, where she is seduced and deserted by Czechoslovakian cousin. In the end she kills herself by drowning.

This second colour feature to be made in Germany has been praised by many for it's visual beauty. Filmed on location in Prague, `Die Goldene Stadt' became the most popular movie with German audiences during the years between 1933 and 1945.

While Ireland is rebelling against Britain, the son of a rebel is sent to an English boarding school to be forced to `think English'. He leads a revolt in the school during the war of independence in 1921, sabotaging the British invaders.

This film was a typical example of anti-British propaganda, made in Germany during the years of World War Two.

Featuring many German theatre stars, this film portrays Joan of Arc as a simple woman whose belief in victory enables her to bring people from ignominy to national rebirth. Directed by Gustav Ucicky, this film would make a good double bill with the 1949 Ingrid Bergman film `Joan of Arc'.

In this history flight of fancy from director Fritz Lang, four men, one woman, and a boy travel on the first spaceship to the moon. Presented in an early German naturalistic style, this frivolous tale of a stowaway, treasure hunting, and lunar romance is redeemed by a lavish production, an uncanny vision of the future, and a stunning surprise ending. In order to create the space travel sequences as realistic as possible, Fritz Lang and his wife Thea von Harbou consulted many scientists.

1940. - A visit to the Lodz ghetto in Nazi-occupied Poland, recorded by a German cameramen with the naive co-operation of the Jewish community, is combined with archival footage, clips from international newsreels, and excerpts from related cultural films to portray the World's Jews as swindlers and parasites. This 'documentary' interprets Jewish life from the viewpoint of traditional anti-Semitism and Nazi ideology. A candid, cinematically-unique expression of racial hatred. I personally find this film frightening and highly offensive. One can only hope that such pictures as this will never reach the screen again.

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** This lavish production in Agfacolor, ordered by Goebbles himself, was made to mark the 25th anniversary of the German UFA-Studio. The film begins with a gala 18th century ball at the Bodenwerder castle by the jovial Baron Muenchhausen and his wife. There is a sudden lovers' quarrel between two of the guests. The young girl flees and jumps into her car. We have been viewing a costume party, and the period is very definitely the present. The baron and his much older wife attempt to reconcile the pair. He tells them of the adventures of his "ancestor", the fabulous Baron Muenchhausen, and the film goes into flashback, this time to the real 18th century. Muenchhausen and his servant Christian visit the baron's father, who is puzzled over Christian's invention of a rifle which can see and shoot a distance of 200 kilometers. After the visit the pair decides to go to Braunschweig at the invitation of the Prince of Brunswick to whom the Empress Catherine the Great has offered a command of a Russian regiment. The prince asks for Muenchhausen's help in convincing his lovely mistress Louise la Tour to make the trip, and when this is accomplished the group sets off for Russia. The dealings at the Russian courts are devious. The magician Cagliostro tries to enlist Muenchhausen in a plot against the empress, but without success. At a carnival the baron meets a young girl named Kaetchen who is later revealed to be the Catherine in disguise. Muenchhausen becomes Catherine's new lover, kindling the jealousy of the former favorite, Prince Potemkin, who challenges the baron to a duel, injuring him slightly. Muenchhausen goes to the sinister loking house of "Doctor" Cagliostro to have his wound treated, and while there warns Cagliostro that he is about to be arrested. Although the magician knows this, he rewards the baron with the secret of eternal youth, and also gives him a ring that will amke him invisible for one hour. As the secret police breaks into the house, Cagliostro escapes using magic to amke him invisible. Catherine soon tires of Muenchhausen and sends him to Turkey in command of a regiment. He is inadvertently shot on a cannonball to Constantinople where he becomes a prisoner of the sultan. After a period of imprisonment he is reunited with his servant, Christian. The baron is offered his freedom if he will convert to Moslem religion. He explains to the sultan that this would be impossible because he would have to drink water instead of wine, but the sultan tells him he does not really abstain - and gives a sample of his private stock of Tokay. Muenchhausen insists that the Tokay he drank at the palace of the Empress Maria Theresa in Vienna was twice as good. This leads to a bet in which the baron promises to provide the sultan with a bottle from Vienna in an hour. If he wins the bet he will have his freedom. Thanks to a wonderful runner, the bottle is produced, leading to a second wager. If the wine is indeed better than the sultan's, Muenchhausen will be rewarded with the beautiful Princess Isabella d'Este, a prisoner in the harem. Muenchhausen wins this bet too, but the Sultan reneges on his promise, attempting to pass off the aging Louisa la Tour as Isabella. Using the magic ring, the baron invades the harem, abducts the real princess, and sets sail for Venice. He learns that the girl's family had planned to marry her to an old man. She had fled the city but was abducted by pirates who sold her to the sultan. Her sudden return is no joy to the family, and her wicked brother Francesco has her kidnapped a second time and locked up in a convent. Muenchhausen fights a duel with Francesco that results in the latter's clothes being cut to ribbons. Muenchhausen and Christian, with the d'Este family in pursuit, escape Venice in a balloon conveniently anchored in the Grand Canal. Their vehicle takes them to the moon. There, in a surrealist landscape, Christian ages and dies, because one day is equal to a year on earth - but Muenchhausen is, of course, immortal. His gloom is dispelled by the presence of the wife of the Man in the Moon. She can be in two places at the same time by separating her head from her body. But even her charms soon pale, and the baron returns to Germany. The scene now shifts back to the present (presumably the 1930s) where Muenchhausen tell the startled young couple that he and his distinguished "ancestor" are one and the same. Thoroughly frightend, they flee the castle. The baroness, having observed that her husband is attracted to the girl, tells him to follow his new love. Instead, he renounces the gift of eternal youth to grow old with her.

This film has been a favorite of mine since my childhood. Therefore, I can highly recommend it. In my opinion, this version is much better than the 1988 offering by Terry Gillian.

This romantic comedy, starring Rene Deltgen and Monika Hauff, was filmed in the final days of World War Two. When Germany surrendered the film was to 20% completed. After the war this lavish Agfacolor production was not continued, and the already filmed material disappeared.