General director Dr. Blohm and his secretary Karin Ranke are inseparable: they are always working together. Both of them are single; both are completely dedicated to their work; both have no private life. When they check in at a hotel, they are immediately thought of as a couple: she’s a dark beauty; he, a good looking man. Even Blohm’s friend Strickbach asks him directly one day, why he doesn’t marry Karin. Now Blohlm can’t get the question out of his head.
Generaldirektor Dr. Blohm und seine Sekretärin Karin Ranke sind unzertrennlich: Die gemeinsame Arbeit schweißt sie zusammen. Beide sind ledig, beide gehen ganz in ihrem Beruf auf, beide haben kein Privatleben. Wenn sie eine Hotelhalle betreten, werden sie jedoch immer für ein Liebespaar gehalten: sie eine dunkle Schönheit, er ein gut aussehender Mann. Sogar Blohms Freund Strickbach fragt ihn eines Tages ganz direkt, warum er Karin nicht heirate. Die Frage geht Blohm nun nicht mehr aus dem Kopf.
DVD-R is in German with no subtitles. Approx. 83 mins.
GEWITTERFLUG ZU CLAUDIA (1937)
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Lufthansa Captain Hans Droste is friends with British pilot William Crossley, who saved his life during the First World War. Just landed in Berlin, Hans receives a telegram from his friend urgently begging him to fly to London to see his dying uncle Sir Reginald Crossley. Sir Reginald has only a single wish: he wants to make good a past injustice and asks Hans to look for a girl, to whom he wishes to leave a third of his estate.
Lufthansa-Kapitän Hans Droste ist mit dem englischen Piloten William Crossley befreundet, der ihm im Krieg das Leben geschenkt hat. Gerade in Berlin gelandet, erhält Hans ein Telegramm seines Freundes, der ihn dringend darum bittet, nach London zu fliegen und nach seinem sterbenden Onkel Sir Reginald Crossley zu sehen. Sir Reginald hat einen einzigen Wunsch: Er möchte ein vergangenes Unrecht wiedergutmachen und bittet Hans, nach einem Mädchen zu suchen, dem er ein Drittel seines Vermögens vererben will.
DVD-R is in German with no subtitles. Approx. 71 mins.
Gil Taylor from the daily newspaper the "Morning Post" gets to know the bag lady Ann Garden in court. He protects her from a quick sentence by an uncaring court simply by making her his new bride. Just as quickly, the judge ensures that a state official marries the two off, who, prior to this day, have never before seen one another. The result is a rather chaste married life. That is until Ann turns out to be the missing niece of an oil magnate and all is made right, not only with her family, but her new husband, in whom she falls in love for a very long time.
Gil Taylor von der Tageszeitung "Morning Post" lernt im Gericht die Stadtstreicherin Ann Garden kennen. Er bewahrt sie davor, von einem Schnellgericht verurteilt zu werden, indem er sie einfach zu seiner Braut macht. Genauso schnell besorgt der Richter einen Standesbeamten und die beiden, die sich nie zuvor gesehen hatten, werden Mann und Frau. Ein keusches Eheleben ist die Folge. Solange bis Ann für die verschwundene Nichte eines Ölmagnaten gehalten wird und endlich dafür sorgen kann, dass nicht nur dessen verworrene Familienverhältnisse geregelt werden, sondern auch ihre eigenen mit dem Ehemann, den sie schon lange liebt.
DVD-R is in German with no subtitles. Approx. 87 mins.
IHRE HOHEIT BEFIEHLT (1931)
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An emancipated Princess, who has just returned home to her court in the Balkans from England, goes in disguise to a servants’ ball and falls in love with an alleged caterer, who turns out next day to be a lieutenant of the guard. Without letting on to her masquerade, she makes sure he climbs the ranks quickly. At the same time, she tries to thwart her engagement to an unpopular prince.
Eine soeben aus England an ihren Fürstenhof auf dem Balkan heimgekehrte, emanzipierte Prinzessin besucht unerkannt einen Gesindeball und verliebt sich in einen angeblichen Delikatessenhändler, der sich am nächsten Tag als Leutnant ihrer Garde entpuppt. Ohne ihr Inkognito zu lüften sorgt die Prinzessin für seine rasante Beförderung. Gleichzeitig versucht sie, ihre Hochzeit mit einem ungeliebten Fürsten zu durchkreuzen.
DVD-R is in German with switchable English subtitles. Approx. 85 mins.
Director Brakke has good reason to be happy: he has just received the news that his son, Theo, won first place in the local boat race. To be sure, he had forbidden his son to take part in the competition, because the son's grades in school are substandard. In the end, Brakke sees no other way than to pull Theo from school and install him as an apprentice in his airplane manufacturing plant. Although Theo is received by the other 150 apprentices in a friendly fashion, he behaves in an arrogant and disrespectful tone towards them. He feels himself to be better than them, because his father is the director of the factory.
The rest of the film is pretty predictable. In line with the "social system" of the time, Theo will be taught to integrate with his comrades and become a productive member of society, no doubt becoming one of the most efficient and responsible apprentices making warplanes for use against less efficient and socially cohesive peoples in other lands.
The film is meant to teach morals, but came out at a rather late date considering events at the time. Nonetheless, interesting and entertaining.
The quality of this film is best described as a well-used VHS copy: watchable, but rather soft in the features. Because of its rarity and the importance of the subject matter, we are offering the DVD even in this condition. The action in the film can be made out, but the film is not in any shape even close to DVD quality. Please bear this in mind when purchasing a copy.
DVD-R is in German with no subtitles. Approx. 101 mins.
MENSCHEN OHNE VATERLAND (1937)
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Latvia: It is 1918. Germany's defeat is at hand. In the East, however, a new war has broken out: the Bolsheviks in the infant Soviet state are fighting for their survival, but at the same time, expanding into those areas they lost to Germany during the First World War. In the Baltic States, even before the War has ended, German units are forming into Freikorps, mercenaries fighting for German interests ... and their own gain. In Latvia, the new government, quasi-allied and quasi-occupied by the Germans, has no choice but to rely on these units to defend its newly declared independence. Amidst local hostility and conflicting orders, the Freikorps battle Red units intent on making Latvia a red province. Add into this a refugee from St. Petersburg who takes the fur coat off a Cheka spy killed during a battle, unaware that plans to undermine the Germans are in the pockets; traitors within the German and Latvian ranks who are waiting for the arrival of the real courier with those plans and who think the refugee is she; and some confused politics, and you have an action thriller which fairly accurately portrays the activity of these private armies in the East.
Film and sound quality are quite good, though a very good command of German will be of great help in following this film.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS A 40 SECOND BLOCK OF FILM WITH NO SOUND (ERROR) AND THAT THE END OF THE FILM HAS MUSIC BUT NO END CREDITS (INTENTIONAL AND CORRECT).
DVD-R is in German with no subtitles. Approx. 97 mins.
SPIONE (1928) * with switchable English subtitles *
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Spies (Spione) was the first independent production of German "thriller" director Fritz Lang. The years-ahead-of-its-time plotline involves Russian espionage activity in London. The mastermind is Haghi (Rudolph Klein-Rogge), a supposedly respectable carnival sideshow entertainer. Heading the good guys is Agent 326 (Willy Fritsch), with the help of defecting Russian spy Sonya (Gerda Maurus). The film moves swiftly to several potential climaxes, each one more exciting than its predecessor. Haghi's ultimate demise is a superbly staged Pirandellian vignette. Anticipating Citizen Kane by a dozen years, director Lang dispenses with all transitional dissolves and fade-outs, flat-cutting territory from one scene to another. The film was co-scripted by Lang and his then-wife Thea Von Harbou.
DVD--R has German intertitles with switchable English subtitles. Approx. 143 mins.
The royal court musical director of Great Britain is on his way to Vienna. He has a rather difficult mission to carry out: He is to locate the best waltz band with the best waltz composer and director and bring them back with him to His Majesty in London. So that he might accomplish his mission more easily, Ilonka has been placed at his disposal, a former "puszta girl", who became a star in the imperial ballet in Vienna. Arriving in Vienna, Sir Philips is faced with yet another problem: the band he has chosen is a real mess of high drama: The timpanist Gustl is in love with the daughter of the bandmaster Lanner; always misses his entrances because of it and is eventually fired.
Der "Königliche Hofballmusikdirektor" Großbritanniens ist auf dem Weg nach Wien. Er hat eine wahrlich nicht leichte Aufgabe vor sich: Er soll die "beste Walzerkapelle Wiens mit dem schlagfertigsten Walzerkomponisten und Dirigenten" an den Hof seiner Majestät nach London bringen. Damit ihm die Suche etwas leichter fällt, hat man ihm Ilonka zu Seite gestellt, ihres Zeichens ein ehemaliges ungarisches "Pusztamädel", der Stern des k.u.k.-Balletts in Wien. In Wien angekommen, sieht sich Sir Philips einem zusätzlichen Problem gegenüber. In der von ihm auserkorenen Kapelle geht es nämlich drunter und drüber: Der Pauker Gustl liebt die Tochter des Kapellmeisters Lanner, verpasst deshalb immer seine Einsätze und wird gefeuert.
DVD-R is in German with switchable English subtitles. Approx. 87 mins.
WIENER BLUT (1942) *with switchable English subtitles*
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The Viennese operetta films promoted a "feeling of Austria" in the times of Nazi rule, which very much contrasted the Hitler Germany dominated by Prussia. During the Vienna Congress, the north German Count Wolkersheim is bored to tears as Prussian diplomat in the Habsburg court and smears the city's beloved walzes as "senseless garbage", which leads to a fight with his wife, Melanie. He's taught otherwise pretty soon and falls for the charming dancer, Liesl. The unexpected return of his wife is confused with the dancer at the court ball.
Der Wiener Operettenfilm schlechthin propagierte in Zeiten der NS-Herrrschaft das "Österreichtum" durchaus in Opposition zum preußisch geprägten Hitler-Deutschland. Während des Wiener Kongresses weilt der norddeutsche Graf Wolkersheim als Diplomat vor Ort und schmäht den beliebten Walzer als "sinnloses Gehopse", worüber er mit seiner Frau Melanie in Streit gerät. Schon bald wird er eines besseren belehrt und verfällt obendrein der charmanten Tänzerin Liesl. Seine unerwartet zurückgekehrte Gattin wird auf dem Hofball mit dieser verwechselt.
DVD-R is in German with switchable English subtitles. Approx. 105 mins.
ZWISCHEN DEN ELTERN (1938)
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Dr. Hans Ravenborg, his wife Inge and their small son Peter are a happy family. Hans spends a lot of time in the tropical institute doing animal experimentation to cure a disease. One day, he gets into a car crash with a young woman and realizes it’s his former student Lisa, who’s now a journalist. Both immediately feel drawn to one another and Hans doesn’t say a word about the meeting to his wife. When the two women meet in his office, his wife puts a good face on a bad situation, because she realizes that Lisa is a rival.
Dr. Hans Ravenborg, seine Frau Inge und der kleine Sohn Peter sind eine glückliche Familie. Hans verbringt viel Zeit im Tropeninstitut mit Tierversuchen, um eine Seuche zu bekämpfen. Eines Tages stößt er mit dem Wagen einer jungen Frau zusammen und erkennt in ihr seine ehemalige Studienkollegin Lisa, die jetzt Journalistin ist. Beide fühlen sich sofort wieder zueinander hingezogen, und Hans erzählt seiner Frau nichts von der Begegnung. Als die beiden Frauen sich in seiner Praxis begegnen, macht seine Frau gute Miene zum bösen Spiel, denn sie hat in Lisa immer eine Rivalin gesehen.
DVD-is in German with no subtitles. Approx. 85 mins.
TOTAL DURATION: 1043 MINUTES (APPROXIMATELY 17.5 HOURS)
