Fritz Kortner

Fritz Kortner

Born: May 12, 1892
Died: July 22, 1970
in Vienna - Austria
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Fritz Kortner (12 May 1892 – 22 July 1970) was an Austrian-born stage and film actor and theatre director.

Kortner was born in Vienna as Fritz Nathan Kohn. He studied at the Vienna Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. After graduating, he joined Max Reinhardt in Berlin in 1911 and then Leopold Jessner in 1916. Also in that year he made his first appearance in a silent film. He became one of Germany's best known character actors. His speciality was playing sinister and threatening roles, though he also appeared in the title role of 1930's Dreyfus.

With the coming to power of the Nazis, Kortner, being Jewish, chose to flee Germany in 1933. He emigrated to the United States, where he found work as a character actor and theatre director for a time before returning to Germany in 1949. Upon his return, he became noted for his innovative staging and direction, particularly of classics such as his Richard III (1964) in which the king crawls over piles of corpses at the end.

Kortner died in Munich.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Fritz Kortner, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Movies for Fritz Kortner...

Kortnergeschichten
Title: Kortnergeschichten
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: August 13, 1980
Type: Movie
Documentary about director Fritz Korner
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Hitler: A Career
Title: Hitler: A Career
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: July 8, 1977
Type: Movie
A keen chronicle of the unlikely rise to power of Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) and a dissection of the Third Reich (1933-1945), but also an analysis of mass psychology and how the desperate crowd can be deceived and shepherded to the slaughterhouse.
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Title: Film Emigration from Nazi Germany
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: November 11, 1975
Type: TV
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.
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Der Kaufmann von Venedig
Title: Der Kaufmann von Venedig
Character: Shylock
Released: March 2, 1969
Type: Movie
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Fritz Kortner spricht Monologe für eine Schallplatte
Title: Fritz Kortner spricht Monologe für eine Schallplatte
Released: July 5, 1966
Type: Movie
Film by Syberberg.
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Fünfter Akt, siebente Szene. Fritz Kortner probt Kabale und Liebe
Title: Fünfter Akt, siebente Szene. Fritz Kortner probt Kabale und Liebe
Released: May 19, 1965
Type: Movie
This documentation of a Kortner stage rehearsal shows in detail and fascinatingly how Kortner developed psychological tensions with meticulous precision in linguistic expression and gestural construction.
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Title: Das Profil
Character: Self
Released: January 29, 1962
Type: TV
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Bluebeard
Title: Bluebeard
Character: Haushofmeister
Released: September 27, 1951
Type: Movie
Just before wowing international critics and moviegoers with his adventure romp Fanfan la Tulipe, director Christian-Jaque dashed off the lampoonish Barbe-Bleue. Ostensibly the story of the famed wife-killing potentate Bluebeard (Pierre Brasseur), this lighthearted costumer begins as the title character is poised to march down the matrimonial aisle for the eighth time. Barbe-Bleue's newest spouse Aline (Cécile Aubry) is kept in line by her husband's claims of murdering her predecessors. But when Aline opens the famous locked door to the equally famous hidden room, both she and the audience are in for quite a surprise. The frivolous nature of Barbe-Bleue is underlined by its pleasing utilization of the French Gezacolor process.
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Title: Deutscher Filmpreis
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1951
Type: TV
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Epilogue
Title: Epilogue
Character: Mr. P. L. Hoopman
Released: September 28, 1950
Type: Movie
The reporter Peter Zabel stumbles upon the sinking of the luxury yacht Orplid in Hamburg on August 14, 1949. The ship went down with a wedding party run by artists on a pleasure trip from Hamburg to Scotland . In spite of good weather and no technical problems. Out of personal curiosity, Zabel starts researching. Could the sinking of Orplid have political reasons? A German political thriller and film noir inspired by Carol Reed's "The Third Man".
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The Last Illusion
Title: The Last Illusion
Character: Professor Mauthner
Released: April 19, 1949
Type: Movie
Professor Mauthner, after many years of exile (having emigrated in 1933 to the USA), returns to Germany in 1948. He can in fact return to his teaching post, but the rejection and petty intrigues of his reactionary colleagues and students make his work almost unbearable.
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The Vicious Circle
Title: The Vicious Circle
Character: Joseph Schwartz
Released: July 21, 1948
Type: Movie
In Hungary, a rich baron discovers that there are extensive oil deposits underneath nearby properties owned by villagers. He manages to convince all the property owners to sell to him, except for a few properties owned by Jewish families. Infuriated at their refusal to sell to him, he attempts, with the help of some corrupt local police, to have the men charged with the murder of a local woman, who in reality actually committed suicide.
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Berlin Express
Title: Berlin Express
Character: Franzen
Released: May 1, 1948
Type: Movie
In post-war Europe, a diverse group of passengers aboard a U.S. Army train to bombed-out Frankfurt becomes involved in a Nazi assassination plot.
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The Brasher Doubloon
Title: The Brasher Doubloon
Character: Vannier
Released: February 6, 1947
Type: Movie
Mrs. Elizabeth Bright Murdock hires Marlowe to find an old rare coin, the Brasher Doubloon, that belonged in her deceased husband's collection. Marlowe begins investigating, but quickly finds himself entangled in a series of unexplained murders.
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The Razor's Edge
Title: The Razor's Edge
Character: Kosti
Released: November 19, 1946
Type: Movie
An adventurous young man goes off to find himself and loses his socialite fiancée in the process. But when he returns 10 years later, she will stop at nothing to get him back, even though she is already married.
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Somewhere in the Night
Title: Somewhere in the Night
Character: Anzelmo aka Dr. Oracle
Released: June 12, 1946
Type: Movie
George Taylor returns from WWII with amnesia. Back home in Los Angeles, he tries to track down his old identity, stumbling into a 3-year old murder case and a hunt for a missing $2 million.
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The Wife of Monte Cristo
Title: The Wife of Monte Cristo
Character: Maillard
Released: April 22, 1946
Type: Movie
In this sequel to the original story, Monte Cristo count Edmund Dantes (Martin Kosleck) returns to Paris to get revenge but soon finds himself pursued by a cruel policeman (John Loder). The count's brave wife Haydée (Lenore Aubert) throws the cop off her husband's scent by dressing up as the masked avenger herself and proving that she too is most competent with a sword.
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The Strange Death of Adolf Hitler
Title: The Strange Death of Adolf Hitler
Character: Bauer
Released: September 10, 1943
Type: Movie
Austrian actor Franz Huber, known for his impressions, is captured by the Gestapo and forced into plastic surgery to become Hitler's body double. Their plan is to poison Hitler and use Huber to take control of the Reich. Meanwhile, Huber's wife Anna sees her life coming undone as her husband has disappeared and her two sons are indoctrinated into the Hitler Youth.
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The Purple V
Title: The Purple V
Character: Thomas Forster
Released: March 12, 1943
Type: Movie
German expatriate Fritz Kortner plays the largest role, as an anti-Nazi schoolmaster who helps a downed American flyer (John Archer) reached Allied lines with vital war information. As usual, the Nazis are incredibly stupid and lead-footed, enabling the flyer to accomplish his mission.
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The Eternal Jew
Title: The Eternal Jew
Character: Dimitri Karamasoff (archive footage)
Released: November 28, 1940
Type: Movie
A Nazi propaganda film made to promote anti-Semitism among the German people. Newly-shot footage of Jewish neighborhoods in recently-conquered Poland is combined with preexisting film clips and stills to defame the religion and advance Hitler's slurs that its adherents were plotting to undermine European civilization.
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Midnight Menace
Title: Midnight Menace
Character: Minister Peters of Grovnia
Released: May 4, 1937
Type: Movie
When a reporter is killed under mysterious circumstances, the political cartoonist on his paper begins to investigate on his own. He finds that a vengeful industrialist may be trying to manipulate an international peace conference to stage a bombing attack on London.
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The Crouching Beast
Title: The Crouching Beast
Character: Ahmed Bey
Released: August 29, 1935
Type: Movie
In 1915 during the First World War, a British secret agent is killed while stealing secret Turkish plans for the Gallipoli Campaign but manages to pass his information to an American journalist.
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Abdul the Damned
Title: Abdul the Damned
Character: The Sultan, Abdul Hamid II & Kislar
Released: August 5, 1935
Type: Movie
In 1908, Sultan Abdul Hamid rules the Turkish Empire, but he is faced with the threat of revolt by the Young Turk party. He allows Hilmi Pasha, the leader of the Young Turks, to return from exile and form the country's first constitutional government. With tensions still growing, chief of police Kadar Pasha assassinates Hassan Bey, the leader of the Old Turk party, and makes it look as if a Young Turk committed the crime, in order to give Abdul an excuse for arresting the Young Turk leaders. Meanwhile, Abdul becomes infatuated with a visiting Austrian singer. When she rejects his advances, she endangers both herself and her fiancé, a Turkish officer who also knows who really shot Hassan Bey.
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Little Friend
Title: Little Friend
Character: Giant
Released: November 18, 1934
Type: Movie
A girl becomes an unwilling witness in her parents' scandalous divorce case.
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Evensong
Title: Evensong
Character: Arthur Kober
Released: September 3, 1934
Type: Movie
Loosely based on the story of the singer Nellie Melba...
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Chu Chin Chow
Title: Chu Chin Chow
Character: Abu Hasan
Released: May 1, 1934
Type: Movie
Musical retelling of the "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves" Arabian Nights tale.
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The Murderer Dmitri Karamazov
Title: The Murderer Dmitri Karamazov
Character: Dimitri Karamasoff
Released: February 5, 1931
Type: Movie
Suspicion surrounds a lieutenant for killing his father; based on Dostoevsky's novel.
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Danton
Title: Danton
Character: Danton
Released: January 21, 1931
Type: Movie
This pre-WW II German costume drama chronicles the French Revolution with a particular focus upon Danton, Robespierre, and Marat. It depicts the dramatic downfall and execution of Georges Danton in 1794 at the hands of Maximilien Robespierre. The film also presents an interesting, if not historically inaccurate, portrayal of Louis XVI.
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The Love Storm
Title: The Love Storm
Character: Captain Kell
Released: November 21, 1930
Type: Movie
This is the German-language version of the British film The Love Storm (1931).
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The Great Longing
Title: The Great Longing
Character: Himself
Released: August 24, 1930
Type: Movie
During lunch break at the movie studio, the extras rush to the canteen Hans Adalbert Schlettow, Maria Paudler and Luis Trenker are chatting. Eva von Loe a beautiful young extra rushes past; she is looking for her fiancé, Paul Wessel, who is also an extra. She has to return to the set where the famous director Regisseur Hall is shooting a scen. He is dissatisfied with his star, Carla Marventa, who is wrong for the scene he must photograph. Hall notices Eva, but laughs at her desire to replace Marventa. At that moment Conrad Veidt comes on the scene and assumes that Eva is the star.
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Dreyfus
Title: Dreyfus
Character: Hauptmann Alfred Dreyfus
Released: August 15, 1930
Type: Movie
In late nineteenth century Alfred Dreyfus, a French army officer of Jewish heritage, is falsely accused of espionage. Found guilty of treason he is drummed out of the army and sent to prison on Devil's Island.
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The Other
Title: The Other
Character: Staatsanwalt Hallers
Released: August 11, 1930
Type: Movie
A psychological drama based on the popular Jekyll and Hyde theme involving a strict legal official. The simultaneously filmed French language version of the film is titled The Prosecutor Hallers.
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Giftgas
Title: Giftgas
Character: Konzernpräsident Straaten
Released: November 13, 1929
Type: Movie
Arnold Horn, a young idealistic chemist, discovers a compound that can be used for the production of an effective deadly poisonous gas. Against his will the chemical factory starts production of the poison gas to increase the value of their shares.
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Atlantik
Title: Atlantik
Character: Heinrich Thomas
Released: October 28, 1929
Type: Movie
German-language version of the film Atlantic (1929).
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Die stärkere Macht
Title: Die stärkere Macht
Released: September 23, 1929
Type: Movie
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The Ship of Lost Men
Title: The Ship of Lost Men
Character: Capt. Fernando Vela
Released: September 17, 1929
Type: Movie
A young doctor gets stuck on a ship after treating an injured first mate. Later, he rescues a woman from plane wreckage, and with the help of the cook, he hides her away from the rowdy and dangerous crew.
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Die Frau im Talar
Title: Die Frau im Talar
Released: August 22, 1929
Type: Movie
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The Woman Men Yearn For
Title: The Woman Men Yearn For
Character: Dr. Karoff
Released: April 29, 1929
Type: Movie
After a chance meeting at a train station, Henry and Stascha, unhappy with their circumstances, are determined to leave and be together.
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The Somnambulist
Title: The Somnambulist
Released: February 7, 1929
Type: Movie
Originally named "The Clairvoyant" presenting the many talents of parapsychologist Elsbeth Günther-Geffers. First banned, later extensively reworked.
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Pandora's Box
Title: Pandora's Box
Character: Dr. Ludwig Schön
Released: January 30, 1929
Type: Movie
Lulu is a young woman so beautiful and alluring that few can resist her siren charms. The men drawn into her web include respectable newspaper publisher Dr. Ludwig Schön, his musical producer son Alwa, circus performer Rodrigo Quast, and seedy old Schigolch. When Lulu's charms inevitably lead to tragedy, the downward spiral encompasses them all.
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The Last Night
Title: The Last Night
Character: Montaloup
Released: October 11, 1928
Type: Movie
The fate of a French aristocrat is revealed in this historical costume drama, who, in 1792, finds herself confronted with the choice of either standing with her peers or becoming a revolutionary.
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Marquis d’Eon, der Spion der Pompadour
Title: Marquis d’Eon, der Spion der Pompadour
Released: September 6, 1928
Type: Movie
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Frau Sorge
Title: Frau Sorge
Character: Der alte Meyhöfer
Released: February 7, 1928
Type: Movie
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Die Geliebte des Gouverneurs
Title: Die Geliebte des Gouverneurs
Released: December 16, 1927
Type: Movie
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Die Ausgestoßenen
Title: Die Ausgestoßenen
Released: November 1, 1927
Type: Movie
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Primanerliebe
Title: Primanerliebe
Character: Karsten
Released: June 2, 1927
Type: Movie
An exploration of the misery of youth. A student, his friends, and the girl he loves all suffer due to the harsh and unforgiving nature of the adults in their lives.
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Mata Hari: the Red Dancer
Title: Mata Hari: the Red Dancer
Released: May 2, 1927
Type: Movie
Mata Hari, die rote Tänzerin (English: Mata Hari: The Red Dancer), often shortened on release to Mata Hari, is a 1927 German silent drama film directed by Friedrich Feher and starring Magda Sonja, Wolfgang Zilzer and Fritz Kortner. It depicts the life and death of the German World War I spy Mata Hari. It was the first feature-length portrayal of Hari.
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Beethoven
Title: Beethoven
Character: Ludwig van Beethoven
Released: February 18, 1927
Type: Movie
Filmed in Austria for the hundredth anniversary of Beethoven's death, this 1927 silent film tells the story of the German genius' eventful emotional life. Presented in a restored version and with rearranged music, a biopic to be savored with ears wide open.
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Draga Maschin
Title: Draga Maschin
Released: January 1, 1927
Type: Movie
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Should We Be Silent?
Title: Should We Be Silent?
Character: Der annoncirende Arzt
Released: April 5, 1926
Type: Movie
A melodrama about a painter who is infected with syphilis, refuses treatment, turns to the use instead of narcotics, and withers away.
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Kiedy kobieta zdradza męża
Title: Kiedy kobieta zdradza męża
Character: lokaj
Released: December 27, 1924
Type: Movie
When Professor Horski learns that his wife has published a volume of novellas under his name entitled "Wife" he feels compromised and is angered at her. But as he reads them, he finds that they are great. Also, he reads in them a warning to himself: one should not neglect one's wife for the sake of academic work. The film is considered to be lost.
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Moderne Ehen
Title: Moderne Ehen
Released: December 10, 1924
Type: Movie
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The Hands of Orlac
Title: The Hands of Orlac
Character: Nera
Released: September 24, 1924
Type: Movie
A world-famous pianist loses both hands in an accident. When new hands are grafted on, he is horrified to learn they once belonged to a murderer.
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Dr. Wislizenus
Title: Dr. Wislizenus
Character: Dr. Wislizenus
Released: March 3, 1924
Type: Movie
Deep in the forest lives the bitter Dr. Wislizenus, whose childhood sweetheart Maria committed suicide ten years ago. The visit of a childhood friend, he who wrote a poem about Mary, triggers a tragedy.
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Armes kleines Mädchen
Title: Armes kleines Mädchen
Released: January 1, 1924
Type: Movie
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Ein Weib, ein Tier, ein Diamant
Title: Ein Weib, ein Tier, ein Diamant
Character: Urmensch
Released: November 1, 1923
Type: Movie
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Warning Shadows
Title: Warning Shadows
Character: The Count
Released: October 16, 1923
Type: Movie
During a dinner given by a wealthy baron and his wife, attended by four of her suitors in a 19th century German manor, a shadow-player rescues the marriage by giving all the guests a vision what might happen tonight if the baron stays jealous and the suitors do not reduce their advances towards his beautiful wife. Or was it a vision?
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Nora
Title: Nora
Character: Krogstadt
Released: February 2, 1923
Type: Movie
Adaptation of A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen.
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Am Rande der Großstadt
Title: Am Rande der Großstadt
Released: December 12, 1922
Type: Movie
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What Belongs to Darkness
Title: What Belongs to Darkness
Character: Gangster
Released: December 8, 1922
Type: Movie
What Belongs to Darkness (German: Die Finsternis und ihr Eigentum) is a 1922 German silent drama film directed by Martin Hartwig and starring Karl Etlinger, Erra Bognar, and Fritz Kortner. The film's sets were designed by the art director Alfred Columbus.
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Peter the Great
Title: Peter the Great
Character: Patriarch Adrian
Released: November 2, 1922
Type: Movie
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Der Graf von Essex
Title: Der Graf von Essex
Character: Lord Nottingham
Released: September 14, 1922
Type: Movie
The Earl of Essex, a person favourite of the Queen, is in jeopardy of losing his relationship with the monarch after secretly marrying one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting.
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Am roten Kliff
Title: Am roten Kliff
Character: Henning Rinkens
Released: April 29, 1922
Type: Movie
A man is found dead on the small German island of Sylt. There is speculation that it may have been a murder, motivated by romantic jealousy. The man who is to be accused of the crime becomes despondent and aimless, abandoning his wife and children.
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Der Eisenbahnkönig, 1. Teil - Mensch und Mammon
Title: Der Eisenbahnkönig, 1. Teil - Mensch und Mammon
Released: December 29, 1921
Type: Movie
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Der Eisenbahnkönig, 2. Teil - Lauernder Tod
Title: Der Eisenbahnkönig, 2. Teil - Lauernder Tod
Released: December 29, 1921
Type: Movie
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Backstairs
Title: Backstairs
Character: Der Postbote
Released: December 11, 1921
Type: Movie
In a poor neighborhood of a big city, a crippled mailman is in love with a maid who lives in his building. However, she is in love with a wealthy and handsome young man, who soon disappears. The mailman provides the maid with letters that get her hopes up... but tragedy will soon befall all three.
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Die Brüder Karamasoff
Title: Die Brüder Karamasoff
Released: July 20, 1921
Type: Movie
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Landstraße und Großstadt
Title: Landstraße und Großstadt
Character: Mendel Hammerstein
Released: April 22, 1921
Type: Movie
Two poor musicians rise from rags to riches. Money, fame and their love for the same woman begin to crumble their friendship, revealing the true natures of both men--one noble and kind, the other a greedy, ruthless beast.
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Die Verschwörung zu Genua
Title: Die Verschwörung zu Genua
Character: Gianettino
Released: February 25, 1921
Type: Movie
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Haschisch, das Paradies der Hölle
Title: Haschisch, das Paradies der Hölle
Character: Sultan
Released: February 7, 1921
Type: Movie
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The House on the Moon
Title: The House on the Moon
Character: Jan van Haag - Wachsfigurenhändler
Released: January 28, 1921
Type: Movie
The House on the Moon
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Die Lieblingsfrau des Maharadscha
Title: Die Lieblingsfrau des Maharadscha
Character: Bhirma
Released: January 20, 1921
Type: Movie
The Maharaja of Odhapur goes on a trip to Europe and meet the young dancer Ellen Esmond. In her London accommodation, the Savoy Hotel, the Indian prince can prove to be a gallant gentleman and protect Ellen from an intrusive theatrical agent. The Maharaja asks the artist to entertain his guests the following evening with her dancing skills, including England's representatives in India. The maharaja is thrilled with both the person Ellen and her dance performances. His brother Bhima, who was always in the shadow of the Maharajah, drinks excessively and also is also magically attracted to Ellen Esmond.
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The Night of Queen Isabeau
Title: The Night of Queen Isabeau
Character: Connetable
Released: November 18, 1920
Type: Movie
The film depicts the marriage between the mad Charles VI of France and his wife Queen Isabeau.
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Christian Wahnschaffe I: Weltbrand
Title: Christian Wahnschaffe I: Weltbrand
Character: Iwan Becker
Released: November 12, 1920
Type: Movie
Weltbrand is the first part of the two-part silent movie Christian Wahnschaffe.
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Catherine the Great
Title: Catherine the Great
Character: Potemkin
Released: October 22, 1920
Type: Movie
The film was an epic portrayal of the life of Catherine the Great of Russia.
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Va banque
Title: Va banque
Released: June 27, 1920
Type: Movie
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Satanas
Title: Satanas
Character: Pharao Amenhotep
Released: January 30, 1920
Type: Movie
A lost film. Only 40 seconds survive today.
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Die Verschleierte
Title: Die Verschleierte
Released: January 1, 1920
Type: Movie
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Das Auge des Buddha
Title: Das Auge des Buddha
Released: March 21, 1919
Type: Movie
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Der Sonnwendhof
Title: Der Sonnwendhof
Released: November 15, 1918
Type: Movie
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Das andere Ich
Title: Das andere Ich
Character: Professor
Released: September 6, 1918
Type: Movie
A professor discovers a way to separate the soul from the body.
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Der Märtyrer seines Herzens
Title: Der Märtyrer seines Herzens
Character: Ludwig van Beethoven
Released: February 8, 1918
Type: Movie
The film traces the individual stages in the life of Ludwig van Beethoven.