Writing
Novelist and screenwriter.
Mogador, Morocco. Late 1920s. A complex romance develops between a womanizing Legionnaire and a disillusioned Parisian cabaret singer.
Based on the short story "Der Fall des Generalstabschefs Redl" by Egon Erwin Kisch. Alfred Redl, a colonel on the Austrian General Staff, leads an extravagant private life. No one suspects that in reality he is passing information to Russian spies. Alternate-language version of "AfĂ©ra plukovnĂka RĂ©dla" (1931).
A German scientist murders his fiancée during World War II when he learns that she has been selling the results of his secret research to the enemy.
A criminal organizes train crashes to discredit the railway in favor of a rival bus company. The stunts in this film were groundbreaking for 1920s British cinema. A scene which has been described as "the most spectacular rail crash in cinema history" was recorded by 22 cameras.
No description available.
Portrait of Charles Trenet. Twenty years after his death, this documentary offers a new look at the artist. When, in 1956, the singer appeared on television, he was 43 years old. And it is a man of 60 or even 70 years old that today's audience has known. The first Charles Trenet, the one who transported France when he was 25 or 30 years old, remains largely unknown. Yet it was this kid of genius who, at the age of 25, invented French chanson. But the archives that are scattered throughout this portrait also show that he invented a certain idea of joy. For joy in Trenet was a sport, a daily gymnastics.
A rich Brazilian, Mendoza, visited Paris in 1900 and was romantically involved with the star of Offenbach's 'La vie parisienne' which was playing at the time. Thirty five years later, he returns with his son and granddaughter, who is engaged to a young Frenchman. But Mendoza's puritanical son forbids the marriage. Mendoza and the actress's friends conspire to change his mind and convert him to 'Parisian life.'
Mismatched travellers are stranded overnight at a lonely rural railway station. They soon learn of local superstition about a phantom train which is said to travel these parts at dead of night, carrying ghosts from a long-ago train wreck in the area. The travelers eventually get to the bottom of the things that go bump in the night.
The life of Henri-Désiré Landru, French serial killer of around 300 women.
Hélène is a telephone operator in love with her boss, who has never looked at her. She follows him to the Côte d'Azur and passes herself off as a great lady. Brodier falls madly in love with her.
Melodramatic story of an innocent country girl (Ita Rina) who struggles to make a living in the city as a prostitute. As she provides last service to a murderer sentenced to death (Josef Rovenský), society condemns her and leads her to despair. This groundbreaking film directed by Karel Anton was made in 1930 as the first Czech feature movie with post-synchronised soundtrack, recorded in France. International star cast, sensitive adaptation of Egon Erwin Kisch’s short story and innovative combination of silent and sound film features make this movie an artwork of European significance.
German language version of The Virtuous Sin (1930).
Armande, the wife of surgeon Colbert, has numerous love affairs and pursues Jacques, whom Armande’s girlfriend Liliane has in her sights.
A biography of the composer Johann Strauss.
English-language version of Baroud, sometimes referred to as Love in Morocco. 'A sergeant in the Foreign Legion falls in love with Zinah, the daughter of a Berber chief.' (British Film Institute)
Scenes from the beginning of the Russian revolution against the czaristic regime.