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IMDbPro

My Friend Rockefeller

  • 2015
  • 1h 26m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
706
YOUR RATING
My Friend Rockefeller (2015)
DocumentaryBiographyCrime

Portrait of Christian Gerhartsreiter, who posed as a Rockefeller heir for decades, but who was, in fact, a con artist and a murderer.Portrait of Christian Gerhartsreiter, who posed as a Rockefeller heir for decades, but who was, in fact, a con artist and a murderer.Portrait of Christian Gerhartsreiter, who posed as a Rockefeller heir for decades, but who was, in fact, a con artist and a murderer.

  • Director
    • Steffi Kammerer
  • Writer
    • Steffi Kammerer
  • Stars
    • Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter
    • Dan Banks
    • Sandra Boss
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.2/10
    706
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Steffi Kammerer
    • Writer
      • Steffi Kammerer
    • Stars
      • Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter
      • Dan Banks
      • Sandra Boss
    • 6User reviews
    • 1Critic review
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos

    My Friend Rockefeller (2015)
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    Top cast

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    Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter
    Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter
    • Self
    Dan Banks
    • Self (fellow church member, San Marino, CA)
    Sandra Boss
    Sandra Boss
    • Self (ex-wife, married for 13 years)
    Meredith Brucker
    • Self
    Meredith Bruckner
    • Self (romance novelist, San Marino, CA)
    Bob Brusca
    • Self (former colleague, Manhattan)
    Judith Carter
    • Self (San Marino, CA)
    Peggy Ebright
    • Self (artist, San Marino, CA)
    Horst Eigermann
    • Self (childhood friend)
    Frank C. Girardot
    • Self (crime reporter, San Gabriel Valley)
    Martha Henry
    • Self (art dealer, Manhattan)
    Patrick Hickox
    • Self (architect, Boston)
    Steffi Kammerer
    Steffi Kammerer
    • Self (in interview scene with Gerhartsreiter)
    Elmer Kelln
    • Self (surrogate parent)
    Jean Kelln
    • Self (surrogate parent)
    Wayne Kelln
    • Self (Loma Linda, CA)
    Walter Kirn
    Walter Kirn
    • Self (author, Blood Will Out)
    Mihoko Manabe
    • Self (longtime girlfriend)
    • Director
      • Steffi Kammerer
    • Writer
      • Steffi Kammerer
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Quotes

      Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter: But... I mean, what is fiction? Fiction is lying. Every novel we read, every fictional television show we see is really a lie. If you think about it in terms of what is truth and what is a lie, well really the only true book is the Bible, and everything else is really a lie.

    • Connections
      References West Side Story (1961)

    User reviews6

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    Generally Interesting But Somewhat Confusing Tale of a Real-Life Tom Ripley
    Like a lot of documentaries about crime puzzles, many of them are in desperate need of a narrator if for no other reason than it may be difficult to understand how all the pieces fit, risking leaving the viewer with a jumbled mess. After having viewed this documentary, I wasn't sure how all the puzzle pieces fit together. I've read two books about so-called Clark Rockefeller, the German provincial Christian Gerhartsreiter, who impersonated a Rockefeller and fooled the elites of New York for well over 10 years. The present documentary certainly added much I didn't know before, but if I had come into this subject with a clean slate, I think I would have been very confused. The time-line of events is not made clear, particularly when and where Christian Gerhartsreiter was under his many aliases. Certainly, the best known is Clark Rockeller, but he also want by Christopher Chichester, Chip Smith, and Chris C. Crowe among others. Although these aliases were mentioned, it wasn't always clear exactly when and where he used them.

    In the late 1970's, Christian Gerhartsreiter who had been born and raised in the small provincial town of Siegsdorf in southern Germany came to the United States intent on "becoming" an American. He didn't just assimilate himself into America society. He decided to pass himself off as one of the nation's elites. After convincing some American's to "sponsor" him, he moved to San Marcos, CA, a quasi-Beverly Hills located in the northeastern part of the Los Angeles area. There, he named himself Christopher Chichester and claimed he was in the upper circles of Hollywood. He freeloaded off the elites of San Marcos who believed his story that he was a descendant of Lord Mountbatten. He even went so far as to imply he was a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. Eventually, he would steal a car and murder at least one person, probably two, and then he disappeared.

    A few years later in the 1990's, a young man name of Clark Rockefeller infiltrated the upper-crust of New York, claiming he was a member of the Rockefeller family, one of the most elite and prestigious of American clans. He spoke and presented himself in a way which endeared him to the NY elites and they bought his story hook, line and sinker. In America's largest and arguably most elitist city, Clark was given access to exclusive clubs, given prestigious jobs, and invited into elite circles. Even though he was supposedly worth $100's of millions, he freeloaded off of other people's generosity, often compelling companions to pay for drinks and dinners. And yet, almost none of them ever questioned that he was anything but a Rockefeller. He married a woman making $1 million a year working for a prestigious NY firm, and convinced her to give him full access to her bank account. He also claimed to have inherited an art collection which turned out to be filled with fakes and copies.

    Back in San Marcos, police dug up dead bodies at a residence in which he used to reside, and were getting closer to the man who had called himself Christopher Chichester. The gig was up when, after his wife divorced him after a private detective determined he wasn't a Rockefeller, he kidnapped their only daughter. When the story broke, the Rockefellers claimed they didn't know who he is and that he definitely wasn't one of the family. He was eventually arrested and flown back to the Los Angeles area to stand trial of murder where he was convicted.

    Even stranger than the incredible false identities he assumed was that so many people bought into his story. Nearly everyone he met were convinced he was a member of the Rockefeller family, and those in San Marcos believed he was descended from Lord Mountbatten. The documentary is mostly comprised of interviews of people who interacted with "Clark Rockefeller" aka Christian Gerhartsreiter. Very few actually questioned he was telling the truth. Far stranger was that many people could have easily researched online to find out whether this man was who he claimed to be. Of particular interest is Walter Kirn, writer of the novel "Up in the Air", who befriended Rockefeller and bought into his story. He admits he had witnessed many hints which might have led him to discover for himself whether Clark was telling the truth about his lineage but failed to do so. However, he missed these opportunities because it sounds like it never occurred to him until after Gerhartsreiter's arrest that he would have been lying.
    helpful•2
    0
    • classicalsteve
    • Oct 9, 2016

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • July 1, 2016 (Netherlands)
    • Countries of origin
      • Germany
      • United States
    • Official site
      • My Friend Rockefeller website
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Being Rockefeller
    • Filming locations
      • Chiemgau, Bavaria, Germany
    • Production companies
      • LOOKSfilm
      • Lockberg Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 26 minutes
    • Color
      • Color

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