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- DirectorWolfgang StaudteStarsHildegard KnefElly BurgmerErna SellmerAfter returning from a concentration camp, Susanne finds an ex-soldier living in her apartment. Together the two try to move past their experiences during World War II.
- DirectorMilo HarbichStarsUrsula VoßFritz WagnerHerbert WilkAfter the war, infinite numbers of refugees leave in search of a new home. They now stand in the hall of a large mansion, waiting to receive their deeds of ownership for sections of land that the lord of the manor had left behind after he fled. Among them is the young Jeruscheit who, during her travels, had to bury one of her own children. Her husband has been declared missing, and up until now she has had little purpose in life. But then she discovers it: to work, to build, and to help others. And maybe someday Jeruscheit will find her family.
- DirectorGerhard LamprechtStarsCharles BrauerHarry HindemithHedda SarnowAfter WWII, Berlin lies in ruins. For Gustav, Willi and their friends the rubble provides an adventurous, dangerous playground. Especially for Gustav, it helps pass the time, as he longs for his father's return from a POW camp. One day a stranger arrives, looking helpless and hopeless... Gerhard Lamprecht built his reputation during the 1920s and '30s with films like Emil and the Detectives (1931, script Billy Wilder) and socially-critical Berlin films based on the drawings of Heinrich Zille. In Somewhere in Berlin-his first postwar film, made just months after the cessation of hostilities-he portrays the people of the shattered city with precision and psychological realism.
- DirectorHans DeppeStarsBruni LöbelHeinz LauschErnst Legal
- DirectorWerner KlinglerStarsPaul BildtElly BurgmerAgathe PoschmannHauptkommissar/Chief Inspector Friedrich Naumann - played by old pro Paul Bildt, veteran actor of over 180 movies - operating in a Berlin still reeling from the immediate devastation WWII caused on all levels, attempts to break the most ruthless gang's grip upon the black market which is a necessary evil in this zero hour and brings the worst and the innocent into the same cauldron. Naumann targets the Club "Ali Baba" to strike a blow at its owner Goll (Harry Frank), the black market's kingpin, but one of Naumann's own men, Becker, is an informer blackmailed by Goll to keep him one step ahead of the law's movements. After the unsuccessful raid and the "official" closing of the file Naumann continues his investigations by himself, but as he gets too close to busting all up by finding evidences of irrefutable nature he is murdered. Not long and another Naumann enters the scene: Friedrich's PoW returned son Paul begins working as Goll's driver in the drug pusher gang. The different connections between gang leader/club owner Goll, sidekick and employee Yvonne (Nina Kosta), informant Heinz Becker (the blackmailed workmate of murdered Chief Inspector Naumann) and son Paul Naumann (approaching the moment he understands Goll brought about his father's death) provide tense levels of interaction. The police won't let it rest after Friedrich Naumann's murder and make a second attempt to raid the Ali Baba Club without Goll being tipped off this time and the police take him down with the gang.
- DirectorKurt MaetzigStarsPaul KlingerIlse SteppatAlfred BalthoffIn Nazi Germany actor Hans refuses to divorce his Jewish wife Elisabeth. He is threatened to be drafted and sent to the front while she will be deported to a concentration camp. Desperate, Hans decides that suicide is their only way out.
- DirectorGeorg C. KlarenStarsMax EckardKurt MeiselHelga ZülchThe body of Franz Wozzeck lies on a table in an anatomy lecture of a small German university. Whereas the doctor in charge of dissecting the cadaver can only see the murdered corpse lying on the table, Buechner, a medical student, sees the corpse of a "human being." "A human being" he adds, "that we have murdered." Buechner then proceeds to tell the story of Franz Wozzeck. Franz Wozzeck was a poor soldier. He endured the harassment and humiliation of his military superiors. His meager soldier's pay allowed him to provide for his beloved wife, Marie, and their child with the bare necessities and secure a modest future for them. It was this basic desire to earn money for his family that lead Wozzeck to be the guinea pig in a series of harsh medical experiments - for his participation in the experiments Wozzeck earned a few pennies. Marie is a beautiful and sensual girl, who loves Franz. But she also suffers from his physical and mental deterioration, and his morbid pathological visions. Owing to her difficulties with Franz, Marie eventually falls into the hands of the tenacious and seductive drum-major. When Wozzeck learns about his wife's infidelity - in their small village, news of conjugal indecorum quickly makes the rounds - he directs his entire indignation and rage against Marie. Indeed, it's not his tormentors he pursues with his wrath, but rather his beloved wife - whom he eventually kills. A film, based on Georg Buechner's taut drama, with exceptional visual power. Sharply realistic and uncannily visionary.
- DirectorPeter PewasStarsGisela TroweAlice TreffUrsula VoßErika is 20 lives with her strict parents in a post-war apartment, works as a tiller in a laundry and is always hungry. In her friend Else, she sees how she should do it: Else has caught an older man who provides her with new stockings
- DirectorArthur Maria RabenaltStarsHans NielsenTilly LauensteinArno EbertA chemist and his assistant make a groundbreaking discovery. They manage to make butter directly from pasture grass without having to deal with either the cow or the use of dairy products. An industrialist attempts to seize the invention.
- DirectorErich FreundWolfgang SchleifStarsClaus HolmMaria RouvelHans KleringDuring the global economic crisis, the pit "Morgenrot" is due to be closed due to unprofitable results. With the use of a machine forbidden for security reasons, the mates try to work more effectively and thus save their jobs.
- DirectorHans MüllerStarsEva Ingeborg ScholzLutz MoikPiet ClausenPost-war Germany 1945: Two rival gangs of uprooted boys fight each other in the ruins of Berlin, whose business is the black market out of necessity in order to survive. Their respective leaders are Gerhard and Dietrich. A pretty young circus artist named Corona comes to the destroyed city with a traveling circus. She immediately caught the boys' attention. When the latter notice that the circus director is abusing the girl, the two gangs join forces and plot an act of revenge against the tyrant. But with the hustle and bustle caused by this, Corona falls from the trapeze and is seriously injured. When the circus moves on, the boys organize a doctor for the sick artist who has been left behind. Their collectively concern for the blonde beauty makes them forget their enmity. This welds the troops closer together and sets the course for a common, meaningful future.
- DirectorGustav von WangenheimStarsInge von WangenheimWilhelm BorchertViktoria von Ballasko1948: Students from Berlin University take part as extras in the shooting of a film about the 1848 Revolution. Students form two camps, which fight each other violently about the historical events, commanded by Elsa and Heinz.
- DirectorErich EngelStarsHans Christian BlechErnst WaldowPaul BildtThis early postwar suspense story, based on a well-known 1926 murder trial with Dreyfus-like overtones also represents an East German reflection on Nazism. Dr. Blum, a Jewish manufacturer living in Germany, is falsely accused of killing his booker. Even when the real killer's identity becomes evident, the state prosecutor refuses to accept Blum's innocence. The film explores German reaction to the trial and investigates the relationship between the legal system, antisemitism, and fascism, providing insight into the historical context that allowed Nazism to flourish.
- DirectorArthur PohlStarsKarl HellmerFritz WagnerArno PaulsenAfter the end of WWII, a group resettlers reaches a small village in central Germany, which has been spared from destruction. The new arrivals, who live in a resettlement camp separated by a bridge from the actual village, counter mistrust and rejection of the village community. Even the spokesman for the resettlers, Michaelis, despite his commitment is hardly able to bring about a change in thinking in the adults. The village youths however do get over their resentment: Michaelis' daughter Hanne falls in love with Martin, the nephew of the village mayor. But Martin is also courted by the innkeeper Therese. When Martin decides for Hanne, Therese has the bridge destroyed in revenge causing a fatal accident. Afterwards, due to negligence, she causes a fire that soon affects half the village. The resettlers, whose camp is effectively separated from the village on account of the destroyed bridge, then swim through the river and help to save the village. The joint construction of a new bridge finally brings together newcomers and long-time residents.
- DirectorWolfgang SchleifStarsEdelweiß MalchinSiegfried DornbuschAxel MonjéKarli is sentenced to a juvenile camp after stealing a car. The commandant was later replaced by a strict disciplinarian, who believes in barbed wire, hard labour, and punishment by deprivation of food; thus causing some boys to flee.
- DirectorHans DeppeStarsIna HalleyHeinz SchröderNils-Peter Mahlau
- DirectorGerhard LamprechtStarsClaus HolmYvonne MerinRuth Piepho
- DirectorKurt MaetzigStarsCamilla SpiraWerner HinzLiselotte LieckFamily drama spanning three generations and almost 70 years of German history, from the Wilhelmine period through the end of WWII.
- DirectorWolfgang StaudteStarsPaul EsserIrene KorbKarl Heinz DeickertThe life of the worker Hans Behnke and his family from 1925 to 1945 in Berlin. Hans ultimately does join the Nazi party, but still shows signs of disagreement with their ideology.
- DirectorErich EngelStarsKäthe HaackWerner HinzFita BenkhoffAn adaptation of the play by Gerhart Hauptmann about a washerwoman who exposes the secrets of the supposedly respectable citizens of the area.
- DirectorSlatan DudowStarsViktoria von BallaskoPaul BildtHarry HindemithA story about a family after the Second World War. The petty bourgeois cashier Karl Weber of Berlin observes from a distance how his son Ernst participates in the building of a new socialist society. Karl does not understand Ernst's visions, instead he confides in his other son Harry. However, Harry becomes involved in illicit business and Karl quickly realizes that it would be best to join his son Ernst in the citizen-owned factory. With this film, director Slatan Dudow (1903-1963) continued the traditions of proletarian German film from the Weimar Republic. As with his first feature film Kuhle Wampe, from a screenplay by Bertolt Brecht, Dudow wanted an art that "cultivates the viewer's psyche." His postwar films were intended to make the viewers realize the importance of supporting the "new order" in East Germany. Our Daily Bread became known as a premiere film of its day under the rubric of "socialist realism." Slatan Dudow's work was convincing mainly through his detailed descriptions of socialist everyday life. Music by Hanns Eisler was the centerpiece of contemporary review. After coming back from his exile in America, the composer created a score that challenged, thrilled, and focused. Berlin's world of ruins is captured in almost documentary fashion.
- DirectorGeorg WildhagenStarsAngelika HauffWilly Domgraf-FassbaenderSabine PetersShortly after WWII, the DEFA Studios produced a series of operas and operettas which belonged to the classical German musical heritage. This enchanting film, the very first opera production of DEFA, stands out because of its lavish decor and costumes, its outstanding actors and their masterful voices of that time.
- DirectorWolfgang SchleifStarsHans QuestIlse SteppatAlexander EngelA biography of Johann Friedrich Böttger, who in 1709 invented the first white porcelain in Europe. The apprentice apothecary and assistant to a "gold producer" fled from the Prussian King - into Saxony. But there he finds King Frederick August the Strong after him: the young man is told to produce gold for the king, and is thus brought to a fortress and equipped with everything he would need for the task. Naturally, Böttger has known for a while that actual gold production is a myth and instead experiments with porcelain; it should be as white as it is in China, he figures. Once he finally succeeds in surprising the King with the "white gold," he vainly hopes for freedom... a tragic error.
- DirectorHans HeinrichStarsPetra PetersFritz WagnerAlbert Venohr
- DirectorHans MüllerStarsEva RimskiReinhard KolldehoffCatja GörnaA novelty in German post-war history: a young woman (Eva Rimski) becomes mayor in a village. She is efficient and enjoys respect, but soon enough two villagers disagree with her work. In her predecessor, a prominent farmer (Arno Paulsen), she has a bitter enemy. But even her boyhood friend (Reinhard Kolldehoff), who wants to marry her as he returns home from captivity, can not accept that his future wife holds such an office. The farmer uses the unauthorized building of a school to rally against the mayor. When that backfires he sets fire to the school - and gets his punishment in the process. The boyhood friend changes his mind by the decisiveness and qualities of the mayor, his girlfriend. He begins to accept the equal rights of the woman.
- DirectorKurt MaetzigStarsPaul BildtFritz TillmannWilly A. KleinauBased on the 1947 book "I.G. Farben", by American author Richard Sasuly, and records from the Nuremberg Trial of the chemical giant I.G. Farben, Council of the Gods is a story about the collaboration between international corporations and German scientists, whose research contributed to the death of millions. Featuring music by Hanns Eisler, electronic sound by Oskar Sala (Hitchcocks's "The Birds") and a script by Friedrich Wolf, the film is powerful in its depiction of the moral dilemmas and lessons of the war, as well as of Cold War propaganda. Chemist Dr. Hans Scholz lives through a tortuous political transformation and maturation process. Finally, he becomes wrapped up in his political neutrality and closes his eyes to the fact that poison is being produced in his factory. Standing before the judges at the Nuremberg trials he has to face the fact that he was partly responsible for the deaths of millions in the gas chambers of the extermination camps.
- DirectorGeorg C. KlarenStarsKarl ParylaKäthe BraunAngelika Hauff
- DirectorArthur PohlStarsGunnar MöllerMonika SiemerTheodor Vogeler
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsLutz MoikHanna RuckerPaul BildtPeter Munk, a poor charcoal burner, lives with his mother in The Black Forest. Poverty prevents him from marrying Lisbeth, the girl he loves. When he comes across the Little Glass Man, the good spirit of the forest, the young man asks him for assistance. His wish is granted and he becomes rich. But the fool soon loses all his money after gambling at the inn. In desperation, he asks Dutch Michael, the evil spirit of the forest, to help him to become rich again. The mean giant agrees and gives Peter all the riches in the world, but on one condition: the young man will exchange his heart for a cold stone. He can now marry Lisbeth but can a heart of ice make you and the others happy...?
- DirectorGeorg WildhagenStarsSonja ZiemannRita StreichCamilla SpiraFor the corpulent nobleman, Sir John Falstaff, the inn in the small English town of Windsor is the best of all places. Here he can indulge in excessive dining and intemperate drinking, as well as swagger and boast about his adventures, particularly those of an amorous nature. At present, he has designs on the two young women, Mistress Reich and Fluth, who, in turn, lead our paunchy hero mightily by the nose. Mistress Reich indeed has much to deal with: her pretty daughter, Anna, has no lack of suitors and the parents cannot agree on who the future son-in-law should be. Anna, however, has already made her choice: she wants to marry young Master Fenton, a match which fails to suit her parents' plans. She plans a clandestine wedding ceremony in the forest. But it so happens that the townspeople join forces on the same night to sour stout Falstaff's life in Windsor and to drive him out of town. To pull off this dirty trick, Mistresses Reich and Fluth arrange yet another rendezvous with Falstaff in the forest at midnight. The citizens disguise themselves and now appear to the love-sick Sir John as ghosts. This is more than he can take and, horror-stricken, he flees Windsor forever. This musical masterpiece was questioned by the SED prior to its release due to the film's portrayal of societal relations. Great comedic performances.
- DirectorGeorg C. KlarenStarsKäte AlvingUrsula BurgMaly DelschaftIn 1943, a Göttingen university professor celebrates 30 years teaching. A son with the SS in Norway is expected as well as a daughter, a pianist in occupied France.But a former colleague , escaped from a camp,also comes, and asks for help.
- DirectorFalk HarnackStarsErwin GeschonneckKäthe BraunGefion HelmkeAfter a crime is committed during the Nazi era in the Reeperbahn area of Hamburg, the aspiring local leader, a ship owner, needs to find an executioner to kill the perpetrators and turns to a butcher.
- DirectorRichard GroschoppStarsGerda FalkFritz WagnerWerner PetersThe dispute over a dress model spoils Jochen and Gerd's holiday mood. It could be so nice, because the two unlawful "carriers" of the model, Ursel and Hilde, like them. They belong to the rival company "Berolina", while the young men who made the models are from the "Saxonia" factory. Back home, they realize the absurdity of their argument, and reconciliation takes place at the Leipzig Trade Fair. The model is announced as a co-production, and two couples make a double wedding.
- DirectorErich FreundStarsClaus HolmInge KellerHanns Groth
- DirectorWolfgang StaudteStarsWerner PetersPaul EsserRenate FischerDiederich Heßling is scared of everything and everyone. But as he grows up, he comes to realize that he has to offer his services to the powers-that-be if he wants to wield power himself. His life motto now runs: bow to those at the top and tread on those below. In this way, he always succeeds: as a student in a duel-fighting student fraternity and as a businessman in a paper factory. He cajoles the obese district administrative president Von Wulkow and wins his favor. He slanders his financial rivals and hatches a plot with the social democrats in the town council. On his honeymoon with his rich wife Guste, he finally finds a chance to do his beloved Kaiser a favor. And when a memorial to the Kaiser is unveiled in the town where Diederich lives and works, he delivers the address. He stands behind the lectern in the pouring rain, saluting his Kaiser. The crowd is dispersed. Everything is laid in ruins...
- DirectorArthur PohlStarsTrude HesterbergWilly KleinoscheggIngrid RentschLate 19th Century Berlin. The stately house of the commerce councillor Jenny Treibel has done something to Corinna, a destitute professor's daughter. Therefore, she conveniently falls into a relationship with Treibels' son Leopold, despite Leopold's mother's intentions to thwart such scandalous trysting between her son and the penniless girl. Yet as the two's secret engagement attains public attention, they are pressured into an immediate marriage. Corinna has already seen through the intrigue, however, and turns her affections toward her cousin Marcel, a social democrat whom has been thrown out of the country. Marcel knows that Corinna waits for him.
- DirectorEduard KubatStarsHans KleringKäte AlvingEvamaria Bath
- DirectorKurt MaetzigStarsYvonne MerinHans-Peter ThielenWilly A. KleinauA young married couple-both actors-work in Cold War Berlin before the Wall is built. Agnes is on location in East Berlin, and Jochen, her husband, works at the Westend Theater in West Berlin. They hold diametrically opposed views on politics, art and the responsibility of the individual to society. As they have vehement arguments, their marriage is in danger of breaking up. This film portrays numerous figures of contemporary German cultural and political life-including Veit Harlan, director of the notorious Nazi propaganda film Jud Süss, and Boleslaw Barlog, a famous West Berlin theater director. Also memorable in this film is documentary footage of the construction of Stalin Allee, the biggest boulevard built in East Berlin after WWII, soon to become a central locus of the popular uprising of 17 June 1953. Although director Kurt Maetzig depicts Cold War Berlin with dramatic verve, the film illustrates the tightening grip of Stalinism on East German cultural production at this time.
- DirectorGeorg C. KlarenHans-Georg RudolphStarsGünther BallierHelmut BautzmannRichard BellachFrankreich um 1820. Den mittellosen Landedelmann Rastignac zieht es zum Studieren nach Paris, wo er in einer armseligen Pension Quartier macht. Dort ist auch Vater Goriot untergekommen, den seine Töchter um alles gebracht haben. Da Rastignac in die besseren Gesellschaftskreise aufsteigen will, macht er sich an Goriots Tochter Delphine heran, die inzwischen mit einem Bankier verheiratet ist. Seine Liebe aber gehört der Wäscherin Yvette. Mit Victorine kommt noch eine weitere Dame ins Spiel, das für Rastignac zunehmend riskanter wird.
- DirectorMartin HellbergStarsHelga GöringGünther SimonEduard von Winterstein"The condemned Village". After years in Soviet Captivity, farmer Heinz Weizmann returns to his village in West Germany. His joy of returning home is clouded by news the U.S. occupation forces intend to build an airfield on village lands. The villagers are expected to just move away. Led by Heinz they protest. He is arrested and imprisoned but eventually support from all of West Germany prevents the airfield from being built, and the village and their way of life is saved.
- DirectorSlatan DudowStarsSonja SutterLotte LoebingerAnneliese BookBerlin, seven years after WWII. Four women are looking for happiness and a good man in the divided city. Their destinies are loosely connected through one person: the West Berlin dandy and womanizer, Conny. Released at the peak of East German cultural and political dogmatism, the film was heavily critiqued, especially by female party leaders who objected that its portrayal of the four women did not represent the qualities that characterized women in the new society. Now considered as a richly contradictory work, Destinies of Women represents an encore production by the Dudow/Eisler/Brecht creative team that also made Kuhle Wampe in 1932.
- DirectorFranz BarrensteinStarsClaus HolmEva ProbstLutz Götz
- DirectorRichard NicolasStarsGünther SimonPeter MarxWerner Peters
- DirectorArthur PohlStarsAlice TreffWilly A. KleinauTamara Osske
- DirectorEduard KubatStarsHelmut BautzmannIlse BergerHorst Bonnet
- DirectorWolfgang SchleifStarsEdgar BennertSonja HaackerCharlotte KüterFranz and Schorsch are the horror of all teachers. Constantly in the mood for mischief, they disrupt the class. The rest of the class just watches. Only the new classmate Vera is appalled and tries to talk the boy into conscience.
- DirectorWolfgang StaudteStarsThomas SchmidtJohannes MausFriedrich RichterAn old man living in an oriental city tells the story of his life to a group of kids: He too was once a young boy by the name of Little Muck - much like them, but with better manners and a heap of problems. Having lost his father at early age, little Muck is expelled from home by his greedy relatives. He wanders off into the desert hoping to find the merchant who sells good fortune. Amidst the dunes of sand he comes across a small house owned by a wicked woman and her many cats. She wants to make Little Muck her servant, but he manages to escape by stealing a pair of magic shoes which enable him to run faster than any man in the country. From there he heads right into the next set of challenges... Based on a fairy tale by Wilhelm Hauff.
- DirectorKurt MaetzigStarsGünther SimonHans-Peter MinettiErich FranzThis historical-biographical film begins in the first days of November 1918 on the western front. News comes to the soldiers of a revolutionary uprising in Kiel. Young Thälmann, a soldier against his will, would like to join the expanding conflict on the side of his comrades in Hamburg. As the revolution becomes threatened by the betrayal of the right-wing Social Democrats and the splintering of the working class, he nevertheless tries unremittingly to unite the workers. The reactionaries grow ever stronger and the neediness of ordinary people multiplies. In this dire situation, the Hamburg police commissioner would like to block the unloading of a ship full of provisions that were sent from Petrograd as a message of solidarity. But Thälmann prevails in unloading it. The high point and conclusion of the first part of the Thälmann films is established at the Hamburg Uprising in October 1923.
- DirectorArthur PohlStarsFredy BartenIlse BastubbeMaria BesendahlAutumn 1847: A couple, unmarried but awaiting a child is trying to survive the East German social stigma. Church and government will play their roles to make this movie a feast for the eyes and senses.
- DirectorHerbert BallmannStarsKurt UlrichWilfried OrtmannHans-Hasso SteubeSeveral children find out what's the matter with a wreck offshore, which puts them into jeopardy.
- DirectorGerhard KleinStarsErwin GeschonneckUwe-Jens PapeKarl KendziaTwo boys from West Berlin, Klaus and Max, live in poverty. Their dream is a career in boxing, and they save every penny in order to buy boxing gloves with which to train. Nevertheless, it does not suffice. And so they let themselves be hired by the bartender Klott for a twisted scheme. By happenstance, Klaus overhears one of Klott's conversations in which he learns that he is intended to participate in a horse theft at the East Berlin Barlay Circus, where he just found some new friends. He is outraged and thus aids the execution of an adventurous intervention to obstruct the theft.
- DirectorHelmut SpießStarsLothar BlumhagenAlbert GarbeAlfred Maack
- DirectorSlatan DudowStarsWilhelm Koch-HoogeHelga GöringKurt OligmüllerThe story of a resistance fighter in the Nazi era: Communist Hans Löning was arrested in 1933, imprisoned in the concentration camp and tortured. The Gestapo plans to smash the resistance group around Löning so they make him disappear.
- DirectorHarald MannlStarsHarald MannlJohanna EndemannBrigitte HechtDr. Wagner is a scientist currently working on an experiment for the Asta plant in East Berlin. If the experiment succeeds its a brilliant new invention. The company will be able to make the expensive material copper independent.
- DirectorHans MüllerStarsHenny PortenHorst NaumannRüdiger Renn
- DirectorArthur PohlStarsHeliane BeiHeinz HöpnerWilly Kleinoschegg19th century story about a woodcutter in Frisia who becomes famous for making puppets.
- DirectorCurt BoisStarsFredy BartenBarbara BergGerhard Bienert
- DirectorHerbert BallmannStarsEva KotthausHans-Peter MinettiWilly A. KleinauAccording to a legend from the Harz region, sometime in the Middle Ages the brutal, greedy owner of the windmill farm set fire to a forest mill together with the castle bailiff and the village schoolmaster. Disguised as devils, they had set to work on a stormy night and stolen even the last flour from the forest mill. From then on, the farmers are forced to have the grain ground by the evil millman, especially since he spreads the rumor that the forest mill is bewitched. Anne, who works on his farm, discovers the stolen sacks and thus gets on the trail of the crime.
- DirectorEugen YorkStarsHenny PortenWilly A. KleinauAnne VernonSeveral men have been murdered lately, mostly rich lovers on their way to meet their mistresses with gifts of fine jewelry. To fight this scourge, King Louis XIV decides to create a special court named "La chambre ardente", designed to find and punish the perpetrators of such heinous crimes. An unexpected person, Mademoiselle de Scudéry, the famous poetess, will find herself entangled in the web of a criminal intrigue linked with the jewel murders, along with a a goldsmith, his daughter and her fiancé...
- DirectorHarald MannlStarsWerner PetersSonja SutterRobert TröschA hairdresser is mistaken for a film actor.
- DirectorKurt MaetzigStarsGünther SimonHans-Peter MinettiKarla RunkehlThe second part of the Ernst Thälmann films encompasses the time period between 1930 and Thälmann's murder in 1944. It shows Thälmann's battle to achieve a united front with all German workers against the National Socialists, his arrest following Hitler's seizure of power and the eleven years of his incarceration, in which he is unwavering in his beliefs until his death. An attempt to free him on the part of his comrades ends disastrously, and a corrupt offer of freedom from Göring himself receives Thälmann's refusal. He must also witness how his brave fellow Socialist Aenne Jansen in the women's prison across from his tragically loses her life during a bombing raid. The second primary character of the film is Aenne's husband Fiete Jansen, who already proved his loyalty to Thälmann's side as a friend and fighter in the first part. As the commander of the Thälmann Battalion, he fights in Spain on the side of the people and later in the ranks of the Red Army toward a speedy end to the war against Fascism.
- DirectorHelmut SpießStarsEmil StöhrGisela UhlenWalther Süssenguth
- DirectorRichard GroschoppStarsHans WehrlLotte LoebingerIrene Korb
- DirectorCarl BalhausStarsJochen BrockmannKurt SteingrafErika DunkelmannShortly after Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor at the beginning of 1933, preparations were made to silence the Socialist and Communist parties.
- DirectorGustav von WangenheimStarsPaul HeidemannGerd Michael HennebergSiegfried HömkeAt Eschenhöhe the buildings are collapsing. But at the institute for construction in Berlin the plans for rebuilding the village are thwarted by the chief architect. He would like to shine in the competition with his "New City" design.
- DirectorKonrad WolfStarsKarla RunkehlWolfgang KielingWilhelm Koch-HoogeTwo young idealists aiding fugitives in 1941 are separated by the war and reunite after, but circumstances have complicated their relations.
- DirectorKurt Jung-AlsenStarsHorst NaumannJochen ThomasRolf Ludwig
- DirectorGerhard KleinStarsAnnekathrin BürgerUlrich TheinUwe-Jens PapeDie 16-jährige Ostberlinerin Uschi (Annekathrin Bürger) lernt im HO-Bekeidungswarenhaus am Alexanderplatz den Beruf einer Verkäuferin. Als sie bei einer Modenschau Kleider vorführen darf, kommt sie auf die Idee, Mannequin zu werden. Aber ihre Eltern (Erika Dunkelmann und Erich Franz) sind damit nicht einverstanden. Eines Tages begleitet Uschi ihre Freundin nach Feierabend wieder mal in den Westsektor der Stadt. An einem Stand möchte sie sich etwas zum Naschen kaufen. Der Händler will zwar ihr Ostgeld annehmen, aber den Schein nicht wechseln. Das bekommt ein in der Nähe stehender junger Mann mit und bezahlt die Summe. "Lord" (Uwe-Jens Pape), seine lustige, unbekümmerte Art und auch sein Kofferradio gefallen Uschi, und sie geht noch ein Stück mit ihm spazieren. Er und sein Freund Hans (Ulrich Thein) wohnen im Westsektor und verdienen ihr Geld mit dem Waschen von Luxuslimousinen. Für Hans ist Uschi Liebe auf den ersten Blick. Als die Autowäscherei eines Tages dicht macht und "Lord" Berlin verlässt, ergreift Hans seine Chance bei der jungen Frau. Mit seiner ruhigen, zuverlässigen Art verzeichnet er bald Erfolge, und es entwickelt sich zwischen beiden eine zarte Liebe. Nach mehreren erfolglosen Versuchen findet er eine neue Arbeit bei einem Abbruchunternehmen. Er ermutigt Uschi, sich bei einer Mannequinschule anzumelden und übernimmt die Kosten. Sie verbringen sehr viel Zeit miteinander, und eines Tages, während eines starken Regens, geht Hans mit ihr in die Wohnung eines Freundes. Uschi vermutet, dass es seine ist, doch auch er wohnt noch bei seiner Mutter (Marga Legal). Da Uschi immer öfter spät nach Hause kommt, gibt es Ärger mit ihren Eltern. Nach einem heftigen Streit beschließt sie, zu Hans zu ziehen. Doch in seiner vermeintlichen Wohnung öffnet eine junge Frau, die ihr erklärt, dass Hans gar nicht hier wohnt. Mit einem Hoffnungsschimmer für eine gemeinsame Zukunft endet die Liebesgeschichte zweier junger Menschen - einem Mädchen aus Ostberlin und einem jungen Mann aus dem Westsektor der Stadt. Die noch vor dem Mauerbau entstandene Komödie steht in ihrer unpathetischen Romantik dem italienischen Neorealismus nahe und ist ein hochinteressantes Zeitdokument. Für Regisseur Gerhard Klein war Hauptdarstellerin Annekathrin Bürger eine Notbesetzung. Doch die damals 17-Jährige bescherte dem Film mit ihrer unbekümmerten, natürlichen Ausstrahlung großen Erfolg beim Publikum. Die Rolle der Uschi in "Eine Berliner Romanze" wurde zum Auftakt ihrer großartigen Schauspielkarriere - und aus der Romanze im Film wurde auch im wirklichen Leben Liebe: Annekathrin Bürger und ihr Filmpartner Ulrich Thein waren bis 1961 ein Paar.
- DirectorHans MüllerStarsWilly A. KleinauBert FortellLore FrischWho is the real Czar? Marie sees before her an impossible task. A comic opera about Czar Peter I of Russia and Peter the carpenter in the small Dutch town of Saardam.
- DirectorHorst ReineckeStarsRenate KüsterPaul R. HenkerRolf Möbius
- DirectorCarl BalhausStarsGisela TroweRichard LauffenGünther Simon
- DirectorMartin HellbergStarsJosephine BackWolf KaiserAnne Dessau
- DirectorHelmut SpießStarsKurt SchmidtchenChristel BodensteinHorst DrindaScreen version of the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm "The Brave Little Tailor"
- DirectorSlatan DudowStarsRolf LudwigErwin GeschonneckElse WolzAlbert Hauptmann is an out of work waiter in Cologne who is often confused with a former Captain of the Nazi Army. Albert uses this to his advantage and becomes the Director of the Montan Corporation, and a member of the West German Parliament. Herr Karjanke, the real Captain, learns of Albert's ruse, and wants to claim his "rightful" position in Parliament. But Karjanke cannot come forward until his politicking "Doppelganger" succeeds in passing an amnesty law for war criminals. When Albert is finally brought before a judge on charges of fraud, he learns that this own amnesty law does not apply to him.
- DirectorJános VeicziStarsUwe-Jens PapeInge HuberHartmut Reck