Friedrich Kühne

Three gangsters overpower a night watchman and try to break into a safe. Opening the door triggers an alarm and they flee through the window without any loot. Their boss at ZEG (Zentrale Einbruchs-Gesellschaft) m.b.H. is furious with them. Tommy points out an old method, and Ricky recommends the new "occupier way". They disguise themselves as American soldiers and take part in the charity bazaar of the Privy Councillor von Lambert. There they organize a parlour game in which all those present place their valuables on a table around which they march. Then the lights go out. To the horror of the guests, the three "occupiers" disappear with all their jewelry and money.

France at the time of the Restoration. The young country gentleman Rastignac comes to Paris to study. He takes up residence in a poor boarding house, where his father Goriot, who has been excluded by his daughters, also lives. The penniless Rastignac is anxious to gain a foothold in Parisian society. His cousin advises him to take the rich banker's wife Delphine, one of Goriot's daughters, as his mistress, which he does. At the same time, however, he falls in love with the laundress Yvette. He is unable to make up his mind when boarding house guest Vautrin suggests a third option: To marry Victorine, the disinherited daughter of a millionaire, and kill her brother in a duel in order to get his inheritance after all. Rastignac agrees. This is his downfall. Instead of high society, he ends up in the gutter.

Berlin 1952, seven years after WWII. Four women are looking for a good man and happiness in the divided city. Their destinies are loosely connected through one person: the West Berlin dandy and womanizer, Conny.

The delightful Johann Strauss comic opera Die Fledermaus was mercilessly lampooned in this truly bizarre production. For starters, a framing device has been added: After appearing in 300 consecutive appearances of Fledermaus (which translates as The Bat) the lead tenor (Georg Alexander) imagines that he's seeing bats everywhere. Driven a bit over the edge by all this, he falls asleep and has a nightmare about the opera, with a group of non-singers cast in the leading roles. The original libretto about romantic assignations, political imprisonments and mistaken identity is burlesqued to the hilt: at one point, the hero finds out that his prison cell is surrounded by rubber tubes!

A look at various lives, one of which is Jewish girl Hanne Liebe, as she grows up and experiences the pains of living as a Jew in Russia, leading to a revolution.

A German soldier lies wounded on the front line in the First World War. To avoid capture or death, he assumes the identity of a fallen French officer. As the German soldier happens to speak fluent French, nobody realizes the deception. The soldier begins a new life in Paris, yet remains in constant fear of being exposed as the ‘enemy’.

The story of the ill-fated second wife of the English king Henry VIII, whose marriage to the Henry led to momentous political and religious turmoil in England.

Don Carlos, heir to the Spanish throne, and Princess Elisabeth of Valois are deeply in love but King Philip, Carlos's father, wants Elisabeth for himself.

No synopsis available yet.

No synopsis available yet.

When we last saw Kay Hoog (millionaire adventurer, courageous hunk), he’d been beset with tragedy. Having escaped an ancient Incan city by the skin of his gleaming teeth, Hoog looked forward to a few years of settled life with his (amicably) captured Incan lovely, Naela. But the past struck quickly. Hoog’s arch-nemesis, the homicidal femme Lio Sha, murdered Naela on the very grounds of Hoog’s estate, prompting him to swear revenge upon her and her criminal organization, the Spiders. Now he must find them, as the Spiders continue their global quest for the Buddha-head Diamond. The head, it’s said, has the power to restore Asia to world dominance.

No synopsis available yet.

Adaptation of Goethe's historical play "Götz von Berlichingen and the Iron Hand", set in the Holy Roman Empire.

At the height of Reign of Terror Maximilien Robespierre orchestrates the trial and execution of several of his fellow leading French revolutionaries including Georges Danton.

The Ethiopian King offers his daughter to a powerful Pharaoh to secure peace between the two countries.

German horror mystery movie from 1920.

"The House of Pillory" - a place where the enemy women captured during wartime were imprisoned so that the people could exploit them as they wished.

The Earl of Essex, a favourite of the Queen, is in jeopardy of losing her favor after secretly marrying one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting.

Film by Richard Oswald.

German silent film

Years have passed since the Three Musketeers, Aramis, Athos and Porthos, have fought together with their friend, D'Artagnan. But with the tyrannical King Louis using his power to wreak havoc in the kingdom while his twin brother, Philippe, remains imprisoned, the Musketeers reunite to abduct Louis and replace him with Philippe.

Based on Shakespeare's play: The treacherous Iago plans to ruin the life of Othello by provoking him to jealousy.

A melodrama about a virtuous wife unjustly abandoned by her husband, who get him back with the help of a Hindu mystic.

Deviating from the historical facts, Lola is introduced as a young Spanish “Gypsy” who becomes involuntarily embroiled in an attempt to poison the Infante of Spain (a short but splendid cameo by Heinrich George). As a result, she has to flee the country, arriving first in Italy, where she is taught how to act like a lady. Later, in Paris, she is invited to dance at the city’s prestigious opera house, becoming a worldwide sensation. She then becomes secretly involved in a revolutionary plot by Louis Napoléon, the future emperor of France. When the plot fails, Lola is once again forced to flee, this time to Munich, where she captures the attention of Ludwig I. Their ensuing affair arouses a great deal of hatred among the people and the establishment, however. In the end, Lola has no choice but to leave again, and vanishes into the night mist.

No synopsis available yet.

A vengeful antique dealer targets a dancer.

No synopsis available yet.

Kornej is a young painter of primitivism. An art agent discover the works of Kornej and buy the whole collection. The art critic Moulin is very excited about Kornejs paintings and style. Kornej marries his childhood sweetheart Rita. They have a child that carries a mystic disease. Allt the money Kornej got from selling his collection is put into the care of the sick child. Rita leaves Kornej.

In San Francisco, well-known sportsman Kay Hoog announces to a club that he has found a message in a bottle with a map drawn by a Harvard professor who has gone missing. The map tells of a lost Incan civilization that possesses an immense treasure. Hoog immediately plans an expedition to find it. But Lio Sha, the head of a criminal organization known as the Spiders, is determined to get the treasure for herself and plans a rival expedition.

A group of scientists, led by a Professor Ortmann, produce a living human child using scientific processes - a "homunculus." This creature is human in every way, except that he cannot experience love.

A group of scientists, led by a Professor Ortmann, produce a living human child using scientific processes - a "homunculus." This creature is human in every way, except that he cannot experience love.

No synopsis available yet.

"The Girl's Shepherd" - at that time a common name for a pimp. About promiscuity and naivety leading up to complicated situations.

Part of the artificial-creature series encompassing Der Golem (1914 and 1920), Alraune (1918, 1928, 1930) and Metropolis (1926), 'Homunculus' was the most popular serial in Germany during World War I even influencing the dress of fashionable Berlin. Foenss, a Danish star, is the perfect creature manufactured in a laboratory by Kuehne. Having discovered his origins, that he has no 'soul' and is incapable of love, he revenges himself on mankind, instigating revolutions and becoming a monstrous but beautiful tyrant, relentlessly pursued by his creator-father who seeks to rectify his mistake.

In this early version the classic "Hound of the Baskervilles" mystery is not faithfully adapted, Watson's character is absent and there are two Holmes. Holmes' foe is called Stapleton and he menaces Holmes' client Lord Henry and his fiancée, Laura Lyons, masquerading himself as Holmes. Hidden passages, hand bombs and mechanical devices abound, reminding more of a serial than of a Conan Doyle story.

No synopsis available yet.

Georg Bertrand, a gambling addict and the son of a wealthy landowner, is kicked out of his family home. The director of a travelling circus takes him in. In time, Georg marries the director's daughter and himself becomes the director. Georg's brother visits the circus and recognizes him. Georg must now decide whether to stay with the circus or return to the family that kicked him out.

Max Reinhardt’s second and last silent film. It tells the story of two young girls (Cheerful & Shy) who, in order to escape their father’s authority, reaches an island of wonder filled with gods, nymphs, fauns and other creatures.

Sherlock Holmes' arch enemy Stapleton has escaped a watery death in the 1914 "Hound of the Baskervilles" and returns to torment Lord Henry and his fiancée.

Richard Ortmann the artificial man (Homunculus) has become the head of the corporation that represents the capital and power of the country, but he has stopped believing in human love. All the more clear is his goal now: the annihilation of mankind.

No synopsis available yet.

Mad scientist, doctor Ten Brinken artificially inseminates a prostitute with a dead man's semen. The resulting child grows up to be a beautiful, evil woman who turns against her creator.

This movie, directed by Richard Oswald, is based on the operetta "Les contes de Hoffmann" by Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880), which is a genial musical potpourri from various short stories and novels by the Prussian writer, composer, painter, lawyer and judge E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776-1822). While Hoffmann's literary work was longtime considered to be merely fantastical, it was finally researched, in the last years, according to its metaphysical background. Characteristic for Hoffmann's work is his life-long fight against rationalism and for the revelation of nature morte, culminating mostly in carnival-like scenes anticipating literary techniques only described in the works of Bachtin and Bachelard.

Re-imagination of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice set in Poland. Directed by Carl Wilhelm.

For a long time the homunculus had to hide from his pursuers. But now he mingles with humanity again and sows discord, strife and murder. One day, when he meets an orphaned girl, he takes her to the shepherd Rudolf's parents. His goal is to pair the two together in order to breed a new human race from them. To this end, he kidnaps her to a deserted island. But the plan fails because Rudolf tries to kill the homunculus after learning his true identity. In revenge, the homunculus destroys the entire island, including the young couple. His hitherto loyal companion Edgar Rodin is so horrified by this deed that he renounces the homunculus and threatens him with death.

The homunculus and his companion Edgar Rodin make an invention that would allow the hateful homunculus to destroy the world. But first he wants to find out about love. When he observes how young Anna is rejected by her parents, he takes care of her and asks her parents for forgiveness - without success. He brings her to her seducer, who also rejects the girl. The homunculus then takes revenge by ruining the man financially and throwing Anna at his feet. But she still loves the villain and asks Homunculus for mercy. The homunculus cannot understand this feeling of love - he wants to try it out on himself. He puts a young woman who loves him to the hardest test, but she will do anything for him, sacrificing her fiancé and her parents. Only when he reveals his artificial nature to her, she leaves him. This experience confirms the homunculus in his intention to destroy mankind.

In China, Professor Gesellius has completed his long research on the many uses of opium. When he is about to return home, he hears about a special variety that produces fabulous sensations because of the way it is made, but can also cause the total destruction of the mind and body of the person who consumes it.

No synopsis available yet.

A rogue husband is saved by marriage.

Under the assumed name of Stapleton, Roger of Baskerville is condemned to death for being instrumental in the death of a relative and probable heir to the Baskerville estates. After his plea of clemency is denied, he overpowers his keeper and escapes, taking up his residence near Baskerville Castle, and announcing himself to Lord and Lady Baskerville as Loris Collamore, a new neighbor.

No synopsis available yet.

No synopsis available yet.

A young girl returns to her father's country, but her joy is short-lived. She is courted by a neighbouring fisherman, but also by the captain of her father's ship, who has shady intentions towards her.

No synopsis available yet.

Originally planned as the third entry in the Der Hund von Baskerville series, it was reworked into a stand alone film before release.

No synopsis available yet.

Lord Henry's tyrannical ancestor is seen to murder his wife and her faithful dog. The dog later returns to haunt his erstwhile master, involving Sherlock Holmes in the process.

No synopsis available yet.

No synopsis available yet.