
Acting
Erich von Stroheim
Born — Died
1885-09-22 — 1957-05-12
Place of birth
Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]
Known for
Acting
Credits
84 titles
Erich von Stroheim (September 22, 1885 – May 12, 1957) was a multifaceted Austrian-American actor, director, and writer known for his contributions to cinema during the silent film era. He was renowned for his meticulous attention to detail as a director and for portraying intense, often morally ambiguous characters on screen. Stroheim gained fame for directing and starring in films like "Greed" and "The Merry Widow." His style was marked by elaborate storytelling and a commitment to realism. Stroheim's career was impactful, though often marked by conflicts with studios due to his uncompromising vision, which led to some of his films being heavily edited against his wishes.
Known for
9.5Marcello Mastroianni, Isabelle Adjani, Alain Delon, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen... the biggest stars in cinema were welcomed by Christian Defaye on his show Spécial cinéma. Between intimate confessions from actors and immersion in the world of the greatest filmmakers, Christian Defaye took viewers on a journey into the fascinating world of cinema for nearly thirty years.
Spécial cinéma
1974
8.3A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.
Sunset Boulevard
1950
7.9A group of French soldiers, including the patrician Captain de Boeldieu and the working-class Lieutenant Maréchal, grapple with their own class differences after being captured and held in a World War I German prison camp. When the men are transferred to a high-security fortress, they must concoct a plan to escape beneath the watchful eye of aristocratic German officer von Rauffenstein, who has formed an unexpected bond with de Boeldieu.
Grand Illusion
1937
8.4A 1980 documentary series exploring the establishment and development of the Hollywood studios and its impact on 1920s culture.
Hollywood
1980
7.1The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
1916
7.3When housewife Trina wins the lottery, her comfortable life with her dentist husband John slowly deteriorates, in part by her own increasing paranoia and partly by the machinations of villainous acquaintance Marcus.
Greed
1924
Film credits
1960s · 2 titles
1950s · 7 titles
8.3A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.
Sunset Boulevard
1950
6.3The film follows the life of Napoleon from his early life in Corsica to his death at Saint Helena. The film is notable for its use of location shooting for numerous scenes, especially at the French estates of Malmaison and Fontainebleau, the Palace of Versailles, and sites of Napoleonic battles including Austerlitz and Waterloo.
Napoleon
1955
7.3Having recently moved into her new apartment, Irène Cazenave, the widow of a well-known police officer, is forced by one of her husband's colleagues to take part in an investigation. The building's provocative concierge has been found murdered. We watch a parade of suspects, only to learn at the end that Irène killed the janitor under blackmail. She kills herself.
Midnight... Quai de Bercy
1953
6.2A Ukrainian village must suddenly contend with the Nazi invasion of June 1941. Re-edited version of The North Star (1943), to remove positive references to Soviet Union and include narration about the Hungarian Uprising of 1956.
Armored Attack!
1957
5.0When 1 of 2 Foreign Legion officers is killed after witnessing a secret experiment on a death ray (capable of shooting down aircraft) in southern Morocco, the other gets vengeance by infiltrating the organization responsible.
Alarm in Morocco
1953
5.5In the 1800s, a stormy love relationship develops quickly between a young medical student and a woman believing herself to be the daughter of his scientist uncle, the student having never heard of her before their chance encounter and both unaware that she is the result of the scientist's illegal experiments with artificial insemination..
Unnatural
1952
5.7Complicated intrigues fester in the warmth of Segnac, a charming village on the Cô te d'Azur. The hô teliers' daughter, Violaine, has only a few months to live and loves Blaise d'Orliac, who is closely watched by his mistress Michèle. Old O'Hara is platonically in love with Violaine and encourages Blaise's meetings with the young girl. Michèle interferes. Blaise kills her. O'Hara believes Violaine is guilty and wants to accuse himself. Violaine, on the verge of death, exonerates Blaise. M. Dautrand, who was playing the part of a holiday painter but is really a police officer, decides after reading the girl's diary to leave Blaise in peace. Violaine dies happily.
Other Side of Paradise
1953
1940s · 16 titles
7.0During the 1942 North African campaign, a British straggler passes as a waiter at the hotel commandeered as Erwin Rommel's headquarters. He has thoughts of assassinating Rommel but his cover may provide an even better use.
Five Graves to Cairo
1943
6.0A Ukrainian village must suddenly contend with the Nazi invasion of June 1941. Later re-edited and released as "Armored Attack."
The North Star
1943
6.1A beautiful but unscrupulous female performer manipulates all the men in her life in order to achieve her aims.
The Great Flamarion
1945
6.0A millionaire's brain is preserved after his death by a scientist and his two assistants, only to create a telepathic monster.
The Lady and the Monster
1944
6.3An anti-Nazi refugee on the run and a young Jewish couple race across Europe trying to escape Hitler's ever powerful influence.
So Ends Our Night
1941
4.8A stage illusionist plots a revenge after a particularly humiliating comeback attempt.
The Mask of Diijon
1946
6.5A London curator loses the Mona Lisa to a collector, who discovers it's a fake.
Scotland Yard Investigator
1945
8.0A physician whose wife was killed when two trains collided has remained a tormented soul,In his mind,he can still hear his wife whisper "Stop the train! Stop it!" .
The Red Signal
1949
6.5Posing as the fabulously glamorous Countess Tanya Vronsky, a poor young ballet dancer and her two accomplices are really a team of skilled con artists! They mingle with Europe's high society, always looking for the next wealthy victim to fleece with their fake jewellery scam... Then Tanya meets the dashing young Paul Vernay. At first she wants to rob him. Then she decides she wants to marry him and to leave her criminal past behind her. Her accomplices agree but only if she'll join them in one last, big swindle...
I Was an Adventuress
1940
6.8In Macao, where places of pleasure and arms trafficking are concentrated, a tragedy opposes an adventurer and his daughter whom he has brought up in ignorance of his profession. She is torn from her environment and saved from tragedy by a young journalist who loves her.
Gambling Hell
1942
6.0The Director of an international banknote printing institute, mutilated by the face of the Great War, Frank Davres, falls in love with a young woman, Jeanne, admirably beautiful, but blind. He marries her. For her, he ruins himself and comes to issue counterfeit banknotes. The young woman does everything to make people forget her infirmity. One day, following an operation, she recovers her sight and notices the physical and moral ugliness of her husband. She hides her cure until the day when Frank, taken by the police, kills one of his accomplices and commits suicide. Jeanne leaves to join a friend with whom she was performing in a circus.
Devil and the Angel
1946
5.4A nightclub star helps trap an enemy agent on the trail of an American newsman.
Storm Over Lisbon
1944
6.8An international crook hunted by the police comes to Paris to save his daughter from the clutches of a blackmailer friend of a cabaret singer with eccentric outfits.
Thunder Over Paris
1940
6.3A sinister fortress on an island where the sun never seems to shine. An officer whose values have long gone a thing of the past.
La Danse de mort
1948
9.0In the studio where the famous director Eric Von Berg reigns, Pierre Vanier, the male star of the film and the lover of Berg's muse, dies while rehearsing a scene. Over the course of a tangled investigation, the culprit is unmasked. This honest dresser is the adoptive mother of Vanier's wife, too unhappy with such a husband. The inspector, moved, concludes a suicide.
One Does Not Die That Way
1946
5.9A circus daredevil is the next victim of a danger-seducing woman who tricks him into a potentially deadly stunt after he attempted to kill her.
Portrait of a Murderer
1949
1930s · 15 titles
7.9A group of French soldiers, including the patrician Captain de Boeldieu and the working-class Lieutenant Maréchal, grapple with their own class differences after being captured and held in a World War I German prison camp. When the men are transferred to a high-security fortress, they must concoct a plan to escape beneath the watchful eye of aristocratic German officer von Rauffenstein, who has formed an unexpected bond with de Boeldieu.
Grand Illusion
1937
7.4In a college, three friends form a secret society. Their objective - going to America. One night, after one of their secret meetings, one of them sees a man coming out from a wall. The next day, after he talks about it, he disappears. Then, the second one vanishes. Are they gone to their dreams? That's when the art teacher is murdered. Suspicions now are too high so the third one decides to investigate.
Boys' School
1938
6.8To try solving the strange disappearances of 11 young Parisian women, the police obtain the services of Adrienne Charpentier, friend of the latest missing person.
Personal Column
1939
6.6Paris, 1937. Winckler kills his enemy Gordon, a Chicago mobster, from the stage of a Parisian music hall, where he performs telepathy. He pays another artist, Helene, so that she tells the police they've spent the night together, which doesn't fool Callas, the police officer who investigates the murder. He hires one of his fellow officers in order to seduce Helene.
Alibi
1937
5.1A crazed scientist invents a serum that induces a catatonic state in anyone who gets the injection. He uses the serum to paralyze his enemies, in order to bury them alive.
The Crime of Doctor Crespi
1935
6.4Bar entertainer Zara is a discontented alcoholic who is pursued by many men but lives with novelist Carl Salter. One day, Tony shows up on Salter's estate claiming that Zara is actually Maria, the wife of his close friend Bruno, claiming that her memory was destroyed during World War I. Zara doesn't remember but leaves with Tony to Salter's dismay. Bruno, now an officer in the Italian Army, tries to coax Maria's memory back on his large estate. No one is really sure if Zara is Maria, and when Salter shows up with a mental case from Trieste that he claims is the real Maria, everyone on Bruno's estate is desperately searching for the truth.
As You Desire Me
1932
8.0About the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the beginning of the First World War. Focuses on the relationship between a Serbian officer and his Austrian-born wife and their involvement in espionage between the countries.
Ultimatum
1938
6.5When World War I comes to an end, three pilots find themselves on hard times. They wind up in Hollywood, where they work as stunt fliers for a sadistic director.
The Lost Squadron
1932
6.2Henri Pierson, the chief engineer of a railway line crossing Yunnan in China, must prevent the incessant attacks of a gang of looters.
Rail Pirates
1938
5.5After Fred von Bergen, a German immigrant in America, is forced from his job by anti-German hysteria before the first world war, he and his friend Bob Wilson leave America and join the German air force. There, both men fall in love with ambulance driver Alida Hoffman. When America enters the war, Bob is caught between loyalty to his home country and the threat of execution for desertion and treason to Germany. It remains for his friend Fred to extricate him from the dilemma - but at what cost?
Crimson Romance
1934
9.0During the First World War, a woman doctor falls in love with one of her patients who turns out to be a German spy. She herself ends up working for German intelligence.
Under Secret Orders
1937
6.0An Austrian officer must face up to the good and evil aspects of his own personality as he becomes involved in a war.
Fugitive Road
1934
4.9British Army captain Geoff Roberts carries on an affair with Alva, the wife of the cruel Victor Sangrito. Sangrito, however, is well aware of the affair, as he uses his beautiful wife to lure men into romance with her, then blackmailing them to save their careers.
Friends and Lovers
1931
8.0Everything you wanted to know about your favorite circus, radio and movie stars. They tell you about their lives and likes and dislikes.
La Vie des artistes
1938
6.5Based on true facts, a news item which was widely talked about in the nineteenth century, this is the story of a wife who might have poisoned her husband .
The Lafarge Case
1938
1920s · 8 titles
7.3When housewife Trina wins the lottery, her comfortable life with her dentist husband John slowly deteriorates, in part by her own increasing paranoia and partly by the machinations of villainous acquaintance Marcus.
Greed
1924
6.5A con artist masquerades as Russian nobility and attempts to seduce the wife of an American diplomat.
Foolish Wives
1922
6.3A young woman hits Hollywood, determined to become a star.
Souls for Sale
1923
7.1Against the backdrop of Vienna's hidebound caste system, aristocrat and army officer Nicki is attracted to peasant Mitzi, although he knows it cannot last. Acquiescing to familial pressure, he ultimately gives her up to marry the more socially acceptable – albeit crippled – heiress Cecelia. Mitzi, for her part, is heartbroken and must resign herself to marrying churlish butcher Schani Eberle.
The Wedding March
1928
NRAnother entry in the popular one-reel series.
Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 12
1922
7.0The honeymoon of Prince Nicki in the Alps, and the wedding of Mitzi and Schani. Mitzi still loves Nicki, and jealous Schani decides once again to kill the prince. Schani shoots at Nicki, but Cecilia throws herself in front of Nicki. Schani becomes a fugitive and goes into hiding. Nicki and Mitzi meet one last time, where Mitzi tells Nicki that she will go to a convent. Nicki goes off to war, where he is killed. Sequel to von Stroheim's The Wedding March released only in Europe. The only known copy was destroyed in a fire at the Cinémathèque Française in 1959.
The Honeymoon
1929
6.2A tour of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio in 1925 shows the people who make the movies there, and gives viewers a glimpse at how movies are made.
1925 Studio Tour
1925
5.7For the ventriloquist Gabbo his wooden dummy Otto is the only means of expression. When he starts relying more and more on Otto, he starts going mad.
The Great Gabbo
1929
1910s · 10 titles
7.1The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
1916
6.4An Austrian military officer and rogue attempts to seduce the wife of a surgeon. The two men confront each other in a test of abilities that ends surprisingly.
Blind Husbands
1919
NRWhen World War I breaks out, young West Point cadet Gerald Ackland, who is studying in Paris, joins the French army as a fighter pilot. His French fiancee, Martha Landeau, and her father flee to the family farm, which is near the Marne River, for safety. When German troops take over the area, they raid Marthe's farm and attempt to ravage her--but suddenly, out of the sky, comes a French fighter plane that scatters the Germans--and its pilot is none other than Gerald. However, that's not the end of their troubles, by any means.
For France
1917
6.1A group of youth come of age in a peaceful French village. But war intrudes and peace is shattered. The German army invades and occupies, bringing both destruction and torture. The youngsters resist, some successfully, others tragically, until French troops retake the town.
Hearts of the World
1918
9.0During World War I, a group of German saboteurs plot to blow up an ammunition dump in New York City. A secret agent sets out to stop them.
Sylvia of the Secret Service
1917
6.1A wealthy young American, bred to class distinction and racial intolerance, enters the Marines during the First World War. In the course of his training and his experiences in the trenches fighting, being wounded by, and being hospitalized with Germans, he comes to a recognition of the equality and brotherhood of men.
The Unbeliever
1918
4.6Produced at the Reliance studio in Yonkers, New York, HIS PICTURE IN THE PAPERS solidly established Fairbanks as the American ideal of pop, vim, and vigor. Furthermore, the film brought him together with the two collaborators who were to play a profound role in the evolution of his screen persona: writer Anita Loos and her future husband, director John Emerson. The theme was, according to Emerson and Loos, "the great American love of publicity."
His Picture in the Papers
1916
NRA young man drowns his sorrows in strong drink when jilted by his girl. His drunkenness gets him thrown in jail, where he falls in love with the jailer's daughter. When released, the young man tries everything to get back into the jail - though when he is mistaken for an anarchist bomber, he finds himself facing not just jail, but execution.
In Again, Out Again
1917
6.0The story centers around Nanette, an American girl living in a small Canadian village, who is in love with John Patricia, the eldest of five brothers. The war interrupts their romantic idyll, as everyone goes overseas to Belgium and France. Nanette becomes a Red Cross nurse and is terrorized by the evil Prussian Lt. von Eberhard.
The Heart of Humanity
1918
5.6An attractive young girl struggles to hold a job as she deals with unwanted romantic advances from her boss.
The Social Secretary
1916
Series credits
9.5Marcello Mastroianni, Isabelle Adjani, Alain Delon, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen... the biggest stars in cinema were welcomed by Christian Defaye on his show Spécial cinéma. Between intimate confessions from actors and immersion in the world of the greatest filmmakers, Christian Defaye took viewers on a journey into the fascinating world of cinema for nearly thirty years.
Spécial cinéma
1974
8.4A 1980 documentary series exploring the establishment and development of the Hollywood studios and its impact on 1920s culture.
Hollywood
1980
Behind the camera
7.3When housewife Trina wins the lottery, her comfortable life with her dentist husband John slowly deteriorates, in part by her own increasing paranoia and partly by the machinations of villainous acquaintance Marcus.
Greed
1924
7.3When housewife Trina wins the lottery, her comfortable life with her dentist husband John slowly deteriorates, in part by her own increasing paranoia and partly by the machinations of villainous acquaintance Marcus.
Greed
1924
6.5A con artist masquerades as Russian nobility and attempts to seduce the wife of an American diplomat.
Foolish Wives
1922
6.5A con artist masquerades as Russian nobility and attempts to seduce the wife of an American diplomat.
Foolish Wives
1922
6.8Respected Parisian banker Paul Lavond is framed for robbery and murder by crooked associates and sent to prison. Years later, he escapes with a friend, a scientist who was working on a method to reduce humans to a height of mere inches (all for the good of humanity, of course). Lavond, however, is consumed with hatred for those who betrayed him, and takes the scientist's methods back to Paris to exact painful revenge.
The Devil-Doll
1936
6.4An Austrian military officer and rogue attempts to seduce the wife of a surgeon. The two men confront each other in a test of abilities that ends surprisingly.
Blind Husbands
1919
6.4An Austrian military officer and rogue attempts to seduce the wife of a surgeon. The two men confront each other in a test of abilities that ends surprisingly.
Blind Husbands
1919
6.4An Austrian military officer and rogue attempts to seduce the wife of a surgeon. The two men confront each other in a test of abilities that ends surprisingly.
Blind Husbands
1919
6.0While Peggy deeply falls in love with Jimmy, her best friend Millie becomes increasingly frustrated with men and very jealous with Peggy, so she tries everything to destroy the new love.
Hello, Sister!
1933
6.0While Peggy deeply falls in love with Jimmy, her best friend Millie becomes increasingly frustrated with men and very jealous with Peggy, so she tries everything to destroy the new love.
Hello, Sister!
1933
6.5A convent girl is abducted and seduced by a prince before being sent off to a brothel in East Africa.
Queen Kelly
1929
6.5A convent girl is abducted and seduced by a prince before being sent off to a brothel in East Africa.
Queen Kelly
1929
6.7Prince Danilo falls in love with dancer Sally O'Hara. However, his uncle, King Nikita I of Monteblanco, forbids the marriage due to her being a commoner. Thinking she's been jilted by her prince, Sally marries lecherous old Baron Sadoja, whose wealth has kept the kingdom afloat. When he suddenly dies, Sally must be wooed all over again by Danilo.
The Merry Widow
1925
6.7Prince Danilo falls in love with dancer Sally O'Hara. However, his uncle, King Nikita I of Monteblanco, forbids the marriage due to her being a commoner. Thinking she's been jilted by her prince, Sally marries lecherous old Baron Sadoja, whose wealth has kept the kingdom afloat. When he suddenly dies, Sally must be wooed all over again by Danilo.
The Merry Widow
1925
6.2A nobleman posing as a necktie salesman falls in love with the daughter of a circus puppeteer, although he's already wed to the daughter of his country's war minister.
Merry-Go-Round
1923
7.1Against the backdrop of Vienna's hidebound caste system, aristocrat and army officer Nicki is attracted to peasant Mitzi, although he knows it cannot last. Acquiescing to familial pressure, he ultimately gives her up to marry the more socially acceptable – albeit crippled – heiress Cecelia. Mitzi, for her part, is heartbroken and must resign herself to marrying churlish butcher Schani Eberle.
The Wedding March
1928
7.1Against the backdrop of Vienna's hidebound caste system, aristocrat and army officer Nicki is attracted to peasant Mitzi, although he knows it cannot last. Acquiescing to familial pressure, he ultimately gives her up to marry the more socially acceptable – albeit crippled – heiress Cecelia. Mitzi, for her part, is heartbroken and must resign herself to marrying churlish butcher Schani Eberle.
The Wedding March
1928
7.1Against the backdrop of Vienna's hidebound caste system, aristocrat and army officer Nicki is attracted to peasant Mitzi, although he knows it cannot last. Acquiescing to familial pressure, he ultimately gives her up to marry the more socially acceptable – albeit crippled – heiress Cecelia. Mitzi, for her part, is heartbroken and must resign herself to marrying churlish butcher Schani Eberle.
The Wedding March
1928
9.0The wife of an American playwright in Paris becomes ensnared in the seductive wiles of an American Army officer, but her devotion to her husband convinces the officer to try to extricate her from the gossip and scandal that have ensued.
The Devil's Passkey
1920
9.0The wife of an American playwright in Paris becomes ensnared in the seductive wiles of an American Army officer, but her devotion to her husband convinces the officer to try to extricate her from the gossip and scandal that have ensued.
The Devil's Passkey
1920
7.0The honeymoon of Prince Nicki in the Alps, and the wedding of Mitzi and Schani. Mitzi still loves Nicki, and jealous Schani decides once again to kill the prince. Schani shoots at Nicki, but Cecilia throws herself in front of Nicki. Schani becomes a fugitive and goes into hiding. Nicki and Mitzi meet one last time, where Mitzi tells Nicki that she will go to a convent. Nicki goes off to war, where he is killed. Sequel to von Stroheim's The Wedding March released only in Europe. The only known copy was destroyed in a fire at the Cinémathèque Française in 1959.
The Honeymoon
1929
7.0The honeymoon of Prince Nicki in the Alps, and the wedding of Mitzi and Schani. Mitzi still loves Nicki, and jealous Schani decides once again to kill the prince. Schani shoots at Nicki, but Cecilia throws herself in front of Nicki. Schani becomes a fugitive and goes into hiding. Nicki and Mitzi meet one last time, where Mitzi tells Nicki that she will go to a convent. Nicki goes off to war, where he is killed. Sequel to von Stroheim's The Wedding March released only in Europe. The only known copy was destroyed in a fire at the Cinémathèque Française in 1959.
The Honeymoon
1929




