Erich von Stroheim

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

Spécial cinéma poster
9.5

Marcello 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

Sunset Boulevard poster
8.3

A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.

Sunset Boulevard

1950

Grand Illusion poster
7.9

A 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

Hollywood poster
8.4

A 1980 documentary series exploring the establishment and development of the Hollywood studios and its impact on 1920s culture.

Hollywood

1980

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages poster
7.1

The 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

Greed poster
7.3

When 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

2020s · 1 titles

1950s · 7 titles

Sunset Boulevard poster
8.3

A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.

Sunset Boulevard

1950

Napoleon poster
6.3

The 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

Midnight... Quai de Bercy poster
7.3

Having 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

Armored Attack! poster
6.2

A 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

Alarm in Morocco poster
5.0

When 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

Unnatural poster
5.5

In 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

Other Side of Paradise poster
5.7

Complicated 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

Five Graves to Cairo poster
7.0

During 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

The North Star poster
6.0

A Ukrainian village must suddenly contend with the Nazi invasion of June 1941. Later re-edited and released as "Armored Attack."

The North Star

1943

The Great Flamarion poster
6.1

A beautiful but unscrupulous female performer manipulates all the men in her life in order to achieve her aims.

The Great Flamarion

1945

The Lady and the Monster poster
6.0

A 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

So Ends Our Night poster
6.3

An 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

The Mask of Diijon poster
4.8

A stage illusionist plots a revenge after a particularly humiliating comeback attempt.

The Mask of Diijon

1946

Scotland Yard Investigator poster
6.5

A London curator loses the Mona Lisa to a collector, who discovers it's a fake.

Scotland Yard Investigator

1945

The Red Signal poster
8.0

A 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

I Was an Adventuress poster
6.5

Posing 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

Gambling Hell poster
6.8

In 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

Devil and the Angel poster
6.0

The 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

Storm Over Lisbon poster
5.4

A nightclub star helps trap an enemy agent on the trail of an American newsman.

Storm Over Lisbon

1944

Thunder Over Paris poster
6.8

An 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

La Danse de mort poster
6.3

A 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

One Does Not Die That Way poster
9.0

In 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

Portrait of a Murderer poster
5.9

A 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

Grand Illusion poster
7.9

A 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

Boys' School poster
7.4

In 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

Personal Column poster
6.8

To 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

Alibi poster
6.6

Paris, 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

The Crime of Doctor Crespi poster
5.1

A 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

As You Desire Me poster
6.4

Bar 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

Ultimatum poster
8.0

About 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

The Lost Squadron poster
6.5

When 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

Rail Pirates poster
6.2

Henri 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

Crimson Romance poster
5.5

After 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

Under Secret Orders poster
9.0

During 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

Fugitive Road poster
6.0

An 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

Friends and Lovers poster
4.9

British 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

La Vie des artistes poster
8.0

Everything 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

The Lafarge Case poster
6.5

Based 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

Greed poster
7.3

When 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

Foolish Wives poster
6.5

A con artist masquerades as Russian nobility and attempts to seduce the wife of an American diplomat.

Foolish Wives

1922

Souls for Sale poster
6.3

A young woman hits Hollywood, determined to become a star.

Souls for Sale

1923

The Wedding March poster
7.1

Against 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

Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 12 poster
NR

Another entry in the popular one-reel series.

Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 12

1922

The Honeymoon poster
7.0

The 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

1925 Studio Tour poster
6.2

A 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

The Great Gabbo poster
5.7

For 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

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages poster
7.1

The 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

Blind Husbands poster
6.4

An 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

For France poster
NR

When 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

Hearts of the World poster
6.1

A 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

Sylvia of the Secret Service poster
9.0

During 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

The Unbeliever poster
6.1

A 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

His Picture in the Papers poster
4.6

Produced 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

In Again, Out Again poster
NR

A 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

The Heart of Humanity poster
6.0

The 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

The Social Secretary poster
5.6

An attractive young girl struggles to hold a job as she deals with unwanted romantic advances from her boss.

The Social Secretary

1916

Series credits

Behind the camera

Greed poster
7.3

When 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

Greed poster
7.3

When 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

Foolish Wives poster
6.5

A con artist masquerades as Russian nobility and attempts to seduce the wife of an American diplomat.

Foolish Wives

1922

Foolish Wives poster
6.5

A con artist masquerades as Russian nobility and attempts to seduce the wife of an American diplomat.

Foolish Wives

1922

The Devil-Doll poster
6.8

Respected 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

Blind Husbands poster
6.4

An 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

Blind Husbands poster
6.4

An 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

Blind Husbands poster
6.4

An 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

Hello, Sister! poster
6.0

While 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

Hello, Sister! poster
6.0

While 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

Queen Kelly poster
6.5

A convent girl is abducted and seduced by a prince before being sent off to a brothel in East Africa.

Queen Kelly

1929

Queen Kelly poster
6.5

A convent girl is abducted and seduced by a prince before being sent off to a brothel in East Africa.

Queen Kelly

1929

The Merry Widow poster
6.7

Prince 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

The Merry Widow poster
6.7

Prince 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

Merry-Go-Round poster
6.2

A 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

The Wedding March poster
7.1

Against 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

The Wedding March poster
7.1

Against 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

The Wedding March poster
7.1

Against 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

The Devil's Passkey poster
9.0

The 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

The Devil's Passkey poster
9.0

The 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

The Honeymoon poster
7.0

The 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

The Honeymoon poster
7.0

The 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