Helmut Käutner

Christopher Columbus's crazy idea of traveling to India can only be realized because the Spanish treasury is empty and Queen Isabella, who rules the country, is charmed by the charming, profit-seeking son of a poor weaver. With the ulterior motive of becoming the ruler of new lands and at the same time being able to polish up the ailing finances a little, Isabella commissions the navigator Columbus to set sail for the Spanish crown.

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Böhm, a young marriage swindler, meets up with an old school friend who works as a writer. Lehmann writes sensational factual reports about spies and murderers. When Mr. Böhm learns that he can make money by claiming to be a murderer, he pretends to be a woman-killer. His old school friend Lehmann then takes him to his agent Mr. Marojan. While the "factual report" is in full swing, the police discover the truth, namely that Böhm is not a murderer at all. So as not to disappoint the magazines, Böhm, Lehmann and agent Marojan come up with a perfidious plan: Böhm is actually to murder women. A victim is soon found, but "woman killer" Böhm makes a fatal mistake...

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Paris at the end of the 19th century: Former soldier Georges Duroy is practically penniless after leaving the army when his old comrade Charles Forestier helps him get a job as a reporter for the newspaper "La Vie Française." Duroy's career takes off, but he owes his success not only to his writing skills, but above all to his charm with the ladies. He unscrupulously exploits his numerous female acquaintances. Through strategic marriages, "Bel Ami" rises to the top of Parisian society.

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Robin Hood, the noble robber with a gentle soul and hard fists, lives with his band of robbers in the forest of Sherwood. While he helps the poor, the perfidious Sheriff of Nottingham exploits the peasants, tyrannizes them and pockets their taxes. Because, in his opinion, no one is too poor to hand over money. Naturally, the folk hero cannot accept this...

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The poor ghost of Sir Simon Canterville has been roaming his castle searching in vain for a brave descendant who will release him from the Canterville curse by performing a brave deed. An American family moves in and finds the ghost amusing, but a young girl in the family can release him - if she dares.

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A respectable professor inherits a house and money in Montevideo from his wild sister, on the condition that he himself behaves in a disreputable way.

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Bored with her marriage, Franziska decides to travel to Venice.

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Lieschen Müller is in her mid-20s, works a dull office job and fancies the handsome waiter from the diner down the street, wishing for a more exciting life. In a vivid, lucid dream she happens upon a gigantic fortune, allowing her to live out her wildest fantasies. Quickly, however, she realizes that that's not what makes her happy.

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Thomas Lieven is a German secret agent trying to leave that profession, to live a peaceful life. Adventure is too strong an appeal, he starts working again, and soon it's difficult to say if he is doing his job, or turned out as double agent for England, France or even communist Russia! To save his skin, he'll do - almost - anything, to anyone...

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Bank accountant Thomas Lieven is forced to work as a triple agent for the British, the French and the Nazis.

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Tensions rise when a U.S. military base is built in a small village in post-war Germany.

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Intrigue and scheming at the court of Queen Anne of England between liberal Lord Bolingbroke and Lady Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. German comedy after the play of Eugène Scribe.

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Summer 1870. Following the French defeat at Sedan. Léon, a soldier in a detachment isolated in the Ardennes forest, is sent in search of water. When he discovers the most peaceful of rivers, he decides to undress and bathe in it. At bend of the river he catches sight of another naked swimmer. It's a Prussian! Both men start bickering a bit: aren't they supposed to be arch enemies? But they soon fraternize. Unfortunately the patrol has not vanished in the haze and they hear it coming. Each man gets hold of his uniform and runs away in two opposite directions. The only trouble is that Fritz the Prussian has donned the French uniform and Leon the Prussian one!

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A "mufti" version of Hamlet, with young Hardy Krüger trying to prove that his uncle has killed his father. Direct references to the Shakespeare original abound, right down to the re-enactment of the crime for the benefit of the Uncle and the periodic appearances of the ghost of the hero's father.'

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An Air Force pilot finds romance with his war buddy's widow.

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1802: The adventurous life story of Hans Bückler, known as “Schinderhannes”, who fights against the French occupying forces and large landowners who exploit poor farmers in the Hunsrück region during the Napoleonic Wars.

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A pretty, sheltered teenager falls for a boy from the wrong side of town.

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A poor Hungarian artist falls in love with a wealthy mysterious Parisian girl.

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Juliane Thomas is an ambitious but unemployed young writer. After breaking up with her lover she works at a dentist friend to make ends meet. One day she instantly falls in love with one of the patients (Jean Berner) and promptly writes a movie script about the encounter in which she projects her own fantasies about how things will turn out eventually. By coincidence this movie script is picked up by a film director who happens to be Berner's closest friend and from then on things become very complicated...

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A young shoemaker is arrested for stealing a small amount of money, and is jailed for fifteen years. Upon his release, he wants to get a permit to get a job and start anew, but finds that without a job he can't get a permit, and without a permit he can't get a job. Ensnared in the absurd net of Prussian bureaucracy, he can't see any way out. That is, until he enters a thrift shop and spots a Prussian officer's uniform that fits him like a second skin...

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Walter Hartrigth is supposed to teach Sir Frederic Fairlie's nieces drawing at an old country castle. He soon falls in love with Laura, the younger of the two students. Marian, her sister, tells him that Laura is already engaged to Sir Percival Glyde. Sir Percival insists on the wedding. But he has an enemy: "The Woman in White," who looks exactly like Laura. In an anonymous letter, she reveals that Sir Percival and his friends, the Countess and Count Fosco, are only after Laura's money.

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Tatort is a long-running German/Austrian/Swiss crime television series set in various parts of these countries. The show is broadcast on the channels of ARD in Germany, ORF in Austria and SF1 in Switzerland.

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A scientist is persuaded by the government to inject himself with the brain fluid of a dying colleague in order to preserve missile-defense secrets. However, he finds that he is now torn between his own wife and that of his dead colleague, who was a Nazi sympathizer.

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In a fictitious European city known as Padukgrad, where a government arises following the rise of a philosophy known as "Ekwilism", which discourages the idea of anyone being different from anyone else, and promotes the state as the prominent good in society.

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Der Kommissar is a German television series about a group of detectives of the Munich homicide squad. All 97 episodes, which were shot in black-and-white and first broadcast between 1969 and 1976, were written by Herbert Reinecker and starred Erik Ode as Kommissar Herbert Keller. Keller's assistants were Walter Grabert, Robert Heines, and Harry Klein who, in 1974, was replaced by his younger brother Erwin Klein.

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A man shrouded in mystery. His name is Harry Brent. Not even his fiancée knows much about him. All she knows is that he runs a small travel agency. In a puzzling turn of events, he becomes involved in the murder of his fiancée's boss. The first thing that becomes clear to Detective Inspector James Wallace is that Harry Brent is obviously a key figure in the case...

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The poor ghost of Sir Simon Canterville has been roaming his castle searching in vain for a brave descendant who will release him from the Canterville curse by performing a brave deed. An American family moves in and finds the ghost amusing, but a young girl in the family can release him - if she dares.

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Annual awarding of the Grimme Awards.

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Two minors are expecting a child and want to get married. Katja is 16, an orphan under the guardianship of child welfare services; Klaus is 17, a high school student and the son of wealthy parents. They persistently pursue their goal despite opposition from the adults.

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During the Third Reich, Macke played the drums for the Hitler Youth, but also had a "dangerous" penchant for jazz. After the war, he came under ideological fire in the Soviet zone. Finally in West Germany, he ends up in an institution.

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Summer 1870. Following the French defeat at Sedan. Léon, a soldier in a detachment isolated in the Ardennes forest, is sent in search of water. When he discovers the most peaceful of rivers, he decides to undress and bathe in it. At bend of the river he catches sight of another naked swimmer. It's a Prussian! Both men start bickering a bit: aren't they supposed to be arch enemies? But they soon fraternize. Unfortunately the patrol has not vanished in the haze and they hear it coming. Each man gets hold of his uniform and runs away in two opposite directions. The only trouble is that Fritz the Prussian has donned the French uniform and Leon the Prussian one!

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1802: The adventurous life story of Hans Bückler, known as “Schinderhannes”, who fights against the French occupying forces and large landowners who exploit poor farmers in the Hunsrück region during the Napoleonic Wars.

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A poor Hungarian artist falls in love with a wealthy mysterious Parisian girl.

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Juliane Thomas is an ambitious but unemployed young writer. After breaking up with her lover she works at a dentist friend to make ends meet. One day she instantly falls in love with one of the patients (Jean Berner) and promptly writes a movie script about the encounter in which she projects her own fantasies about how things will turn out eventually. By coincidence this movie script is picked up by a film director who happens to be Berner's closest friend and from then on things become very complicated...

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A love story between a German soldier and a young Flemish woman amidst World War I.

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A German nurse gets sent to the front because she gives medical aid to a wounded Yugoslav partisan during World War II.

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The reporter Peter Zabel stumbles upon the sinking of the luxury yacht Orplid in Hamburg on August 14, 1949. The ship went down with a wedding party run by artists on a pleasure trip from Hamburg to Scotland . In spite of good weather and no technical problems. Out of personal curiosity, Zabel starts researching. Could the sinking of Orplid have political reasons? A German political thriller and film noir inspired by Carol Reed's "The Third Man".

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An apple juice producer can't decide between his wife and his secretary and tries to commit suicide. Being committed to psychiatry, he falls asleep and dreams of adventures as Adam and Eve in heaven and hell.

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The Bambi, often called the Bambi Award and stylised as BAMBI, is a German award presented annually by Hubert Burda Media to recognize excellence in international media and television to personalities in the media, arts, culture, sports, and other fields "with vision and creativity who affected and inspired the German public that year", both domestic and foreign. First held in 1948, it is the oldest media award in Germany. The trophy is named after Felix Salten's book Bambi, A Life in the Woods and its statuettes are in the shape of the novel's titular fawn character. They were originally made of porcelain until 1958, when the organizers switched to using gold, with the casting done by the art casting workshop of Ernst Strassacker in Süßen.

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A respectable professor inherits a house and money in Montevideo from his wild sister, on the condition that he himself behaves in a disreputable way.

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Bored with her marriage, Franziska decides to travel to Venice.

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Tensions rise when a U.S. military base is built in a small village in post-war Germany.

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In 1959, in a small German village, the annual fair is set up. When a carousel is fixed firmly in the ground, a fair worker discovers a skeleton, a steel helmet, and a machine gun. The skeleton belongs to Robert Mertens, a plain soldier, who deserted in 1944 und flew to his home village. But when he arrived, no one wanted to help him, neither his former friends nor the minister, or even his own parents.

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Intrigue and scheming at the court of Queen Anne of England between liberal Lord Bolingbroke and Lady Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. German comedy after the play of Eugène Scribe.

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Summer 1870. Following the French defeat at Sedan. Léon, a soldier in a detachment isolated in the Ardennes forest, is sent in search of water. When he discovers the most peaceful of rivers, he decides to undress and bathe in it. At bend of the river he catches sight of another naked swimmer. It's a Prussian! Both men start bickering a bit: aren't they supposed to be arch enemies? But they soon fraternize. Unfortunately the patrol has not vanished in the haze and they hear it coming. Each man gets hold of his uniform and runs away in two opposite directions. The only trouble is that Fritz the Prussian has donned the French uniform and Leon the Prussian one!

Open details →

A "mufti" version of Hamlet, with young Hardy Krüger trying to prove that his uncle has killed his father. Direct references to the Shakespeare original abound, right down to the re-enactment of the crime for the benefit of the Uncle and the periodic appearances of the ghost of the hero's father.'

Open details →

A poor Hungarian artist falls in love with a wealthy mysterious Parisian girl.

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Juliane Thomas is an ambitious but unemployed young writer. After breaking up with her lover she works at a dentist friend to make ends meet. One day she instantly falls in love with one of the patients (Jean Berner) and promptly writes a movie script about the encounter in which she projects her own fantasies about how things will turn out eventually. By coincidence this movie script is picked up by a film director who happens to be Berner's closest friend and from then on things become very complicated...

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A young shoemaker is arrested for stealing a small amount of money, and is jailed for fifteen years. Upon his release, he wants to get a permit to get a job and start anew, but finds that without a job he can't get a permit, and without a permit he can't get a job. Ensnared in the absurd net of Prussian bureaucracy, he can't see any way out. That is, until he enters a thrift shop and spots a Prussian officer's uniform that fits him like a second skin...

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Anna is a factory worker in East Germany, but her five-year-old son Jochen lives with his grandparents in the West. Anna wants him to live with her, so she abducts him. Along the way she meets Carl, who helps her cross the border, and they fall in love.

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The adaptation of the eponymous play by Carl Zuckmayer tells the story of renegade general Harras of the German Luftwaffe, who during WWII openly criticizes the Nazi regime. As a consequence, he is put under surveillance, and even imprisoned for a brief period of time. Still remaining outspoken, Harras realizes the horrific dimensions of this hopeless and injust war waged by Germany.

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Keller, a painter, while at the ballet is impressed with the beauty of Nicole and sketches her head on the body of a nude model. When it is shown, it causes embarrassment to Nicole's husband, Walter, a diplomat whose career is threatened.

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A German nurse gets sent to the front because she gives medical aid to a wounded Yugoslav partisan during World War II.

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The story centers on the charismatic sea captain Käpt'n Bay-Bay, portrayed by Hans Albers, who on his wedding day shares tales of his seafaring exploits with his wedding guests after an unexpected delay in the ceremony. The narrative employs a framing device where the captain, waiting at a tavern near the church, recounts through flashbacks his previous romantic misadventures and adventurous encounters at sea, blending humor, music, and exotic locales. These retrospective stories highlight his roguish charm and the obstacles that have shaped his life, all while the present-day celebration unfolds.

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An aging truck driver finds smuggled money and becomes involved with a hijacking crowd.

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The reporter Peter Zabel stumbles upon the sinking of the luxury yacht Orplid in Hamburg on August 14, 1949. The ship went down with a wedding party run by artists on a pleasure trip from Hamburg to Scotland . In spite of good weather and no technical problems. Out of personal curiosity, Zabel starts researching. Could the sinking of Orplid have political reasons? A German political thriller and film noir inspired by Carol Reed's "The Third Man".

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An apple juice producer can't decide between his wife and his secretary and tries to commit suicide. Being committed to psychiatry, he falls asleep and dreams of adventures as Adam and Eve in heaven and hell.

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A screenwriter comes up with a story about an affair between a maid and her employer.

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A car tells its story and the story of its seven owners during the years of the Third Reich.

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Two barge skippers fall in love with the same woman.

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Singing sailor Hannes, who now entertains the crowd at St. Pauli's Hippodrome after years at sea, promises his dying brother that he will take care of his ex-girlfriend Gisa. Taking Gisa to Hamburg to live with him, Hannes quickly falls in love with her, but soon has to face Gisa's affection for another man, Willem.

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A grieving husband tries to uncover the truth behind his wife's suicide, leading him to discover a tragic tale of infidelity and redemption.

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Caught at the window just before an air-raid warning (WWII) composer Paul tells how he met his wive Anni, a revue star and song writer, how he handled the courtship and the early years of his marriage, inspite of some professional conflicts - his operas were flops, while his wive had one success after the other - they finally found out how they could help each other.

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Vienna during the fin de siecle. Farmer's daughter Anuschka has to sell the farm after her father's death to the rich but mean farmer's wife Nowarek and her friendly son Jaro. Anuschka goes to Vienna and starts to work as a housemaid until she is wrongly accused of theft.

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The relationship between Franziska and her partner Michael, a globetrotting photojournalist, remains strained due to their constant separation, until tragedy strikes, forcing Michael to come home and to make a decision about their future.

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The daydreaming tailor Wenzel is fired from his job, because the fancy frock he was supposed to cut for the mayor, he instead made for himself. He is allowed, however, to take the frock, which he appropriated for himself and he puts it on as he leaves the shop. A puppeteer picks him up in his coach and addresses Wenzel as "Count". So is he received in Goldach, where people think he is Count Stroganoff, the ambassador to the Czar of Russia.

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A young actress in love ensnares the director she admires by successfully playing the role of his ideal woman—the homemaker.

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The setting is Lugano (Switzerland), where an apparently very important world conference takes place. The film tells the story of the young Kitty (Hannelore Schroth), who works as a manicurist at the Eden Hotel, and who in the course of events gets to know both a young journalist (Christian Gollong) and the English minister of economics (Fritz Odemar). A lot of wild mix-ups, comic situations, a love story and occasional singing ensue, and in the end most of the VIPs have gained their share of laughter… There’s also a great performance by Paul Hörbiger as the hotel porter. For a 1939 film made in Germany, “Kitty” is remarkably irreverent and satirical about politics.

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