Elsa Wagner

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Biography of the famous German actress Renate Müller, who died in 1937 under unsettled circumstances; While doing her first movie for the UFA in Berlin, she meets the elderly secretary-general Dr. Simon and is impressed by his charm. Although her Nazi-friend Volker discourages her to befriend a Jew, they start dating. While she ascends to one of the most famous German actresses of her time, Simon is suffering more and more under the Nazi regime.

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Shortly 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.

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A dozen ladies expect marriage impostor Lanski to keep his promises. But he needs more money and decides to kill Mrs. von Droste who has changed her will in his favor. He covers his tracks but is seen by a neighbor who soon blackmails him.

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While an anatomy seminar prepares to examine the cadaver of Franz Wozzeck in the name of scientific progress, medical student Büchner excoriates humanity for having allowed Wozzeck’s fate. The tragic story unfolds in flashbacks, as Büchner narrates.

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Hans Albers plays returning war veteran Hans Richter who has trouble finding work. With nowhere else to turn, Richter gets involved with black market activities. This so disgusts Richter's son, blind ex-soldier Edwin (Paul Edwin Roth), that the boy literally disowns his father. Hans eventually mends his ways, but not before several other devastating setbacks.

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While on leave in Berlin during the Second World War, a soldier named Hans meets a young woman named Monika. They fall in love and make plans for a future together after the war. Yet their later attempts to find an apartment and get married are hindered by the housing shortage and they have to stay separately with relatives.

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Peter's fiancee Maria is chronically lying and hides her little affairs. To change this, Peter bets that he is going to tell everyone the truth for 24 hours. The consequences are catastrophic.

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After a bad losing streak, Lisa Freyberg wants to sell her inherited horse stall. Trainer Roberts, however, is successful in making the stall profitable again. Lisa's new passion for horses, however, is proving to be a losing streak for her engagement to her estate neighbor Thermalen. She's hoping for a new victory with her horse Arabella and has the apprentice Otto bring the horse to the competition in Dresden. Otto, however, takes the train to Dresden with his first love, Ossi la Planta and leaves the job to the grooms. But neither the horse nor the grooms show up in Dresden!

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For a long time, Paul Warkentin had heard nothing from his father. The rift had occurred when Paul, despite passing his exams at agricultural school, decided not to take over his father's farm in West Prussia, but instead to go to Berlin to work for a publishing house. Now Paul has received news of his father's death, and he must return to his hometown to take possession of the farm as his heir.

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Three soldiers on very short home leave visit Berlin. One isn't from there and runs around with his guide book being perplexed by all the things that are different now. Another visits his wife and his baby. The third enters a romance due to a mistaken identity.

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Thea can't pay her bill, so the hotel manager forces her to impersonate a countess to draw business to the hotel. Then Thea and lawyer Michael meet and fall in love but he insists he could marry only a strictly law-abiding woman.

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After five years, the marriage of chemist Dr. Herbert has become so routine, that his wife Karin sees no other choice but to leave her husband, even if she still loves him. She retreats to her parents’ place and takes a job in her father’s factory, while Herbert begins a battle with the adversities of everyday life. Karin gets to know the charming Viktor at work, a boyhood friend of her husband, who falls in love with her at first sight. He knows full well, that she’s just come from a failed marriage, but doesn’t know with whom she was married.

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Against the wishes of his adoptive father, Stefan Burgstaller decides to become a musician. He goes to Salzburg, where his girlfriend Veronika is already attending the conservatory. Stefan is also accepted at the school and even receives a scholarship because of his extraordinary talent. This paves the way for a carefree student life, which Stefan enjoys to the fullest. The fun-loving guy is popular everywhere, but he seems to be particularly fond of the slightly older waitress Anna, who works in the musicians' bar "Zur Bassgeige"...

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The young opera singer Carla is in love with the talented young composer Michele, who wants to make it big with classical music and writes his first opera, "The Return of Odysseus," for Carla. But Carla is more successful than he is and gets a gig at La Scala in Milan. Through her connections, she manages to find a publisher for Michele's opera. But when Michele learns what the publisher really thinks of his work, he leaves and abandons Carla. A year later, Carla finds Michele again. He has since become a sought-after composer, but is embittered because he is only successful with pop songs. His new revue "Dream Music," a reworking of his opera, is about to premiere. Carla then arranges for Michele's original opera to premiere in Budapest with her in the lead role.

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In Bremen, a ship is launched, which was built by Thomas Holk. That evening, he gets to know the middle-aged widow Ada Rasmus, who flirts heavily with him. The next day, Thomas travels to Hallbad on vacation and the two lose sign of each other. In this rural idyll, he gets to know Krist and falls in love with her. He takes her back with him to Bremen and his aunt introduces her into society. Her natural charms enchants everyone and the beautiful widow Ada swears revenge. She finds a way to bring Ada into a painful situation with Dr. von Cremona, and, to top it all off, a man’s coat is found in her room.

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During the colorful ceremonies of the Nuremberg rallies, Hitler Youth parade before their Fuehrer and are addressed by Nazi youth leader Baldur von Schirach, Rudolf Hess, and Hitler himself.

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A love story between officer von Warp coming from a wealthy family and salesgirl Therese. When the social rules of the time would force the officer to resign from service in order to marry Therese the situation becomes tense.

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Der Florentiner Hut (The Leghorn Hat), a 1939 German film directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner

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Paris, 1830: Jean-Gaspard Debureau performs on the stage and delights his audience with song, wit and charm. He is, however, very unpopular with King Charles X, who is the target of much of Debureau's scornful jests. That would be a somewhat tolerable situation if it weren't for the fact that Debureau has fallen for a countess, who happens to be the King's mistress.

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Sabine Heitmann, the young boss for the shipping company Heitmann, has become friends with Michael, the First Officer and Helmsman of the ship, the "Sabine Heitmann". He only knows Sabine by her first name and doesn't know that she's the boss. When he discovers the fact, however, he gets pissed and refuses to accept his promotion to Captain. Then the shipping company gets a lucrative offer: In a competition with another shipping company, they need to reach Baltimore in 18 days and pick up some freight. Whoever can move their rear ends faster, gets the very profitable contract from an American firm (correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't this sort of thing sink the Titanic?). Together with Michael, Sabine comes up with a plan, which should have them win the contest. The upshot? She wins back his heart and he becomes Captain.

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Melodrama about an entrepreneur and his family.

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A gambling-drama based on Dostoevsky’s works: The retired General Kirileff is addicted to gambling and also has a costly affair. He takes out a loan from the greedy imposter Vincent, for which he is to pay an exorbitant interest rate. Vincent, for his part, wants to get closer to Kirileff’s daughter Nina, who is to inherit her grandmother’s fortune one day. Nina tries to help her father and goes to the gambling tables, only to lose a lot of money. She asks Alexej, her father’s secretary, to play for her. Alexej is in love with Nina and would do anything for her. He plays; at first loses; then asks Nina to get Vincent out of there. Once that happens, he wins a large amount of money, becomes overbearing and treats Nina like a prostitute.

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The daughter of a reclusive couple in the St. Moritz mountains tends to her brother, disabled from the Great War, though a handsome young architect who has just arrived waits for her attentions.

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The newspaper delivery driver Paul falls in love with Lotte, who works in her mother’s kiosk. One day, Paul helps a man in a black Mercedes, who’s been in an accident. While helping him, a notebook has fallen out of the man’s pocket, which Paul thinks is his own and pockets. In fact, the notebook belongs to a band of auto thieves, who’ll now do anything and everything possible to get the book back.

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The underage Rosemarie is still too young to run her inherited farm by herself; but she's more than aware that her foster father and the farm's administrator, the farmer Schlieker, is constantly skimming from the farm's finances to line his own pocket. To put an end to Schlieker's scheme, Rosemarie asks her godfather, Professor Kittgus, for help. But when Kittgus confronts Schlieker, the farmer not only proves to be unreasonable but also violent...

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In the fantasy state of Olivia, the robber chief Gasparone is up to all sorts of mischief. But Prefect Nasoni is not only worried about him, his son Sindulfo is also causing him headaches. He is supposed to marry Countess Ambrat, but loves Ita, the niece of Massaccio, a somewhat obscure existence. Then the elegant Erminio appears, and the countess makes eyes at him. Confusion after confusion until Massaccio is unmasked as Gasparone. Erminio turns out to be a civil servant who was set on Gasparone and now gets his beautiful countess. Sindulfo is the last to embrace his Ita.

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