Conspiracy (2001)

Directed by
-Frank Pierson

Writing credits
Loring Mandel		(written by)

On January 20, 1942, with the tide of war turning in favor of the Allies, a small group of SS officers, government ministers, and Nazi officials met near Berlin to decide the fate of Europe's Jews. Based on the only surviving record of that meeting, Conspiracy is a powerful combination of historical reconstruction and speculation that attempts to offer new insights into a pivotal moment in history.

The cast does a marvelous job of fleshing out the documentary evidence to create convincing characters. Kenneth Branagh is especially chilling as SS Chief of Security Reinhard Heydrich, who uses a combination of charm and ruthless power-mongering to gain support for his plans. Colin Firth is fascinating as Wilhelm Stuckart, a lawyer who sees the brutal tactics of the SS as a threat to his own intellectualized anti-Semitism, and Stanley Tucci gives a wonderfully understated performance as Adolf Eichmann.

Conspiracy is a carefully crafted, completely unsensational film that offers ample proof of the banality of evil. There are no histrionics and no comic-book Nazi villains, just a small group of politicians and war-weary soldiers arguing about the meaning of words and the logistics of extermination, calmly preparing to unleash an unimaginable horror on the world. --Simon Leake, by Amazon.com


Cast:

Kenneth Branagh	...	Reinhard Heydrich
	Clare Bullus	...	Maid (as Claire Bullus)
	Stanley Tucci	...	Adolf Eichmann
	Simon Markey	...	Stenographer
	David Glover	...	Supervising Butler
	David Willoughby	...	Orderly #1
	Tom Hiddleston	...	Phone Operator
	David Spinx	...	Cook
	Dirk Martens	...	NCO
	Barnaby Kay	...	Rudolf Lange
	Peter Sullivan	...	SS.Col. Eberhard 'Karl' Schöngarth
	Ben Daniels	...	Dr. Joseph Bühler
	Andreas Günther	...	NCO2 (as Andreas Guenther)
	Ewan Stewart	...	Dr. Georg Leibbrandt
	Brian Pettifer	...	Dr. Alfred Meyer
	Kevin McNally	...	Undersecretary Martin Luther
	Florian Panzner	...	Luher's Driver
	Ross O'Hennessey	...	Adjutant #1
	Colin Firth	...	Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart
	Nicholas Woodeson	...	SS Lt.Gen. Otto Hofmann
	Jonathan Coy	...	Erich Neumann
	David Threlfall	...	Dr. Wilhelm Kritzinger
	Hinnerk Schönemann	...	Stuckart's Driver (as Hinnerk Schonemann)
	Ian McNeice	...	Dr. Gerhard Klopfer
	Owen Teale	...	Dr. Roland Freisler
	Brendan Coyle	...	SS Maj.Gen. Heinrich Müller
	Sebastian Jakob	...	Maid's boyfriend (as Sebastian Jacob)

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This movie could have been entitled, "how to chair a board meeting" or "how not to chair a board meeting" - given that the outcome of the meeting was the "final solution".

Gen. Heidrich with consumate skill and care manipulated the gathered Nazi hierarchy to the pre-arranged and pre-destined solution to the Jewish question.

There are a number of moments of exceptional power in the movie - one is where Kritzinger realises the truth, another is where Heidrich makes it clear to Shtukhard that he will be victimised if he does not cooperate. But the best moment must be when even those in favour realise that they are not there to decide the matter but to be to lend their complicity to the pre-made decision.

The psychology of the writing is insprired. I have never been so totally captivated by the mix of acting, subject matter and drama. This is a must see. (IMDb)

Cuckoo in a Dark Forest (Kukacka v temném lese (1986)

Director: - Antonín Moskalyk

Writer: - Vladimír Körner (screenplay)

Set in World War 2 as the Germans occupy Czechoslovakia, teenage Emilka's (Miroslava Součková) father is murdered by the Nazis, but she is selected for special treatment by virtue of being blonde. She is billeted with the kommandant of a concentration camp near the Baltic coast, where his kindness towards her provokes his wife's jealousy, but is compromised when Emilka witnesses his brutality towards the prisoners.
As the war ends, he abandons his wounded wife and escapes with Emilka ... but ultimately justice prevails. With its happy ending, this is little more than a simple tale of beautiful Czech girl vs. brutal Nazi, and while this may appeal to Czech patriotic sensibilities, it is otherwise unremarkable apart from 18-year-old Miroslava Součková's fine acting and beautifully expressive face.

	Miroslava Souckova	...	Emilka Fejfarová
	Oleg Tabakov	...	Otto Kukuck
	Alicja Jachiewicz	...	Frída Kukuck
	Vilém Besser	...	Teacher
	Míla Myslíková	...	Frau Kramer
	Jolanta Grusznic	...	Wanda
	Rafal Wieczynski	...	Staszek
	Jana Andresíková	...	Frau Höpfner
	Vera Vlcková	...	Frau Melnik
	Jaroslava Tichá	...	Emilka's mother
	Karel Belohradský	...	Driver
	Pavel Trávnícek	...	Krumey
	Alena Karesová	...	Frau Lütke
	Zdenek Martínek	...	German doctor
	Lena Birková	...	Governess

Germany Pale Mother (Deutschland bleiche Mutter (1980

Director: - Helma Sanders-Brahms

Writer: - Helma Sanders-Brahms (writer)

	Eva Mattes	...	Lene
	Ernst Jacobi	...	Hans
	Elisabeth Stepanek	...	Hanne
	Angelika Thomas	...	Lydia
	Rainer Friedrichsen	...	Ulrich
	Gisela Stein	...	Aunt Ihmchen
	Fritz Lichtenhahn	...	Uncle Bertrand
	Anna Sanders	...	Anna

Helma Sanders-Brahms's ''Germany Pale Mother'' is narrated by a woman who says she is telling her parents' story, as well as her country's. Her parents' courtship began during the Nazis' rise to power, and it was, she says, ''perfectly normal, only it happened at this time, in this country.'' Their marriage was marked by long separations, as Hans (Ernst Jacobi) went off to fight in the war, and Helene (Eva Mattes) stayed home, raising her daughter and enduring almost every imaginable physical hardship.

As played by Miss Mattes, Helene is a thick, stolid, long-suffering creature. During the course of the film, she gives birth to a child during an air raid, survives the destruction of her home, is raped by American G.I.'s, has all her teeth removed, and develops a facial paralysis that is so disfiguring that she is forced to wear a black drape at the dinner table. As both a woman and as a metaphor for her country's hardships, Helene is a figure of formidable misery.

''Germany Pale Mother,'' which takes its title from Bertolt Brecht's 1933 poem and which will be playing at the Public Theater for another week, uses a peculiarly changeable style in presenting Helene's unhappy life. The slow, painful realism that characterizes most of the film is occasionally interrupted by more fanciful passages, such as the one in which Helene guides her tiny daughter Anna through the ruins of a Nazi crematorium, cheerfully telling the child a macabre fairy tale. Hans first spies Helene in a scene of similarly heightened tone, as he and a friend spend a beautiful spring day rowing on a river, and happen to watch as Helene is taunted by some Nazis. They let their dog bite her sweater and still Helene does not cry out. Her unusual perseverance is the quality that wins Hans's attention.

Miss Sanders-Brahms establishes virtually everything about her characters early in the film, and begins to repeat herself subsequently; there are, for instance, at least three different lengthy scenes depicting Hans's visit home on furlough, and Helene's unwillingness to have sex with him. ''Germany Pale Mother,'' which begins with a reading of Brecht's poem, seems to descend steadily, as it progresses, from the poetic to the mundane. Its conclusion ought to be startling, but it has very little impact, because the audience, like Helene, has already been through so much.

From NYTimes

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY - 1957

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY, screenplay by Howard Clewes, from the book by Kendal Burt and James Leasor; directed by Roy Baker; produced by Julian Wintle; presented by J. Arthur Rank. At the Odeon. Running time: 105 minutes.

What a great little film this is, an quite unique. Hardy Kruger is wonderful in this role (even better than he was in Flight of the Phoenix)and the story is unusual and fast paced. The best part is this is a *true* story too so it's very intriguing to know this von Werra guy was really in the German army...he was hardly a conformist like we always think "Nazi" soldiers would be.

Franz von Werra . . . . . Hardy Kruger
Army investigator . . . . . Colin Gordon
R. A. F. interrogator . . . . . Michael Goodliffe
Intelligence officer . . . . . Terrence Alexander
Commandant . . . . . Jack Cwillim
German prisoners . . . . . Harry Lockart, Robert Crewdson, George Mikell, George Roubicek, John Van Eyssen, Frederick Paeger, Richard Marner, Paul Hansard.

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"THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY," a well-made British film, refers to the only Nazi war prisoner of England who escaped back to Germany. Here, surely, is a heaven-sent plot for a solid suspense drama. Not only that, this J. Arthur Rank presentation, which opened yesterday at the Odeon, is a true story, the foreword reminds us. The result is a generally taut, absorbing and tingling film—a good, British job about a man who couldn't be held down.

The restrained, well-knit scenario, which Howard Clewes has based on a factual book, tells how one Franz von Werra, a young Luftwaffe hero, twice eludes his captors in the English countryside and finally in Canada. Told as a bluntly matter-of-fact escape yarn, from the fugitive's viewpoint, his dogged outwitting of various soldiers and civilians seems just fantastic enough to be true. We defy anyone, toward the end, not to root silently for the Nazi hero, excellently played by young Hardy Kruger. And hero is the only word to describe this cunning, determined fellow. Such is the pulling power of his courage—again, the only word—and that of the picture as an adventure yarn.

However, the early scenes, after Mr. Kruger's plane crashes into English hands, clearly define him as an arrogant, Nazi "glamour boy" (and a phony—half of his exploits are lies). After one interrogation encounter with a disabled British ace. Colin Gordon (a fine, thoughtful scene), the prisoner manages to bolt.

Roy Baker, the director, alertly gives mounting crescendo to the escapee's bland hoodwinking of civilians and his reappearing captors, as he almost gets a plane aloft. Finally (in custody again) hopping a train in Canada, he makes a dogged, panting river crossing into a neutral United States. (The time is 1941.) And the picture does stand firm, as a dogged account of one man's grit and determination.

However, at the cost of power, scope and stature, it is a peculiarly bloodless drama, for its content. Except for an occasional overhead rumble, the war itself seems remote. Also, is it the British way—or anybody's—to trot captives down the road for a "break" and amble them back without an immediate count? Later, too, Mr. Kruger eludes some guards at a railway station simply by loping away.

In addition to Mr. Kruger's sweatingly assured acting, the remainder of the cast is consistently good. If not a milestone, "The One That Got Away" adds up to a consistently good tingler.

From: NYTimes

The Mackenzie Break (1970)

McKenzie is a remote, understaffed POW camp in Scotland, where an assortment of German fliers, U-boat men, and soldiers are being held prisoner. The restive POWs stage a well-orchestrated uprising in which they essentially take over the camp. When word of the prisoners' siege gets back to British military higher-ups, they assign rogue Irish officer Captain Connor (Brian Keith) to get to the bottom of things. The Germans have been receiving orders directly from Berlin that call for 28 of the submariners to escape and return to the Deutschland's U-boat fleet. The Germans are led by Schlütter (Helmut Griem), an intelligent, articulate graduate of the Hitler Youth; they have devised an elaborate tunnel and a plot to take them to the Scottish coast, where they will rendezvous with a U-boat to take them back to Germany. The hard-drinking Connor learns of the plan, and stakes his career on letting the Germans escape and tracking them down. Keith is excellent as Connor (though his Irish brogue comes and goes), locked into a three-way battle of wills with the determined Schlütter and the stuffy, by-the-book CO of the camp. The movie's pace and suspense swell as Connor's gambit plays out and the Germans make good their escape plans, all set against the breathtaking scenery of rural Scotland. With intelligent, believable characters and tough direction, this is a sorely neglected World War II POW drama that compares well with better-known films such as Stalag 17 and The Great Escape. --Jerry Renshaw (Amazon.com)

Cast:

• Actors: Brian Keith, Helmut Griem, Ian Hendry, Jack Watson, Patrick O'Connell
• Directors: Lamont Johnson
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English, German
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Mgm Entertainment
• Run Time: 106 minutes

Sergeant Steiner (Cross of Iron 2) Das Eiserne Kreuz 2

Directed by: Andrew V. McLaglen
Cast: Richard Burton, Rod Steiger, Robert Mitchum, Curt Jurgens

Title: Teil Steiner - Das Eiserne Kreuz 2
Running Time: 115 Minutes
Status: Released
Country: West Germany
Genre: War

Also released as Sergeant Steiner, Breakthrough is a German war flick helmed by western specialist Andrew McLaglen. Richard Burton stars as Sgt. Steiner, a German who doesn't subscribe to the Nazi party line. When the plot to kill Hitler is hatched, Steiner is persuaded to join the conspiracy by General Hoffman (Curt Jurgens). Robert Mitchum and Rod Steiger costar as American officers peripherally involved in the storyline. Intended as a sequel to the successful Cross of Iron, Breakthrough failed to match the box-office performance of the earlier film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast:

	Richard Burton	...	Sgt. Steiner
	Rod Steiger	...	Gen. Webster
	Helmut Griem	...	Maj. Stransky
	Klaus Löwitsch	...	Uffz. Krüger
	Michael Parks	...	Sgt. Anderson
	Werner Pochath	...	Schütze Keppel
	Véronique Vendell	...	Yvette
	Horst Janson	...	Capt. Berger
	Joachim Hansen	...	Capt. Kirstner
	Walter Ullrich	...	Schütze Hauser
	Dieter Schidor	...	Cpl. Anselm
	Bruno Dietrich	...	Schütze Nissen
	Sonja Jeannine	...	Jeanette
	Günter Clemens	...	Cpl. Dorfmann
	Michael Büttner	...	Schütze Junghans (as Wolfgang Büttner)

The Shark and the Little Fish (Haie und Kleine Fische (1957)

Director: Frank Wisbar
Writers: Wolfgang Ott (novel)
Wolfgang Ott (screenplay)

Four young naval cadets begin their military service in 1940; only one of them will survive. Frank Wisbar hoped that by showing war in all its horror, as a "shark" devouring everyone and everything in its path, he could deliver a powerful anti-war message. Many critics felt that, by placing the battle sequences against the backdrop of a young cadet who grows increasingly disillusioned with the war and with life, he negated the political dimensions of the war. Yet using all the available special effects technology for as realistic a portrayal of shipboard life and naval battles as was then possible, Wisbar seems to have captured something of the attitude of many Germans toward their wartime experience.

Germany, 1957, B&W, 119 minutes, English subtitles.

Cast:
Heinz Engelmann, Horst Frank, Karl Lieffen, Siegfried Lowitz, Wolfgang Preiss

The Fox of Paris (Der Fuchs von Paris (1957)

The Battle of Normandy from German soldiers perspective.Der Fuchs von Paris (The Fox of Paris) is set in Paris, not long after the Allied invasion of the continent in 1944. Hardy Kruger stars as Captain Eustenwerth, a German officer who turns his back on the losing Nazi cause and joins the Resistance. In a similar vein, General Quade (Martin Held) struggles to save the lives of the men he has left by tacitly defying orders from the German High Command. Through a series of unfortunate coincidences and misunderstandings, both of these idealistic individuals find themselves on opposite sides of the fence, culminating in impending execution for Eustenwerth. Director Paul May had helmed a similar story, Duel with Death, in 1947. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

• Actors: Martin Held, Marianne Koch, Hardy Krüger, Michel Auclair, Paul Hartmann
• Directors: Paul May
• Writers: Herbert B. Fredersdorf, Herbert Reinecker
• Producers: Kurt Ulrich
• Format: PAL
• Language: German (Mono)
• Region: Region 2 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Run Time: 98 minutes

Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever! (Hunde, Wollt Ihr Ewig Leben (1958)

Director - Frank Wisbar

Writers: - Frank Dimen (writer) - Heinz Schröter (writer)

Set just outside Stalingrad in the winter of 1942, this compelling wartime drama tells the tale of a contingent of German soldiers caught in a Russian vise. Headed by Gen. Paulus (Wilhelm Borchert), the other officers and foot soldiers are slowly surrounded by Russian troops on the offensiveThe battles that ensue as a result of the entrapment are depicted via the experiences of individual officers and enlisted men -- the full story emerges through the eyes of each of these soldiers. There is also a subsidiary tale about a friendship between a Russian woman (Sonia Zieman) and a German officer that ultimately saves the man's life. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

• Cast & Crew: Joachim Hansen, Peter Carsten, Horst Frank, Wolfgang Preiss
• Running Time: 111 Minutes
  Country: West Germany

The Doctor of Stalingrad - (1958 - Der Arzt von Stalingrad)

Director: Géza von Radványi

Writers:

Heinz G. Konsalik (novel)
Werner P. Zibaso (writer)



Der Arzt von Stalingrad (The Doctor of Stalingrad) was one of four films directed in 1958 by the prolific Hungarian-born helmsman Geza von Radvanyi.
Set in a Russia POW camp during WII, the film concentrates on an imprisoned German doctor, played by O.E. Hasse.
Denied sophisticated surgical tools, the doctor relies solely upon his medical skill to pull his patients through. He manages to win the confidence and respect of his Soviet captors when he removes a brain tumor from the son of the commandant.
Less happy are the results of a wartime romance between the doctor and a female Russian physician. Though not altogether sympathetic to the Russians, neither can Der Arzt Von Stalingrad be considered 100% pro-German. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast:

	O.E. Hasse	...	Dr. Fritz Boehler, Stabsarzt
	Eva Bartok	...	Kapitän Alexandra Kasalinskaja
	Hannes Messemer	...	Oberleutnant Pjotr Markow
	Mario Adorf	...	Pelz, Sanitäter
	Walter Reyer	...	Dr. Sellnow (as Walther Reyer)
	Vera Tschechowa	...	Tamara
	Paul Bösiger	...	Fähnrich Peter Schultheiß
	Leonard Steckel	...	Major Dr. Kresin, Distriktarzt
	Valéry Inkijinoff	...	Oberstleutnant Worotilow, Lagerkommandant (as Valeri Inkishanov)
	Michael Ande	...	Sergej, Worotilows Sohn
	Siegfried Lowitz	...	Grosse
	Eddi Arent
	Wilmut Borell	...	Pastor
	Til Kiwe	...	Sauerbrunn
	Rolf von Nauckhoff	...	Oberst Eklund, Schwedisches Rotes Kreuz