
Hubert von Meyerinck
Actor · 1896 – 1971 · Potsdam, Germany
Hubert von Meyerinck was born in Potsdam on August 23, 1896, the son of a major. After his parents divorced, he was raised by his mother. From an early age he showed a strong interest in acting and began taking lessons as a child, despite his parents’ wish that he pursue a career as a priest. After completing school, he was drafted into military service during World War I but was discharged shortly afterward for health reasons. In 1917, he made his stage debut at the Berliner Schauspielhaus as Lieutenant von Hagen in "Kolberg." Following an engagement at the Hamburger Kammerspiele from 1918 to 1920, he performed at numerous Berlin theatres and variety venues, including the revue "Es liegt was in der Luft" alongside Marlene Dietrich. He earned acclaim both for his cabaret performances at the famed Tingeltangel and for dramatic stage roles such as Mephisto in "Faust" and Mackie Messer in "Die Dreigroschenoper." At the beginning of the 1920s, von Meyerinck transitioned to film. After a significant early role in Georg Jacoby’s serial "Der Mann ohne Namen," he appeared in supporting roles in silent films including Artur Robison’s "Manon Lescaut" (1926) and Wilhelm Dieterle’s "Ich lebe für Dich" (1929). His distinctive appearance—bald head, monocle, thin moustache—quickly made him recognizable, and he became a popular character actor. He was often typecast as aristocrats, bourgeois figures, authoritarian officials, eccentrics, or crooks. With the arrival of sound film, his raspy voice further defined his screen persona. Among his notable early sound films were Max Ophüls’ "Die verliebte Firma" (1931/32), Franz Wenzler’s "Wenn die Liebe Mode macht" (1932), and Kurt Gerron’s "Der weiße Dämon" (1932). During the Nazi era, he remained one of Germany’s most prolific and popular supporting actors, appearing in more than 90 productions between 1933 and 1945. These ranged from comedies such as "Ein falscher Fuffziger" (1935) to Willi Forst’s adaptation of Maupassant’s "Bel Ami" (1939) and Helmut Käutner’s "Kitty und die Weltkonferenz" (1939). He also took smaller roles in propagandistic films including "Ein Volksfeind" (1937) and "Trenck, der Pandur" (1940). Although it was widely known that he was homosexual, he was not prosecuted by the regime. In the 1950s and 1960s, von Meyerinck successfully parodied his established authoritarian image in numerous comedies. In 1957 alone he appeared in 13 films, including the popular "Der tolle Blomberg" and "Das Wirtshaus im Spessart." He received the Prize of the German Film Critics in 1960 for "Ein Mann geht durch die Wand" and again in 1961 for "Das Spukschloß im Spessart." Another highlight was his role as an exuberant aristocrat in Billy Wilder’s Cold War satire "One, Two, Three." Between 1965 and 1969, he regularly appeared as Sir Arthur, head of Scotland Yard, in the Edgar Wallace film series. Despite appearing in around 250 films, von Meyerinck remained committed to the stage and joined the ensemble of Hamburg’s Thalia Theatre in 1966. In 1968, he received a lifetime achievement award at the German Film Prize and published his memoirs. He died in Hamburg on May 13, 1971.
Movies22
Movie7.5ComedyIn Cold War-era West Berlin, American Coca-Cola executive C.R. 'Mac' MacNamara is tasked with playing babysitter to his boss' spoiled 17-year-old daughter Scarlett, who proves more difficult than anticipated when she reveals that she is pregnant by a Communist.
One, Two, Three
1961 · 437 votes
Movie7.5DramaHistoryPrince Klemens von Metternich orders Friedrich Gentz, one of his aides, to keep the Duke of Reichstadt---Napoleon Francois Joseph Charles---son of Napoleon and heir to the French throne, from thinking about French politics. Gentz enlists the help of ballerina Fanny Elsser, all the rage in several European capitals, to keep the Duke distracted.
Movie6.0DramaManöverball
1956 · 2 votes
- Movie7.0Comedy
At the behest of the financially strapped Duke, his nephew, Crown Prince Rudolf, is to marry someone of suitable rank. But Rudolf has no interest whatsoever in his uncle's plans and works under his commoner's name as an engineer in a car factory. Then a certain Count Rasumirski appears before the Duke and explains that the famous operetta diva Vera Naldi is actually a Russian princess who knows nothing of her origins. They hatch a plan to marry Rudolf off to her. But at the theater, Rudolf falls not for the singer, but for the secretary. Instead, Rudolf's other uncle begins to take an interest in Vera. Then, however, it turns out that Rasumirski is an imposter and Vera is not a princess at all...
Frühlingsluft
1938 · 1 votes
Movie6.8ComedyMusicThe ghosts of thieves help a beautiful young countess save her inherited castle from modern developers in this comic horror/musical.
Movie7.3DramaGerhard Lamprecht sketches a cross-section of Germany's new post-war society, with its winners, social climbers, and losers, represented by the social microcosm of an apartment building. The gossip-mad Frau Mierig from the rear building gives the newly-arrived Frau Kaminski, the janitor's wife, a lively initiation into the tenants and their peculiarities.
Movie6.1DramaBiopic about the Rothschilds, a Jewish family whose members rose to the top of the European banking community during the Napoleonic era.
Movie10.0DramaThe 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.
Anna Favetti
1938 · 1 votes
Movie5.8DramaComedyWest Germany in '50s is becoming an economic superpower. In such climate, Rosemarie is just one of many enterpreneurs who wants her piece of new fortune. She uses her charms to bring members of West German industrial elite to her bed. There she finds business secrets and later sells them to French competition. However, when scandal errupts, Rosemarie would find that she can't beat the system.
Movie6.5CrimeA serial killer who calls himself "The Laughing Corpse" dresses up in a skeleton costume and kills his victims with a poison-filled scorpion-shaped ring.
Movie6.2CrimeThrillerArthur Milton aka Der Hexer (The Magician/Ringer) must return to London after his calling card was left at the scene of a murder he did not commit.
Movie6.9ComedyAdventureCountess Franziska "is kidnapped" by a band of robbers. However, her father is not willing to pay the ransom so Franziska changes sides.
Movie10.0ComedyExperimental fiction film about young people taking on different creative tasks.
- MovieDrama
Movie6.5AdventureWomen are being sent to an all male settlement. The marriages are planned in advance, but not everything goes according to plan.
Movie5.5AdventureMysteryVienna, 1956. After Soviet tanks crush the Hungarian uprising, soldier-of-fortune Michael Reynolds is hired to help a threatened Hungarian scientist escape from Budapest.
The Secret Ways
1961 · 13 votes
Movie4.5ComedyDer Unwiderstehliche
1937 · 4 votes
- Movie8.0Comedy
A comedy loosely based on the life story of Johann Friedrich Böttger, the inventor of Meissen porcelain: In Berlin, the pharmacist Fritz Böttger gains a reputation for being able to make gold and is imprisoned on the orders of the Prussian king. Following in the footsteps of a young lady, he flees to Saxony, but is also imprisoned in Dresden and forced to make gold. Although he does not succeed in this, by chance he discovers how to make porcelain instead. Augustus the Strong appoints him baron and director of the royal porcelain manufactory.
Movie5.2CrimeWhen another dead elderly gentleman is fished out of the Thames, Inspector David Perkins is convinced that the gorilla gang is active again. On a doll found with the body, characters of an African language are discovered. Together with Sergeant Pepper and language specialist Susan MacPherson, the search for the head of the gang begins.
Movie5.7CrimeDramaA man is found dead in a London hotel. The knife is still firmly stuck in the victim's chest, and Inspector Perkins strangely finds a glass eye in his jacket pocket. Kurt after that a second, mysterious murder happens: A city-famous dancer of the Las Vegas Girls, who perform at the London Odeon Theater, is poisoned. Is there a connection between the pretty dancer and the hotel guest? Inspector Perkins and his colleagues are pressed for time. The "man with the glass eye" strikes deadly again and again. A first clue leads Scotland Yard to a billiard club, where one has to show a glass eye as an admission ticket.
Movie8.0DramaHelene performs in a Paris nightclub run by White Russian exiles. When her husband, an engineer she believed had died in the Russian Civil War, reappears she tries to assist him. However, this opens her to blackmail by her dancing partner Fedor.
Movie5.9Science FictionAdventureThe countess is married, and the ghosts are still in the Spessart. Her husband becomes an astronaut and the story involved time travelling and space travelling starts.
Series3
TV8.0CrimeDas Kriminalmuseum was a German television series. It ran from 1963 to 1970 on ZDF and was one of its first programs. Each episode began with a tracking shot through an unspecified crime museum, stopping at one of the displays, whose story was then told. Each episode was between 60 and 75 minutes long and featured different actors as the criminal commissioner. The best known was Erik Ode, who in 1969 moved to Der Kommissar, appearing in 97 episodes. The theme music of the series was written by German composer Martin Böttcher, who also composed the complete scores for five episodes.
Das Kriminalmuseum
1963 · 3 votes
TV10.0CrimeDem Täter auf der Spur is a German television series.
Dem Täter auf der Spur
1967 · 1 votes
- TV8.0Comedy
Hei-Wi-Tip-Top
1971 · 1 votes