George Seaton connected an ideal cast to this true-life WW2 story so good that a lazy script and slack direction can’t sink it. William Holden is the American-Swede who spies for the Allies, ruining his own reputation and schmoozing with Nazis that will kill him if he slips up. Wonderful Lilli Palmer is the patriot-agent who steals his heart. The locations are impressive but one inspired scene captures with perfection the utter depravity of fascist power. If ever a WW2 movie needed a remake, this one qualifies.
The Counterfeit Traitor
Region-free Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 118
1962 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 141 min. / Street Date April 27, 2022 / Available from /
Starring: William Holden, Lilli Palmer, Hugh Griffith, Carl Raddatz, Ernst Schröder, Charles Régnier, Ingrid van Bergen, Helo Gutschwager, Wolfgang Preiss, Werner Peters, Erica Beer, Stefan Schnabel, Klaus Kinski, Eva Dahlbeck.
Cinematography: Jean Bourgoin
Production Designer: Ellen Schmidt
Art Directors: Hal Pereira, Tambi Larsen, Mathias Matthies
Film Editors: Hans Ebel,...
The Counterfeit Traitor
Region-free Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 118
1962 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 141 min. / Street Date April 27, 2022 / Available from /
Starring: William Holden, Lilli Palmer, Hugh Griffith, Carl Raddatz, Ernst Schröder, Charles Régnier, Ingrid van Bergen, Helo Gutschwager, Wolfgang Preiss, Werner Peters, Erica Beer, Stefan Schnabel, Klaus Kinski, Eva Dahlbeck.
Cinematography: Jean Bourgoin
Production Designer: Ellen Schmidt
Art Directors: Hal Pereira, Tambi Larsen, Mathias Matthies
Film Editors: Hans Ebel,...
- 5/17/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
It’s the most impressive ‘new’ movie we’ve seen this year: Robert Siodmak’s 1957 political thriller fictionalizes a true mass murder case in 1943 Berlin — one that a high-ranking Nazi wants to justify the extermination of ‘undesirables’ for the furtherance of Aryan white supremacy. The snapshot of home-front Berlin is fascinating, and also the depiction of a complacent public, going along with official lies nobody fully believes. Produced on a big scale, the unjustly obscure show stars Claus Holm, Mario Adorf, Hannes Messemer, Peter Carsten, Karl Lange, Werner Peters and Annemarie Düringer. The illuminating audio commentary is by Imogen Sara Smith.
The Devil Strikes at Night
Blu-ray
Kino Classics
1957 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 97 min. / Nachts wenn der Teufel kam / Street Date , 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Claus Holm, Mario Adorf, Hannes Messemer, Peter Carsten, Karl Lange, Werner Peters, Annemarie Düringer, Monika John, Rose Schäfer, Ernst Fritz Fürbringer, Walter Janssen.
Cinematography:...
The Devil Strikes at Night
Blu-ray
Kino Classics
1957 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 97 min. / Nachts wenn der Teufel kam / Street Date , 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Claus Holm, Mario Adorf, Hannes Messemer, Peter Carsten, Karl Lange, Werner Peters, Annemarie Düringer, Monika John, Rose Schäfer, Ernst Fritz Fürbringer, Walter Janssen.
Cinematography:...
- 3/12/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The newest addition to the stable of horror and sci-fi on Ultra HD is Dario Argento’s debut feature, the game-changer that launched the full-blown giallo thriller. Argento takes a few twists from the Hitchcock playbook but otherwise shapes his whodunnit with a new, slick style of his own. Cinematography by Vittorio Storaro and design by Dario Micheli emphasize visual texture and tactility — we contemplate soft skin, slippery plastic and sharp straight razors. The horrors embrace architecture and high fashion, exchanging visual fetishes for psychological depth. And don’t forget a typically eccentric Ennio Morricone music score. As always, Arrow includes a full menu of extra delights.
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Arrow Academy
1970 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 97 min. / Street Date July 27, 2021 / L’uccello dalle piume di cristallo / Limited Edition
Starring: Starring: Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Enrico Maria Salerno, Eva Renzi, Umberto Raho, Raf Valenti, Giuseppe Castellano,...
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Arrow Academy
1970 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 97 min. / Street Date July 27, 2021 / L’uccello dalle piume di cristallo / Limited Edition
Starring: Starring: Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Enrico Maria Salerno, Eva Renzi, Umberto Raho, Raf Valenti, Giuseppe Castellano,...
- 7/24/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Fritz Lang’s final feature brings his career full circle to the core thriller concepts he pioneered back in 1922: superstitious human nature and sinister technological advances combine to make the 20th century an Age of Terror. Lang reboots his highly cinematic Weimar-era narrative tricks for a film that heralds the beginning of a brave new world where total surveillance and mind control are at the service of paranoid conspiracies. I could talk for hours about the directing/editing in this show — it’s so sophisticated, and yet so simple.
The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse
Region B Blu-ray
Eureka Entertainment/Masters of Cinema
1960 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 103 min. / Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse / Street Date May 11, 2020 / £ 15.99
Starring: Dawn Addams, Peter van Eyck, Gert Fröbe, Wolfgang Preiss, Lupo Prezzo, Werner Peters, Andrea Checchi, Marielouise Nagel, Reinhard Kolldehoff, Howard Vernon, Nico Pepe, Jean-Jacques Delbo, Christiane Maybach.
Cinematography: Karl Löb
Film Editors: Walter Wischniewsky,...
The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse
Region B Blu-ray
Eureka Entertainment/Masters of Cinema
1960 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 103 min. / Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse / Street Date May 11, 2020 / £ 15.99
Starring: Dawn Addams, Peter van Eyck, Gert Fröbe, Wolfgang Preiss, Lupo Prezzo, Werner Peters, Andrea Checchi, Marielouise Nagel, Reinhard Kolldehoff, Howard Vernon, Nico Pepe, Jean-Jacques Delbo, Christiane Maybach.
Cinematography: Karl Löb
Film Editors: Walter Wischniewsky,...
- 6/3/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Fritz Lang’s final feature is a mind-blowing culmination of the core thriller concepts he pioneered back in 1922: superstitious human nature and sinister technological advances combine to make the 20th century an Age of Terror. Lang reboots his highly cinematic Weimar-era narrative tricks for a film that heralds the beginning of a brave new world where total surveillance and mind control are at the service of paranoid conspiracies. I could talk for hours about the directing/editing in this show — it’s so sophisticated, and yet so simple.
The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse
Region B Blu-ray
Eureka Entertainment/Masters of Cinema
1960 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 103 min. / Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse / Street Date May 11, 2020 / £ 15.99
Starring: Dawn Addams, Peter van Eyck, Gert Fröbe, Wolfgang Preiss, Lupo Prezzo, Werner Peters, Andrea Checchi, Marielouise Nagel, Reinhard Kolldehoff, Howard Vernon, Nico Pepe, Jean-Jacques Delbo, Christiane Maybach.
Cinematography: Karl Löb
Film Editors: Walter Wischniewsky,...
The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse
Region B Blu-ray
Eureka Entertainment/Masters of Cinema
1960 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 103 min. / Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse / Street Date May 11, 2020 / £ 15.99
Starring: Dawn Addams, Peter van Eyck, Gert Fröbe, Wolfgang Preiss, Lupo Prezzo, Werner Peters, Andrea Checchi, Marielouise Nagel, Reinhard Kolldehoff, Howard Vernon, Nico Pepe, Jean-Jacques Delbo, Christiane Maybach.
Cinematography: Karl Löb
Film Editors: Walter Wischniewsky,...
- 6/2/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
This time they may have gotten it right! If a knife or a straight razor won’t do, how about killing a victim with 500-pound metal artwork studded with spikes? Dario Argento distilled a new kind of slick, visually fetishistic horror who-dunnit thriller subgenre with this shocker, aided by the dreamy cinematography of Vittorio Storaro.
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Blu-ray + DVD
Arrow Video USA
1971 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 96 min. / Street Date June 20, 2017 / L’uccello dalle piume di cristallo / Available from Arrow Video/ 49.95
/ 49.95
Starring: Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Enrico Maria Salerno, Eva Renzi, Umberto Raho, Raf Valenti, Giuseppe Castellano, Mario Adorf, Pino Patti, Gildo Di Marco, Rosita Torosh, Omar Bonaro, Fulvio Mingozzi, Werner Peters, Karen Valenti, Carla Mancini, Reggie Nalder.
Cinematography: Vittorio Storaro
Film Editor: Franco Fraticelli
Original Music: Ennio Morricone
Written by Dario Argento from a novel by Fredric Brown
Produced by Salvatore Argento, Artur Brauner
Directed by Dario Argento...
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Blu-ray + DVD
Arrow Video USA
1971 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 96 min. / Street Date June 20, 2017 / L’uccello dalle piume di cristallo / Available from Arrow Video/ 49.95
/ 49.95
Starring: Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Enrico Maria Salerno, Eva Renzi, Umberto Raho, Raf Valenti, Giuseppe Castellano, Mario Adorf, Pino Patti, Gildo Di Marco, Rosita Torosh, Omar Bonaro, Fulvio Mingozzi, Werner Peters, Karen Valenti, Carla Mancini, Reggie Nalder.
Cinematography: Vittorio Storaro
Film Editor: Franco Fraticelli
Original Music: Ennio Morricone
Written by Dario Argento from a novel by Fredric Brown
Produced by Salvatore Argento, Artur Brauner
Directed by Dario Argento...
- 6/19/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Long before movies routinely created ‘worlds’ with their own twisted fantasy logic, only a few paranoid thrillers, usually odd genre items, tried out twisted stories of deceptive ‘hidden realities.’ Like an extended Twilight Zone entry, this lively James Garner war pic morphs into a bizarre conspiracy worthy of Philip K. Dick. If only it weren’t so “L-a-o” — Literal And Obvious.
36 Hours
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1965 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 115 min. / Street Date April 11, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Rod Taylor, Werner Peters, John Banner, Russell Thorson, Alan Napier, Oscar Beregi, Ed Gilbert, Sig Ruman, Celia Lovsky, Karl Held, James Doohan.
Cinematography Philip H. Lathrop
Art Direction Edward Carfagno, George W. Davis
Film Editor Adrienne Fazan
Original Music Dimitri Tiomkin
Written by George Seaton, Carl K. Hittleman, Luis H. Vance from a story by Roald Dahl
Produced by William Perlberg
Directed by George Seaton
Released...
36 Hours
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1965 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 115 min. / Street Date April 11, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Rod Taylor, Werner Peters, John Banner, Russell Thorson, Alan Napier, Oscar Beregi, Ed Gilbert, Sig Ruman, Celia Lovsky, Karl Held, James Doohan.
Cinematography Philip H. Lathrop
Art Direction Edward Carfagno, George W. Davis
Film Editor Adrienne Fazan
Original Music Dimitri Tiomkin
Written by George Seaton, Carl K. Hittleman, Luis H. Vance from a story by Roald Dahl
Produced by William Perlberg
Directed by George Seaton
Released...
- 4/11/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
'The Devil Strikes at Night,' with Mario Adorf as World War II era serial killer Bruno Lüdke 'The Devil Strikes at Night' movie review: Serial killing vs. mass murder in unsubtle but intriguing World War II political drama After more than a decade in Hollywood, German director Robert Siodmak (Academy Award nominated for the 1946 film noir The Killers) resumed his European career in the mid-1950s. In 1957, he directed The Devil Strikes at Night / Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam, an intriguing, well-crafted crime drama about the pursuit of a serial killer – and its political consequences – during the last months of the mass-murderous Nazi regime. Inspired by real events, The Devil Strikes at Night begins as war-scarred Hamburg is deeply shaken by the horrific murder of a waitress. Through the Homicide Bureau, inspector Axel Kersten (Claus Holm) begins an investigation that leads him to a mentally disabled laborer,...
- 5/11/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Nachts, WENN Der Teufel Kam / The Devil Strikes At Night (1957) Direction: Robert Siodmak Cast: Claus Holm, Annemarie Düringer, Mario Adorf, Hannes Messemer, Carl Lange, Werner Peters Screenplay: Werner Jörg Lüddecke; from an article by Will Berthold Oscar Movies Recommended with Reservations Mario Adorf in The Devil Strikes at Night After more than a decade in Hollywood, German-born director Robert Siodmak (nominated for an Academy Award for The Killers in 1946) resumed his European career in the mid-1950s. In 1957, he directed Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam / The Devil Strikes at Night, an intriguing, well-crafted crime drama about the pursuit of a serial killer — and its political consequences — during the last months of the mass-murderous Nazi regime. Inspired by real events, The Devil Strikes at Night begins as war-scarred Hamburg is deeply shaken by the horrific murder of a waitress. Through the Homicide Bureau, inspector Axel Kersten (Claus [...]...
- 2/5/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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