Director Helmut Kautner retells William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” in the context of postwar Germany. John H. Claudius returns from Harvard to find his mother married to his uncle after the death of his father, Paul. His father, an industrialist, owned a steel plant that is bustling due to Germany’s postwar boom. Although John’s father is said to have been killed in an air raid, John is convinced his mother and uncle plotted the death together.
Tag: 1950s
Beautiful housekeeper Babette travels to England after the Nazis invade her home country of France. There, the British intelligence officers devise a plan for Babette to sneak back into France, where she could use her feminine charm on key Nazi officer Schulz, gleaning valuable information for England. However, Babette, although willing and spirited, is naïve and untrained, making her less than ideal for matters of national security.
Two sailors dock in London in search of a good time during their short stint on land. But when one of them fatally stabs a man during a scuffle in a bar, the pair flee the scene, commandeer a boat and take the three women on board hostage as they try to outrun the law.
Two of the three principals in a used-car business plan to rob a chemical company’s safe of -£20,000 with the help of a professional criminal, Tracey (Hartnell). The plan is carried out while the honest principal, Miles (Drake), is away. Naturally, things go wrong for the crooks. Blonde bombshell Sue (Eaton), desired by all three principals, unwittingly complicates matter.
Liana Franci, a wealthy young graduate in architecture, dreams of a more independent life so she cancels her wedding engagement with Fernando, an engineer, after meeting the musician Gerardo Villabruna and flees with him to Amalfi. After a while Gerardo confesses to her that, in spite of the good times together, he’s too engaged with music and has to leave for a long tour. Therefore Liana moves to Paris, where she finds an unrewarding job but also meets Massimo, a wealthy shipowner that decides to marry her. Problem is this marriage leaves her feeling caged…
Jacques Arnaud arrives in a small town somewhere in the province. Soon a citizen reports to him that strangers have broken into his house where they stole a mysterious “black dossier”.
Ellen McNulty leaves her New Jersey hamburger stand and heads west to pay a surprise visit to her son and his new bride. When Ellen arrives, her daughter-in-law mistakes her for the maid she has hired for a big party they are throwing. Rather than cause any embarrassment, Ellen goes along with the charade, which leads to many complications.