Martin Kosleck
Encyclopedia
Martin Kosleck was a German
film actor
. Like many other German actors, he fled when the Nazis
came to power. Inspired by his deep hatred of Adolf Hitler
and the Nazis, Kosleck would make a career in Hollywood playing villainous Nazis in films. While in the United States
, he would appear in more than 80 films and television shows in a 46-year span. His icy demeanor and piercing stare on screen made him a popular choice to play Nazi villains. He portrayed Joseph Goebbels
, Adolf Hitler's propaganda minister, five times, and also appeared as an SS trooper and a concentration camp officer.
, Germany, the son of a Jewish Russian
forester. He became interested in acting at an early age. He spent six years in the Max Reinhardt
Dramatic School, particularly excelling in Shakespearian roles, and working in revues and musicals in Berlin
.
At the age of 23, he appeared in his first film, a silent movie
directed by Johannes Brandt called Der Fahnenträger von Sedan. Two years later he appeared in Lupo Pick's Napoleon auf St. Helena. Kosleck would appear in two more films in Germany in 1930; the science-fiction thriller Alraune
(his first sound film) and Der Singende Stadt.
. The following year, he arrived in New York
and then traveled west to Hollywood. In 1933, when Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power, because of his opposition to the Nazis, Kosleck was placed on the Gestapo
list of "undesirables".
He appeared in his first American film Fashions of 1934
starring Bette Davis
. However, he found little work in Hollywood, so he returned to New York and the stage. While Kosleck was acting in The Merchant of Venice
on Broadway
, Anatole Litvak
invited him to Hollywood for a role in a Warner Brothers film. The highly controversial Confessions of a Nazi Spy
, starring Edward G. Robinson
, Francis Lederer
, Paul Lukas
and George Sanders
, was based on The Nazi Spy Conspiracy in America, a book by Leon Turron, an FBI agent who had uncovered the network of Nazi organizations throughout the United States. Kosleck, in a small role playing Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, revealed a sinister streak of evil that would be sought after in wartime movies to come.
Many other German actors at the time resented being typecast as Nazis, Kosleck on the other hand reveled in it as a way to get back at the Nazis. He appeared in numerous anti-Nazi films of the early 1940s: Nurse Edith Cavell
, Espionage Agent
, Underground
, Berlin Correspondent, Bomber's Moon and Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas
. However, it was his impression of Goebbels that will remain in the memories of moviegoers, especially in Paramount
's 1944 pseudo-documentary The Hitler Gang.
With the end of the Second World War, roles as Nazis declined. Kosleck then moved into B
horror films, such as The Frozen Ghost
and The Mummy's Curse
(both starring Lon Chaney Jr., whom Kosleck disliked intensely), House of Horrors
and She-Wolf of London
, starring June Lockhart
. The House of Horrors gave him his best-remembered role beyond Goebbels, as an insane sculptor, Marcel De Lange, who saves a monster from drowning and gets revenge by having the monster kill his critics.
. Kosleck appeared on Broadway in The Madwoman of Chaillot
in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He would also appear on television as guests in episodes of numerous shows. In 1951, he appeared in the "I Lift Up My Lamp" episode of Hallmark Hall of Fame
, a television anthology of plays and books. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, he would appear in television episodes of The Motorola Television Hour
, where he played Goebbels again, Studio One, Thriller
, The Rifleman
, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
, The Outer Limits
, Get Smart
, Batman
(playing Professor Avery Evans Charm), The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
, The F.B.I.
, The Wild Wild West
, Mission: Impossible
and It Takes a Thief.
In 1970, Kosleck played a Gestapo general in the television comedy Hogan's Heroes
. He suffered from a heart attack in the 1970s, and thereafter worked only occasionally, mostly in television. During this time, he appeared in Love, American Style
, Banacek
and Sanford and Son
. In 1980, he appeared in his last film, The Man with Bogart's Face
.
Aside from acting, Kosleck was an accomplished painter who supported himself through his work as a portrait artist while waiting for a movie role. An impressionist-style portrait-painter, he painted both Bette Davis and Marlene Dietrich
.
convalescent home.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
film actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. Like many other German actors, he fled when the Nazis
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
came to power. Inspired by his deep hatred of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and the Nazis, Kosleck would make a career in Hollywood playing villainous Nazis in films. While in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, he would appear in more than 80 films and television shows in a 46-year span. His icy demeanor and piercing stare on screen made him a popular choice to play Nazi villains. He portrayed Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
, Adolf Hitler's propaganda minister, five times, and also appeared as an SS trooper and a concentration camp officer.
Early life
Kosleck was born Nicolaie Yoshkin in Barkotzen in PomeraniaPomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
, Germany, the son of a Jewish Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
forester. He became interested in acting at an early age. He spent six years in the Max Reinhardt
Max Reinhardt
----Max Reinhardt was an Austrian theater and film director and actor.-Biography:...
Dramatic School, particularly excelling in Shakespearian roles, and working in revues and musicals in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
At the age of 23, he appeared in his first film, a silent movie
Silent Movie
Silent Movie is a 1976 satirical comedy film co-written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks, and released by 20th Century Fox on June 17, 1976...
directed by Johannes Brandt called Der Fahnenträger von Sedan. Two years later he appeared in Lupo Pick's Napoleon auf St. Helena. Kosleck would appear in two more films in Germany in 1930; the science-fiction thriller Alraune
Alraune (1930 film)
Alraune is a 1930 science fiction horror film directed by Richard Oswald. Like the previous version this movie again features Brigitte Helm in the role of Alraune...
(his first sound film) and Der Singende Stadt.
Hollywood
In the early 1930s, Hitler and the Nazi Party were growing in power. Kosleck spoke out against both and decided to leave Germany in 1931 for BritainUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The following year, he arrived in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and then traveled west to Hollywood. In 1933, when Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power, because of his opposition to the Nazis, Kosleck was placed on the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
list of "undesirables".
He appeared in his first American film Fashions of 1934
Fashions of 1934
-Cast:*William Powell as Sherwood Nash*Bette Davis as Lynn Mason*Frank McHugh as Snap*Reginald Owen as Oscar Baroque*Verree Teasdale as Grand Duchess Alix*Hugh Herbert as Joe Ward*Henry O'Neill as Duryea...
starring Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
. However, he found little work in Hollywood, so he returned to New York and the stage. While Kosleck was acting in The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, Anatole Litvak
Anatole Litvak
Anatole Litvak was a Ukrainian-born filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced films in a various countries and languages...
invited him to Hollywood for a role in a Warner Brothers film. The highly controversial Confessions of a Nazi Spy
Confessions of a Nazi Spy
Confessions of a Nazi Spy is a 1939 American spy thriller film and the first blatantly anti-Nazi film produced by a major Hollywood studio prior to World War II. The film stars Edward G. Robinson, Francis Lederer, George Sanders, and a large cast of German actors, including some who had emigrated...
, starring Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
, Francis Lederer
Francis Lederer
Francis Lederer was a film and stage actor with a successful career, first in Europe, then in the United States.-Europe:...
, Paul Lukas
Paul Lukas
Paul Lukas was an Austrian-Hungarian-born actor.-Biography:Born Pál Lukács in Budapest, he arrived in Hollywood in 1927 after a successful stage and film career in Hungary, Germany and Austria where he worked with Max Reinhardt. He made his stage debut in Budapest in 1916 and his film debut in 1917...
and George Sanders
George Sanders
George Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
, was based on The Nazi Spy Conspiracy in America, a book by Leon Turron, an FBI agent who had uncovered the network of Nazi organizations throughout the United States. Kosleck, in a small role playing Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, revealed a sinister streak of evil that would be sought after in wartime movies to come.
Many other German actors at the time resented being typecast as Nazis, Kosleck on the other hand reveled in it as a way to get back at the Nazis. He appeared in numerous anti-Nazi films of the early 1940s: Nurse Edith Cavell
Nurse Edith Cavell
Nurse Edith Cavell is a 1939 American film directed by Herbert Wilcox.The film was nominated at the 1939 Oscars for Best Original Score.- Cast :*Anna Neagle as Nurse Edith Cavell*Edna May Oliver as Countess de Mavon*George Sanders as Capt. Heinrichs...
, Espionage Agent
Espionage Agent
Espionage Agent is a pre–World War II spy melodrama produced by Hal B. Wallis in 1939. Directed by Lloyd Bacon, Espionage Agent, like many Warner Bros. movies, clearly identifies the Germans as the enemy...
, Underground
Underground (1941 film)
Underground is a 1941 film about the German Resistance opposing the Nazis in World War II. Jeffrey Lynn and Philip Dorn play two brothers initially on opposite sides.-Cast:*Jeffrey Lynn as Kurt Franken*Philip Dorn as Eric Franken...
, Berlin Correspondent, Bomber's Moon and Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas
Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas
Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas was a major war film made by Twentieth Century Fox in 1943. The film starred Philip Dorn, Anna Sten, and Martin Kosleck. The movie, originally titled The Seventh Column, was directed by Louis King based on a story by Jack Andrews, who also co-wrote the screenplay....
. However, it was his impression of Goebbels that will remain in the memories of moviegoers, especially in Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
's 1944 pseudo-documentary The Hitler Gang.
With the end of the Second World War, roles as Nazis declined. Kosleck then moved into B
B movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
horror films, such as The Frozen Ghost
The Frozen Ghost
The Frozen Ghost is a mystery film starring Lon Chaney, Jr. and Evelyn Ankers, and directed by Harold Young. It is the fourth of the six "Inner Sanctum" mystery films.-Plot:...
and The Mummy's Curse
The Mummy's Curse
The Mummy's Curse is the 1944 horror film follow-up to The Mummy's Ghost which was also released in 1944. This film marks Lon Chaney, Jr.'s final appearance as Kharis, the Egyptian mummy. The Universal Mummy series boasts of a parallel-earth kind of timeline...
(both starring Lon Chaney Jr., whom Kosleck disliked intensely), House of Horrors
House of Horrors
House of Horrors was a low-budget horror film released by Universal Pictures, starring Rondo Hatton as a madman, named "The Creeper." It was also known as Murder Mansion and in the United Kingdom as Joan Medford is Missing.-Plot:...
and She-Wolf of London
She-Wolf of London (film)
She-Wolf of London is a 1946 horror film produced by Universal Studios, directed by Jean Yarbrough and starring June Lockhart and Don Porter. The title evokes the earlier Werewolf of London , although, unlike its forebear, it is concerned more with mystery and suspense than supernatural horror...
, starring June Lockhart
June Lockhart
June Lockhart is an American actress, primarily in 1950s and 1960s television, but with memorable performances on stage and in film too. She is remembered as the mother in two TV series, Lassie and Lost in Space. She also portrayed Dr...
. The House of Horrors gave him his best-remembered role beyond Goebbels, as an insane sculptor, Marcel De Lange, who saves a monster from drowning and gets revenge by having the monster kill his critics.
Television
With fewer film opportunities presenting themselves, Kosleck returned to New York City with his wife, the German-born actress Eleonore von Mendelssohn, a descendant of Moses MendelssohnMendelssohn family
The Mendelssohn family are the descendants of the German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, and include his grandson, the composer Felix Mendelssohn....
. Kosleck appeared on Broadway in The Madwoman of Chaillot
The Madwoman of Chaillot
The Madwoman of Chaillot is a play, a poetic satire, by French dramatist Jean Giraudoux, written in 1943 and first performed in 1945, after his death. The play has two acts and follows the convention of the classical unities...
in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He would also appear on television as guests in episodes of numerous shows. In 1951, he appeared in the "I Lift Up My Lamp" episode of Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...
, a television anthology of plays and books. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, he would appear in television episodes of The Motorola Television Hour
The Motorola Television Hour
The Motorola Television Hour was an hour-long anthology series which alternated bi-weekly with The United States Steel Hour on ABC. The show premiered on November 3, 1953 and was last aired on June 1, 1954. It was sponsored by Motorola.-External links:...
, where he played Goebbels again, Studio One, Thriller
Thriller (US TV series)
Thriller is an anthology television series that aired during the 1960–61 and 1961–62 seasons on NBC. The show featured host Boris Karloff introducing a mix of macabre horror tales and suspense thrillers....
, The Rifleman
The Rifleman
The Rifleman is an American Western television program that starred Chuck Connors as homesteader Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show, filmed in black-and-white with a half hour running time, ran...
, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV series)
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is a 1960s American science fiction television series based on the 1961 film of the same name. Both were created by Irwin Allen, which enabled the movie's sets, costumes, props, special effects models, and sometimes footage, to be used in the production of the...
, The Outer Limits
The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)
The Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories...
, Get Smart
Get Smart
Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt...
, Batman
Batman (TV series)
Batman is an American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company network for three seasons from January 12, 1966 to...
(playing Professor Avery Evans Charm), The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement...
, The F.B.I.
The F.B.I.
The F.B.I. is an American television series that was broadcast on ABC from 1965 to 1974. It was sponsored by the Ford Motor Company, and the characters almost always drove Ford vehicles in the series - indeed, this was a key point of Mad magazine's July 1971 satire of the series .-Synopsis:Produced...
, The Wild Wild West
The Wild Wild West
The Wild Wild West is an American television series that ran on CBS for four seasons from September 17, 1965 to April 4, 1969....
, Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
and It Takes a Thief.
In 1970, Kosleck played a Gestapo general in the television comedy Hogan's Heroes
Hogan's Heroes
Hogan's Heroes is an American television sitcom that ran for 168 episodes from September 17, 1965, to March 28, 1971, on the CBS network. The show was set in a German prisoner of war camp during the Second World War. Bob Crane had the starring role as Colonel Robert E...
. He suffered from a heart attack in the 1970s, and thereafter worked only occasionally, mostly in television. During this time, he appeared in Love, American Style
Love, American Style
Love, American Style is an hour-long TV anthology produced by Paramount Television and originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974...
, Banacek
Banacek
Banacek is a short-lived, light-hearted detective TV series starring George Peppard on NBC from 1972 to 1974. It alternated in its timeslot with several other shows but was the only one to last beyond its first season...
and Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son is an American sitcom, based on the BBC's Steptoe and Son, that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977....
. In 1980, he appeared in his last film, The Man with Bogart's Face
The Man with Bogart's Face
The Man with Bogart's Face is a 1980 comedy film, released by 20th Century Fox and based on a novel of the same name. Andrew J...
.
Aside from acting, Kosleck was an accomplished painter who supported himself through his work as a portrait artist while waiting for a movie role. An impressionist-style portrait-painter, he painted both Bette Davis and Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
.
Latter life
In 1951, his wife committed suicide. Kosleck died at age 89, following abdominal surgery, in a Santa MonicaSanta Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
convalescent home.
Filmography
- The Man with Bogart's FaceThe Man with Bogart's FaceThe Man with Bogart's Face is a 1980 comedy film, released by 20th Century Fox and based on a novel of the same name. Andrew J...
(1980) - Longstreet (1971) (TV)
- Which Way to the Front?Which Way to the Front?Which Way to the Front? is a 1970 film starring Jerry Lewis. It would be Lewis' last released film for eleven years , until 1981's Hardly Working. The unreleased The Day the Clown Cried was filmed in the years between...
(1970) - Wake Me When the War Is OverWake Me When The War Is OverWake Me When the War Is Over is a 1969 American comedy made-for-TV film starring Ken Berry and Eva Gabor, and directed by Gene Nelson. It first aired on ABC.-Plot:...
(1969) (TV) - Agent from H.A.R.M. (1966)
- Morituri (1965)
- 36 Hours36 Hours36 Hours is a 1965 American suspense film, based on the short story "Beware of the Dog" by Roald Dahl, starring James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, and Rod Taylor, and directed by George Seaton...
(1965) - The Flesh EatersThe Flesh Eaters (film)The Flesh Eaters is a 1964 American horror/science fiction thriller, directed on a low budget by Jack Curtis and edited by future filmmaker Radley Metzger...
(1964) - HitlerHitler (1962 film)Hitler is a black and white U.S. made film . The film stars Richard Basehart in the title role of Adolf Hitler. Cordula Trantow stars as Geli Raubal and Maria Emo as Eva Braun. John Banner stars as Gregor Strasser...
(1962) - Something WildSomething Wild (1961 film)Something Wild was a 1961 independent film, starring Carroll Baker and Ralph Meeker and directed by Jack Garfein, who was Baker's husband at the time....
(1961) - Spion für Deutschland (1956)
- Smugglers' Cove (1948)
- Assigned to DangerAssigned to DangerAssigned to Danger is an American crime film noir directed by Budd Boetticher. The drama features Gene Raymond, Noreen Nash and Robert Bice.-Plot:A group of former prisoners pull off a heist...
(1948) - Half Past Midnight (1948)
- The Beginning or the EndThe Beginning or the EndThe Beginning or the End is a 1947 film about the development of the atomic bomb in World War II.It was directed by Norman Taurog and starred Brian Donlevy and Hume Cronyn...
(1947) (uncredited) - She-Wolf of LondonShe-Wolf of London (film)She-Wolf of London is a 1946 horror film produced by Universal Studios, directed by Jean Yarbrough and starring June Lockhart and Don Porter. The title evokes the earlier Werewolf of London , although, unlike its forebear, it is concerned more with mystery and suspense than supernatural horror...
(1946) - The Wife of Monte Cristo (1946)
- House of HorrorsHouse of HorrorsHouse of Horrors was a low-budget horror film released by Universal Pictures, starring Rondo Hatton as a madman, named "The Creeper." It was also known as Murder Mansion and in the United Kingdom as Joan Medford is Missing.-Plot:...
(1946)
- Just Before DawnJust Before Dawn (1946 film)Just Before Dawn is a 1946 American black-and-white crime/mystery film based on the radio drama Crime Doctor. The film is the seventh production of the series, written by Max Marcin and adapted to the screen by Eric Taylor and Aubrey Wisberg. It was directed by William Castle and starred Warner...
(1946) - Crime of the Century (1946)
- The SpiderThe Spider (film)The Spider is an American crime film noir directed by Robert D. Webb. The drama features Richard Conte, Faye Marlowe, and Kurt Kreuger.-Cast:* Richard Conte as Chris Conlon* Faye Marlowe as Delilah 'Lila' Neilsen, alias Judith Smith...
(1945) - Pursuit to AlgiersPursuit to AlgiersPursuit to Algiers is the twelfth film in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series of Sherlock Holmes movies. Elements in the story pay homage to an otherwise unrecorded affair mentioned by Watson at the beginning of The Adventure of the Norwood Builder, notably the steamship Friesland.-Plot:About to...
(1945) - Gangs of the Waterfront (1945)
- The Frozen GhostThe Frozen GhostThe Frozen Ghost is a mystery film starring Lon Chaney, Jr. and Evelyn Ankers, and directed by Harold Young. It is the fourth of the six "Inner Sanctum" mystery films.-Plot:...
(1945) - Strange Holiday (1945)
- The Mummy's CurseThe Mummy's CurseThe Mummy's Curse is the 1944 horror film follow-up to The Mummy's Ghost which was also released in 1944. This film marks Lon Chaney, Jr.'s final appearance as Kharis, the Egyptian mummy. The Universal Mummy series boasts of a parallel-earth kind of timeline...
(1944) - Secrets of Scotland Yard (1944)
- The Hitler Gang (1944)
- The Great Alaskan MysteryThe Great Alaskan MysteryThe Great Alaskan Mystery is a 1944 Universal film serial about government agents trying to stop Nazi spies from getting their hands on futuristic weapons.-Cast:* Milburn Stone as Jim Hudson* Marjorie Weaver as Ruth Miller...
(1944) - The North StarThe North Star (1943 film)The North Star is a 1943 war film produced and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. It was directed by Lewis Milestone and written by Lillian Hellman. The film starred Anne Baxter, Dana Andrews, Walter Huston, Walter Brennan and Erich von Stroheim...
(1943) - Bomber's Moon (1943)
- Chetniks! The Fighting GuerrillasChetniks! The Fighting GuerrillasChetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas was a major war film made by Twentieth Century Fox in 1943. The film starred Philip Dorn, Anna Sten, and Martin Kosleck. The movie, originally titled The Seventh Column, was directed by Louis King based on a story by Jack Andrews, who also co-wrote the screenplay....
(1943) - Manila Calling (1942)
- Divide and Conquer (1942) (uncredited)
- Berlin Correspondent (1942)
- Nazi AgentNazi AgentNazi Agent is a 1942 spy film directed by Jules Dassin. It stars Conrad Veidt playing identical twins, one loyal to the United States , the other a dedicated German Nazi....
(1942)
- Fly-by-Night (1942)
- All Through the NightAll Through the Night (film)All Through the Night is a light-hearted thriller film released by Warner Brothers in 1941, starring Humphrey Bogart and directed by Vincent Sherman.-Plot:An elderly baker named Miller is murdered by a sinister stranger...
(1941) - The Devil Pays OffThe Devil Pays OffThe Devil Pays Off is a 1941 crime film directed by John H. Auer. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Sound Recording .-Cast:* J...
(1941) - International Lady (1941)
- UndergroundUnderground (1941 film)Underground is a 1941 film about the German Resistance opposing the Nazis in World War II. Jeffrey Lynn and Philip Dorn play two brothers initially on opposite sides.-Cast:*Jeffrey Lynn as Kurt Franken*Philip Dorn as Eric Franken...
(1941) - The Mad DoctorThe Mad Doctor (film)The Mad Doctor is a 1941 thriller film starring Basil Rathbone as a physician whose wealthy wives keep dying. Ellen Drew plays his latest bride.-Cast:*Basil Rathbone as Dr. George Sebastian / Dr. Frederick Langamann*Ellen Drew as Linda Boothe...
(1941) - Foreign CorrespondentForeign Correspondent (film)Foreign Correspondent is a 1940 American spy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock which tells the story of an American reporter who tries to expose enemy spies in Britain, a series of events involving a continent-wide conspiracy that eventually leads to the events of a fictionalized World War...
(1940) - Calling Philo Vance (1940)
- Nick Carter, Master DetectiveNick Carter (literary character)Nick Carter is a fictional character who began as a pulp fiction private detective and has appeared in a variety of formats over more than a century.-Literary history:...
(1939) - Espionage AgentEspionage AgentEspionage Agent is a pre–World War II spy melodrama produced by Hal B. Wallis in 1939. Directed by Lloyd Bacon, Espionage Agent, like many Warner Bros. movies, clearly identifies the Germans as the enemy...
(1939) - Nurse Edith CavellNurse Edith CavellNurse Edith Cavell is a 1939 American film directed by Herbert Wilcox.The film was nominated at the 1939 Oscars for Best Original Score.- Cast :*Anna Neagle as Nurse Edith Cavell*Edna May Oliver as Countess de Mavon*George Sanders as Capt. Heinrichs...
(1939) - Confessions of a Nazi SpyConfessions of a Nazi SpyConfessions of a Nazi Spy is a 1939 American spy thriller film and the first blatantly anti-Nazi film produced by a major Hollywood studio prior to World War II. The film stars Edward G. Robinson, Francis Lederer, George Sanders, and a large cast of German actors, including some who had emigrated...
(1939) (uncredited) - Fashions of 1934Fashions of 1934-Cast:*William Powell as Sherwood Nash*Bette Davis as Lynn Mason*Frank McHugh as Snap*Reginald Owen as Oscar Baroque*Verree Teasdale as Grand Duchess Alix*Hugh Herbert as Joe Ward*Henry O'Neill as Duryea...
(1934) (uncredited) - Die Singende Stadt (1930)
- AlrauneAlraune (1930 film)Alraune is a 1930 science fiction horror film directed by Richard Oswald. Like the previous version this movie again features Brigitte Helm in the role of Alraune...
(1930) - Napoleon auf St. Helena (1929)
- Der Fahnenträger von Sedan (1927)