Heinz Rühmann

It Happened in Broad Daylight

The search for a child murderer drags a once-respected detective into an all-consuming obsession.

The Punch Bowl

Writer Johannes Pfeiffer who goes undercover as a student in a high school after his friends told him that he missed out on a great life experience since he was home schooled.

The Three from the Filling Station

Willy, Kurt and Hans are broke, so they sell their car and open a filling station. Then, they all fall in love with the same girl.

The Captain from Kopenick

A young shoemaker is arrested for stealing a small amount of money, and is jailed for fifteen years. Upon his release, he wants to get a permit to get a job and start anew, but finds that without a job he can't get a permit, and without a permit he can't get a job. Ensnared in the absurd net of Prussian bureaucracy, he can't see any way out. That is, until he enters a thrift shop and spots a Prussian officer's uniform that fits him like a second skin...

Faraway, So Close!

A group of angels look longingly upon the life of humans. Berlin now is a very different place: unified in name but overrun with crime, corruption, and—in what turns out to be a key theme here—Americans.

Ship of Fools

Passengers on a ship traveling from Mexico to Europe in the 1930s represent society at large in that era. The crew is German, including the ship's Dr. Schumann, who falls in love with one of the passengers, La Condesa. A young American woman, Jenny, is traveling with the man she loves, David. Jenny is fascinated and puzzled by just who some of the other passengers are.

Max der Taschendieb

Max, a small time pick-pocket, has nothing to do with the ‘big’ crimes. But then he must find the murderer of Fred, his wife's brother.

Charley's Aunt

Otto Dernburg is forced by circumstances to dress up as a middle-aged woman.

Der eiserne Gustav

Gustav Hartmann is in trouble. Because of the new taxis he doesn't get many passengers in his horse-drawn carriage. To prove what he and his horse are capable of, he starts a trip from Berlin to Paris.

If the Father and the Son

After Clown Teddy lost his son, he lost his gift for laughter. He opened a joke shop and lives above the shop. His landlady has had a foster son since birth, and Teddy decides to raise the child, who always believed that Teddy was his father. When the mother suddenly appears five years later and wants her son, Teddy decides to run away with the child and goes back onstage with his son. Will the family catch up with them, or will the mother never get her son back?

The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes

Two dubious characters disguise themselves as Holmes and Watson to gain attention and end up chasing counterfeiters and stolen stamps.

Er kann's nicht lassen

Father Brown is only too happy to interfere with the work of the police in solving tricky criminal cases, usually with resounding success. That's why the clergyman is transferred to a sleepy island called Abbott's Rock. At first, nothing happens there, but somehow Father Brown seems to be attracted to crime: Soon a gang of thieves is up to no good on the island. So Brown makes the headlines again, and is punitively transferred once more. This time he finds himself in a quiet Irish millionaire community.

Der brave Soldat Schwejk

When the First World War breaks out in 1914, Josef Schwejk, a naive dog dealer in Prague, joins the Imperial Army.

Hitler's Hollywood

Film journalist and critic Rüdiger Suchsland examines German cinema from 1933, when the Nazis came into power, until 1945, when the Third Reich collapsed. (A sequel to From Caligari to Hitler, 2015.)

Clothes Make the Man

The daydreaming tailor Wenzel is fired from his job, because the fancy frock he was supposed to cut for the mayor, he instead made for himself. He is allowed, however, to take the frock, which he appropriated for himself and he puts it on as he leaves the shop. A puppeteer picks him up in his coach and addresses Wenzel as "Count". So is he received in Goldach, where people think he is Count Stroganoff, the ambassador to the Czar of Russia.

Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins

After many years on the oceans, sailor Hannes Wedderkamp has finally returned to Hamburg. On St. Pauli, Hannes sings songs from the sea in the hippodrome of his best friend Pitter Breuer on the Reeperbahn with the "Quetschkommode" songs and cares for the audience.

Mailman Mueller

Postman Titus Müller returns from his daily rounds with a letter that will change the course of his modest provincial existence.

The Liar

When the wife of Sebastian Schumann left her family, he told his little daughter that her mother has died, because he thought that this was the easiest way for her to accept that her mother is now gone. But this was only the beginning of a lot of lies he tells her continuously, mostly about himself and his job. This way he also tries to hide away from her the fact that he had to quit his job as a traveler and is now paid much less than before.

The Black Sheep

Father Brown starts solving crimes, much to the annoyance of his housekeeper, the police and especially his bishop, who is not amused by a priest playing detective.

Eva, the Factory Girl

A famous racing driver must give up his sport and take over the management of the porcelain factory on incentive of the vigorous grandmother as the last shoot of an old businessman's family. Unrecognized he is regulated as a worker what a love story with a 20-year-old worker arises from, who leads after incidents in the happy end. - After Franz Lehar's operetta produced comedy

The Leghorn Hat

Der Florentiner Hut (The Leghorn Hat), a 1939 German film directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner

Wer zuletzt küßt...

On the occasion of a charity ball in Vienna a kiss of a famous actress should be auctioned. Misunderstandings between the manager of the film star, a record producer and a student lead too all kinds of mistakes, during which a student is mistaken for a prince in disguise and almost breaks his hapiness. - Quickly and expertly produced mistake comedy with a lot of singing desposits and an at than popular comedian line-up, which offers amusing surface entertainment.

The Man Who is Talked About

The Man Who is Talked About is the overly agreeable Toni Mathis (Heinz Ruhmann), a gent constitutionally incapable of saying the word "no" (or "nein," this being a German picture). Though he'd rather breeze through life without responsibilities or obligations, Toni agrees to study zoology in college because his uncle (Hans Moser) wants him to. Alas, despite the Herculean efforts by Toni's servant Hassler (Theo Lingen) to prepare his master for his final exams, Toni forgets to show up for the finals and is expelled post-haste. In desperation, his uncle arranges for Toni to get married, and once again our hero just can't say no. Trouble is, he falls in love with trapeze artist Bianca (Gusti Huber), whose father won't let her marry anyone except another entertainer. Undaunted, Toni studies a book on show business and tries out for the vaudeville stage, and the picture isn't even halfway over yet!

We Need No Money

In this German comedy, an enterprising American uncle comes from Chicago goes to the tiny town of Groditzkirchen to make a fortune on credit even though he only has $10 to his name. To do so, he enlists the aide of a bank clerk and begins posing as a millionaire.

Frasquita

Czechoslovakian opera star Jarmila Novotná plays the title role in the Austrian tunefest "Frasquita". Based on a Franz Lehár operetta, the story is the usual frothy nonsense. Dolly (Charlott Daudert) is engaged to marry Harald (Hans Heinz-Bollmann), but she's really in love with Hippolit (Heinz Rühmann). Harald is likewise enamored of another, namely Frasquita (Jarmila Novotná).

13 Chairs

A classical art junk dealer and an almost bankrupt hairdresser who unexpectedly makes an inheritance go hunting behind thirteen chairs from which of a 100,000 DM contains which the rich aunt has hidden there.

Heaven on Earth

A poor composer who should buy a property for his ambitious father-in-law finances with the money, nevertheless, an opera. Together with his friend who must play a husband to his strict rich aunt, he makes to himself a fun from the mistakes which cause her feints.

Operation San Pietro

Small time crook Napoleone falls into an unlikely gang made up of a gangster, called The Baron, and his two cohorts, Agonia and The Captain, where Napoleone takes them to Rome where they shack up with a shady used car dealer caled Il Cajella to help finance their new life of crime by planing to rob a statue from the Vatican. But a big-time American gangster, named Joe Ventura, hears about the heist and wants the priceless statue for himself by having his mistress, Samantha, come onto and betray the woman-hungry Cajella to give the statue away to her.

Dr. med. Hiob Prätorius

Dr. med. Job Prätorius enjoys great popularity among patients, doctors and students alike thanks to his kindness and philanthropy. Only his colleague Prof. Speiter begrudges him his success. When his patient Maria Violetta wants to commit suicide because of an extramarital pregnancy, Prätorius takes care of the young woman. When he tries to gently prepare her father for the news, the latter considers Praetorius to be a more than welcome admirer of his daughter. As a deep affection develops between the doctor and his patient, the two eventually marry. Their private happiness fuels Prof. Speiter's envy. With the help of Praetorius' mysterious factotum Shunderson, he finally believes that he can uncover some dark secrets from the doctor's past. But Praetorius manages to refute all the accusations in a court of honor with wit and astonishing revelations.

Your Money or Your Life

Pétepan learns that his money has been lost by Robinhoude brothers.He asks his assistants to withdraw his amount from the bank.

Der Kapitän

Captain Ebbs is an older, experienced seaman who has, however, only sailed on freighters. While his current old barge, the Martin Luther, has to go into the shipyard for an overhaul, the shipping company gives him command of the elegant cruise ship Julia to temporarily replace a colleague who has fallen ill. The rough Ebbs finds his way into his new job only with difficulty and initially puts his foot in his social mouth.

Das Liebeskarussell

An episodic film, telling four erotic tales: Angela isn't sexually satisfied by her husband, so she simulates sleep-walking to visit her neighbor across the street every night; when his bathtub runs over, shy Peter gets to meet his sensuous neighbor Lolita; at a high-school reunion his former students pull a prank on Prof. Hellberg and make him believe he cheated on his wife while being drunk; Sybill has a good time during a break at the opera with the famous conductor Cramer.

Scrounged Meals

Homeless Alfred would like to spend his life on Mallorca. A destination far away. But one day he meets the policeman Erwin.

Vater sein dagegen sehr

Margot is looking forward to moving into the old defense tower with her fiancé Lutz, a writer. Then the writer receives the news of his sister's death. Lutz is supposed to take in their children Traudl and Rudi and the dog Leo. Margot did not expect so much attachment...

Bombs Over Monte Carlo

The captain of a battleship of a small Balkan country is fed up with following strange orders from the country's queen.

Once a Greek

An extravagant comedy with Heinz Rühmann.

Not an Evening like any Other

Two competing antique dealers have their shops opposite each other in a small shopping street. The distinguished Roeder deals in valuable art objects, while the owner of Billy's Art Shop offers cheap imported goods from Hong Kong.

The Judge and the Sinner

A drama directed by Paul Verhoeven.

Laughing Heirs

After the death of his uncle, the owner of the Rhine based Bockelmann Sparkling Wine, Peter turns up for the reading of the will. Justus Bockelmann, a producer of mineral water, is confident he will inherit the business, but ‘for reasons of moral rectitude’ he has no intention of running an ‘alcoholic business’. The opening of the will comes as a surprise to all the potential heirs.

Heinz in the Moon

A young man of property is engaged to two women at once.

Intermediate Landing in Paris

Michèle, an employee at the airport, is in love with American pilot Eddie Miller who regularly flies the route from New York to Paris, but problems arise when he is transferred to the Tokyo route. Meanwhile Michèle's uncle Albert who works in the freight department sets out to tackle a drug trafficking outfit.

Hocuspocus

Kurt Hoffmann's remake of his own 1953 movie based on the play by Curt Goetz.

Grand Hotel

Based on a book by Vicki Baum, all of the action takes place in one day in a luxury hotel in Berlin. Grusinkaya is a ballerina staying at the hotel, other guests include Baron von Gaigern a sophisticated thief, Otto Klingelein a dying man, Preysing a businessman, and a stenographer. Events intertwine the lives of these strangers, bringing them together for some dramatic moments.

Das Geheimnis der roten Katze

In the dive bar "Rote Katze," unemployed actor André is mistaken for a gang leader, whose charm attracts the interest of Gloria, the daughter of US jeweler Jefferson, who is said to have just acquired the famous "Halifax" diamond. The crook Pitou is also interested in the diamond and tries to ingratiate himself with the Jeffersons. When Pitou sees Gloria with the supposed gang leader André, he believes that André might also be after the "Halifax" and wants to confront him on the spot.

Schäm' dich, Brigitte!

When the mathematics teacher discovers a love letter from his daughter, family father Felix Schneider is suspected of having a secret lover.

The Pride of Company Three

The adventures of smart soldier Gustav Diestelbeck include managing his superior officer, competing for the canteneer's daughter, evading punishment for discipline faults and hosting Prinz Willibald during his visit to the regiment.

Quax in Afrika

Quax, a former crash pilot, has now become a skilled pilot who even trains student pilots himself. When he crashes his plane with two women on board in the African jungle due to a malfunction, he has several problems to solve: First, he has to cope with the conditions in the wilderness, and then he also has two female creatures in tow!

So ein Flegel

The great Dr. Pfeiffer plays the little Primaner Pfeiffer. As the successful playwright Dr. Hans Pfeiffer, he is planning a play about school. In order to gather material, he takes the place of his brother, who is a primary school pupil. The seasoned doctor finds pleasure in the craziest of pranks, while his brother tries to fill the role of theater man in the big city. And then love intervenes for both of them.

Der Mann, der nicht nein sagen konnte

A man takes in three a dog and three runaway girls.

The Man in Search of His Murderer

A man in bad sorts hires a burglar to later kill him, then changes his mind when his fortunes turn and must find the contracted murderer before it is too late.

A Waltz for You

Ruritanian power struggle with opera singing.

Der Mustergatte

Heinz Rühmann plays the "model husband" who, when his bored wife threatens to leave him, embarks on an adventurous night.

Three Bluejackets and a Blonde

While out dancing, two sailors fall for the same girl.

Lumpacivagabundus

The fairies Fortuna and Amorosa make a bet with the devil, in the form of the evil spirit Lumpacivagabundus. They don't believe he will succeed in winning humanity over. To prove his skills, they choose three journeymen: the shoemaker Knierim, the tailor Zwirn, and the carpenter Leim. If Lumpacivagabundus succeeds in leading even one of the three journeymen astray, he will have won his bet. The devil manipulates a lottery in which the three journeymen win a fortune...

Mein Schulfreund

In the midst of World War II, postman Ludwig Fuchs writes a letter to his former school friend Field Marshal Hermann Göring, urging him to work for peace. He is declared mentally incompetent. After the war, he struggles to shake off the stigma of alleged mental illness. Göring is executed. Fuchs forces the court to examine him: he vandalizes the lobby of Post Office 122 in Munich and is rehabilitated (with full salary compensation for lost years).

Enter Inspector Maigret

After the theft of a priceless Van Gogh from a Parisian museum, Maigret follows his chief suspect to Lausanne where the suspect is found murdered.

Request Concert

The young, attractive Inge Wagner becomes acquainted with Herbert Koch during the Berlin Olympics, his flight officer insignia having first caught her eye. Sparks fly immediately between the two and they soon decide to marry. But Herbert is called off on a secret mission in Spain.

Hauptsache glücklich!

Axel Roth is happy in his marriage and with his job. But his mother-in-law wants more for her daughter and manages to sow discord. When the two of them use cunning to secure an invitation to a high-society gathering at the general director's house, Axel's wife loses an expensive borrowed brooch there. From now on, he has to work day and night to pay off the jewelry...

The House in Montevideo

A respectable professor inherits a house and money in Montevideo from his wild sister, on the condition that he himself behaves in a disreputable way.

Allotria

Best friends David and Philip have to end their love affair with their mistress Aimée which they - not knowing of each other - share, because they are going to marry their sweethearts Gaby and Viola. Of course Aimée will not accept her defeat. She interferes the engagement of Gaby and David, which lead to some turbulence and change of horses before they all end up in their honeymoon.

Die Umwege des schönen Karl

Karl Kramer is a waiter in a beach hotel on the Baltic Sea. But he has completely different plans in mind for the future. Before he marries Grete Wernicke, the daughter of the hotel manager, he wants to have enough money himself.

Pipin, der Kurze

August Pipin is a very reliable and loyal cashier who is always level-headed, no matter which trouble faces him. One day that suddenly changes and a fiasco breaks loose.

The Man Who Walked Through the Wall

Mr. Buchsbaum, third class taxes employee, lives a peaceful life until the new chief immediately criticizes his work. His only confort is his stamps collection. Sadly, even this consolation and his peace are threatened by a new, charming, neighbour who teaches piano. Increasingly infuriated, he discovers accidentally one evening that he has the ability to go through walls. With this power, he decides to settle the scores, firstly with his boss who downgraded him.

Five Millions Seek an Heir

According to his last will, the rich American uncle of vacuum cleaner salesman Peter Pett only leaves his 5 million dollars to Peter if he is married happily. Otherwise the five million will fall to Peter's Scottish cousin Patrick.

Heimkehr ins Glück

After a burn-out Karl spends time in his home region, the Black Forest. His car gets lost and is picked up by penniless magician Amadori who enjoys posing as wealthy entrepreneur Karl while Karl reunites with the love of his youth, Liesl.

The Only Girl

A dashing marquis bends from his horse when he discovers a lost garter in the woods and falls. During his delirium he is serenaded by a little hairdresser. She is the person who lost the garter to begin with and has only come to get it back having borrowed it from her employer--the empress of France. The marquis mistakenly thinks he was nursed by the empress, herself, and decides to woo her.

My Wife, the Adventuress

A mousy bank clerk is married to an ambitious woman.

Burglars

The young wife of a rich old husband is prevented of a fling by a gentleman-burglar, who falls in love to her.

Things Are Getting Better Already

The fast-driving daughter of a car manufacturer keeps Berlin's most pricey lawyer busy as she keeps getting into scrapes.

Der Gasmann

A man comes into money unexpectatly. That's when the trouble starts.

Hurra, ich bin Papa

Peter Ohlsen, a perpetual student, leads a dissolute life and has been living off his filthy-rich father for years. When Peter comes home drunk from a party with his friends yet again, he finds a three-year-old boy in his bed who had been left with his housekeeper along with a letter. The letter states that Peter is the boy’s father and that he is hereby entrusted with the child’s upbringing.

Der Pauker

Secondary-school teacher Dr. Hermann Seidel is transferred from his sleepy, provincial grammar school to the big city. Here, he has to deal with a class of obstreperous students, where his outmoded teaching methods help him precious little. With the aid of good friends, however, he manages to turn things around, and he soon gets a handle on the students in his very own way…

Another Opera

In this hilarious opera parody, Loriot delivers a comedic take on the pretentiousness of the operatic world. The plot revolves around a fictional opera production that spirals into absurdity as egos clash, misunderstandings abound, and everything goes hilariously wrong. Through a series of farcical and exaggerated situations, Loriot brilliantly mocks the pomp and circumstance of opera while showcasing his signature dry humor and love for absurdity. Noch 'ne Oper is a sharp and witty satire of high culture’s often ridiculous nature.

The Grand Duke's Finances

The likeable and carefree Grand Duke of Abacco is in dire straits. There is no money left to service the State’s debt; the main creditor is looking forward to expropriating the entire Duchy. The marriage with Olga, Grand Duchess of Russia, would solve everything, but a crucial letter of hers about the engagement has been stolen. Besides, a bunch of revolutionaries and a dubious businessman have other plans regarding the Grand Duke. With the intrusion of adventurer Philipp Collins into the Grand Duke’s affairs, a series of frantic chases, plots and counter-plots begins…

If We All Were Angels

Christian Kempenich, a pedantic law firm manager, attends a christening in Cologne, leading to a boozy night. He wakes up in a stranger’s bed and is accused of stealing bed linen from the hotel. Meanwhile, his wife Hedwig had her own fling and wants to keep it secret. When she learns of Christian’s predicament, she reveals her affair during a heated discussion. Realising their marriage is at risk, they decide to work on their relationship.

Kleiner Mann ganz groß

Documentary feature about German actor Heinz Rühmann made shortly before his death in 1994.

The Upright Sinner

Leopold Pichler is a very orderly and trustworthy chief cashier who is asked by his boss to get a large sum of money from the bank which the boss urgently needs on a trip to Vienna. Due to some circumstances, getting the money takes a little longer than expected and the director leaves for Vienna without it.

Es gibt noch Haselnußsträucher

The story of François Perret-Latour, a formerly successful banker and member of Parisian high society. His exciting life is long gone, and despite having a large family, he now spends most of his time alone in his Paris apartment on Place Vendôme. But then, within a very short time, a series of events breathe new life into the old, lonely man. His 16-year-old granddaughter, who turns to him in desperation because she is pregnant, plays a key role in this...

Not Afraid of Big Animals

Emil, a technical draftsman, is hardworking, always helpful, and somewhat shy. Because of these traits, he is often taken advantage of by those around him. Now Emil is set to inherit a supposedly large fortune. His landlady's brother wants to marry him off to one of his relatives. But soon panic and confusion set in. The inheritance consists of three full-grown lions.

There Is Only One Love

The chamber singer Sir Henry Godwin and the ballet master Blattner need a vacation.

Ein Zug nach Manhattan

1952 in a suburb of New York: the pious Leon Sternberger is a cantor in a small Jewish community. One morning, he realizes that he has lost his faith in God. There is simply too much misery and injustice in this world. His friend Schames Rosen advises him to ask Rabbi Markus in Manhattan for advice. In the subway compartment, a young woman wants to take her own life because she cannot forget December 22, 1942 in Utrecht. That was the day her family was deported. On another train, he meets a man who also cannot forget December 22, 1942. The unusual events are connected in an exciting way and shed new light on the question of God's existence despite all the suffering.

That Can Happen to Anyone

Hugo Brinkmeyer, a tax consultant, takes his wife Gerda out to the cabaret one evening. There he encounters a potential client, the wealthy businessman Schwidders. A series of mix-ups lead to Hugo being suspected of both incompetence at his job and being unfaithful to his wife.

Der Tod eines Handlungsreisenden

Willy Loman, a 63-year-old traveling salesman, returns home late at night, exhausted from one of his sales trips, and tells his worried wife, Linda, that he is dead tired and almost fell asleep on the road. The couple is visited by their now-adult sons, 34-year-old Biff and his younger brother Harold, known as Happy. Loman complains to his wife, especially about Biff, who, in his opinion, isn’t doing enough to succeed in his career.

Endspurt

The author Peter Ustinov has called his work "Endspurt" a "biographical adventure". Biographical because the somewhat ambitious but later successful writer Sam Kinsale meets here as a twenty-, forty- and sixty-year-old. The interesting thing about this film, however, is that the four Sams are confronted with each other. The diversity of an eighty-year-old life becomes transparent. At the age of 20, Sam Kinsale loves the young Stella and is determined to marry her. But 20 years later, he is fed up with the marriage and wants to leave her. But he doesn't because she is expecting a child. As a sixty-year-old, he is constantly making compromises both in his work as a writer and in his personal life.

Who was Hitler

Hitler's biography told like never before. Besides brief historical localizations by a narrator, only contemporaries and Hitler himself speak: no interviews, no reenactment, no illustrative graphics and no technical gadgets. The testimonies from diaries, letters, speeches and autobiographies are assembled with new, often unpublished archive material. Hitler's life and work are thus reflected in a unique way in interaction with the image of the society in the years 1889 to 1945.

Fronttheater

The very successful actress Lena Andres marries Dr. Paul Meinhardt. For his sake she gives up her acting career.