Willi Forst

Begun in Austria in 1944/45, finished and released in 1949, this is a biography of the minor Austrian composer Carl Michael Ziehrer, who overcomes hypersensitivity in competitive situations which leads initially to failures in both career and romance.

The daughter of a wealthy industrialist falls for a pickpocket.

Peter Voss, Thief of Millions is a 1932 German comedy crime film directed by Ewald André Dupont and starring Willi Forst, Alice Treff and Paul Hörbiger. It was based on the 1913 novel of the same title by Ewald Gerhard Seeliger which has been adapted into a number of films including previously in 1921 and later in 1946. It was the second to last film made by Dupont in Germany before he was forced to flee to the United States following the rise of the Nazi Party.

Shortly after being demobilized, Georges Duroy becomes aware of his power over women in the arms of Rachel, a young singer. Thanks to his good looks and his charming manners and his unabashed cynicism he will rapidly rise to the top by courtesy of women women (Mme Walter, Clotilde, Madeleine), from journalist to member of Parliament to cabinet minister. But it is also the fair sex that will cause his fall in the end.

Operetta (German: Operette) is a 1940 musical film directed by Willi Forst and starring Forst, Maria Holst and Dora Komar. The film was made by Wien-Film, a Vienna-based company set up after Austria had been incorporated into Greater Germany following the 1938 Anschluss. It is the first film in director Willi Forst's "Viennese Trilogy" followed by Vienna Blood (1942) and Viennese Girls (1945). The film portrays the life of Franz Jauner (1832–1900), a leading musical figure in the city. It is both an operetta film and a Wiener Film.

"Der Herr auf Bestellung" has the Weimar dream team of Walter Reisch as scriptwriter, Geza von Bolvary as director and most importantly, the incomparable Willi Forst as main actor. This 'musical burlesque' tells about a stylish young gentleman (Willi Forst) who works as a so-called 'Festredner'; an untranslatable term, it indicates a person who makes speeches at important events like marriages etc. for people who don't feel able to do it themselves. Willi lends his voice to a speech-impaired professor (Paul Hörbiger), but the baroness (Trude Lieske) who falls in love with Hörbiger only does so because of Willi's voice, and you can guess that this leads to all sorts of complications…

After a shady collector of paintings has been murdered, adept Dr. Sebastian Ott discovers a big organised fraud with fake paintings. His twin brother Ludwig is responsible for it, kidnaps him and locks him away in his house. He uses Otts ID and 'replaces' him...

Both the King and his son have been deposed by popular demand. The now Prinz of Arkadia certainly enjoys his new role, which without much changing his lifestyle leaves him free to concentrate on his main interest -women. Including an actress who once wrote a mocking song about him -a song that he likes to sing.

Jimmy Bolt, a singer and dancer (and occasionally as a waiter) works at a varieté. The man may be talented, but he’s not exactly a big success, and things get complicated when a young orphan girl falls in love with the voice of another singer but then mistakes Bolt for him…

A dance teacher helps his ten well-bred student sisters when they leave home as a protest against their father's intended wedding. They form a café group called Die lustigen Weiber aus Wien (The merry Viennese girls).

Fräulein Fähnrich

The Blue Mouse

This German crime drama was based on a true story. Willy Forst stars as a poverty-stricken Italian glazier who falls in love with French hotel maid Rosa Valletti. Struck by the girl's resemblance to Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Forst manages to steal the painting from the Louvre in hopes of impressing his sweetheart. But when the girl proves to be a fickle sort, the crestfallen hero confesses his crime and is carted off to jail. Unwilling to admit that he'd been led astray by a woman, Forst claims that he stole the Mona Lisa to restore it to his native Italy, and as a result is hailed as a national hero! Raub der Mona Lisa was distributed in the U.S. by RKO Radio, under the title The Theft of the Mona Lisa.

I don't know you and I love you

Das Lied ist Aus (The Song Is Ended) is a typical early-talkie German musical in every respect, save one. The story, concerning the lives and loves of show folk, ends unhappily -- and surprisingly so. The doleful denouement didn't seem to have much effect on the film's box-office appeal, since Das Lied ist Aus proved a major moneymaker.

A GIRL YOU DON'T FORGET can be thought of as a backstage musical that treats the whole world as backstage. Melodies seem to be buzzing through the air, available to anyone in the right state of mind. Willi Forst always is, and he is also an actor who can transform any space into a stage. Fritz Kortner, one of the defining personalities of the German theatre scene of the 1920s, makes the most of his star’s talent in an intricately constructed romantic comedy that believes in the truth of artifice. Forst plays Paul Hartwig, a wannabe actor who is reduced to selling books in the cold streets of Berlin. While pursuing his big break, he meets Lisa Brandes (Dolly Haas), another victim of the global financial crisis who has just learned a new trick: cheating horny old men out of their money by selling promises she does not intend to keep. Dedicated theatre man Paul decides to win her over by putting on an act, but a misplaced slap leads to unintended consequences. - Lukas Foerster

Miracles Still Happen

The political advisor to the French emperor Napoleon, and the Austrian emperor Franz I, arrange a marriage between Napoleon and the Austrian archduchess Marie-Luise in order to prevent another war.

Her Highness the Saleswoman

The Convict from Istanbul

A woman is rescued after a shipwreck by two fishermen and falls in love with one of them, whereupon the other jealousy attempts a fratricide and other intrigues. The film seems almost like a prelude to Italian neo-realism. Filmed on Sicily, Corsica and on the French Riviera.

A man unknowingly falls madly in love with the fiancé of a close friend who has twice saved his life.

Die 3 Niemandskinder

Lieb' mich und die Welt ist mein

Rival window cleaners Willy I and Willy 2 befriend Jou-Jou, an aspiring dancer, who has been tricked out of money by a con-man posing as an American movie mogul, and together they turn an old railway carriage into a "Villa Hollywood" for her.

Ein Mann vergißt die Liebe

A Better Master

Nicki and Vicki, two librettists who also happen to be brothers, are presently in collaboration with composer Toni. All too aware of Toni's amorous escapades, Nicki and Vicki try to keep the existence of their pretty sister Hedi a secret. Suffering from an acute case of writers' block (he has yet to find an inspiration for his next production), Toni throws a huge party, which is boycotted by his friends and associates so that he'll keep his mind on his work.

Oh, du lieber Augustin

One autumn, Edgar, a 12 year old boy, spends a holiday with his mother at a plush hotel in Switzerland. His father, a busy lawyer, remains at the family home in Vienna. When he sees a stylish motorcar pull up at the hotel, Edgar wastes no time befriending its owner, an amiable dandy. The latter pays more attention to the boy’s mother than to the boy himself, and decides to use Edgar to wheedle his way into her affections. When Edgar realises he has been used, he is far from happy...

A love story based in Munich in 1852: An Austrian officer belonging to the nobility has the mission of ensuring the young Kaiser Franz Joseph doesn’t endanger his future marriage to Princess Elisabeth by his acquaintanceship with the daughters of a coffee-house owner.

Weg in die Vergangenheit

Amor auf Ski

A woman is put on trial for murdering a musician who ruined her marriage.

The Happy Vagabonds

Die Frau, die jeder liebt, bist du!

Liebfraumilch

While working as an accountant in his uncle's factory, talented young pianist Peter dreams of becoming a famous composer. When he shows his work to a producer, he manages to convince him to give him a chance. From time to time he gets bigger contracts that keep him more and more away from home and his young wife Elisa. When he "discovers" and supports a pretty ballerina in Munich, a rumor starts that he's having an affair. He fails to realize that his marriage is threatened.

A boy song from Heidelberg

Die elf Teufel / The Eleven Devils was made in Berlin in the summer of 1927, in the last throes of the silent movie era. But Die elf Teufel strikes one today as a prophetic film. One of its early captions is "Football, the sport of the century ". We are shown a ball bathed in light like some sacred relic, and observe how, even in those early days, fans on the terraces wouldn't shy away from using their fists.

Unfug der Liebe

"Gems" - Embedded in a frame story, the film shows excerpts from 18 entertainment films of the time, among others, "The Gypsy Baron", "The Three Codonas", "La Habanera", "Viennese Blood", "Sophienlund", and "Mask in Blue".

Katharina Knie is a 1929 German silent drama film directed by Karl Grune and starring Eugen Klöpfer, Carmen Boni and Adele Sandrock. It is based on the 1928 play of the same title by Carl Zuckmayer.

Exposed to bad influences since childhood, Mary, a young girl is pushed by her mother to approach an elderly banker by the name of Harber. After almost driving her fiancee to suicide and seducing his mentally-ill son, she realizes through a metaphorical dream the scope of her negligence. Sentenced to prison for incitement to murder Harber, she sees herself as a parallel figure to Lea, Lot's wife in Sodom, where the Angel of the Lord warns the sinful citizens of the city of their impending doom. Lea oppresses the angel and eventually turns it over to the pagan priests when her sexual advances to it are rejected. In another dream sequence, Mary becomes the Queen of Syria, whose oppressed people turn against her and who, in turn, condemns a young man who loves her to death. Finally, her dream returns to the present time and when she awakens, she runs back to her former lover.

German all-star musical from 1938 that was a big commercial success.