Ellen Brandt, an unusually eloquent woman, is interviewed. She provides a fascinating eyewitness account of her childhood and Jewish family's experiences living in Berlin from January 1933 to April 1938. The terror the Friedsams endured daily was especially notable as this family had 800 years of German citizenship and Herr Guido A. Friedsam was (until Hitler's ascent) a well-respected decorated war hero of World War 1. Their emigration from Germany was in fact made possible within days instead of years because of that. So, it did in fact save them from their otherwise probable fate of arriving in Auschwitz.
Reviews
6 Reviews
The Broken Circle Breakdown
(2012)
nice film......just one question......
11 June 2014
Okay, I enjoyed this Belgian take on Bluegrass and familial tragedy...however I am left with one major question about it....Didier meets Elise.....she is a tattoo artist....but then suddenly she has become an amazingly talented singer...has anyone else questioned this?.....I waited for a flashback (as is the entire film's style) to verify the point at which Elise validated her vocalist talents....but nothing....we are supposed to simply understand that she joined the band and became their very fine female vocalist.... Didier's singing talents are part of the story and are understood.....but Elise's?! Otherwise, quite a refreshing piece of work by Van Groinengen....but this MAJOR storyline discrepancy has downgraded it for me from a 5-star to a 4-star....there's only so much a director can expect his audience to accept!
Sophomoric Garbage
9 May 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Based on the 7.4 IMDb rating, I went to a theater tonight to see this latest H&K flick. White Castle was appealing. This one seems to be an attempt to compete with the lousiest movies of recent years. Any smatterings of funniness are overwhelmed by the unnecessary raunchiness and absolute war on political correctness. There's a way to subtly insert non-PC stuff that maintains the entertainment level. White Castle had that. This story's framework had the potential to become a much funnier and nicer-spirited script. One character is so over-the-top and offensive (even for this film) that he seems to have jumped in from a different movie set. Why the two leads would agree to be in this product is beyond me. I walked out after a half hour. Ten bucks (literally) down the toilet. Now I see that it's up to a 7.6! Are the almost 7500 votes exclusively from 15 year-old boys?
A Letter to Three Wives
(1949)
A Very Entertaining Letter
19 June 2005
Very nicely done for its genre. We are from the beginning charmed into a quite pleasant voyeurism, peering in at what brought these three not uninteresting couples to this point over the past three years. The humorous overtones are unstrained and easy. Even Thelma Ritter's verbal and physical hi-jinx are perfectly natural for her character and delivered as only Ms. Ritter could. BTW, why in the world was she not given a credit?! Mankiewicz manages to flesh out his characters with a minimum of screen time per, and his casting is flawless. I found the pairings entirely believable and likable, each in its own peculiar way. I can easily understand why this movie was so well received in 1949.
The Ox-Bow Incident
(1942)
strange but true
6 May 2005
Great, landmark movie. Fascinating that in 1942 America, that which everyone was reading was not deemed popular as movie material. A testament to this movie's genius is the fact that so many characters with small ensemble parts are so very memorable. Oddity: Did anyone else notice that after Tetley shoots himself behind the double doors, the right door starts to open in? Four whole frames of it! I suppose the 75-minute length was due to budgetary constraints. Further exposition on some of the mob could have improved it -- but maybe not. Parting shot: How could the actor who played Sparks not receive a screen credit for his wonderful work?
Eight Men Out
(1988)
Great Eight
19 January 2005
Although I generally agree with Roger Ebert's reviews, I just can't understand how he was annoyed enough with this movie to give it a measly two stars. He claims that there wasn't enough exposition. I found everything explained satisfactorily, even for the non-fan or baseball history buff. And it is period-piece film-making at its finest. I cannot imagine a better telling of this story. And the baseball action is excellent. One factual error, though: Bucky Weaver (John Cusack) would never mention Babe Ruth as better (or even comparable) to Cobb, Speaker and Wheat in 1919 or 1920. It shocks me that Sayles kept that line. USA Today heralded "Eight Men Out" as the greatest baseball movie ever, and though there is some fine company, I find it hard to disagree.
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