The Warsaw Debut(1951)

The Life and Loves of Beethoven(fr)

Lyrical biography of the classical composer, depicted as a romantic hero, an accursed artist.

Revoluční rok 1848(cs)

Year of the Revolution 1848

Whom the Gods Love(de)

Biographical film about the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Immortal Waltz(de)

Johann Strauss firmly established himself as the leader of a dance orchestra in Vienna in the 1840s. His sons Johann junior and Josef have clearly inherited their father's talent. Nevertheless, father Johann is strictly opposed to both of them training as composers.

Tosca(it)

Non-musical account of Puccini's opera: Tosca and Cavaradossi are in love, but the tyrant Scarpia desires Tosca and oppresses Cavaradossi who is fighting for freedom.

L'elisir d'amore(it)

Nemorino is hopelessly in love with Adina but she is attracted to a dashing captain.

Der weiße Traum(de)

The young ice skating talent, Liesl, lands a part in a new Revue at the Palast Theatre simply because she is confused with someone else. In reality, the roll was to be awarded to Lu Panther, the untalented girlfriend of the theatre's owner, Wildner. After a series of accidents and little disasters, Wildner shuts down the theatre before the Revue can take place. But the Revue's director, Ernst Eder, decides shortly thereafter to present the Revue on an ice skating rink belonging to Liesl's uncle. After a successful run, at first at the Wiener Prater, the performers move on to Spain, Hungary, and a night club with a Jazz orchestra. The Revue becomes a huge success ... and, of course, Ernst and Liesl end up together, too.

The Sea Hawk(en)

Dashing pirate Geoffrey Thorpe plunders Spanish ships for Queen Elizabeth I and falls in love with Dona Maria, a beautiful Spanish royal he captures.

Uncle Krüger(de)

An anti-British propaganda film from Nazi Germany which depicts the life of the South African politician Paul Kruger and his eventual defeat by the British during the Boer War.

Tower of London(en)

In the 15th century Richard Duke of Gloucester, aided by his club-footed executioner Mord, eliminates those ahead of him in succession to the throne, then occupied by his brother King Edward IV of England. As each murder is accomplished he takes particular delight in removing small figurines, each resembling one of the successors, from a throne-room dollhouse, until he alone remains. After the death of Edward he becomes Richard III, King of England, and need only defeat the exiled Henry Tudor to retain power.

Figaros Hochzeit(de)

Shortly after WWII, the DEFA Studios produced a series of operas and operettas which belonged to the classical German musical heritage. This enchanting film, the very first opera production of DEFA, stands out because of its lavish decor and costumes, its outstanding actors and their masterful voices of that time.

Die Fledermaus(de)

Produced in 1944, finished and released in 1946.

Captain Blood(en)

Dr. Peter Blood, unjustly convicted of treason and exiled from England, becomes a notorious pirate.

Träumerei(de)

The Song of Night(de)

He was known as Anatole Litvak during his Hollywood directorial career, but he was still Anatole Litwak when he helmed the German musical Das Lied Einer Nacht (The Song of Night). Famed Polish tenor Jan Kiepura stars as famed Italian tenor Ferraro. Escaping from his tyrannical manager, Ferraro switches identities with a young tourist (Fritz Schulz) and goes off on an unscheduled Swiss holiday. Still travelling incognito, our hero falls in love with a winsome mountain girl (Magda Schneider). Alas, both his romance -- and his freedom -- are placed in jeopardy when it turns out that the charming young fellow with whom Ferraro traded identities was actually a notorious swindler. Anatole Litvak also directed the English-language version of Das Lied Einer Nacht, Be Mine Tonight

Mutiny on the Bounty(en)

Fletcher Christian successfully leads a revolt against the ruthless Captain Bligh on the HMS Bounty. However, Bligh returns one year later, hell bent on revenge.

Damals(de)

Vera Meiners' life was sweet but unfortunately for her, it was not to last. Her husband, Jan, left her after she met a former lover in a harmless friendly meeting. Forced to resume her disrupted medical career, she worked in a Swiss clinic but, without the knowledge of the chief surgeon, Vera ordered a risky operation to be performed and was thereafter fired. Penniless, she then works in Spanish nightclubs in order to provide for herself and her child. After many years, she runs into her friend Frank again in one of these nightclubs...

The Beggar Student(de)

To take a revenge on countess Laura, who slapped him at his proposal, the Governor of the occupied Poland gets her fall in love with a poor student, and exposes him during wedding banquet.

Under the Yoke(bg)

Follows the Bulgarian people's struggle for national independence in the period from 1875 to the Liberation from Otoman bondage.

Operette(de)

A musician is offered a job in Vienna as stage director, but his disagreements with the aristocratic opera manager end in abrupt firing in spite of a mutual attraction. He's quickly engaged by another theatre and becomes famous for his lavish stage productions and fine acting, which begins their golden age with Suppé and Strauss.