The King's Jester(1941)

Song of Man(bg)

Scenes from the life and revolutionary activity of poet Nikola Vaptzarov are shown against the background of political life in Bulgaria on the eve of World War II.

Appointment with Life(ar)

Amal and her friend Fatima are happily in love with Ahmed and Dr. Mamdouh respectively. After it is discovered that Amal has a debilitating condition, her father attempts to keep it a secret.

Casta diva(it)

Martha Eggerth heads the cast of Casta Diva, but the central character is famed Italian composer Vincenzo Bellini, here played by American actor Phillips Holmes. Paying but scant attention the facts, the film concentrates on Bellini's colorful love life. Evidently the film went through several rewriting processes, as witness the curious performances of Donald Calthrop and Arthur Margetson, whose characters do complete about-faces halfway through the story. Amidst so many British accents, Martha Eggerth's Polish intonations seem out of place, but she photographs beautifully and sings quite well. Casta Diva was attractively filmed on location in Naples. Not to be confused with the 1954 remake (by Gallone himself) or to the English language version "The Divine Spark" (also directed by Gallone and starred by Eggerth).

The Dream of Butterfly(it)

Italian filmmaker Carmine Gallone was still in his "operetta" mode when he helmed 1938's Il Sogno di Butterfly (Dream of the Butterfly) Maria Cebotari plays opera diva Rosa Belloni, currently starring in a production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly. The plot thickens when Rosa's backstage life begins to mirror the travails of the character she is portraying. The climax comes when Harry Peters (Fosco Giachetti), the American father of Rosa's illegitimate child, returns after four years with his new wife in tow, leading inexorably to a doleful ending both on- and offstage. Critics complained about the substandard photography in Il Sogno di Butterfly, but this might have been due to poor laboratory work.

Ruusu ja kulkuri(fi)

The story of Finnish singer Abraham 'Aappo' Ojanperä, who was born in the late 1850s. On his journey from a crier boy from Liminga to an international singing star, Aappo never forgets his first love Katri, who faithfully waits in Liminga for his return.

Die Frau ohne Vergangenheit(de)

Hotshot(en)

The story of an American soccer player trying to make it big who turns to Pele, the greatest soccer player of all time, for guidance.

Council of the Gods(de)

Based on the records of the Nuremberg trial of the chemical giant IG Farben; a story about the collaboration between international corporations and Nazi scientists, whose research contributed to the death of millions. The chemist Dr. Hans Scholz lives through a tortuous political transformation and maturation process. Eventually, he adopts political neutrality and closes his eyes to the fact that the poison being produced in his factory is being used in the extermination camps. Standing before the judges at the Nuremberg trials, he must face the fact that he is implicated in the deaths of millions in the gas chambers of the concentration camps.

The Story of Louis Pasteur(en)

A true story about Louis Pasteur, who revolutionized medicine by proving that much disease is caused by microbes, that sanitation is paramount and that at least some diseases can be cured by vaccinations.

Dark River(es)

The Peralta brothers work in the countryside the Alto Paraná. There they will meet subhuman working conditions. Finally, the workers rise and harshly punish their exploiters.

Aandhiyan(hi)

Ram Mohan (Dev Anand) an honest lawyer is in love with Janaki (Kalpana Kartik) the beautiful daughter of Din Dayal. Din Dayal accepts the marriage proposal. Kuber Das (K N Singh), a rich businessman has a lustful eye over Janaki. In order to marry Janaki he devises a wicked plan.

The Secret of Blood(cs)

Forbidden Songs(pl)

Set during the German occupation of Warsaw during WWII, this musical tells the story of several inhabitants of the same tenement house.

Action B(cs)

Film shows the struggle of the Czechoslovak armed forces against groups of Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) under command Burlak, who tried to pass through the territory of Slovakia.

Schicksal am Lenkrad(de)

Pagliacci(en)

Canio and his Comedia dell'Arte troupe tour Italy. His wife Nedda meets a young cadet and they plan to elope. He tries to leave her when he finds how important she is for his husband, but a rejected trouper interferes. As jealous Canio suspects the truth the tragedy approaches. The film was partly made in Ufacolor.

Mrs. Déry(hu)

The story, which takes place in the reform era, centres around Mrs. Déry, a legendary actress, who, along with her fellow actors and actresses, travels around the country to become the herald of the Hungarian language, performing in villages and towns up and down the land as strolling players, a woman who is not put off by the prospect of starvation and the dearth of a home to return to and security to live in.

Shoesmachine(cs)

The happenings in a shoe factory serve as a not very thinly veiled examination of the pros and cons of both socialism and democracy.

Die Regimentstochter(de)

A Tyrolean rifle regiment adopt a young baby girl they have rescued and she becomes the "Daughter of the Regiment". In 1811, as a full-grown woman she falls in love with one of the new recruits while the regiment battles French forces during the Napoleonic Wars.

Men of the Blue Cross(pl)

The final film produced by Warsaw’s Documentary Film Studio is an epic re-enactment of a treacherous mission by the Voluntary Tatra Mountain Rescue Service to aid colleagues stranded behind enemy lines at the close of World War II (several real participants feature in the film). Based on a short story about the rescue by Adam Liberak, Munk’s final “documentary” is also arguably his first major exercise in the craft of narrative filmmaking.