Max Maximilian
2021 - 1930
Zuflucht
Carl Froelich
Henny Porten, Francis Lederer
After eight years in exile Martin returns to Berlin. He was involved in the German Revolution of 1918/1919 and had to leave the country as a result. Impoverished and lonely, he struggles on alone until the market saleswoman Hanne offers him shelter, although she does not have much money either. They fall in love and Martin even finds work on the construction site for the subway through Tempelhofer Feld. One day, however, he collapses there, whereupon the pregnant Hanne tries to nurse him back to health.
Refuge
Unter der Laterne
Gerhard Lamprecht
Lissy Arna, Gerhard Dammann
Else Riedel (Lissy Arna), locked out by her authoritarian father, seeks refuge with her boyfriend Hans. Complications threaten when Hans's roommate Max falls in love with her, but the situation is resolved: the three remain friends, and decide to form a music hall act. They want to ascend, but how? A way out beckons when a theatrical agent named Nevin enters Else’s life. He is played by Hubert von Meyerinck as a slick and oily villain, who oozes refinement; his experience behind bars is waved away with a silk scarf. He is cunning to the point of perfidiousness, but is not completely unsympathetic. He also embodies a new type - the scrounger.
Under the Lantern
Die Unehelichen
Gerhard Lamprecht
Ralph Ludwig, Fee Wachsmuth
If watching a fellow facing indifference/rejection in the slums of Berlin didn't convey enough pathos, Gerhard Lamprecht gathered much of the same crew from Die Verrufenen and turned his attention to the city's population of unwanted children for the heart-tugging Die Unehelichen, released the following year. The trio of foster children at the center of Die Verrufenen are survivors who use their own resourcefulness to get by when the kids' guardians and the system itself let them down.
Children of No Importance
Der Katzensteg
Gerhard Lamprecht
Lissy Arna, Jack Trevor
In 1807 Prussia, Napoleon supporter Baron von Schranden forces his maid Regine to lead the French enemy across “Cat’s Bridge”, up behind a corps of Prussian volunteers who the French then decimate. In retaliation for this betrayal, the people of Schranden set the lord’s castle on fire. When the baron’s son Boleslav returns to the village a Prussian war hero in 1813, he is faced with a self-righteous village community that has denied his late father a decent burial. Regine is Boleslav’s only ally, and Boleslav is Regine’s only ally. The conflict escalates, and the villagers set up an ambush for him at Cat’s Bridge …
The Cat's Bridge
Der Student von Prag
Henrik Galeen
Conrad Veidt, Elizza La Porta
For Balduin, going out to beer parties with his fellow students and fighting out disputes at the tip of the sword have lost their charms. He wants to find love; but how would he, a penniless student, ever dare looking up to any woman worth of loving? Absorbed in his dreary thoughts and indifferent to the advances of Lyduschka, Balduin is unexpectedly offered a fortune by the mysterious money-lender Scapinelli - but on a strange condition...
The Student of Prague
Die Verrufenen
Gerhard Lamprecht
Bernhard Goetzke, Paul Bildt
It was not just the children who were treated badly by the wealthy Weimar republic. Robert Kramer is released from prison but struggles to adjust to civilian life. His father disowns him, his wife has left him for another man. There is no work. He eventually arrives in a shelter for the homeless, and seeks salvation through Emma, a prostitute.
In the Slums of Berlin
Das Schiff der verlorenen Menschen
Maurice Tourneur
Marlene Dietrich, Fritz Kortner
A young doctor gets stuck on a ship after treating an injured first mate. Later, he rescues a woman from plane wreckage, and with the help of the cook, he hides her away from the rowdy and dangerous crew.
The Ship of Lost Men
Brennende Grenze
Erich Waschneck
Jenny Hasselqvist, Hubert von Meyerinck
The story of Brennende Grenze (= Burning Border) starts after the end of WWI. Polish franctireurs invade the German bordering regions which are to be given to Poland as agreed on in the post-war peace treaties. Luise von Willkühnen's manor is invaded by Ladislaus von Zeremski, his lover Nadja and their gang. They treaten the inhabitants until Luise's son kills Zeremski.
Brennende Grenze
Alexandra
Curt A. Stark
Ernst Bretschke, Friedrich Fehér
Alessandra, illegitimate daughter of a count, is raised in a circus. Everyone would like her to marry Anton, a rough gamekeeper, but she escapes helped by Count Erwin. The young girl falls in love with her savior but he has no serious intentions.
Alexandra
