Willi Wolff
1883 - 1943
Strafsache van Geldern
Willi Wolff
Paul Richter, Lucie Höflich
Paulus van Geldern is a lawyer who has made a name for himself as a criminal defense attorney, but is notoriously short of funds due to his unbridled passion for gambling. His gambling causes problems with his marriage to Martha who is thriving.
Strafsache van Geldern
Moral
Willi Wolff
Ellen Richter, Ralph Arthur Roberts
When a travelling troupe threatens to unleash a saucy Berlin revue on the provincial town of Emilsburg, the local Morality Society, a band of sanctimonious middle-aged men, stages a protest. Meanwhile, the reigning monarch is concerned that his son and heir is not living his life to the full. Ninon d’Hauteville, a showgirl and the revue’s star attraction, takes a job as piano teacher to the young prince after her engagement at the local theatre was brought to a premature end, a result of the Morality Society’s interference. It doesn’t take long for those hypocrites to get wind of this. While on the outside they appear to be concerned with running the immoral woman out of their town, behind closed doors they rank among the new piano teacher’s most ardent pupils. However, Ninon, out to right the wrong done against her, secretly keeps a “diary” of their visits, recording each encounter on film with a hidden camera.
Moral
Die Frau mit den Millionen
Willi Wolff
Ellen Richter, Georg Alexander
Here Richter plays an Armenian princess whose father is being held prisoner by a despotic and corrupt pasha. A confrontation at the New Year’s Eve Ball at the Paris Opera leads to the princess being wrongly suspected of attempted assassination against the pasha. With the help of an English diplomat, she manages to flee Paris, but the pasha and his henchmen are hot on her heels. This marks the start of an extended, action-driven cat-and-mouse game that stretches to the outer regions of the Bosporus – and back again.
The Woman Worth Millions
Der Juxbaron
Willi Wolff
Teddy Bill, Colette Brettel
The film follows the comic (mis)adventures of a poor street musician, who is roped into posing as an eccentric nobleman. He and his antics are rapturously received by the members of a bourgeois family desperate to mingle with the aristocracy. The daughter of the family takes a fancy to the baron (in reality, merely a “joke baron”), assuming him to be immensely wealthy.
The Imaginary Baron
Lola Montez, die Tänzerin des Königs
Willi Wolff
Ellen Richter, Georg Alexander
Deviating from the historical facts, Lola is introduced as a young Spanish “Gypsy” who becomes involuntarily embroiled in an attempt to poison the Infante of Spain (a short but splendid cameo by Heinrich George). As a result, she has to flee the country, arriving first in Italy, where she is taught how to act like a lady. Later, in Paris, she is invited to dance at the city’s prestigious opera house, becoming a worldwide sensation. She then becomes secretly involved in a revolutionary plot by Louis Napoléon, the future emperor of France. When the plot fails, Lola is once again forced to flee, this time to Munich, where she captures the attention of Ludwig I. Their ensuing affair arouses a great deal of hatred among the people and the establishment, however. In the end, Lola has no choice but to leave again, and vanishes into the night mist.
Lola Montez, the King’s Dancer
