The Kaiser's Lackey

Aug 31, 1951

1h 49m

★ 6.5

Overview

Diederich Heßling is scared of everything and everyone. But as he grows up, he comes to realize that he has to offer his services to the powers-that-be if he wants to wield power himself. His life motto now runs: bow to those at the top and tread on those below. In this way, he always succeeds: as a student in a duel-fighting student fraternity and as a businessman in a paper factory. He cajoles the obese district administrative president Von Wulkow and wins his favor. He slanders his financial rivals and hatches a plot with the social democrats in the town council. On his honeymoon with his rich wife Guste, he finally finds a chance to do his beloved Kaiser a favor. And when a memorial to the Kaiser is unveiled in the town where Diederich lives and works, he delivers the address. He stands behind the lectern in the pouring rain, saluting his Kaiser. The crowd is dispersed. Everything is laid in ruins...

Genres

Drama

History

Comedy

Production Companies

DEFA

The Kaiser's Lackey Trailers

Cast

Diederich Heßling

Werner Peters

Regierungspräsident von Wulckow

Paul Esser

Frau von Wulckow

Blandine Ebinger

Guste Daimchen

Renate Fischer

Emmi Heßling

Carola Braunbock

Magda Heßling

Emmy Burg

Agnes Göppel

Sabine Thalbach

Mrs. Göpel

Friedel Nowack

Göpel

Friedrich Maurer

Father Heßling

Erich Nadler

Mother Heßling

Gertrud Bergmann

Zillich

Ernst Legal

In a rural scenery in the throes of difficult changes lives a humble but promising young farmer girl called Mari Pataki. Her father forbids her from seeing the man she loves. The father, above all preoccupied by work on the fields and prospective wealth, decides to give his daughter in marriage to an old but rich man with whom he does business. Land marries land, he says. This seems to be the unyielding rule of the Hungarian peasantry. But the young lover is ready to stand up to any challenge to keep Maris love.

7.6

Holiday with Angel

Apr 3, 1953

Strict and always dissatisfied grumbler Mr. Angel gets a voucher for summer recreation. He rejects it at first but he eventually decides to use it and spend 14 days in unionist hut Jezerka together with other merited co-workers.

6.0

Men of the Blue Cross

Oct 12, 1955

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.

4.0

Underground Colony

Sep 15, 1951

In 1948, when Hungarian industry counts on almost every liter of fuel, the production of Makert, an American oil company in Hungary, is declining by the day. The firm's American owners claim that the oil field is depleted. However, the new government controller, Nerges, discovers that this is sophisticated sabotage by which representatives of American industrial circles want to disrupt socialist construction in the country. With the help of Hungarian state security officers, Nergesz uncovers and neutralizes the saboteurs at the mine and hastens the Hungarian people's decision to nationalize Makert.

2.0

Anna the Proletarian

Feb 20, 1953

The movie describes proletarian life in the Czech Lands after World War I.

6.7

The Pickwick Papers

Nov 14, 1952

The Pickwick Club sends Mr. Pickwick and a group of friends to travel across England and to report back on the interesting things they find...

5.2

Suez

Oct 28, 1938

Ferdinand de Lesseps, disappointed in love, is sent as a junior diplomat to the Isthmus of Suez, and realizes it's just the place for a canal.

6.5

Giuseppe Verdi

Dec 22, 1953

The life and loves of great composer Giuseppe Verdi are played against a background of the great operas of the 19th Century. A tender love story of his successful and turbulent life, with more than 20 excerpts from his acclaimed operas.

5.4

Scandals of Clochemerle

Jun 9, 1948

A little town erupts in turmoil about the construction of a public urinal. The army is sent in to restore order, but the military add to the confusion by getting involved with the local women.

6.7

Bel Ami

Mar 20, 1955

In the 1880s, Georges Duroy, back from the Colonies, arrives in Paris with the firm intention of conquering the capital through his power of seduction, his selfishness and cynicism. Entering into journalism through the back door he will soon rise to the top with the support of several women: Madeleine Forestier, the wife of his journalist friend Charles; Clothilde de Marelle, his first mistress; Virginie Walter, the wife of a newspaper owner; Suzanne Walter, her daughter who eventually marries Duroy.

0.0

Der Komödiant von Wien

Oct 8, 1954

With a certain degree of audacity, Girardi from Graz manages to gain a foothold at the Strampfertheater, a well-attended traditional theater in Vienna. However, his engagement as a new comedian leads to fierce competition with the theater's established star, Felix Schweighofer. Girardi's plans to entertain the audience at a high level are ultimately crowned with success, even though he is long underrated. He is hired by the Theater an der Wien, where, during rehearsals for a new operetta, he even persuades the strict Johann Strauss to compose an additional waltz for him. Girardi distills his special brand of comedy from events beyond the stage, from his own experiences. Confidently, the actor rises to become a favorite with the audience, against all odds. All of Vienna is enthusiastic about Girardi, singing his songs and applauding his shows.

6.3

Seventh Heaven

Mar 25, 1937

A Parisian sewer worker longs for a rise in status and a beautiful wife. He rescues a girl from the police, lives with her in a barren flat on the seventh floor, and then marches away to war.

No Image Available

3.5

Dva ohně

Feb 17, 1950

A socialist drama from the time of the February coup. The owner of the brickyard will use several workers before February in order to subvert worker solidarity and continue to do his black business. However, the vigilance of a young, aware worker prevents him from doing so.

0.0

Egy asszony elindul

Oct 7, 1949

The story is about a woman who is waiting for the return from the war of her front-line soldier husband. Ilonka and her two children return from the village to their apartment in Budapest. Her husband is held captive by the Americans and awaits the first opportunity to return home, but he does not yet know that his fellow soldiers suspect him of complicity in crimes. In the meantime, Ilonka takes a job in a factory to make a living...

6.0

Shining with Boundless Radiance

May 1, 1949

Zhou Mingying, a worker at a power plant in Northeast China, united her fellow workers under the leadership of the Party, overcame all difficulties, demonstrated a high degree of creativity, exposed the enemy's plots and sabotage, and quickly repaired the generators that had been damaged by the Kuomintang, ensuring the supply of electricity.

6.0

Invisible Battlefront

Dec 1, 1949

In 1948, after the Northeast was liberated, enemy sabotage began. The Public Security Bureau learned that spy Li Tianmin had infiltrated the city. Bureau chief and Captain Zhang quickly deployed personnel to capture him. Li Tianmin evaded key questions during interrogation. Clues were found on a milk bottle cap delivered by a boy, who passed it to another spy, Zhou Shaomei. Under surveillance, Zhou Shaomei, fearing Li Tianmin’s capture, killed the boy to erase evidence. Intelligence personnel mobilised the masses, pressuring the hidden enemies. Many deceived individuals provided clues, ensnaring the enemies in the people’s war.

0.0

Tüz

Oct 21, 1948

The first Hungarian spy film ripped the mask off those ministerial officials who, having sold out to foreign agents, sabotaged the rebuilding of Hungarian factories and plants destroyed by the war. In the film, spies and saboteurs with wallets full of dollars and pistols in their hands set fire to Hungarian factories. The former ruling class was reluctant to give up its place in life and had to be fought to the death.

6.0

Tiger's Claw

Jan 11, 1951

Jonny Wilken is an ageing lion trainer in a circus. He is in love with his younger colleague Jutta Sarris. On her wedding day, Jutta's favorite Bengal tiger attacks her out of jealousy and kills her. Jonny, full of pain and out of revenge, enters the cage to kill the animal with his bare hands. However, the tiger bows to him without any resistance.