Ernst Legal

Karriere in Paris (1952)

France at the time of the Restoration. The young country gentleman Rastignac comes to Paris to study. He takes up residence in a poor boarding house, where his father Goriot, who has been excluded by his daughters, also lives. The penniless Rastignac is an ...

The Kaiser's Lackey (1951)

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 ...

Es kommt ein Tag (1950)

Melodrama set during wartime. ...

Insolent and in Love (1950)

Penniless Peter Schild looks for work when arrived in Germany. Working as a private eye he has to observe a young lady who is willing to marry an unemployed actor against the will of her parents. ...

Marriage of Figaro (1949)

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 ...

Und wieder 48 (1948)

In 1948, students from Berlin University take part in the filming of a movie about the 1848 revolution as extras. A dispute arises between Else and Heinz, who tends to dismiss the revolution as a comical affair. Two fiercely opposing camps form at the univ ...

No Place for Love (1947)

While on leave in Berlin during the Second World War, a soldier named Hans meets a young woman named Monika. They fall in love and make plans for a future together after the war. Yet their later attempts to find an apartment and get married are hindered by ...

Rätsel der Nacht (1945)

Professor Schott, director of the Oberland Mountain Observatory, has discovered a new star, which he names "Nova Hercules." Working alongside him are Dr. Gerellis and Dr. Alvens, both vying for the affections of the new assistant, Dr. Aenne Bruck, while th ...

Spiel (1944)

Marriage of Love (1944)

Young newlywed Martin Mansfeld suspects his wife Maria Mansfeld of infidelity and together with his friend sets a trap for her. ...

Der Verteidiger hat das Wort (1944)

Jordan, a famous criminal lawyer, will only represent clients, of whose innocence he is convinced (must be financially not-too-well-off). One day, his future son-in-law, the jeweler Fabian, is arrested on suspicion of murder on the day before his wedding. ...

Glück unterwegs (1944)

1944 film. ...

Sieben Briefe (1944)

Das schwarze Schaf (1944)

The young Eva Heldmann has inherited a publishing house, which she is running in an exemplary fashion. However, she still has a co-heir, Stefan Gudewill, who is considered a good-for-nothing and who has been missing since he was 18 years old. With the he ...

Immensee (1943)

A man and a woman struggle to stifle their love for each other, even after he moves away to travel the world and she marries a suitor. ...

Die Jungfern vom Bischofsberg (1943)

1943 German film. ...

Romance in a Minor Key (1943)

A grieving husband tries to uncover the truth behind his wife's suicide, leading him to discover a tragic tale of infidelity and redemption. ...

Laugh Bajazzo (1943)

A dramatization of the melodramatic story that inspired the popular opera, Pagliacci.German language version of a film simultaneously shot in an Italian version. ...

Symphonie eines Lebens (1943)

An aging musician looks back on his life, his roots in a country village, his loves, and his brief imprisonment. ...

Laugh Pagliacci (1943)

Movie adaptation of the Leoncavalo's famous opera. A troupe of traveling actors is being welcomed by villagers in Calabria in the summer of 1866. ...

Andreas Schlüter (1942)

Historical drama portraying the life of German baroque architect Andreas Schlüter. ...

The Golden City (1942)

Anna Jobst is the daughter of a rich, conservative farmer. Living on the bank of the Moldau, she wishes nothing more than follow the river to Prague, the "Golden City". After arriving, she quickly falls into a bad crowd. ...

Rembrandt (1942)

Already a famous painter, Rembrandt van Rijn is commissioned to paint the Amsterdam Archers' Guild. But upon completion of the picture, the men of the guild feel duped, because they don't consider themselves flatteringly depicted in the painting. They th ...

Heimaterde (1941)

A widowed landlady in East Prussia, who, despite his acquittal by the court, believes the forester to have murdered her husband, opposes her son's marriage to the forester's daughter and even wants to sell the farm because of it. The exposure of a border s ...

Pedro Will Hang (1941)

An adventurous peasant is supposed to be hanged, but gets told about life after death, how beautiful it is, and wants to get into heaven anyway even if he should be pardoned. A woman complicates the matter. ...

Der dunkle Punkt (1940)

Eduard Winkelmann, the owner of an apartment building in Munich, never tires of making life difficult for his renters. One day, a young woman, Erika, shows up at his door. She is the illegitimate daughter of a long-past love affair. ...

My Aunt, Your Aunt (1939)

Because his future wife abandoned him shortly before the wedding, an old baron has decided that he doesn't want any women near him anymore. The daughter of the flaky woman decides to take it upon herself to get the baron and her mother back together agai ...

The Journey to Tilsit (1939)

A villager is tempted by a sophisticated city woman and almost kills his wife in a boating accident. ...

Kennwort Machin (1939)

The cashier, Jürgen Borb, has already worked for 10 years at Dadag in Hamburg and is an example for customer service and company loyalty. His professionalism are matched by the trust of his employers, who, while relating to him in an acceptable manner pro ...

The Leghorn Hat (1939)

Der Florentiner Hut (The Leghorn Hat), a 1939 German film directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner ...

Tanz auf dem Vulkan (1938)

Paris, 1830: Jean-Gaspard Debureau performs on the stage and delights his audience with song, wit and charm. He is, however, very unpopular with King Charles X, who is the target of much of Debureau's scornful jests. That would be a somewhat tolerable s ...

Our Little Wife (1938)

When a young woman becomes aware of her husband's wandering attentions, she plots his comeuppance. ...

The Day After the Divorce (1938)

A man, feeling unappreciated, leaves his wife for a cabaret singer, while the wife meets a young pilot and decides to join him abroad. ...

Discretion with Honor (1938)

Nazi era depiction of decadent British aristocracy: A madcap country heiress was betrothed to a Lord but runs off with a young inventor after she is found in a compromising position, to avoid a scandal. ...

Nights in Andalusia (1938)

When the dancer Carmen visits the bullfighter Antonio, who has stabbed a gypsy, in prison, she meets the dragoon brigadier José. The two immediately take a liking to each other, and from that day on, José often visits the café where Carmen dances. When ...

The Secret Lie (1938)

The stand-alone opera singer Carmen Casini dare not admit to her adult son, the spoiled race car driver Cecil, that she ruined her voice on a stormy day at the racetrack and that her career is thus at an end. Meanwhile, Cecil has fallen in love with the p ...

The Girl with a Good Reputation (1938)

A travelling cinema arrives in a small, Italian town. The only place suitable for the screenings is the inn run by Mirandolina, a woman with an impeccable reputation. Tino, who works for the cinema, becomes enamoured of Mirandolina but finds his advances t ...

Die Umwege des schönen Karl (1938)

Karl Kramer is a waiter in a beach hotel on the Baltic Sea. But he has completely different plans in mind for the future. Before he marries Grete Wernicke, the daughter of the hotel manager, he wants to have enough money himself. ...

The Mountain Calls (1938)

The Italian mountaineer Carel wants to be the first man to stand on the top of the Matterhorn. Since the climb is very difficult, he agrees to try it together with the British mountaineer Whymper. But due to an intrigue this agreement is dropped and the tw ...

Altes Herz geht auf die Reise (1938)

The underage Rosemarie is still too young to run her inherited farm by herself; but she's more than aware that her foster father and the farm's administrator, the farmer Schlieker, is constantly skimming from the farm's finances to line his own pocket. To ...

An Enemy of the People (1937)

Before the First World War, Dr. Hans Stockmann had a practice in a small town. His powerhungry brother is the mayor of Bad Trimburg, which has developed into a respectable resort. Dr. Stockmann is called in to become the town's chief physician. He consi ...

Der Mustergatte (1937)

Heinz Rühmann plays the "model husband" who, when his bored wife threatens to leave him, embarks on an adventurous night. ...

Gabriele eins, zwei, drei (1937)

Gabriele Bordersen, a woman from a good home, wants to see what real life is like among the common folk. With her stewardess Fanny Flint and the tour guide Simikry, she goes off to visit a sailors' bar. Fanny and Gabriele change clothes, which allows the s ...

When Women Keep Silent (1937)

Curt serenades his wife Charlott from the garden without her recognizing him. When she later doesn't refer to the incident he assumes that she is falling for the 'unknown' suitor and deliberately puts a notorious womanizer on her trail. ...

To New Shores (1937)

A 19th-century London cabaret singer is deported to prison in Australia. Her crime? Taking the blame when her lover bounces checks. ...

Seven Slaps (1937)

William MacPhab loses seven-pounds in the stock market and decides to slap the man who was responsible for the stock manipulation that caused him to lose his money. Astor Terbanks, the stock-market manipulator is surprised the next day when he gets soundly ...

The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes (1937)

Two dubious characters disguise themselves as Holmes and Watson to gain attention and end up chasing counterfeiters and stolen stamps. ...

The Glass Ball (1937)

A woman steals money from her banker husband but her lover, a baron, is jailed.He escapes and under a new identity is a circus daredevil but she threatens him and his new sweetheart. ...

Die göttliche Jette (1937)

Cheeky Jette is a typical Berlin girl. Together with her mother, she performs couplets in a Berlin suburb theatre every night. Then, a young Austrian baron, who is worshipping Jette, enables her to audition for Königstädtisches Theater. Although she at f ...

His Best Friend (1937)

Remake of a 1929 German film by the same title about a man and a police dog. ...

Rotkäppchen und der Wolf (1937)

The first partly colored German fairy tale film directed by Fritz Genschow. The film has a frame story shot in black and white and a middle section in color that tells the story of Little Red Riding Hood, who is sent by her mother to her grandmother with c ...

Kinderarzt Dr. Engel (1936)

Maria, die Magd (1936)

An actress and her lawyer husband are so busy that their maid becomes the real mother to their six year old boy and at one point causes consternation by taking the child away to her home village. ...

Street Music (1936)

The three musicians Hans, Otto and Paul have no work and propose becoming street musicians with the support of Grete, who lives in the same apartment building. One day, Otto finds a valuable object. Rather than turn it in to the police, he sells it for m ...

Traumulus (1936)

This film is a fascinating showcase for Emil Janning's theatrical play. He's a gentle school teacher who believes in his boys and is easily fooled about all things, while the other town officials want him dismissed. Curiously it's very hard to see what th ...

August der Starke (1936)

Intrigue and love affairs at the court of the Saxon King Augustus the Strong, who can bend a horseshoe with his bare hands and is fighting with the Swedish King Charles XII for control of Poland. When Charles marches against Russia with his troops and suff ...

Anschlag auf Schweda (1935)

The student Hans Kessler is suspected of having murdered the banker Hergotin, who has been found dead in his hotel in Zurich. When a search is launched for an unknown woman, who was seen in the hotel at the time of the murder, Hans suddenly confesses to t ...

One Too Many on Board (1935)

During a journey of the "Ceder", the Captain, von Moltmann, disappears. It looks like an accident, but it could also have been murder. Attorney Dr. Burger and superintendent Störensen discover quickly that two of the crewmen hated the Captain: Chief offic ...

The Man with the Paw (1935)

"The Man with the Paw" is what people call the very successful banker Wiegant, who is desperately in love with Lena Kroning, the wife of the lawyer Hugo Kroning. So as to be nearer to her, Wiegant hires her husband to be the bank's lawyer. Shortly therea ...

Love Conquers (1934)

After Willy privately photographs Renee her image headlines an ad campaign making her a star model. Her sister Elli loses her acting job but Willy's friend Max adds her singing to his musical variety act, and they score an instant success. ...

Charley's Aunt (1934)

Charley Wyckham and Jack Chesney pressure fellow student Fancourt Babberly to pose as Charley's Brazilian Aunt Donna Lucia. Their purpose is to have a chaperone for their amorous visits with Amy and Kitty, niece and ward of crusty Stephen Spettigue. Compl ...

The Assumption of Hannele (1934)

The story of Hannele, an unhappy girl who is beaten by her stepfather and tries to commit suicide. ...

Die Freundin eines großen Mannes (1934)

A renowned actress rescues a small theater, which is on the verge of bankruptcy. ...