The Man From Canada

Spies from the West are planning to get a jet pilot in MiG to defect to West Germany and it's up to the clever Stasi agents to stop them. The first of trilogy of films features the Stasi agent Major Sander. The sixties were the decade of spy films. That’s not to say there weren’t …

Continue reading The Man From Canada

Bellboy Ed Martin

Although Bellboy Ed Martin (Hotelboy Ed Martin) is considered a minor film in the DEFA catalog, it has an interesting backstory that stretches from the Great Depression to the McCarthy era, with all sorts of intrigue and tragedy along the way. Its script helped plant the seeds of film noir, and it's an excellent chronicle …

Continue reading Bellboy Ed Martin

The Crucible

At first glance, The Crucible (Die Hexen von Salem) doesn’t appear to be an East German film at all. It's directed by a Belgian, stars French actors, and has a screenplay by Jean-Paul Sartre, based on the Henry Miller play. Additionally, almost all of the technical crew are French. In this respect, it's reminiscent of …

Continue reading The Crucible