The best Paul Weigel’s movies
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best Paul Weigel’s movies, although you may have ordered them differently. In any case, we hope you love it and with a little luck discovering a movie that you still don’t know about Paul Weigel.
The Great Dictator
8.4/10
Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.
Dracula's Daughter
6.3/10
A countess from Transylvania seeks a psychiatrist’s help to cure her vampiric cravings.
Ninotchka
7.8/10
A stern Russian woman sent to Paris on official business finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
8/10
In Brooklyn circa 1900, the Nolans manage to enjoy life on pennies despite great poverty and Papa's alcoholism. We come to know these people well through big and little troubles: Aunt Sissy's scandalous succession of "husbands"; the removal of the one tree visible from their tenement; and young Francie's desire to transfer to a better school...if irresponsible Papa can get his act together.
The Miracle Woman
7.2/10
After an unappreciated minister dies, his daughter loses her faith in God, prompting her to open a phony temple with a con man. Can the love of a blind aviator restore her faith and happiness?
Above Suspicion
6.5/10
Two newlyweds spy on the Nazis for the British Secret Service during their honeymoon in Europe.
I Wake Up Screaming
7.2/10
A young promoter is accused of the murder of Vicky Lynn, a young actress he "discovered" as a waitress while out with ex-actor Robin Ray and gossip columnist Larry Evans.
For Heaven's Sake
7.5/10
An irresponsible young millionaire changes his tune when he falls for the daughter of a downtown minister.
Reunion in France
6.3/10
Frenchwoman Michele de la Becque, an opponent of the Nazis in German-occupied Paris, hides a downed American flyer, Pat Talbot, and attempts to get him safely out of the country.
Espionage
6.1/10
Two reporters pose as man and wife in order to get the goods on a munitions supplier and the rumours of war in Europe.
The Invisible Ray
6.5/10
Dr. Janos Rukh discovers a certain type of radium that has almost magical healing properties. But the element has a dangerous side, too, and it has already started affecting Rukh. Consumed by paranoia, he begins to suspect that his wife is having an affair. Wild for revenge, Rukh hatches a deadly plot...using his own poisoned body as a weapon to kill.
Joan of Paris
6.8/10
An RAF squadron is brought down over occupied France. The flyers get to Paris in spite of the fact that the youngest, Baby, is injured. He must be hidden and his wounds cared for. The Gestapo has already issued orders for their arrest.
A Dispatch from Reuters
6.9/10
German Julius Reuter (Edward G. Robinson) sends 19th-century news by carrier pigeon and then by wire, founding a news agency.
Happy Land
6.7/10
An Iowa drugstore owner becomes embittered when his son is killed in World War II. The druggist believes that the boy's life was cut short before he had an opportunity to truly appreciate his existence.
One More Spring
6.9/10
Three people live together in the maintenance shed at Central Park as an alternative to living on the streets.
The Leatherneck
5.8/10
An odd little film about male bonding. At the end of WW I, two Americans (William Boyd and Robert Armstrong) befriend a simple minded German (Alan Hale) and win him over into becoming an American. All three are still peacetime officers in the US Marines when an unscrupulous character steals Boyd's girl and his two buddies go off to rescue her. When they don't come back, Boyd goes after them to rescue all. This is all done in flashback from a court martial trial for desertion. It's very simple-minded and innocent (silents were that). Mildly interesting to today's audiences, but nothing special. It did receive an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay
Skyscraper
5.7/10
This is a typically benign silent comedy/drama whose only distinction is that it is set among the skyscrapers of 1928 NYC. Either the location work is real (hard to beleive they'd take chances with the lives of stars) or the matte work is extraordinry for its day. Blondy and Swede are gruff best friends who build skyscrapers. Blondy gets sweet on a girl he saves from a falling beam, Sally, but when he is injured in an accident and temporarily crippled, he rejects her. Swede tries every desperate measure to get Blondy to fight back, to try to walk, even masquerading as stealing Sally away from him. It all comes right in the end. Oscar nomination for Screenplay
Excuse Me
A sailor and his would-be bride search their train for a clergyman to marry them.
Never Say Die
6.8/10
Bob Hope is being stalked by a predatory widow who is a widow of wealthy husbands many times over. Martha Raye is a Texan heiress who wants to marry her boyfriend Andy Devine, but her father is determined that she marry into royalty. To solve both their problems, Martha Raye and Bob Hope decide to marry, but will they ever find love together?
The Intrigue
6.2/10
A sci-fi/espionage film in which world powers vie for control of a death ray during World War I as an undercover countess infiltrates enemy ranks to prevent them from getting their hands on the weapon.
