Francis Lederer was an Austro-Hungarian Empire-born American film and stage actor with a successful career, first in Europe, then in the United States. His original name was Franz Lederer.
Turhan Bey was an Austrian-born actor of Turkish and Czech-Jewish origins. Active in Hollywood from 1941 to 1953, he was dubbed "The Turkish Delight" by his fans. After his return to Austria, he pursued careers as a photographer and stage director. Returning to Hollywood after a 40-year hiatus, he made several guest appearances in 1990s television series including SeaQuest DSV, Murder, She Wrote and Babylon 5 as well as a number of films. After retiring, he appeared in a number of documentaries, including a German-language documentary on his life.
Alexander Lernet-Holenia was an Austrian poet, novelist, dramaturgist and writer of screenplays and historical studies who produced a heterogeneous literary opus that included poetry, psychological novels describing the intrusion of otherworldly or unreal experiences into reality, and recreational films.
The Amazing Mr. X, also known as The Spiritualist, is a 1948 American horror thriller film noir directed by Bernard Vorhaus with cinematography by John Alton. The film tells the story of a phony spiritualist racket. The film is prominently featured in Alton's book on cinematography Painting with Light (1949).
Background to Danger is a 1943 World War II spy film starring George Raft and featuring Brenda Marshall, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre.
Follow the Boys also known as Three Cheers for the Boys is a 1944 musical film made by Universal Pictures during World War II as an all-star cast morale booster to entertain the troops abroad and the civilians at home. The film was directed by A. Edward "Eddie" Sutherland and produced by Charles K. Feldman. The movie stars George Raft and Vera Zorina and features Grace McDonald, Charles Grapewin, Regis Toomey and George Macready. At one point in the film, Orson Welles saws Marlene Dietrich in half during a magic show. W.C. Fields, in his first movie since 1941, performs a classic pool-playing presentation he first developed in vaudeville four decades earlier in 1903.
For Heaven's Sake is a 1950 fantasy film starring Clifton Webb as an angel trying to save the marriage of a couple played by Joan Bennett and Robert Cummings. It was adapted from the play May We Come In? by Harry Segall.
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is a 1944 adventure film from Universal Pictures, directed by Arthur Lubin, and starring Maria Montez, Jon Hall, and Turhan Bey. The film is derived from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, but its storyline departs greatly from the tale of the same name and includes an actual historic event. The film is one of series of "exotic" tales released by Universal during the Second World War; others include Cobra Woman, Arabian Nights, and White Savage.
Footsteps in the Dark is a light-hearted 1941 mystery film, starring Errol Flynn as an amateur detective investigating a murder.
The Gay Falcon is a 1941 B film, the first in a series of 16 films about a suave detective nicknamed The Falcon. Intended to replace the earlier The Saint detective series, the first film took its title from the lead character, Gay Laurence. George Sanders was cast in the title role; he had played The Saint in the prior RKO series. He was teamed again with Wendy Barrie who had been with him in three previous Saint films. The first four films starred Sanders as Gay Lawrence and the rest featured Tom Conway, Sanders' real-life brother, as Tom Lawrence, brother of Gay.
Stolen Holiday is a 1937 film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Kay Francis, Claude Rains and Ian Hunter. It is loosely based on the Stavisky Affair, a French political scandal. A Russian con artist worms his way into the upper reaches of French society, but is finally exposed, with tragic consequences.
Emil-Edwin Reinert, or Emile-Edwin Reinert, was a French film director, screenwriter, audio engineer and producer.
Parole, Inc. is a 1948 American film noir film directed by Alfred Zeisler and starring Michael O'Shea, Turhan Bey, Evelyn Ankers and Virginia Lee.
The Falcon Takes Over, is a 1942 black-and-white mystery film directed by Irving Reis. The B film was the third, following The Gay Falcon and A Date with the Falcon (1941), to star George Sanders as the character Gay Lawrence, a gentleman detective known by the sobriquet the Falcon.
Tangier is a 1946 American film noir mystery film directed by George Waggner and starring Maria Montez, Robert Paige and Sabu. It is set in the international city of Tangier, Morocco and was one of the last final Universal Pictures films before the studio's reorganization as Universal-International in July 1946.
Sudan is a 1945 American Technicolor adventure film directed by John Rawlins and starring Maria Montez, Jon Hall and Turhan Bey.
Bowery to Broadway is a 1944 American film starring Maria Montez, Jack Oakie, and Susanna Foster. Donald O'Connor and Peggy Ryan also had a small specialty act, and it was the only film they were in together where they didn't have a name or character.
Gypsy Wildcat is a 1944 Technicolor adventure film directed by Roy William Neil starring Maria Montez, Jon Hall and Peter Coe. It was co-written by James M. Cain.
I Was Jack Mortimer is a 1935 German thriller film directed by Carl Froelich and starring Anton Walbrook, Eugen Klöpfer, and Sybille Schmitz. It was shot at the Tempelhof Studios in Berlin. The film's sets were designed by the art director Franz Schroedter. It is an adaptation of the 1933 novel of the same title by Alexander Lernet-Holenia.
Adventure in Vienna is a 1952 Austrian crime thriller film directed by Emil E. Reinert and starring Gustav Fröhlich, Cornell Borchers and Adrienne Gessner. It is an adaptation of the 1933 novel I Was Jack Mortimer by Alexander Lernet-Holenia. A separate English-language version Stolen Identity was also produced.
