Franz Hoellering

Franz Hoellering was a soldier in the Viennese Army during World War I when he announced to his commanding officer that he was against the war. He was assigned to another post. He remained in Vienna after the war, and then moved to Berlin where he enjoyed a successful career as a journalist and editor. When Hitler came to power, he exposed the Nazi's intentions to go to war and then fled to Czechoslovakia when the Gestapo issued a warrant for his arrest. He eventually made his way to America where he resumed his career as both a film critic and novelist.

Currently

  • The Grapes of Wrath

    January 23, 2009

    Hollywood was concerned that the saga of the Joads might send a "pro-Communist" message, but in the end, even Whittaker Chambers liked this film, which says something.

  • The Gold Rush

    January 3, 2009

    The film Charlie Chaplin said he was most proud of. By the way, the boot he ate was licorice.

  • Ninotchka

    January 3, 2009

    Ten years before Joe McCarthy, Ernst Lubitisch makes an anti-Communist comedy, the difference being that Ninotchka was funny.

  • Wuthering Heights

    January 2, 2009

    With William Wyler directing, Ben Hecht and John Huston writing and Laurence Olivier starring--could there have been any chance that it wouldn't be among the best movies ever made?

  • The Great Dictator

    January 1, 2009

    Hitler was said to have seen this twice. One tends to doubt, however, that he gave it a thumbs up.

2008

  • Fantasia

    December 23, 2008

    When Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck gave way to Bach and Beethoven, the results were as far out as Pluto.

  • Of Mice and Men

    December 16, 2008

    ...And their sons. This film had the unusual distinction of starring two "Jr."s, Lon Chaney and Noah Beery, both scions of silent film actors.

  • Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

    December 16, 2008

    A movie that portrays politicians as corrupt? Believe it or not, this film nearly didn't get made for precisely that reason.

  • Gone With the Wind

    December 16, 2008

    The film of Margaret Mitchell's bestselling saga of the ante- and post-bellum South set box office records that still stand.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Blogs

» The Beat

Another Helping of FDR Please | Obama should follow the New Deal president's example and make his Thanksgiving Proclamation a call for economic justice.
John Nichols
61 Comments

» Editor's Cut

Filibuster Follies | "The filibuster has become a cancer growing inside the world's greatest deliberative body."
Katrina vanden Heuvel
92 Comments

» The Notion

Bad Black Mothers | For African American women, reproduction has never been an entirely private matter.
Melissa Harris-Lacewell
95 Comments

» Act Now!

Coal Country | Stunning film reveals new dimensions to the cost of America's over-reliance on coal.
Peter Rothberg
112 Comments

» The Dreyfuss Report

A Kingdom of Bicycles No Longer | China's ambassador for climate change speaks on the eve of the Copenhagen summit meeting.
Robert Dreyfuss
59 Comments