Madeleine Tel. 13 62 11 (1958)

Excellent but underrated film

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Karin (Eva Bartok) is a brilliant student whose good looks give her an added advantage in assuming the role of a prostitute and exploring Berlin's thriving sex industry. Hired posthaste by nefarious Madame Clavius, the pretty blonde sets about gathering information for her thesis when she discovers that her old friend Madeline has been financing her luxurious lifestyle by working as a call girl in the very same brothel. The situation turns sinister when Madeline reveals to Karin that she has fallen in love and longs to start a new life, but any girl who tries to leave Madame Clavius soon turns up dead. When Madeline admits to considering suicide, Karin hatches a plan for both of them to make a clean break from the brothel and avoid Madame Clavius' deadly wrath. Fifties sexploitation dramas weren't the exclusive property of American studios, as this German melodrama of loose women and the men to whom their wicked, wicked ways lead them amply demonstrates.

***SPOILERS*** Graphic crime movie from post-war West Germany about the evils of prostitution and those who both engage and profit from it. It's when post graduate collage student Karin, Sabine Sesselmann, decided to do her thesis on prostitution in Berlin that she becomes involved with the notorious Madam Clavlus, Ilsa Stappat, who runs the biggest and most profitable whorehouse in the city.The local police have had their eye on Madam Clavlus for some time but could never get the goods on her since her stable of hookers and the Johns that pay for them are unwilling to testify against her in open court. It's when Karin goes undercover as one of Madam Clavlus' new hookers that she's shocked to discover that her good friend from high-school Madeleine, Eva Bartok, has been working for the Madam, by turning tricks on the streets and in luxury apartments in the city, for the last three years! ****SPOILER****Unknown to Karin is that one of Madam Clavlus' biggest customers Wolf Siebert, Heinz Drache,is an undercover Berlin vice policeman who's using Karin without her knowledge to get to the Madam by having her later testify against her! Meanwhile Madeleine had fallen in love with handsome architect Kurt Kleibert, Alexander Kerst, and is terrified that if he ever found out that she's a hooker he'd drop her like a hot potato! It's when Madeleine plans to leave Madam Clavlus stable of ladies of the evening that she threatened to call Kurt and tell him the truth about her! In trying to be honest and beat Madam Clavlus to the punch Madeleine herself tell Kurt about her dark past as well as present as a hooker for Madam Clavlus which ends up, in thinking that Kurt would be understanding towards her plight, backfiring on her!The movie ends in a free for all and anything goes sex drug and booze party at Madam Clavlus' place with things getting out of hand when the just released from prison for statutory rape Berlin politician Nikki Mayback, Stanislav Ledinek, attacks and attempts to rape the star attraction at the party the 15 year-old nude belly dancer Janina, Shari Kah. That has the police who were hiding outside in the trees and bushes waiting for undercover cop Wolf Siebert to give them the single crash the place before Nikki can go into action! Worth watching in how the film treats a subject, prostitution, that for the most part was almost persona non grata in movies coming out of Hollywood at the time with both honesty and intelligence and and at the same time not going overboard, there's just a few very mild nude scenes in the film, in trying to exploit it's adult audience.

The story was interesting, but the time line was hopelessly disjointed. Day or night? Didn't matter. It was very hard to understand where you were and why things were happening that shouldn't (and couldn't) be happening yet. Somebody needs to re-cut this thing...as a matter of fact, that would be a GREAT exercise for a film editing class. I think all the parts are there - they are just in the wrong order. The cinematography and lighting was good, and the acting seemed quite acceptable, although, since it was dubbed into English, it's kind of hard to tell. The music was amusing - I kept waiting for the bongos to kick in...I enjoyed the lavish sets and all the Volkswagens.

German crime film about call girls and women who take up with men for what the men can give them in exchange for companionship.The film also deals with the destruction that this sort of life leaves on the people involved.The version I saw was a badly dubbed English one that made it hard for her to understand what exactly the tone of the film was. Was this serious? Was it not? I wasn't sure. Certainly the dubbing made the film sound much more moralistic then I think it was intended to be, then again I can't be sure. For me the film kind of is. It's a disposable little film that's neither bad nor good, it just sort of is there hanging about with out much of a point.