Movies About Weimar-Era Germany

Berlin was a center for world cinema during the Weimar era and many great films set or filmed in that time period are available today. Many German directors fled to the United States to escape Nazi persecution and had a huge influence on modern American cinema.

• All Quiet on the Western Front directed by Lewis Milestone (1930).
• Bent directed by Sean Mathias and starring Clive Owen (1997).
• Berlin: Symphony of a Great City directed by Walter Ruttman (1928). A silent film.
• Blue Angel directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Marlene Dietrich (1930).
• Cabaret directed by Bob Fosse and starring Liza Minelli (1972) .
• Cabinet of Dr. Caligari directed by David Lee Fisher and starring Conrad Veidt (1921). A silent film.
• Different from the Others directed by Richard Oswald and starring Condrad Veidt (1919). A silent film.
• Emil and the Detectives directed by Billy Wilder (1931). I saw this in the original German and have no idea how to buy it. You may be able to find remakes.
• Grand Hotel directed by Edmund Goulding and starring Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore (1932).
• The Harmonists directed by Joseph Vilsmaier (1997).
• M directed by Fritz Lang and starring Peter Lorre (1931).
• Paragraph 175 directed by Rob Epstein and narrated by Rupert Everett (2000).
• Triumph of the Will directed by Leni Riefenstahl and starring Adolf Hitler, Josef Goebbels, Nazi party officials (1935).
• The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl directed by Ray Muller and starring Leni Riefenstahl, Marlene Dietrich, Josef Goebbels (1998).