Die Ratten (1955) Robert Siodmak; Maria Schell, Curd Jurgens

Robert Siodmak's come-back effort after a 20 year absence from his native Germany turned out to be one of the best German films of the fifties. I can only recommend you to have a look and marvel at the outstanding performances of all concerned. Especially Maria Schell. She plays Pauline Karka, just come over from the DDR [Eastern zone of Germany] and you can tell by her accent that she is originally, from East Prussia or somewhere around Bohemia. It is astonishing how the Viennese born Miss Schell manages the unmistakenly Eastern way of speaking without once slipping up. She is absolutely convincing. Not only in her speech, the whole performance is so REAL. I can't think of an adequate English word to describe her portrayal other than the German "erschuetternd". I love the film.