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23 May 2020

New in the GDR Cinemas in 1968

Around 1980, I went to Berlin with my three best friends. We were 20, New Wave fans and did a lot of unforgettable things. One was visiting Communist East-Berlin. We were controlled at Station Friedrichstrasse and my friend Peer and I were picked out of the line, probably because of our Punk-style outfits. We got the special control treatment and were photographed in front of coloured walls. In my pocket, the patrol found a cultural magazine from West-Berlin with on the front a picture of an Isabelle Adjani film with a couple in bed, fully dressed. This kind of 'porn' was not allowed to take into the GDR! I always wondered afterward what filmgoers did see in the East-Berlin cinemas. Lately, I found this little pocket with small collectors cards published by Progress: 'Neu im Kino'(New in the cinema). The nine cards (one is lost) offer a glimpse of what was shown in an East-Berlin cinema in 1968.

Senta Berger in Operazione San Gennaro (1966)
East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Photo: G.B. Poletto and Peter Basch. Senta Berger in the crime comedy Operazione San Gennaro/The Treasure of San Gennaro (Dino Risi, 1966). In this Italian-French-West-German co-production, an American gangster in Italy enlists a local gang to help him steal the treasure of Naples' patron saint

Sabine Sinjen and Hans-Dieter Schwarze in Alle Jahre wieder (1967)
East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Sabine Sinjen and Hans-Dieter Schwarze in the West-German drama Alle Jahre wieder/Next Year, Same Time (Ulrich Schamoni, 1967). The advertising editor Hannes Lücke spends the Christmas holiday every year with his family in Münster. He has his new girlfriend, Inge, in a hotel waiting.

Pavlina Filipovská and Václav Neckár in Ta nase písnicka ceská (1967)
East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Pavlina Filipovská and Václav Neckár in the Czech musical comedy Ta nase písnicka ceská/Melodies from Old Prague (Zdenek Podskalský, 1967). In old Prague, a girl has to choose between three guys.

Monika Gabriel in Wir lassen uns scheiden (1968)
East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Monika Gabriel in Wir lassen uns scheiden/We Are Getting Divorced (Ingrid Reschke, 1968). In Berlin, Monika and Johannes decide to separate and agree that both should have their 10-years-old son for four weeks each.

Marie-José Nat and Alexandru Herescu in Dacii (1966)
East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Marie-José Nat and Alexandru Herescu in the Romanian-French historical drama Dacii/The Dacians (Sergiu Nicolaescu, 1966). The Dacian kingdom lies at the eastern border of the Roman Empire. Only the Danube separates the two mortal enemies. The Dacian king Decebalus knows that soon the vastly superior Roman legions will cross the river and attack Dacia.

Manfred Krug in Hauptmann Florian von der Mühle (1968)
East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Manfred Krug in the East-German comedy Hauptmann Florian von der Mühle/Captain Florian of the Mill (Werner W. Wallroth, 1968). This story of the miller Florian, who gave all his money to the war against Napoleon, is loosely based on a true story.

Kai Fischer and Paul Klinger in Das Wirtshaus von Dartmoor (1964)
East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Kai Fischer and Paul Klinger in the West-German thriller Das Wirtshaus von Dartmoor/The Inn on Dartmoor (Rudolf Zehetgruber, 1964). A private detective tries to find out how and why some convicts have mysteriously disappeared from the prison of Dartmoor.

Der Mord, der nie verjährt (1968)
East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Publicity still for the East-German crime drama Der Mord, der nie verjährt/The Murder That Was Never Recognized (Wolfgang Luderer, 1968). A historical court case in 1929 against the editor of the magazine Das Tage-Buch, who is accused of insult and slander. In an article in the magazine, Jörn's suitability for the office of the Reich Attorney was questioned, since, in 1919, he favored the murderers of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.

Carroll Baker, Dolores Del Rio, and Ricardo Montalban in Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Carroll Baker, Dolores del Río, and Ricardo Montalban in the American Western Cheyenne Autumn (John Ford, 1964). The Cheyenne, tired of broken U.S. government promises, head for their ancestral lands but a sympathetic cavalry officer is tasked to bring them back to their reservation.

Neu im Kino
Pocket for East-German collectors cards in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68.

Sources: Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

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