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Hollywood could learn a lot from a movie like Priceless. They haven’t fared terribly well transforming European hits into American remakes, but they might take some lessons in the art of crafting a superior romantic comedy.

109. PRISONER OF PARADISE

(2003)

Directed by Malcolm Clarke and Stuart Sender

Narrated by Ian Holm

More people than ever are seeking out documentary films, finding their brand of truth-is-stranger-than-fiction more stimulating than many Hollywood concoctions. If a producer were to dramatize the life of Kurt Gerron, the subject of Malcolm Clarke and Stuart Sender’s Prisoner of Paradise, he might be accused of exaggeration, yet this jaw-dropping story is absolutely true.

How did a man who was once among the most popular actors in Germany not only wind up in a concentration camp—but find himself being ordered to direct a propaganda movie that would show the world a whitewashed vision of life inside its walls? Those are just the extremes of Kurt Gerron’s life story; the rest of it is just as interesting.

Gerron was a star of cabaret and theater during the Weimar years who extended his fame by appearing on-screen in a series of prominent character roles. You may have seen him in such enduring films as Josef von Sternberg’s The Blue Angel and G. W. Pabst’s Diary of a Lost Girl. He eventually moved behind the camera and directed a string of successful movies with such leading actors as Dolly Haas, Peter Lorre, Willy Fritsch, Magda Schneider, Luise Rainer, and Hans Albers.

He led a full, rich life and enjoyed the fruits of his labors. But he also ignored the warnings of friends that as a Jew he was no longer safe in Germany. While others fled to London, Paris, and the United States, he couldn’t bear to leave: life was too good to walk away. Then it was too late.

Clarke and Sender chose to make their film at just the right time, when a handful of Gerron’s friends and coworkers were still alive. Hearing their vivid firsthand accounts of Berlin in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the intoxicating world of cabaret, the rise of Hitler, and the reality of life at Theresienstadt—the “showplace” of concentration camps—makes all the difference in the world. The filmmakers even found home movies of Gerron enjoying his weekend estate in the country with friends from the world of show business.

Ian Holm narrates Prisoner of Paradise, a chilling documentary I don’t think I’ll ever forget.

110. THE PRIZE WINNER OF DEFIANCE, OHIO

(2005)

Directed by Jane Anderson

Screenplay by Jane Anderson

Based on the memoir by Terry Ryan

Actors:

JULIANNE MOORE

WOODY HARRELSON

LAURA DERN

TREVOR MORGAN

ELLARY PORTERFIELD

SIMON REYNOLDS

NORA DUNN

Take a well-received book, select the ideal woman to write and direct its screen adaptation, and choose two perfect stars (Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson) to head the cast. The result ought to be at least modestly successful, but The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, failed miserably at the box office—in part because its studio promoted it as a nostalgic comedy, which it isn’t, and audiences didn’t fall for the ruse.

What it is is infinitely more interesting than a retread of an Ozzie & Harriet episode: the true story of a woman who managed to raise ten children during the 1950s, in spite of a ne’er-do-well husband, by using her wits to enter jingle contests and winning a constant stream of prizes and cash.

If, like me, you’re old enough to remember those twenty-five-words-or-less contests, you’ll enjoy reliving the period when sponsors demanded more of a contestant than mere luck in a random drawing. Back then companies asked ordinary people to send in slogans, endorsements, and rhymes, and smart women like Evelyn Ryan (who gave up her ambition to become a journalist) sustained their families this way. That’s the amazing saga that Evelyn’s daughter Terry Ryan chronicled in her book.

But there are other facets to the story. The first involves Evelyn’s alcoholic, self-destructive husband, a charmer (at times)