Count Heinrich von Alternberg, who prefers to be called Henry Altern, returns to the family castle in Bavaria. His mother, Countess Simone von Alternberg, explains him that his deceased father left them with debts. Henry wants to discuss the situation with Carl von Alternberg, his uncle, but Carl is preoccupied by the disappearance of his secretary. He just fired a P.I. named Kümmel because the man was unable to find her. Henry tells his uncle he can do a better job than Kümmel. Assisted with journalist Lisa Prentice, his ex-wife, Henry Altern investigates. Blaues Blut (sold internationally as Blue Blood) is a 10 x 52-minute detective series aired by German pubcaster ZDF from January 15, 1990 to March 19, 1990.
Blaues Blut/Blue Blood was produced for the early evening schedule of ZDF by
Tele-München fernseh gmbh + Co, a Herbert G. Kloiber's
TMG (Tele München Group) company. Its creator is the legendary English scriptwriter and producer Brian Clemens (1931-2015), who wrote all the episodes. His credits include some great TV series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Persuaders!, The New Avengers, Thriller or The Professionals. Blue Blood was initially set in the U.K. and centered on a young British aristocrat but TMG and ZDF got interested in the project, hence a few changes. Years before, the ARD network was the home of Graf Yoster gibt sich die Ehre (1967-1977) and its sleuthing count. Crime author Claus Beling, then the ZDF controller in charge of Blaues Blut, is a fine connoisseur of England.
French state television Antenne 2, Italian pubcaster RAI and Televisión Española joined as co-producers. CBS Broadcast International put some money too. Austrian stage, film and television actor Albert Fortell, seen in La nouvelle malle des Indes (1981), Who Dares Win (1982), Lime Street (1985-1986) and Little Nikita (1988), was chosen to play Henry Altern without an audition. German actress Ursula Karven (Das Erbe der Guldenburgs) was cast as Lisa after other European actresses were considered. French-born Hollywood star Capucine (Germaine Lefebvre), who worked alongside John Wayne, William Holden or Peter Sellers, naturally brought her class and distinction to Simone von Alternberg (1).
The series was shot in English but dubbed in the same language by Albert Fortell and a cast of American actors in Los Angeles. Then, it was dubbed in German for ZDF. Production of Blue Blood started in 1988, preceded by a 90-minute pilot titled Scandalous. Helmed by British director Robert Young (Vampire Circus), Scandalous was filmed in Munich, Tutzing, Freising, Château de Champs-sur-Marne, Picardie and at Bavaria Studios. The guest cast includes American model and actress Lauren Hutton, Friedrich von Thun, Horst Janson (Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter), Peter Kuiper, Didier Flamand, Didier Sauvegrain, Jean Bouchaud, Gérard Buhr, Michel Peyrelon, etc. Even Patrick Paroux (uncredited), known today as Monsieur Parizot in Camping Paradis and its spinoff.
Scandalous was aired by ZDF in two parts as episodes 7 and 8 (Der Skandal - Teil 1 and Der Skandal - Teil 2: Das Ende feiner Herren). It was released on VHS in Germany as Blue Blood - Leben und Sterben in der Society (1988) and in the U.S. as Scandalous (1989). Robert Young directed another episode, Schatten der Vergangenheit/Who was that man, shown as the sixth episode by ZDF and shot in Paris. An American woman recognizes her husband, killed in Vietnam, at a concert. Marisa Berenson (Barry Lyndon) and Günther Maria Halmer guest star. Jean Bouchaud returns as the inspector from Scandalous. With Arthur Brauss, Gérard Buhr (playing a different role than in the pilot), Jacques Marin (Marathon Man, The Island at the Top of the World), the multi-talented actress, singer and novelist Ysabelle Lacamp, etc. Technisonor provided the production services in France.
A British insurance broker asks Henry to prove a criminal dead in a plane crash is alive in Wer zweimal lebt, stirbt einmal mehr/Bounty (the first episode on ZDF). Scottish director Sidney Hayers, a regular collaborator of Brian Clemens, reunited with Lewis Collins (The Professionals) for the occasion and a ski chase was filmed in the Austrian Lech valley. Guest star Barbara Wussow (Die Schwarzwaldklinik) married Albert Fortell in 1990. Henry Altern must drive to Rome an ambulance carrying the key witness of a corruption case in Gegen die Uhr/Life line, the first of the three episodes directed by Sidney Hayers in Italy and the second episode in the ZDF order. Franco Nero, Rossano Brazzi and Aurore Clément are the guest stars.
The other Italian episodes are Das Mädchen aus dem Meer/Key to Katerina and Dunkle Pfade/Déjà vu (#4 and #5 in the airing order). In the former, guest starring Anna Galiena (Jours tranquilles à Clichy) and Sam Jenkins, Henry Altern and a friend are sailing when they spot someone in the sea. In the latter, Henry is in Montebello for a wedding when a young woman (Elena Sofia Ricci, Ne parliamo lunedì) accuses herself of a murder. With Austrian actress Erika Remberg (Sidney Hayers' wife) and John Karlsen, a New Zealand actor who worked a lot in Europe. Production services in Italy provided by Tangram Film srl (The Belly of an Architect, I misteri della giungle nera), the company of Roberto Levi (La Piovra) and his son Matteo Levi.
Spanish film producer Eduardo Ducay (Luis Buñuel's Tristana) handled the two episodes of Blue Blood made in Spain. Sidney Hayers did Sein letzter Coup/Thief (#3), where a friend of Henry calls him after the murder of her father. With Denise Virieux (Marie-Claire in Schimanski), Jack Taylor (the movies of Jesús Franco), etc. Fernando Rey (Buñuel, The French Connection...) reluctantly accepted to play a strange art collector (2) in Wo der Teufel wacht/Devil's Lair (#9). Juan Luis Buñuel, son of Luis, directed this episode. Before that he helmed a German-Mexican western co-produced by TMG (La rebelión de los colgados, 1986). Also with Pastora Vega and European genre cinema icon Helga Liné. Wo der Teufel wacht was shot mostly in Nerja from February to March 1988 (3).
Eduardo Ducay found the scripts of the Spanish episodes "very bad" (4). ZDF ended the run of Blaues Blut with Tödliches Wochende/Deadly Weekend (#10). Sidney Hayers, who helmed this episode, has a cameo at the beginning with German talk show host Sandra Maichsberger (uncredited). Then a journalist asks Henry Altern how he became a private detective. Both the English dubbing and the dialogues in German contradict the events of Scandalous. The only interest of Tödliches Wochende is the presence of Gottfried John (the films of Fassbinder, GoldenEye), Hannelore Elsner (Die Kommissarin) and Hans-Peter Hallwachs. With British actress Tushka Bergen, Siemen Rühaak, Austrian model Cordula Reyer, etc. The ZDF order caused a couple of continuity issues. Ursula Karven and Capucine are absent from three episodes each.
German composer Harold Faltermeyer (Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun) composed a grand main title theme for Blaues Blut, that he performed under the alias Network (5). Brothers Hermann and Alfons Weindorf did the incidental music. The end title of each episode is a song: Angels Don't Hide by Johnny Logan (Scandalous), Who Was That Man by Maggie Reilly (Schatten der Vergangenheit), Tears Are a Girl's Best Friend by Münchener Freiheit (Wer zweimal lebt, stirbt einmal mehr), Why Don't We Talk Anymore? by Ivana Spagna (Gegen die Uhr), She's Back Again by Far Corporation (Das Mädchen aus dem Meer), The House by The Nits (Dunkle Pfade), Just Like Diamonds by Sandra (Sein letzter Coup), Devil's Lair by Vicky Larraz — former singer of the band Olé Olé (Wo der Teufel Wacht) — and Paradise Lost by Grant Stevens (Tödliches Wochende).
Produced by Curtis Briggs, the soundtrack of Blaues Blut was released in Germany on 33rpm and CD. Back To The Sunshine by Münchener Freiheit, the end title of the U.S. version of Scandalous, is not on the album. Blaues Blut/Blue Blood wasn't renewed by ZDF because of the production costs. In Spain, TVE2 aired Sangre Azul between August and September 1989, Détective Gentleman arrived on Antenne 2 during Summer 1992 and RAI Due showed Sangue Blu one year later. German private channel RTL repeated Blaues Blut in December 1992, beginning with Scandalous.
The young broke nobleman turned crime fighter (often helping ladies in distress) is basically Brian Clemens' take on The Saint, the creation of author Leslie Charteris popularized by Roger Moore. The character played by Lewis Collins in Wer zweimal lebt, stirbt einmal mehr calls himself Sinclair (Hugh in English, Ernest in German). A British actor named Hugh Sinclair starred as Simon Templar in The Saint's Vacation (1941) and The Saint Meets The Tiger (1941). Of course Roger Moore was Lord Brett Sinclair in The Persuaders!. Brian Clemens was critical about the German production of Blue Blood, pointing out the English dubbing, the Alternberg Castle (Schloss Frauenbühl in Winhöring), the title sequence and Henry's jacket in an interview (6).
Overall, Blaues Blut is quite enjoyable with its dashing detective played with panache by Albert Fortell, good scripts, quality production values, various locations, an impressive guest cast, a cool score and a bit of action. And it's better than the 1989-1990 series of The Saint. Blaues Blut/Blue Blood is available in a 4-disc DVD boxset from Fernsehjuwelen containing the episodes in German and English (ZDF order). Bonus material is comprised of an interview of Albert Fortell, with the participation of Barbara Wussow, and the U.S. version of Scandalous (in English). Series exec produced by Manfred D. Heid. Produced by Horst Burkhard, Philippe Le Franc (France), Matteo Levi (Italy) Eduardo Ducay (Spain) and Jürgen Bieske-Feddern (Tödliches Wochende).
Brian Clemens remained very active until the 2000s, working on series like Father Dowling Mysteries (1990-1991) or Bugs (1995-1999) amongst others. Sadly, Capucine committed suicide in 1990 aged 62. Albert Fortell, Ursula Karven and Barbara Wussow pursued their respective careers successfully.
(2) (4) Semblanza de Eduardo Ducay Berdejo (Zaragoza, 1926 - Madrid, 2016) by Amparo Martinez Herranz in Artigrama #30 (2015) + https://archivo-agr.blogspot.com/2016/02/de-amigo-amigo-eduardo-ducay-por-alonso.html
(3) https://www.facebook.com/MuseodeNerja
(5) ttps://celluloidtunes.no/a-chat-with-harold-faltermeyer/
(6) Stay Tuned to The Avengers (Volume 2, Issue 8).
