Thank you for your interest, your fidelity and your trust.
We wish you in advance all the best for 2023.
Wednesday 28 December 2022
Thursday 22 December 2022
A CASE FOR TWO (EIN FALL FÜR ZWEI) - SEASON 3 ON DVD (ELEPHANT FILMS)
To Monique Planson.
The cult German crime drama A Case for Two (Ein Fall für zwei) ran for 300 episodes between 1981 and 2013 on ZDF. Its third season is now available in France on DVD in the "Un cas pour deux - Intégrale saison 3" boxset (All Zone, 7 one-hour episodes) from Elephant Films.
Ein Fall für zwei was born from an idea by scriptwriters/producers Georg Althammer and Karl Heinz Willschrei, who wanted to create a crime drama whose main character wouldn't be a cop or an amateur sleuth. Experts in their craft, they worked for Bavaria Atelier on detective dramas like Graf Yoster gibt sich die Ehre (1967-1976). Karl Heinz Willschrei wrote the espionage series Alexander Zwo (1972) and several episodes of Tatort (1) or Der Alte (between 1977 and 1979). Althammer and Willschrei founded their own production company, called Monaco Film, in 1976. A subsidiary named Galmon-Film (later Odeon Film) was set up in 1981 to produce Ein Fall für zwei for the Freitagskrimi (Friday crime drama) line-up of ZDF. The concept pitched to the channel was a duo composed of a young lawyer and an experienced private eye. When Georg Althammer and Karl Heinz Willschrei were told that the great actor Günter Strack (The Odessa File, Torn Curtain) wanted to be in a TV series, they changed the tandem for an experienced lawyer — to be played by Strack — and a young detective.
Georg Althammer gave the role of the private investigator to Claus Theo Gärtner. Regularly on stage like Günter Strack, Gärtner won of the Deutscher Filmpreis of the Best young actor for the film Zoff (1972). He played in the 1977 sci-fi TV movie Operation Ganymed and starred in the series Die Straße (1978). Ein Fall für zwei was launched by ZDF in September 1981 with a pilot where Josef Matula
(Gärtner), a Frankfurt police officer who quit the force, became the personal P.I.
of lawyer Dr. Dieter Renz (Strack). Günter Strack left Ein Fall für zwei
in 1988 after 60 episodes and the billiard player detective teamed up
with three other lawyers during the impressively long run of the series (2). In autumn 2011, Claus Theo Gärtner expressed his desire to leave after 30 years as Josef Matula and he bowed out with the 300th episode in March 2013. Surprisingly, ZDF decided to revamp Ein Fall für Zwei around another
attorney and private detective duo. The new version started in May
2014, with the same title and even a cameo of Claus Theo Gärtner (in
2015) but without the famous theme music by jazz musician and
television/film composer Klaus Doldinger (3).
Co-produced by ORF (Austria) and SRG (Switzerland) and sold in more than 50 countries, Ein Fall für Zwei arrived
in France in 1991 and the series is regularly repeated there. For a long
time, Klaus Doldinger's theme was replaced by a local intro but it was
restored for French repeats and DVDs. The "Un cas pour deux - Intégrale saison 3" boxset from Elephant Films contains the 7 episodes of this perfect 3rd season, shown on ZDF between January and November 1983.
- Zwielicht. An excellent episode written by Peter Hemmer (Tatort) and directed by Eugen York. Dr. Renz's cleaning lady worries for her grandson. The young man is arrested for drug trafficking. With Barbara Rudnik (Sigrid Vorholz), Peter Sattmann (Erich Drigalski), Liesel Christ (Mrs Schreber), Gerhard Theisen (Georg Schreber), etc.
- Das Opfer. Penned by the maestro Karl Heinz Willschrei and helmed by Michael Lähn. Matula becomes the bodyguard of Almut Nolde (Cornelia Froebess) after someone tried to kill her. With Bernd Ripken (Harald Nolde), Claus Eberth (Georg Wilke), Claus-Dieter Reents (Kommissar).
- Herr Pankratz, bitte!. A very good episode written by Wolfgang Mühlbauer (Graf Yoster gibt sich die Ehre) and directed by Eugen York. Mr. Pankratz (Wolgang Bathke, Im namen des Gesetzes) is accused of murder.
- Der Zeuge. A man is found dead after an argument with his wife. Written by Karl Heinz Willschrei and directed by Hans-Jürgen Tögel. The great Hannelore Elsner, who later became Lea Sommer in Die Kommissarin
(1994-2006) (4), plays Janine Krüger. With Sky du Mont (another great actor) as a bartender!
- Tödliches Viereck. A jigsaw puzzle penned by Manfred D. Lisson and helmed by Theo Mezger. With Monika Lundi (Karin Werner), Peter Arens (Dr. Werner), Claudia Wedekind (Susanne Krüger), Arthur Brauss (Harald Krüger), Ulli Kinalzik, etc.
- Strich durch die Rechnung. Agnes Beaufort (Edda Pastor), a friend of Dr. Renz who married a French industrialist, is kidnapped while in Frankfurt. Written by Karl Heinz Willschrei and directed by Theo Mezger. With Harald Leipnitz (Claude Beaufort), Dieter Eppler, Lis Verhoeven, etc.
- Die große Wut des kleinen Paschirbe. A masterpiece penned by German crime writer -ky, the pseudonym of sociologist, author and scriptwriter Horst Bosetzky. Heinz Schubert (Ein Herz und eine Seele) (5) is amazing as Paschirbe, a man who thinks he has found an opportunity for revenge. Wolfgang Preiss (the Mabuse movies) appears as Alfred Rohloff. With Louise Martini (Eva Fuhrmann), Harald Kuhlmann (Hans-Joachim Rimbach), Sylvia Haider (Erika Rimbach). Helmed by Michael Lähn.
From 2017 and 2019, Claus Theo Gärtner returned to his signature role for three 90-minute specials. Season 8 of the revamped Ein Fall für zwei was shown last spring on ZDF. The 7 episodes of the "Un
cas pour deux - Intégrale saison 3" boxset are available in French and in German (without subtitles). Bonus material consists of a
photo gallery and the trailers of some other titles of Elephant
Films, like Mike Hammer (with Stacy Keach), Frank Riva (starring Alain Delon), Commissaire Valence, etc. German crime cult dramas Derrick and Der Alte are available from Elephant too and reviewed on this blog.
(1) The crime drama collection of ARD, launched in 1970 and still aired today. Karl Heinz Willschrei penned 10 Tatort TV movies, including the most watched episode ever, Rot - rot - rot (26.57 million viewers in 1978).
(2) Dr. Rainer Frank (Rainer Hunold, 1988-1997), Dr. Johannes Voss (Mathias Hermann, 1997-2000) and Dr. Markus Lessing (Paul Frielinghaus, 2001-2013).
(3) Founder of the band Passport, Klaus Doldinger composed the music of classics such as The Neverending Story (Die unendliche Geschichte, 1984) and Das Boot (1981) or the theme of Tatort.
(4) Co-created by Georg Althammer.
(5) Ein Herz und eine Seele (1973-1976) was the German version of the British sitcom Till Death Us Do Part (1965-1975), itself adapted in the U.S. as All in the Family (1971-1979).
http://www.elephantfilms.com/
https://tattard2.blogspot.com/2018/04/matula-der-schatten-des-berges-zdf.html (Matula #2)
https://tattard2.blogspot.com/2019/04/matula-tod-auf-mallorca-zdf.html (Matula #3)
See also:
https://tattard2.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-case-for-two-ein-fall-fur-zwei-season.html (Ein Fall für zwei - Season 2 on DVD)
https://tattard2.blogspot.com/2022/06/a-case-for-two-ein-fall-fur-zwei-season.html (Ein Fall für zwei - Season 1 on DVD)
https://tattard2.blogspot.com/2017/04/matula-zdf_28.html (Matula #1)https://tattard2.blogspot.com/2018/04/matula-der-schatten-des-berges-zdf.html (Matula #2)
https://tattard2.blogspot.com/2019/04/matula-tod-auf-mallorca-zdf.html (Matula #3)
Friday 16 December 2022
THE OLD FOX (DER ALTE) - SEASON 11 ON DVD (ELEPHANT FILMS)
Der Alte ("The Old Man") was launched in 1977 on ZDF by producer Helmut Ringelmann as the successor to Der Kommissar, a series made by his company Neue Münchner Fernsehproduktion for the pubcaster. Set in Munich, Der Kommissar ran from 1969 to 1976 and starred Erik Ode as Kommissar Herbert Keller. The first Freitagskrimi (1) of the channel lasted 97 episodes, all penned by Herbert Reinecker. The scriptwriter also wrote each of the 281 episodes of Derrick, a crime drama devised by Ringelmann and Reinecker as an alternative
to Der Kommissar (2) — though set in Munich too — and aired on ZDF from 1974 to
1998.
Karl Heinz Willschrei, one of the scriptwriters of the series, co-created Ein Fall für zwei (1981-2013) for ZDF. At the end of 1984, Siegfried Lowitz expressed his desire to leave Der Alte
with the 100th episode (aired in January 1986) and return to theatre.
Helmut Ringelmann gave the role of the new boss of Mordkomission II, Hauptkommissar Leo Kress, to Rolf Schimpf. Ringelmann noticed the actor in Der Sheriff von Lisenbach (1984) and first hired him in Mensch Bachmann, a family series he produced the same year. Schimpf was no stranger to the crime genre because he played Waldi Zeldmann in SOKO 5113 since 1978. Gerd Heymann remained but Martin Brenner got transferred. The Polizeiarzt ("police doctor") played by Ulf J. Sohmisch since 1983 stayed a few years more but never got a proper name.
Leo Kress came from Augsburg with his own assistant, Henry Johnson.
This black detective (a first in the history of German TV) was based on
a real-life black investigator from the Munich police named Raimund Eichner and he was portrayed by Charles M. Huber (credited Charly Muhamed Huber). A new theme intro, composed by Eberhard Schoener, replaced the theme by Peter Thomas. Sold in more than 100 countries, Der Alte arrived in France in 1987 as Le Renard. The "Le Renard - Intégrale Saison 11" 6-disc DVD boxset contains the 12 episodes of this almost perfect 11th season, shown on ZDF between January and December 1987.
- Tod eines Piraten. A young man tries to break into his
own house. A great episode written by Volker Vogeler and
directed by Zbyněk Brynych, with excellent performances from
Claude-Oliver Rudolph (Fritz) and Christoph Eichorn
(Patrick Killian). Werner Schnitzer (Ruprecht)
later played Hahne in Siska (1998-2008), the successor to
Derrick (5). Tobias Ringelmann,
Helmut's son, appears in the (fictional) film at the beginning.
- Der sanfte Tod. A couple calls the police because their neighbour has been listening loudly to the same song for hours. Scriptwriters Günter Gräwert (who also helmed this episode) and Adolf Schröder tackle homosexuality. The song used as a leitmotiv is Why by composer, singer and hit maker Frank Duval. Duval worked regularly for both Derrick and Der Alte. With Tobias Hoesl (Jens), Eva Kryll (Barbara), Edgar Selge (Erich), Enzi Fuchs (Mrs Heinzen) and a pre-Tatort Miroslav Nemec.
- Die Abrechnung. It's laundry day for Kress and his daughter Sabine (Bettina Redlich) when a young woman falls from a window. This death is related to a murder and drug trafficking in Malaysia. Written by Volker Vogeler and directed by Zbyněk Brynych. Tobias Hoesl returns in a different role. With Ursula Karven.
- Tod von Schalterschluß. Journalist, novelist and scriptwriter Max Pierre Schaeffer wrote this brilliant episode directed by Günter Gräwert. A bank robber kills a woman during a hold-up. Evelyn Opela (Mrs Helmut Ringelmann) plays Gitta Graf. Gert Burkhard appeared in many episodes of Der Alte and Derrick, in different roles. The end title song is called Speech Behind Speech (1978). It's one of the collaborations of Eberhard Schoener with Sting, Andy Summers and later Stewart Copeland before The Police became famous.
- Wie das Leben so spielt. A photograph witnesses a double murder. An excellent episode written by Volker Vogeler and directed by Dietrich Haugk. Guest starring Eleonore Weisgerber, Ralf Schermuly, Udo Schenk, Ulli Kinalzik, etc.
- Werwischte Spuren. The firemen receive a strange emergency phone call. Rosel Zech (Veronika Voss, Lola) plays Gabrielle Lohmann. With Sven Eric Bechtolf and Enzi Fuchs. Written and directed by Günter Gräwert.
- Ultimo. A fabulous episode penned by Volker Vogeler and helmed by Zbyněk Brynych. Albert Kozak (Ulrich Haupt) is back from hospital after a murder attempt. Swiss actor Christian Kohlund (Der Zürich-Krimi, Black Forest Clinic) is Holger Kozak. With Susanne Uhlen, Gerd Baltus, Gerd Burkhard, etc. The song heard during the superb ending is Rhine-Bow (1978) by Eberard Schoener with Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland.
- Ein teuflischer Plan. Another gem from Volker Vogeler, directed by Alfred Weidenmann. An accountant kills himself in his office and a bankrupt man is found dead by his wife. Edgar Selge returns in a different role. With Reinhild Solf, Harald Leipnitz, Peter Bongartz, Lisa Kreuzer, Gerd Burkhard, etc.
- Die letzte Nacht. Sentenced for rape, Hans Steiger (Will Danin) is released after years in jail. With Christine Buchegger, Sissy Höfferer, Beate Finck, Esther Hausmann, Ulli Kinalzik, etc. The melancholic song of this episode is I Want To Be Free, composed by Günther Ress and performed by Edna Bejarano.
- Alibi: Mozart. Max Pierre Schaefer and Günther Gräwert team up for this classic about the murder of a pianist directed by Zbyněk Brynych. Second guest role of Evelyn Opela this season. Also with Gerd Böckmann, Anja Jaenicke, Franz Boehm, Tommi Piper, etc.
- Der Stichtag. A conundrum from Max Pierre Schaefer and Günther Gräwert, directed by the latter. A company director takes a night train with his secretary. With Udo Vioff, a frequent guest star of Der Alte and Derrick.
- Mord ist Mord. A supermarket manager and his mistress are surprised by two robbers. Penned by Volker Vogeler and helmed by Zbyněk Brynych. Rosel Zech is back in a different role. With Thekla Carola Wied, Winfried Glatzeder, Philipp Moog, etc.
In 1998, Leo Kress and his men appeared in the final episode of Derrick. Kress retired at the end of the 322nd episode (2007) but Rolf Schimpf returned as the ex-detective in Episode 340. He was succeeded by Walter Kreye as Hauptkommissar Rolf Herzog (2008-2012) and Jan-Gregor Kremp (Hauptkommissar Richard Voss,
2012-2022). Michael Ande decided to leave the series in 2016 after 39
years as Gerd Heymann. Charles M. Huber left in 1997 and was replaced by Pierre Sanoussi-Bliss as Axel Richter until
2015. Huber changed career for politics and humanitarian work.
The episodes of the "Le Renard - Intégrale Saison 11" boxset are in French and in German (without subtitles). Bonus material consists of a
photo gallery and the trailers of some other titles of Elephant
Films, like Hunter
(with Fred Dryer), Fantasy Island, Commissaire Moulin, Ein Fall für zwei and Derrick. Next year Thomas Heinze will be the new Hauptkommissar of Der Alte.
(1) Friday crime drama.
(2) Unlike Der Kommissar, Derrick was filmed in colour and produced by Helmut Ringelmann's other company Telenova for ZDF, ORF and SRG.
(4) The team was later completed by Meyer Zwo (Wolgang Zerlett, 1979-1987), Löwinger (Jan Meyer, 1985-1986) and Marküs Böttcher as Werner Riedmann (1986-2015).
(5) Produced by Helmut Ringelmann.
See also:
https://tattard2.blogspot.com/2022/10/derrick-season-3-on-dvd-elephant-films.html (Derrick - Season 3 on DVD)
https://tattard2.blogspot.com/2022/06/derrick-seasons-1-2-french-region-2-dvd.html (Derrick - Seasons 1 & 2 on DVD)
https://tattard2.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-case-for-two-ein-fall-fur-zwei-season.html (Ein Fall für zwei - Season 2 on DVD)
https://tattard2.blogspot.com/2022/06/a-case-for-two-ein-fall-fur-zwei-season.html (Ein Fall für zwei - Season 1 on DVD)
Monday 5 December 2022
ÇA TOURNE MAL... À LA TÉLÉ! (PHILIPPE LOMBARD, ÉDITIONS LA TENGO)
[Favourite of the Month] In Ça tourne mal... à la télé!, his exciting new book, Philippe Lombard visits a turbulent and little known aspect of the history of TV series.
Film and television specialist Philippe Lombard wrote books on The Persuaders, Starsky and Hutch, The Pink Panther, OSS 117, Tintin, Michel Audiard, Louis de Funès, Quentin Tarantino, etc. Published by Éditions La Tengo, Ça tourne mal... à la télé! is a follow-up to his Ça tourne mal! and Ça tourne mal... à Hollywood! (1). The astute idea of this collection is to tell anecdotes about what went wrong, what didn't turned as planned, the glitches behind the scenes. After French cinema and Hollywood movies, TV series get the "Ça tourne mal!" treatment for our greatest enjoyment.
A series can begin with a pilot but most pilots never turn into a series. Ça tourne mal... à la télé! logically starts with the "busted pilots", those which didn't make it and often for obvious reasons (Wishman, Poochinski). U.S. network CBS recycled many of their unsold pilots in a 1987 "anthology" called CBS Summer Playhouse, including a new version of The Saint with a moustachioed Simon Templar in a Lamborghini. Before Quantum Leap, Scott Bakula starred in I-Man (1986) and Infiltrator (1987). With a little luck a pilot can be reshoot for another try and become a hit series (The Big Bang Theory, Game of Thrones). Occasionally, a pilot is made as an episode of an existing series. It's called a backdoor pilot and success is never guaranteed. Ask Huggy Bear from Starsky and Hutch, who briefly opened a detective agency with a friend.
Similarly to pilots, actor come and go. Yvan Chiffre almost played the title role in Thierry La Fronde. Elizabeth Sheperd was Mrs Peel in The Avengers before Diana Rigg. There are the stars who stopped at nothing to leave their shows, such as Steve McQueen or Farrah Fawcett, the stars who came back (Patrick Duffy, John Schneider and Tom Wopat...) and the guest star who never was (Jeanne Moreau in ER). Long before social networks, French television had to face outraged reactions because of the intended ending of Janique Aimée (1963) or a surreal animated programme called Les Shadoks (when launched in 1968). During the 1980s, France answered to Dallas with Chateauvallon and director Jean-Luc Godard was hired by TF1 to make an episode of the collection Série Noire for a surprising result.
Ça tourne mal... à la télé! continues with the animated tribulations of Tintin, Astérix, Grendizer, Il était une fois..., Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rambo. Philippe Lombard also looks at some American and French TV attempts to cash in on known movies: Rosemary's Baby, High Noon, The Dirty Dozen, Indiana Jones, Les spécialistes or the Jean-Paul Belmondo starrer Le Magnifique! The book examines two high-profile projects not spared by failure (SeaQuest DSV and Marseille with Gérard Depardieu), series which reached cult status after cancellation (Police Squad!, Manimal, Profit...) and surprising/weird ideas like the japanese Spider-Man, Astrolab 22 or Duval et Moretti (the French adaptation of Starsky et Hutch). Ça tourne mal... à la télé! concludes with (what else?) the series finales.
Readers will even find a chapter about dubbing and more. Well researched and smartly thought, Ça tourne mal... à la télé! by Philippe Lombard is both interesting and joyful. French illustrator and graphic artist Mr Choubi (real name Patrick Chevalier) is behind the amazing artistic design of the book. Philippe Lombard is a regular collaborator for the magazine Schnock and other publications.
(1) https://boutique.la-tengo.com/home/140-ca-tourne-mal-.html + https://boutique.la-tengo.com/home/147-ca-tourne-mal-a-hollywood-.html
Monday 28 November 2022
HOTEL PORTOFINO - SERIES 1 (FRENCH REGION 2 DVD, L'ATELIER D'IMAGES)
[Favourite of the Month] Hotel Portofino, the highly pleasant British period drama set in Mussolini's Italy, was launched in the U.K. on streaming service Britbox in January 2022 and last summer in the U.S. on PBS. Its first series (six one-hour episodes) was shown in France on Chérie 25 in September and it is now available on Region 2 DVD thanks to L'Atelier d'images.
Italy, 1926. Bella Ainsworth (Natasha McElhone, Californication), the daughter of a wealthy British industrialist, moved to Italy with her family to open a hotel in the coastal town of Portofino. Her upper-class clients include American art dealer Jack Turner (Adam James, Vigil) and music hall sensation Claudine Pascal (Lily Frazer), the charismatic Count Carlo Albani (Daniele Pecci) and his son Roberto (Lorenzo Richelmy), the obnoxious Mrs Julia Drummond-Ward (Lucy Akhurst) and her daughter Rose (Claude Scott-Mitchell) and the hard-to-please Lady Latchmere (Anna Chancellor) with her niece Melissa De Vere (Imogen King). Bella is helped by her cook Betty Scanlon (Elizabeth Carling, Goodnight Sweetheart), Betty's son Billy (Louis Healy), the Italian maid Paola (Carolina Gonnelli) and the recently hired Constance Marsh (Louisa Binder).
Running a hotel is demanding but Bella Ainsworth watches over her children. Her son Lucian
(Oliver Dench) dreams to pursue his passion for painting, though he didn't fully recover from the 1914-1918 war. Lucian's sister Alice Mays-Smith (Olivia Morris), a widow, tries to start anew in Portofino with her daughter. Bella's unsupportive husband Cecil (Mark Umbers) and Julia Drummond-Ward want to marry Lucian to Rose. In fact, Cecil Ainsworth's only interest is to get enough money to maintain his expensive lifestyle. The hotel has attracted attention from Vincenzo Danioni, a local fascist politician (Pasquale Esposito, Gomorra: La serie). Masterfully written by its creator Matt Baker (Suspect, Before We Die), Hotel Portofino was filmed in Croatia and Italy. The series has everything viewers can expect from the genre: lavish sets, great costumes, gorgeous locations, intrigue, romance and interesting main characters served by a talented cast. As if that weren't enough, it gives us a bona fide mystery (around a painting) and tackles racism, homosexuality and women's condition.
Directed by Adam Wimpenny, Hotel Portofino is competently produced by Eagle Eye Drama (for ITV and Britbox). This company was founded by Walter Iuzzolino, Jo McGrath and Jason Thorp, the creative forces behind Channel 4's video on demand service Walter Presents. With Rocco Fasano (Gianluca Bruzzone), Assad Zaman as Lucian's best friend Anish Sengupta, Dominic Tighe (Pelham Wigfield), Bethan Cullinane (Lucy Wigfield), etc. Co-produced with PBS. Produced in association with Beta Film. Walter Iuzzolino and Jo McGrath exec produce. Produced by Julie Baines. Music by Stefano Cabrera, performed by the Orchestra Arcangelo Corelli. Cinematography by Erol Zubčević. Editing by Natasha Wilkinson and Colin Sumsion. Stefano Katunar is the artistic director, assisted with Katarina Stančić. Paola Lugarić is the set designer. Costumes designed by Louize Nissen. Production designed by Patricia Woerler. Titles by The Morrison Studio.
Production services by Drugi Plan and Itaca Film SRL. Co-financed with the European Regional Development Fund 2014-2020. Supported by the Filming in Croatia Incentive Programme. With the assistance of the Genova Liguria Film Commission. Beta Film, which distributes Hotel Portofino, has sold the series to more than 55 territories. The 6 episodes in the 2-disc DVD boxset are available in French and in English (with subtitles). There's also a trailer. Hotel Portofino will return for a second series.
Wednesday 26 October 2022
A CASE FOR TWO (EIN FALL FÜR ZWEI) - SEASON 2 ON DVD (ELEPHANT FILMS)
To Monique Planson.
The cult German crime drama A Case for Two (Ein Fall für zwei) ran for 300 episodes from 1981 to 2013 on ZDF. Its second season is now available in France on DVD in the "Un cas pour deux - Intégrale saison 2" boxset (7 one-hour episodes) from Elephant Films (1).
Ein Fall für zwei was born from an idea by scriptwriters/producers Georg Althammer and Karl Heinz Willschrei,
who wanted to create a crime drama whose main character wouldn't be a cop
or an amateur sleuth. Experts in their craft, they worked for Bavaria Atelier on detective dramas like Graf Yoster gibt sich die Ehre (1967-1976). Karl Heinz Willschrei wrote the espionage series Alexander Zwo (1972) and several episodes of Tatort (2) or Der Alte (between 1977 and 1979). Althammer and Willschrei founded their own production company, called Monaco Film, in 1976. A subsidiary named Galmon-Film (later Odeon Film) was set up in 1981 to produce Ein Fall für zwei for the Freitagskrimi (Friday crime drama) line-up of ZDF. The
concept pitched to the channel was a duo composed of a young lawyer and
an experienced private eye. When Georg Althammer and Karl Heinz
Willschrei were told that the great actor Günter Strack (The Odessa File, Torn Curtain)
wanted to be in a TV series, they changed the tandem for an experienced
lawyer — to be played by Strack — and a young detective.
Georg Althammer gave the role of the private investigator to Claus Theo Gärtner. Regularly on stage like Günter Strack, Gärtner won of the Deutscher Filmpreis of the Best young actor for the film Zoff (1972). He played in the 1977 sci-fi TV movie Operation Ganymed and starred in the series Die Straße (1978). Ein Fall für zwei was launched by ZDF in September 1981 with a 75-minute pilot where Josef Matula (Gärtner), a Frankfurt police officer who quit the force after a romance with the sister of a young delinquent, became the personal P.I. of lawyer Dr. Dieter Renz (Strack). Günter Strack left Ein Fall für zwei
in 1988 after 60 episodes and the billiard player detective teamed up
with three other lawyers during the impressively long run of the series (3). In autumn 2011, Claus Theo Gärtner expressed his desire to leave after 30 years as Josef Matula and he bowed out with the 300th episode in March 2013. Surprisingly, ZDF decided to revamp Ein Fall für Zwei around another attorney and private detective duo. The new version started in May 2014, with the same title and even a cameo of Claus Theo Gärtner (in 2015) but without the famous theme music by jazz musician and television/film composer Klaus Doldinger (4).
Co-produced by ORF (Austria) and SRG (Switzerland) and sold in more than 50 countries, Ein Fall für Zwei arrived
in France in 1991 and the series is regularly repeated there. For a long
time, Klaus Doldinger's theme was replaced by a local intro but it was
restored for French repeats and DVDs. The "Un cas pour deux - Intégrale saison 2" 4-disc DVD boxset from Elephant Films opens with the excellent Tollwut, written by Karl Heinz Willschrei and directed by Theo Metzger (Raumpatrouille Orion). A rich widow and her young son walk in the woods with their dobermans when an aged man shoots the dogs with his riffle. Walther Buschoff (Les nouvelles aventures de Vidocq) plays Johannes Straub. The equally excellent Der Jäger als Hase was penned by jurist, writer, historian and composer Herbert Rosendorfer. Prosecuting attorney Weiermüller (Gerd Böckmann) asks Dr. Renz for advice because he's accused of traffic offenses committed by a vehicle with his license plate. Horst Sachtleben plays Windle in this episode helmed by Peter Weck.
Wilfried Klaus (SOKO 5113/SOKO München) and Charles Brauer (Tatort) are amongst the guest cast of Kratzer im Lack, written by Wolgang Storch (Star Maidens).
After a drunken dinner, a client of Dr. Renz wants to brings back a
young woman to her home but he damages a car. The same night, a murder
is committed in her building. Novelist and scriptwriter Irene Rodrian, author of several Jerry Cotton books, winner of the Edgar Wallace Prize for Tod in St. Pauli (1967) and writer of novels for children and young adults, is behind the both brilliant Überstunden and Alte Pistolen. In the former, Matula has just lost his appartment when Renz asks him to find a missing 14-year old girl (Julia Biedermann). In Alte Pistolen, the lawyer meets a seductive lady (Judy Winter) who says that her husband (Peer Augustinski) wants to kill her. Respectively directed by Wolgang Luderer and Peter Weck. Ulrich Matschoss, best known as the boss of Schimanski in Tatort, is great as Eduard Seifert in Nervenkrieg. Seifert claims that his wife and Otto Cassner, his son-in-law, want to take over his nightclubs and that Otto tried to get him killed. Matula teams up with "Philip Marlowe" (Gerd Baltus). Cassner is played by Sigmar Solbach, who later starred in Dr. Stefan Frank - Der Arzt, dem die Frauen vertrauen (1995-2001). Written by Enno Hollrath and helmed by Peter Weck.
This most satisfying second season concludes with Partner, penned by Peter Hemmer and directed by Michael Lähn. Klaus Sperber hires Matula because he suspects his wife is having an affair with his business partner. Guest starring Robert Atzorn and Ivan Desny. From 2017 and 2019, Claus Theo Gärtner returned to his signature role for three 90-minute specials. Season 8 of the revamped Ein Fall für zwei was shown last spring on ZDF. The 7 episodes of the "Un
cas pour deux - Intégrale saison 2" boxset are available in French or in German (without subtitles). Bonus material is comprised of a
photo gallery and the trailers of some other titles of Elephant
Films, like Mr. Merlin, Der Alte, American Gothic, The Blue and the Gray and From Here to Eternity (the 1979 miniseries).
(1) All Zone. The first episode of this second season is in the "Un cas pour deux - Intégrale saison 1" boxset from Elephant Films.
(2) The crime drama collection of ARD, launched in 1970 and still aired today. Karl Heinz Willschrei penned 10 Tatort TV movies, including the most watched episode ever, Rot - rot - rot (26.57 million viewers on January 1, 1978).
(3) Dr. Rainer Frank (Rainer Hunold, 1988-1997), Dr. Johannes Voss (Mathias Hermann, 1997-2000) and Dr. Markus Lessing (Paul Frielinghaus, 2001-2013).
(4) Founder of the band Passport, Klaus Doldinger composed the music of classics such as The Neverending Story (Die unendliche Geschichte, 1984) and Das Boot (1981) or the theme of Tatort.
https://www.zauberspiegel-online.de/index.php/frage-antwort/im-gesprch-mit-mainmenu-179/34716-irene-rodrian-ueber-jerry-cotton-tod-in-st-pauli-und-ihre-barcelona-krimis (An interview of Irene Rodrian)
See also:
https://tattard2.blogspot.com/2022/06/a-case-for-two-ein-fall-fur-zwei-season.html (Ein Fall für zwei - Season 1 on DVD)
Wednesday 12 October 2022
DERRICK - SEASON 3 ON DVD (ELEPHANT FILMS)
Derrick was devised by producer Helmut Ringelmann and scriptwriter Herbert Reinecker as an alternative to Der Kommissar, their crime drama launched in 1969 on ZDF. Produced by Ringelmann's Neue Münchner Fernsehproduktion and set in Munich, Der Kommissar starred Erik Ode as Kommissar Herbert Keller (an investigator inspired by Maigret). It stayed in black & white until the end in 1976 and its 97 one-hour episodes were all penned by Reinecker. This prolific author worked on the Edgar Wallace, Jerry Cotton and Winnetou film series. Interested by the psychological and social backgrounds of crime (1), he wrote each of the 281 episodes of Derrick. The main character, Oberinspektor Stephan Derrick of the Munich Mordkommission, made actor Horst Tappert recognizable all over the world.
Tappert's first notable role was the criminal mastermind in the miniseries The Great Train Robbery (Die Gentlemen bitten zur Kasse, 1966). He played a villain in The Hound of Blackwood Castle (Der Hund von Blackwood Castle, 1967), an Edgar Wallace movie, before switching sides as the detective in the next two: Gorilla Gang (Der Gorilla von Soho, 1968) and The Man with the glass eye (Der Mann mit dem Glasauge, 1969). Helmut Ringelmann offered him the title role in Derrick, a production of his new company Telenova (for ZDF, ORF and SRG) filmed in colour. Horst Tappert described the Oberinspektor as "devoured by the melancholy and cynicism of Humphrey Bogart" (2). An element of Der Kommissar was kept when the Kriminalhauptmeister Harry Klein, one of Keller's men, left his boss to become Inspektor and work for Derrick.
Munich-born actor Fritz Wepper bid farewell to Der Kommissar in an episode where Harry introduced his replacement... his brother Erwin Klein (Fritz Wepper's brother Elmar Wepper). Before Derrick, Wepper shared scenes with Tappert in Der Man mit dem Glassauge and got noticed in Cabaret (1972). He remained popular long after Derrick thanks to TV series like Zweï Brüder (1994-2000, with Elmar Wepper), Um Himmels Willen (2002-2021) and Mord in bester Geselshaft (2007-2017). The other regulars of Derrick were Willy Schäfer (Berger, called Weber in a season 3 episode), Günther Stoll (Schröder) and Gerhard Bormann (Echterding). Helmut Ringelmann liked to work with a quasi-repertory company of guest actors. The filming of the famous series began in summer 1973 and ZDF presented it with 3 episodes aired during autumn and winter 1974. 12 episodes from the second season followed throughout the year 1975.
Originally, viewers knew the culprit from the start — like in Columbo — though this was dropped for whodunnits. Occasional action sequences are another feature of these early seasons. The channel shown the first 29 episodes of Derrick out of their production order. Season 3 (January to November 1976) opens with one the best episodes of the series, Tod der Kolibris. A couple finds a dead asian woman in the trunk of their car. Derrick receives a phone call who leads him and Klein to Dr. Scheibnitz (Ernst Schröder) and his daughter (Sylvia Manas). The chief inspector is a tad mischievous in this episode directed by Dietrich Haugk. In the very good Tod des Trompeters, helmed by Zbyněk Brynych, a man wants to inform Derrick about a kidnapping but he's killed in a shootout where Harry is wounded. First of the 14 participations of actor Sky du Mont in the series (3).
The excellent Angst was shot by Theodor Grädler as the 11th episode, hence the murderer known from the beginning. A tyrannical businessman kills his younger mistress and pressures his unfortunate wife for an alibi, which makes Derrick angry. The performances of Hans Dieter Zeidler (Walter Hertel) and Heidelinde Weis (Franziska Hertel) are remarkable. Hertel's mistress is played by none other than Edgar Wallace alumna and future TV icon Uschi Glas. Due to the broadcast order, Bernd Herzprung appears as her new lover right after playing a musician in Tod des Trompeters. Hired for the second season episode Kamillas junger Freund, the legendary Edgar Wallace director Alfred Vohrer returns with two impressive thrillers titled Tote Vögel singen nicht and Schock (4). In the former, which starts with a dead girl found in a landfill, Derrick and Klein investigate a gallery of sordid characters.
Doris Kunstmann, Hans Canninberg and frequent Vohrer actor Harald Leipnitz are in the guest cast. Viewers who reacted to the episode's body count (five) complained about Schock too because of the death of a child. Alfred Recke, member of a car thief gang, kills the owner of a vehicle in front of his young son. Lussek, the ruthless gang leader, wants to get rid of the sole witness. Vadim Glowna is very good as Recke, alongside Karin Baal (Cosa avete fatto a Solange?, Der Hund von Blackwood Castle) as his wife. Dirk Galuba plays Lussek, the first of his 22 appearances in Derrick (5). Last participation of Joanna von Koczian as Stephan's girlfriend psychologist Renate Konrad. The car owner is played by Dieter Eppler, who had a small part in the previous episode.
In Kalkutta, directed by Alfred Weidenmann, Derrick goes undercover in a gambling ring. With Karl Michael Vogler, Eva Christian, Pinkas Braun, singer Ricky Shayne, etc. Edgar Wallace regular Jan Hendriks, who plays the bartender, had a different role in Schock. He became Martin Brenner in Der Alte, Helmut Ringelmann's successor to Der Kommissar (which premiered on ZDF in 1977). Shot as the seventh episode in 1974, Kein schöner Sonntag has two of the most despicable criminals of the series. In this classic, Schirmer (Ullrich Haupt) tells his son Jürgen (Andreas Seyfert) that he embezzled funds from his company and he wants to burglarize its safe to pay back. Jürgen offers to help him and Schirmer provides their alibi. Directed by Leopold Lintdberg.
In Auf eigene Faust, helmed by Zbyněk Brynych, a colleague of Derrick is killed near the police station. Horst Frank (known in France for Les tontons flingueurs) steals the episode as a counterfeiter who cooperates with Derrick and Klein. With Karl John, Helmut Käutner, Siegfried Rauch, etc. A shady man invites a tramp for a drink in his hotel room in Ein unbegreiflicher Typ, a jigsaw puzzle directed by Theodor Grädler. Actor Jürgen Goslar (Schündler) was also a scriptwriter and a director who helmed several Derrick and Der Alte. The great Hans-Michael Rehberg plays a hitman. Directed by Alfred Weidenmann, Das Bordfest epitomizes the switch to whodunnits with a disappearance during a company party on a boat. With Ernst Schröder and Mathieu Carrière.
International star Horst Buchholz (The Magnificent Seven) is Gerke, a maths teacher turned disco owner and robbery planner in Das Superding. The guest cast of this joyful caper packed by Wolfgang Becker includes Ullrich Haupt as a bank manager and Fassbinder actor Gottfried John (later in GoldenEye). Directed by Franz Peter Wirth, Risiko looks like an episode of Tatort, the ARD crime drama collection. In Pecko, helmed by Zbyněk Brynych, a young man who dreams to become a Cycle ball champion is the witness of a murder. With Pierre Franckh, Karl Walter Diess, Harald Juhnke, Stefan Behrens (Der Mann mit dem Glassauge), etc. This third season of Derrick concludes with the surprising Der Mann aus Portofino, under the direction of Dietrich Haugk.
The bold escape of a prisoner from a court of justice ends suddenly when he's murdered. Guest starring Kurt Meisel, Reinhard Koldehoff, etc. The theme of Derrick was composed by English musician Les Humphries. The work of the illustrious German composer Peter Thomas can be heard on three episodes. Derrick arrived in France as Inspecteur Derrick in 1986 on Silvio Berlusconi's La Cinq. The 14 episodes of this third season from Derrick are in the DVD boxset from Elephant Films in French or German (without subtitles). Bonus material is comprised of a photo gallery and the trailers of some of the titles from Elephant, such as Hunter (starring Fred Dryer), Fantasy Island (the original), Der Alte, Ein Fall für Zweï and Franck Riva (with Alain Delon).
(1)(2) https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/mieser-eindruck-a-c92c15d4-0002-0001-0000-000041599515
(3) About Sky du Mont's work for Helmut Ringelmann and the career of this actor (2005): https://tattard2.blogspot.com/2008/05/sky-du-mont.html
(4) See http://krimiserien.heimat.eu/alfred_vohrer.htm
(5) Dirk Galuba even played in Das Abschiedsgeschenk, the last episode of Derrick.
(3) About Sky du Mont's work for Helmut Ringelmann and the career of this actor (2005): https://tattard2.blogspot.com/2008/05/sky-du-mont.html
(4) See http://krimiserien.heimat.eu/alfred_vohrer.htm
(5) Dirk Galuba even played in Das Abschiedsgeschenk, the last episode of Derrick.
Seasons 1 & 2 on DVD (Review): https://tattard2.blogspot.com/2022/06/derrick-seasons-1-2-french-region-2-dvd.html
https://fr.shopping.rakuten.com/offer?action=desc&aid=11005095894&productid=8933407762
http://www.elephantfilms.com
https://fr.shopping.rakuten.com/boutique/ElephantFilm
See also:
Friday 30 September 2022
[REPEAT] THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. MABUSE (McFARLAND, 2005)
[First published on this blog in 2008. Moved because of a HTML issue on the original] Hiding
in the Darkness, a mysterious mastermind gambles on the weaknesses of
the human souls to achieve his sole purpose: the destruction of the
civilized world. In five books and twelve movies, under many aliases,
many disguises, Dr. Mabuse challenges Humanity.
David Kalat investigates in one of the most interesting books ever dedicated to genre cinema.
« He's stronger than you. He is like a God. » (Cara Carozza in Dr Mabuse der Spieler - quoted in The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse, Page 5)
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES
« There is a devil loose in Germany, and one day I think I saw the devil myself...» (Norbert Jacques)
Uncertain times generate all kind of nightmares, but some of these beautiful dreamers who are authors are given the ability to exorcize their fears of these troubled ages by translating the dark recesses of their visions through the creativity of their imagination: Moriarty, Fu Manchu, Fantômas... Mabuse, perils of their times, room 101 of their creators. Something wicked this way comes, and Norbert Jacques has seen it.
« Dr. Mabuse operates in the shadows, ruling a world that does not even know his name. » (David Kalat, The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse, Page 3)
From the ashes of a fallen empire, from the sins of a cardboard republic, in a country trying to recover from one of the most horrible wars, emerges Dr Mabuse der Spieler. Created by Luxemburg-born journalist turned author Norbert Jacques in 1921, Mabuse first terrifies millions of german readers of the Berliner Ilustrierten Zeitung in a five episodes serial for this magazine, then becomes a best-seller in hardback edition.
« Dr Mabuse der Spieler (« Dr Mabuse the Gambler ») depicts a criminal Führer who exploits social decay to his private advantage. » (David Kalat, The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse, Page 14)
David Kalat investigates in one of the most interesting books ever dedicated to genre cinema.
« He's stronger than you. He is like a God. » (Cara Carozza in Dr Mabuse der Spieler - quoted in The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse, Page 5)
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES
« There is a devil loose in Germany, and one day I think I saw the devil myself...» (Norbert Jacques)
Uncertain times generate all kind of nightmares, but some of these beautiful dreamers who are authors are given the ability to exorcize their fears of these troubled ages by translating the dark recesses of their visions through the creativity of their imagination: Moriarty, Fu Manchu, Fantômas... Mabuse, perils of their times, room 101 of their creators. Something wicked this way comes, and Norbert Jacques has seen it.
« Dr. Mabuse operates in the shadows, ruling a world that does not even know his name. » (David Kalat, The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse, Page 3)
From the ashes of a fallen empire, from the sins of a cardboard republic, in a country trying to recover from one of the most horrible wars, emerges Dr Mabuse der Spieler. Created by Luxemburg-born journalist turned author Norbert Jacques in 1921, Mabuse first terrifies millions of german readers of the Berliner Ilustrierten Zeitung in a five episodes serial for this magazine, then becomes a best-seller in hardback edition.
« Dr Mabuse der Spieler (« Dr Mabuse the Gambler ») depicts a criminal Führer who exploits social decay to his private advantage. » (David Kalat, The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse, Page 14)
Everything is said and all
ressemblances between the « Man without a Face » and a man with a
mustache on his face is the result of circumstances... or prescience.
Why "Dr.", by the way? « Germany knows well from countless
experiences the effects titles like Doctor, Professor or Count can have
on trust and respect. How often have people hung such titles like a
curtain in front of certain truths they don't want to have recognized. » explains Jacques in 1928. There's someone behind the curtain, pulling the strings, and this is not the Wizard of Oz.
« He ushered into the world a figure that escaped him. » (David Kalat, The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse, Page 11)
Then enters a Mabuse in his own respect: German cinema aspiring Wonder boy, womanizer and camera dictator Fritz Lang. Lang adapts Dr Mabuse, der Spieler in 1922 with a two-part movie scripted by him and his wife Thea von Harbou... former wife of the star of the film (in the title role), Rudolf Klein-Rogge.
LANGER, LANGER ZEIT
« With his monocled eye, barking orders in his German accent, Lang typified Hollywood of the 1930's and ‘40 s. It was an image that swiftly turned into cliché , the sadistic stereotype of the Germanic director. » (Page 20)
Fritz Lang can be considered of one of the fathers of the modern commercial cinema, creating as a writer, a director or both, the codes and conventions for adventure films long before movie buffs began to cry for an "Indy IV" (Die Spinnen, Indische Grabmal), conspiracy thrillers (Mabuse), science fiction (Metropolis), 007 movies (Spione) — just watch Octopussy with the work of Lang in mind) — or Film Noir (M). Close to him sits Alfred Hitchcock, minus the flamboyance and the genius, and his mother of all the summer pop-corn blockbusters: North by Northwest (1959).
« Alfred Hitchcock (who freely borrowed from Lang, much to his ire) took inspiration from this sequence [the police raid on Mabuse headquarters] for a very similar climax in his 1934 picture The Man who knew too Much. » (Page 58)
Thea von Harbou and Fritz Lang take the original Mabuse material from Norbert Jacques and make it their own without betraying the author (who collaborates with the duo on the adaptation), with a subtlety equaling the complexity of their professional and personal partnership (« We were married 11 years, because for ten years we didn't have time to get divorced. » cynically admitted Lang). But at the cost of Jacques's descent into collective oblivion (« Jacques did not help matters by largely setting his ambitious litterary projects aside in a vain attempt to recreate the Mabuse magic. », Page 16) as the man sold the property of Mabuse to the successive masterminds behind the cinematographic life of his creature.
« To get one sequence just the way he wanted, Lang fired real bullets at his cast to achieve truly realistic onscreen gun-shots and bullet holes. » (Page 31)
The two-part action packed Mabuse epic is critically acclaimed and is a domestic hit, establishing Fritz Lang as a prominent director in Germany. But parallel to the golden rule that « the Mabuse Principle demands that Mabuse destroys himself. » (Page 31), Herr Lang burns « bridges both behind and ahead of him, abusing and exploiting all around him. » (Page 21) and nearly ruins Ufa, the german answer to Hollywood majors of the time, with his Metropolis (1926).
M SCHLÄGT ZU
« Hitler understood the significance of film... » (Joseph Goebbels - quoted page 62)
You can't keep a « good » movie villain dead, or even in a mental institution, forever. The constant public demand to a Mabuse sequel pressures Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou to plan a « Mabuse II ». In 1930, the couple consult Norbert Jacques on the script of what is at the time titled Mörder unter uns (Murderers Among Us, released as M the following year) and Lang asks him for suggestions in order to bring back the mad doctor on the screen (« behind » the screen would be more proper, talking about Mabuse...)
Jacques « pitches » Mabuse Kolonie (Mabuse's Colony), his new book project, as a possible basis for such a follow-up. In Kolonie, a mysterious « dragon lady » known as Frau Kristina wants to establish her own mini-empire in the Brazilian jungle and the modus operandi of her criminal project is based on Dr. Mabuse's legacy. Lang feels a lack of cinematic potential of this story but retains the idea of a Last will and Testament. Mabuse will return.
« History was catching up with Art. Dr Mabuse had arrived. » (Page 34)
The sole trail to a gang of counterfeiters, a corrupt ex-cop working undercover, goes insane but leaves a clue to his former boss, Inspector Lohmann — the cynical old dog with new copper tricks from M (played again by Otto Wernicke) — and this clue is a name : Mabuse. The problem is that Dr. Mabuse (Rudolf Klein-Rogge, of course) has been locked in the cell of an asylum for a decade and the criminal mastermind is almost a vegetable.
Flashback... 1924, Adolf Hitler is in a cell after a failed coup, and writes Mein Kampf, his manifesto. Fast forward... January 1933, the Nazis come to power in Germany while Lang is shooting simultaneously Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse and Le Testament du Dr. Mabuse (a French version with a French cast and Rudolf Klein-Rogge as Everybody's favourite evil Mastermind). Due to premiere on March 24 in the same theatre that hosted the first Mabuse in 1922, Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse is delayed « for technical reasons » and then officially banned by the German Board of Film Censors, a puppet entity between the hands of Hitler's minister of propaganda Dr. Joseph Goebbels.
Fritz Lang flees to America. The legend will later tell the tale of a meeting with Dr. Goebbels, like his master a true fan of Lang's work since Die Nibelungen (1924), where Goebbels tempts Lang with a Faustian deal regardless of the jewish origins of the director. Anyway the one who is seduced by "the dark side of the Force" is Thea von Harbou, Lang's wife.
ATZE BRAUNER, DER SPIELER
« This would be the legacy of Artur Brauner. As would happen time and again throughout the history of film, commercial success was bought at price to one's artistic reputation. For everything that Brauner did to revive and reinvigorate German cinema, he would be forever regarded as a glorified P.T. Barnum. » (Page 132)
The prospect of second Mabuse resurrection originates from the dream of a man to rebuild the cinema industry of his country, a genius with an authentic taste for art and a real sense of commerce, first dealing to equalize both before surrendering to box office canons with profit. Despised by his pairs and critics but tacitly approved by the german public, snubbed by movie historians, Artur "Atze" Brauner is the third father of Mabuse after Norbert Jacques and Fritz Lang.
Founder of CCC Films in 1946, Brauner wants to lure back to Germany the director of Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse, the film who gave him the will and the strength to reach the top of the food chain of the german cinema industry. « It was the first true gangster film, garnished with every delicacy that would then become typical of this genre... » once recalled the man with the most sincere emotion.
« Lang makes you want to puke. Nobody in the whole world is as important as he imagines himself to be. I completely understand why he is so hated everywhere. » (Kurt Weill - quoted page 92)
Perceived as a "little dictator" in the United States, a Mabuse with a monocle, Fritz Lang « had fought almost everyone in Hollywood from the most revered of moguls to the most anonymous of technicians. » (Page 111) — to the point that some even wanted to kill him — changing studios at the speed of light, the director of The Big Heat (1953) puts methodically nails in the coffin of his US career in the most mabusian self-destructive way.
Artur Brauner, the most powerful movie tycoon of postwar Europe, dreams of a remake of Das Testament but seduces the Great Herr Lang's ego with an offer his vanity cannot refuse : the remake of the two-parter Indische Grabmal (1921) scripted by Thea von Harbou and Lang but directed by Joe May, much to Lang's discontent. The wonderful Der Tiger von Eschnapur and Das Indische Grabmal (1959) are panned by malicious critics. Behind the curtain, Mabuse awaits...
LA VENGANZA DEL DR. K
« I already killed that son of a bitch! » (Fritz Lang)
A Berlin cop (Gert Fröbe), an american businessman and playboy owner of a nuclear plant (Peter Van Eyck) and a young and beautiful damsel in distress (Dawn Addams) are the pawns on a luxory but deadly chess-board... the Hotel Luxor. And the game is watched by 1000 eyes monitoring the private lives of the guests in the palace. Only a psychic (Lupo Prezzo) and a psychiatrist (Wolfgang Preiss) seem to know the rules and why is an irritating insurance salesman (Werner Peters) the only one in position to checkmate the Master?
Mabuse is dead, long live Mabuse! Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse (The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse, 1960) is the swan song, the testament of Fritz Lang. Perils of troubled times, room 101 of a creator, from the anticipation of the Nazi terror to the nuclear Angst of the sixties and the intrusion of technology in everyday life, something wicked this way comes, and Fritz Lang has seen it all. Instead of the remake wished by Brauner, Lang offers a brand new Mabuse. 1000 Augen is a hit in Germany and is regarded as a masterpiece in France. Brauner offers the Master to helm a franchise but Lang refuses.
« There is no Mabuse because "Mabuse" is not a name, not in the traditional sense. It is a sign. It is a password. It is an ideology » (David Kalat, The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse, Page 5) .
Stop the press! (the Yellow Press ball?) The strength of The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse, by David Kalat, lies here: Mabuse survived Fritz Lang and Mr Kalat recalls us that reality. Dr. K is not only the author of one of the greatest books ever written about a genre movie series (with Focus on... The Pink Panther by Philippe Lombard) but also the boss of All Day Entertainment, a company releasing Collector's Editions of "Cult movies" on DVD. « My passion for the Mabuse series drove me to write this book, and it also drove me to license some of them for DVD release through All Day. » confesses the man almost as an apology for those who could consider that this situation could affect his comments. Rather call this professional consciousness...
« If Lang would not cooperate, his low-rent doppelgänger Dr. Harald Reinl would » (Page 143). Like specialist Jean-Pierre Dionnet during the wonderful and glorious hours of Cinéma de quartier for french pay-tv channel Canal Plus, David Kalat puts the spotlight on the « others » Mabuse : six movies produced between 1961 and 1970 deliberately ignored or despised by movie critics or historians.
DR. MABUSE SCHLÄGT WIEDER ZU
« Reinl retooled the Mabuse genre he inherated from Lang. Discarding any pretensions to art, he rebuilt it as a franchise, with an easy-to follow formula. And his contributions were significant: Lang directed three Mabuse films, Reinl two. » (David Kalat, The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse, Page 145 )
Artisan and artist extraordinary, king of german box office at the heights of his career, the name of Harald Reinl is associated to the Golden Age of Germany's popular cinema: Edgar Wallace, Winnetou, Jerry Cotton, Kommissar X... and of course Mabuse. With its omnipotent all-star yet invisible (almost...) villain played by Wolfgang Preiss, the return of his challenger Inspector Lohmann (Gert Fröbe, called "Kras" in the previous episode but who cares?), the mysterious triple-crossing charming superspy (Lex Barker) and the gorgeous lady with a secret (Daliah Lavi), The Return of Dr. Mabuse (1961) delivers with style top-notch entertainment. And why has that guy Bömmler the face of the insurance salesman of 1000 Augen (the great Werner Peters)?
The Return scribe Ladislas Fodor pens two more Mabuse : The invisible Dr. Mabuse (1962), directed by Reinl (with Lex « the Rex » Barker again), and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse. This Testament des Dr. Mabuse (1962) is directed by Werner Klinger, another artisan, who realizes Artur Brauner's dream of a remake of Fritz Lang's masterpiece. The next entry, Scotland Yard vs. Dr. Mabuse (1963) transposes heavily Mabuse into the Edgar Wallace franchise (through the adaptation of a book of his son, Bryan Edgar Wallace) and The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse (1964) strikes too much like Thunderball (actually released the following year... Another mabusian trick?)
« Even Brauner himself seemed a triffle scandalized by the whole affair ; of the eight films he produced with Jess Franco, La Venganza del Dr. Mabuse (« The Vengeance of Dr. Mabuse », 1970) is the only one not listed in CCC's official catalogue of films. » (Page 239)
They say that all good things must come to and end but Dr. Mabuse is all but good and his evil never ends. He resurfaces in Spain with La Venganza del Dr. Mabuse (1970). Produced discretely by Artur Brauner, this Vengeance in color is directed by the most revered icon of the genre cinema : el Don of B to Z movies with an attitude, spanish director Jesus Franco himself. Die Hard with a Vengeance?
DR. M LIVES
« No one will discover me. No one imagines that Dr. Mabuse lives. » (Professor Farkas in La Venganza del Dr. Mabuse)
The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse - A Study of the Twelve Films and Five Novels, by David Kalat (published by McFarland) not only explores the universe of the litterary Mabuse and the "official" movies but also, two movies: Scream and Scream Again (1969) and The Image of Dorian Gray in the Yellow Press (1984) which he associates to the character.
« Chabrol's love of Lang is absolute. » (Page 275)
David Kalat ends his fabulous book with a study of the excellent Club Extinction (aka Dr. M, 1990), the Claude Chabrol tribute to the Langian visions of Mabuse. Dr. Marsfeldt is the last heir of the testament of Dr. M, or is he? Mabuse lives through the book of Mr Kalat, a celebration of one of the monuments of popular german cinema, a cinema unfairly ignored. Mabuse will return, he always does.
Uncertain times generate all kind of nightmares, but some of these beautiful dreamers which are authors are given the ability to exorcize their fears of these troubled ages by translating the dark outposts of their visions through the creativity of their imagination : Moriarty, Fu Manchu, Fantômas, Mabuse... Marsfeldt, perils of their times, room 101 of their creators...
« ... From this summary of recent events, what meaning can we deduce? Can we recognize the coming apocalypse ? What horrible future do these signs portend? » (Norbert Jacques, Mabuse Kolonie, 1930)
« He ushered into the world a figure that escaped him. » (David Kalat, The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse, Page 11)
Then enters a Mabuse in his own respect: German cinema aspiring Wonder boy, womanizer and camera dictator Fritz Lang. Lang adapts Dr Mabuse, der Spieler in 1922 with a two-part movie scripted by him and his wife Thea von Harbou... former wife of the star of the film (in the title role), Rudolf Klein-Rogge.
LANGER, LANGER ZEIT
« With his monocled eye, barking orders in his German accent, Lang typified Hollywood of the 1930's and ‘40 s. It was an image that swiftly turned into cliché , the sadistic stereotype of the Germanic director. » (Page 20)
Fritz Lang can be considered of one of the fathers of the modern commercial cinema, creating as a writer, a director or both, the codes and conventions for adventure films long before movie buffs began to cry for an "Indy IV" (Die Spinnen, Indische Grabmal), conspiracy thrillers (Mabuse), science fiction (Metropolis), 007 movies (Spione) — just watch Octopussy with the work of Lang in mind) — or Film Noir (M). Close to him sits Alfred Hitchcock, minus the flamboyance and the genius, and his mother of all the summer pop-corn blockbusters: North by Northwest (1959).
« Alfred Hitchcock (who freely borrowed from Lang, much to his ire) took inspiration from this sequence [the police raid on Mabuse headquarters] for a very similar climax in his 1934 picture The Man who knew too Much. » (Page 58)
Thea von Harbou and Fritz Lang take the original Mabuse material from Norbert Jacques and make it their own without betraying the author (who collaborates with the duo on the adaptation), with a subtlety equaling the complexity of their professional and personal partnership (« We were married 11 years, because for ten years we didn't have time to get divorced. » cynically admitted Lang). But at the cost of Jacques's descent into collective oblivion (« Jacques did not help matters by largely setting his ambitious litterary projects aside in a vain attempt to recreate the Mabuse magic. », Page 16) as the man sold the property of Mabuse to the successive masterminds behind the cinematographic life of his creature.
« To get one sequence just the way he wanted, Lang fired real bullets at his cast to achieve truly realistic onscreen gun-shots and bullet holes. » (Page 31)
The two-part action packed Mabuse epic is critically acclaimed and is a domestic hit, establishing Fritz Lang as a prominent director in Germany. But parallel to the golden rule that « the Mabuse Principle demands that Mabuse destroys himself. » (Page 31), Herr Lang burns « bridges both behind and ahead of him, abusing and exploiting all around him. » (Page 21) and nearly ruins Ufa, the german answer to Hollywood majors of the time, with his Metropolis (1926).
M SCHLÄGT ZU
« Hitler understood the significance of film... » (Joseph Goebbels - quoted page 62)
You can't keep a « good » movie villain dead, or even in a mental institution, forever. The constant public demand to a Mabuse sequel pressures Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou to plan a « Mabuse II ». In 1930, the couple consult Norbert Jacques on the script of what is at the time titled Mörder unter uns (Murderers Among Us, released as M the following year) and Lang asks him for suggestions in order to bring back the mad doctor on the screen (« behind » the screen would be more proper, talking about Mabuse...)
Jacques « pitches » Mabuse Kolonie (Mabuse's Colony), his new book project, as a possible basis for such a follow-up. In Kolonie, a mysterious « dragon lady » known as Frau Kristina wants to establish her own mini-empire in the Brazilian jungle and the modus operandi of her criminal project is based on Dr. Mabuse's legacy. Lang feels a lack of cinematic potential of this story but retains the idea of a Last will and Testament. Mabuse will return.
« History was catching up with Art. Dr Mabuse had arrived. » (Page 34)
The sole trail to a gang of counterfeiters, a corrupt ex-cop working undercover, goes insane but leaves a clue to his former boss, Inspector Lohmann — the cynical old dog with new copper tricks from M (played again by Otto Wernicke) — and this clue is a name : Mabuse. The problem is that Dr. Mabuse (Rudolf Klein-Rogge, of course) has been locked in the cell of an asylum for a decade and the criminal mastermind is almost a vegetable.
Flashback... 1924, Adolf Hitler is in a cell after a failed coup, and writes Mein Kampf, his manifesto. Fast forward... January 1933, the Nazis come to power in Germany while Lang is shooting simultaneously Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse and Le Testament du Dr. Mabuse (a French version with a French cast and Rudolf Klein-Rogge as Everybody's favourite evil Mastermind). Due to premiere on March 24 in the same theatre that hosted the first Mabuse in 1922, Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse is delayed « for technical reasons » and then officially banned by the German Board of Film Censors, a puppet entity between the hands of Hitler's minister of propaganda Dr. Joseph Goebbels.
Fritz Lang flees to America. The legend will later tell the tale of a meeting with Dr. Goebbels, like his master a true fan of Lang's work since Die Nibelungen (1924), where Goebbels tempts Lang with a Faustian deal regardless of the jewish origins of the director. Anyway the one who is seduced by "the dark side of the Force" is Thea von Harbou, Lang's wife.
ATZE BRAUNER, DER SPIELER
« This would be the legacy of Artur Brauner. As would happen time and again throughout the history of film, commercial success was bought at price to one's artistic reputation. For everything that Brauner did to revive and reinvigorate German cinema, he would be forever regarded as a glorified P.T. Barnum. » (Page 132)
The prospect of second Mabuse resurrection originates from the dream of a man to rebuild the cinema industry of his country, a genius with an authentic taste for art and a real sense of commerce, first dealing to equalize both before surrendering to box office canons with profit. Despised by his pairs and critics but tacitly approved by the german public, snubbed by movie historians, Artur "Atze" Brauner is the third father of Mabuse after Norbert Jacques and Fritz Lang.
Founder of CCC Films in 1946, Brauner wants to lure back to Germany the director of Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse, the film who gave him the will and the strength to reach the top of the food chain of the german cinema industry. « It was the first true gangster film, garnished with every delicacy that would then become typical of this genre... » once recalled the man with the most sincere emotion.
« Lang makes you want to puke. Nobody in the whole world is as important as he imagines himself to be. I completely understand why he is so hated everywhere. » (Kurt Weill - quoted page 92)
Perceived as a "little dictator" in the United States, a Mabuse with a monocle, Fritz Lang « had fought almost everyone in Hollywood from the most revered of moguls to the most anonymous of technicians. » (Page 111) — to the point that some even wanted to kill him — changing studios at the speed of light, the director of The Big Heat (1953) puts methodically nails in the coffin of his US career in the most mabusian self-destructive way.
Artur Brauner, the most powerful movie tycoon of postwar Europe, dreams of a remake of Das Testament but seduces the Great Herr Lang's ego with an offer his vanity cannot refuse : the remake of the two-parter Indische Grabmal (1921) scripted by Thea von Harbou and Lang but directed by Joe May, much to Lang's discontent. The wonderful Der Tiger von Eschnapur and Das Indische Grabmal (1959) are panned by malicious critics. Behind the curtain, Mabuse awaits...
LA VENGANZA DEL DR. K
« I already killed that son of a bitch! » (Fritz Lang)
A Berlin cop (Gert Fröbe), an american businessman and playboy owner of a nuclear plant (Peter Van Eyck) and a young and beautiful damsel in distress (Dawn Addams) are the pawns on a luxory but deadly chess-board... the Hotel Luxor. And the game is watched by 1000 eyes monitoring the private lives of the guests in the palace. Only a psychic (Lupo Prezzo) and a psychiatrist (Wolfgang Preiss) seem to know the rules and why is an irritating insurance salesman (Werner Peters) the only one in position to checkmate the Master?
Mabuse is dead, long live Mabuse! Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse (The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse, 1960) is the swan song, the testament of Fritz Lang. Perils of troubled times, room 101 of a creator, from the anticipation of the Nazi terror to the nuclear Angst of the sixties and the intrusion of technology in everyday life, something wicked this way comes, and Fritz Lang has seen it all. Instead of the remake wished by Brauner, Lang offers a brand new Mabuse. 1000 Augen is a hit in Germany and is regarded as a masterpiece in France. Brauner offers the Master to helm a franchise but Lang refuses.
« There is no Mabuse because "Mabuse" is not a name, not in the traditional sense. It is a sign. It is a password. It is an ideology » (David Kalat, The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse, Page 5) .
Stop the press! (the Yellow Press ball?) The strength of The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse, by David Kalat, lies here: Mabuse survived Fritz Lang and Mr Kalat recalls us that reality. Dr. K is not only the author of one of the greatest books ever written about a genre movie series (with Focus on... The Pink Panther by Philippe Lombard) but also the boss of All Day Entertainment, a company releasing Collector's Editions of "Cult movies" on DVD. « My passion for the Mabuse series drove me to write this book, and it also drove me to license some of them for DVD release through All Day. » confesses the man almost as an apology for those who could consider that this situation could affect his comments. Rather call this professional consciousness...
« If Lang would not cooperate, his low-rent doppelgänger Dr. Harald Reinl would » (Page 143). Like specialist Jean-Pierre Dionnet during the wonderful and glorious hours of Cinéma de quartier for french pay-tv channel Canal Plus, David Kalat puts the spotlight on the « others » Mabuse : six movies produced between 1961 and 1970 deliberately ignored or despised by movie critics or historians.
DR. MABUSE SCHLÄGT WIEDER ZU
« Reinl retooled the Mabuse genre he inherated from Lang. Discarding any pretensions to art, he rebuilt it as a franchise, with an easy-to follow formula. And his contributions were significant: Lang directed three Mabuse films, Reinl two. » (David Kalat, The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse, Page 145 )
Artisan and artist extraordinary, king of german box office at the heights of his career, the name of Harald Reinl is associated to the Golden Age of Germany's popular cinema: Edgar Wallace, Winnetou, Jerry Cotton, Kommissar X... and of course Mabuse. With its omnipotent all-star yet invisible (almost...) villain played by Wolfgang Preiss, the return of his challenger Inspector Lohmann (Gert Fröbe, called "Kras" in the previous episode but who cares?), the mysterious triple-crossing charming superspy (Lex Barker) and the gorgeous lady with a secret (Daliah Lavi), The Return of Dr. Mabuse (1961) delivers with style top-notch entertainment. And why has that guy Bömmler the face of the insurance salesman of 1000 Augen (the great Werner Peters)?
The Return scribe Ladislas Fodor pens two more Mabuse : The invisible Dr. Mabuse (1962), directed by Reinl (with Lex « the Rex » Barker again), and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse. This Testament des Dr. Mabuse (1962) is directed by Werner Klinger, another artisan, who realizes Artur Brauner's dream of a remake of Fritz Lang's masterpiece. The next entry, Scotland Yard vs. Dr. Mabuse (1963) transposes heavily Mabuse into the Edgar Wallace franchise (through the adaptation of a book of his son, Bryan Edgar Wallace) and The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse (1964) strikes too much like Thunderball (actually released the following year... Another mabusian trick?)
« Even Brauner himself seemed a triffle scandalized by the whole affair ; of the eight films he produced with Jess Franco, La Venganza del Dr. Mabuse (« The Vengeance of Dr. Mabuse », 1970) is the only one not listed in CCC's official catalogue of films. » (Page 239)
They say that all good things must come to and end but Dr. Mabuse is all but good and his evil never ends. He resurfaces in Spain with La Venganza del Dr. Mabuse (1970). Produced discretely by Artur Brauner, this Vengeance in color is directed by the most revered icon of the genre cinema : el Don of B to Z movies with an attitude, spanish director Jesus Franco himself. Die Hard with a Vengeance?
DR. M LIVES
« No one will discover me. No one imagines that Dr. Mabuse lives. » (Professor Farkas in La Venganza del Dr. Mabuse)
The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse - A Study of the Twelve Films and Five Novels, by David Kalat (published by McFarland) not only explores the universe of the litterary Mabuse and the "official" movies but also, two movies: Scream and Scream Again (1969) and The Image of Dorian Gray in the Yellow Press (1984) which he associates to the character.
« Chabrol's love of Lang is absolute. » (Page 275)
David Kalat ends his fabulous book with a study of the excellent Club Extinction (aka Dr. M, 1990), the Claude Chabrol tribute to the Langian visions of Mabuse. Dr. Marsfeldt is the last heir of the testament of Dr. M, or is he? Mabuse lives through the book of Mr Kalat, a celebration of one of the monuments of popular german cinema, a cinema unfairly ignored. Mabuse will return, he always does.
Uncertain times generate all kind of nightmares, but some of these beautiful dreamers which are authors are given the ability to exorcize their fears of these troubled ages by translating the dark outposts of their visions through the creativity of their imagination : Moriarty, Fu Manchu, Fantômas, Mabuse... Marsfeldt, perils of their times, room 101 of their creators...
« ... From this summary of recent events, what meaning can we deduce? Can we recognize the coming apocalypse ? What horrible future do these signs portend? » (Norbert Jacques, Mabuse Kolonie, 1930)
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