THIERRY ATTARD'S DOUBLE FEATURE: October 2022

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://fr.shopping.rakuten.com/offer?action=desc&aid=11247783433&productid=9127469666

http://www.elephantfilms.com/

https://fr.shopping.rakuten.com/boutique/ElephantFilm

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)

http://www.irenerodrian.de/

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)

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)

Wednesday, 12 October 2022

DERRICK - SEASON 3 ON DVD (ELEPHANT FILMS)

[Favourite of the Month] Derrick, the German crime drama starring Horst Tappert and Fritz Wepper, ran for 281 episodes from 1974 to 1998 on ZDF and aired in over 100 countries. Season 3 (14 one-hour episodes) is now available in France on DVD (All Zone) in the "Inspecteur Derrick - Intégrale saison 3" boxset released by 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).