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).

 

https://fr.shopping.rakuten.com/mfp/8444898/un-cas-pour-deux?pid=9498097334

http://www.elephantfilms.com/

 

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)