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 fourth season is available in France on DVD since last month in the "Un cas pour deux - Intégrale saison 4" boxset (All Zone, 10 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 4" boxset from Elephant Films contains the 10 episodes of this exceptional 4th season, shown on ZDF between January and December 1984.
- Totes Kapital. An excellent season premiere penned by Hans-G. Michel and helmed by Michael Meyer. Willi Kunze, a woodworker, is refused a loan for a surprising reason. With Bruno Dallansky (Willi), Karl Michael Vogler (Patton) as Klaus Altmann, Loni von Friedl (Doppelgänger) as Doris Zenker.
- Auf eigene Gefahr. An ex-girlfriend of Josef hires him because she thinks her husband is unfaithful. Matula's investigation takes an unexpected turn. With Gila von Weitershausen (Gerti Breuer). Written by Peter Hemmer and directed by Michael Mackenroth.
- Elf Jahre danach. Udo Lemke killed the first husband of Frauke Kuiper. As he's about to be released from prison she wants to prevent him from seeing her daughter Ann, who was a key witness during his trial. A great work by Karl Heinz Willschrei, directed by Michael Meyer. With Ursula Heyer (Frauke Kuiper), Rolf Becker (Udo Lemke).
- Chemie eines Mordes. Another great episode written by Karl Heinz Willschrei. Alexander Markus is suspected of a deadly hit and run. With Hansjörg Felmy (Tatort) as Markus, Hans Clarin (Danzer), Heidi Bruhl (Iloana Faber), Reiner Schöne (Alexander Birk). Directed by Eugen York.
- Die verlorene Nacht. A jigsaw puzzle devised by Karl Heinz Willschrei. With Christoph M. Ohrt (Edel & Starck, HeliCops - Einsatz über Berlin) as Uli Grass and Maja Maranow (Elke Kirch). Helmed by Kaspar Hedelbach.
- Zuckerbrot und Peitsche. Dieter Renz goes undercover in this episode written by Karl Heinz Willschrei and directed by Bernd Fischerauer. With Kathrin Ackermann (Mrs Hubschmid), Towje Kleiner (Mr Bertram). Actor Reiner Schöne, who appeared in Chemie eines Morders, is also a songwriter and singer. His Reiner Schöne Band made the music of this episode.
- Morgengrauen. A three-parter penned by Karl Heinz Willschrei and helmed by Michael Mackenroth. Initially aired by ZDF on November 16, 18 and 20, 1984. Matula works as the housekeeper of a villa where he finds a dead body. He's quickly accused of murder in this mysterious case partially filmed in Brittany and whose atmosphere reminds of Alexander Zwo.
With Heidelinde Weis (Helga Winzer), Désirée Nosbusch (Nathalie Winzer), Edwin Noël (Prosecutor Ahrendt), Herbert Stass (Kirch), Armin Mueller-Stahl as Dr. Winzer, Yolande Gilot (Claudine), French actor Pierre Londiche as Leblanc, Thekla Carola Wied (Judge). Jürgen Schmidt, who plays Hauptkommisar Urban, played Kommissar Roland in the episode Die Verlorene Nacht. Music by Birger Heymann. Stunts of Part 2 by Rémy Julienne.
- Immer Ärger mit Ado. Ado, an old bricklayer, asks Renz for advice. With Wolfgang Reichmann (Ado), Heiner Lauterbach (Kluge). Written by Karl Heinz Willschrei and directed by Ilse Hoffmann.
From 2017 and 2019, Claus Theo Gärtner returned to his signature role for three 90-minute specials. All the episodes of the "Un
cas pour deux - Intégrale saison 4" boxset are in French and in German (without subtitles), except for Zuckerbrot und Peitsche (in German with subtitles). Bonus material consists of a
photo gallery and the trailers of some other titles of Elephant
Films: Highway to Heaven, The Rockford Files, Inspector Morse, A Touch of Frost and Wycliffe. 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.
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/2022/12/a-case-for-two-ein-fall-fur-zwei-season.html (Ein Fall für zwei - Season 3)
https://tattard2.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-case-for-two-ein-fall-fur-zwei-season.html (Ein Fall für zwei - Season 2)
https://tattard2.blogspot.com/2022/06/a-case-for-two-ein-fall-fur-zwei-season.html (Ein Fall für zwei - Season 1)
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)
No comments:
Post a Comment