Espionnage à Hongkong

First "Hong Kong Reißer" from the Rapid film with Marianne Koch, Klausjürgen Wussow and Brad Harris

This film, which is also known under the titles "Il segreto di Budda" and "Hong Kong Hot Harbor", was intended to become the prototype of the crime and adventure film against an exotic backdrop for the film producer Wolf C. Hartwig and his Munich Rapid Film. A location like Hong Kong was lavishly illustrated in all its tourist attractions, plus there was a little sex (as was usual in Hartwig's previous productions) and violence (as in the phenomenally successful Edgar Wallace series of Rialto films). Popular stars (Marianne Koch, Klausjürgen Wussow) met a regular ensemble from Rapid-Film (Brad Harris, Horst Frank and Dorothee Parker) and international guests (Dominique Broschero, Carlo Tamberlani). And all in color and in widescreen format! The audience was enthusiastic not only in Germany (premiere: May 23, 1962), but also in France (Espionnage a Hong Kong), Mexico (El infierno de Hong Kong) and several other countries.

About the plot: A journalist (Klausjürgen Wussow, the later star of the ZDF hit series "Die Schwarzwaldklinik" (1985-1989)) comes to Hong Kong to find out more about the mysterious suicide of a good friend. There he meets a charming young woman (Marianne Koch, who would co-create the spaghetti western with Clint Eastwood in "For a Fistful of Dollars" (1964) two years later) who supports him in his endeavors. They meet a wiry police inspector (Brad Harris) and his sophisticated secretary (Dorothee Parker). The characters remain somewhat opaque, played by the enchanting Dominique Boschero, the terrifying Horst Frank and the opaque Carlo Tamberlani. All sorts of complications arise that make it clear that there is much more to the whole affair than initially thought. Beautiful views of Hong Kong alternate with action-packed scenes, so that the audience is hardly bored. The plot is less in the foreground than the lavish visuals.

The whole thing was routinely staged by director Jürgen Roland, who had made the very good Edgar Wallace film "Der grüne Bogenschütze / The Green Archer" the year before (also with Klausjürgen Wussow) and also in the following years as a genre specialist ("The Black Panthers of Ratana" and "The River Pirates of the Mississippi" were very successful.

Through the mediation of the Italian co-producers, Brad Harris was cast, which would turn out to be groundbreaking for German adventure films in the coming years. The muscle-bound bodybuilder Harris had already played characters like Goliath or Samson in several Italian peplum or sandal films - following in the footsteps of his great role model Steve Reeves. For this film he had to hide his huge upper arms under a khaki uniform (but with shorts that really emphasized his leg muscles!), but he was able to get involved in the choreography of the fight scenes as a stunt coordinator, which he also did in all future scenes German-speaking countries from "action flicks" produced with himself in important roles. Even though Brad Harris (1933-2017) was certainly not the best actor, with his outstanding stunt expertise he contributed a lot to the positive development of German-language genre films, especially in the 1960s.

With adventure films of this kind, Wolf C. Hartwig captured the tastes of the primarily German cinema audience. Just remember that exotic locations are still appreciated by audiences in every "Das Traumschiff / Dream Ship" (since 1981 on German TV station ZDF) episode today. And crime stories as a genre have been taken over by television anyway. It's definitely worth taking a look at the original to see how it all began. Despite its weaknesses, "Hot Harbor Hong Kong" is a genre film worth seeing that should become the blueprint for many subsequent productions.

Stolen microfilm, chases in Hong Kong, 2nd hand actors, etc. I wanted to see it thanks to actors seen in other movies: the beautiful Marianne Koch, Marisol from "A Fistful of Dollars", Dominique Boschero, from other Eurospy movies - a genre for which I have a childhood weakness, I grew up with them over the '60s - Horst Frank, an equivalent of Klaus Kinski, a specialist in villain roles also in those Eurospy movies, and, finally, the embarrassing Brad Harris (one of the most lamentable actors ever), seen in the Commissioner X series, with Tony Kendall, and a few other films. Equally lamentable and embarrassing is the lead actor, Klausjürgen Wussow, whom I have never seen in any other film. Recommended only for lovers of the genre and fans of the named actors. 3 stars, only for the participation of Marianne Koch, Dominique Boschero and Horst Frank, one star for each, just for their presence.