Das indische Tuch

Heinz Drache recently died. Reason enough to watch this one again. I find that of all the movies on tape the films of the Wallace series are the ones that I watch again and again. And the "Tuch" is after "Der Hexer" the best one. It just got everything. As a rule of thumb: the ones with Drache are best, the ones with Fuchsberger are all okay. If Kinski is in it, great. But really important is the presence of Eddi Aren't and Siegfried Schuerendorf. Luckily they are in practically every of the 38 or so of the series.

Alfred Vohrer, one of the unrecognized geniuses of Film, directs his incredible cast through a story that is both negligible and a highlight of mystery. Lord Lebanon died and his greedy family is forced to spend a week in the castle, if they want to inherit. Of course, they are cut off from the outside world because of a storm or something. And so (and this is hardly a spoiler I hope) as one after the other gets strangled, they are on their own. And Frank Tanner (Drache), the lawyer, has to solve the crime. He does it with his usual light spirit. Unfortunately not to successful, for he suspects each and everyone (and is suspected by the others) and even after there are only three members of the family left - one of them the beautiful women (well not so beautiful to be honest) who has literally no other role than to bring in some female presence, he still suspects the wrong one, namely wonderful Elisabeth Flickenschildt. Well. Of course, the whole thing cannot be taken seriously and is not meant to be taken seriously. There are funny scenes throughout the film. Eddie Aren't as butler Bonwit is superb but easily overshadowed by Schuerenberg, who only has to say "Was sind denn das für Sachen?" to make my heart jump from joy. Even better when he imitates his parrot saying "Murderer, murderer" as Aren't leaves his room. At the end all the dead are present as ghosts as the will is read to the final family member, the above mentioned young lady (Gisela Uhlen). But she does not inherit, no. Guess who is the lucky one? Try to rent this one somewhere. An easy ten out of ten.

In another old-fashionable story devised by the cult British writer George Wallace where an elderly rich aristocratic man went to die hanged by an Indian scarf, due a contentious family such man required in his last testament that all them must keep together on the mansion for six days, thus the clever man expect they killing each other to take all properties and money, as he'd previously envisaged,aftermaths one by one appeared hanged by the deadly scarf.

The picture was led by the lawman Heinz Drache, the gorgeous lady Corny Collins, the iconic Klaus Kinski as illegitimate son, the wise butler Eddi Arent, the possessive mother Elisabeth Flickenschildt and his skilled piano player son Hans Clarin, fine mystery murder entertainment.

Thanks for reading.

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First watch: 2025 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.

"The indian scarf" was directed in 1963 by Alfred Vohrer , from a novel by Edgar Wallace. The murders were shot like future italian gialli, spoiled by few lousy german "comic" scenes (most with Heinz Drachi). There are still a majority of moody expresionnist scenes with a bunch of terrifying actors like Ady Berber (as the massive weird domestic), Elisabeth Flickenschildt, Hans Clarin and the inevitable Klaus Kinski. Very entertaining.

"Das Indische Tuch" aka. "The Indian Scarf" of 1963 is a highly entertaining example for the German Edgar Wallace movies. Adaptations of Edgar Wallace's novels were immensely popular in Germany of the late 50s and early 60s, and these Edgar Wallace movies are sometimes considered to be the predecessors of the Italian Gialli. Even though the German murder mysteries do not nearly come up to the greatness of the Italian Thriller/Horror sub-genre (Giallo is one of my personal favorite genres), it is obvious why these comparisons are made, which "The Indian Scarf" is one of the best examples for. Released in the same year as the great Mario Bava's "La Ragazza che sapeva troppo" aka. "The Gril Who Knew Too Much", which is widely considered to be the very first Giallo ever, "The Indian Scarf" is a murder mystery that takes place in a mansion, where a bunch of relatives of a recently deceased man are to spend a week together in order to inherit his money. As the week goes on, the bodies pile up... The murders are shown from the killer's perspective, as it is the case in most Gialli. This may not be the most suspenseful thing in the world, but it is definitely a highly entertaining little murder mystery, with a nice style and interesting characters. The performances are fine, especially the immortal Klaus Kinski, who is still quite young here, is once again excellent in his role. Other very good performances include Elisabeth Flickenschildt as the imperious lady Lebanon, Eberhard Junkersdorf and Hans Nielsen. Every actor delivers, but, of course, Kinski steals the show as always. Fans of murder mysteries and cult cinema should not miss out on this moody little flick that promises a highly entertaining hour and a half!

A rich man is bumped off and it is made to look like a heart attack. His possible heirs must spend 7 days in "peaceful coexistence" before his will is read.As usual the heirs are strangled one by one(with an Indian scarf).The finger of suspicion points to anybody and everyone. Is it the lawyer? Or wife; the son; the dope addict (Klaus Kinski intense as usual); the clergyman etc. Well this film drowns in red herrings and the ending is off the wall and irritating. I'm a big fan of this series and this disappoints. Only the acting and settings gives this a 4.