"Oberinspektor Marek" is a TV series from the Good Old Times in Europe, giving the impression of more a radio play than a real TV play and with that testifying the youth of TV series at that time. Together with "Hallo, Hotel Sacher, Portier" and "Wenn Der Vater Mit Dem Sohne", it was Fritz Eckhardts (1909-1995) masterpiece, the three TV series go under the title of "Strassenfeger" (Street Cleaners), because they achieved to keep people standing at home in the evenings, and this in the 60ies, when everybody started to get more money to spend, participating on the Wirtschaftswunder (Ecomomic Miracle). Compared to modern criminal series, e.g. the Tatorts of the last years, the 80 minutes episodes of "Oberinspektor Marek" come in very harmless. The criminals are mostly simple betrayers, and if somebody get killed, the investigation of the case discloses mostly a human misery out of which somebody reacted in panic, thus sharing the guilt with the family members or neighbors who just had looked away until it became too late. The Oberinspektor himself is an old "Grantler", as the Viennese special terms runs for a notorious nag. However, he has strong fatherly features (being married and having children, who, however, are never seen during the whole series including the later upcoming Tatort-Mareks). Quite different is the member of second importance in the police bureau: Bezirksinspektor Wirz (Kurt Jaggberg), who is not only a Grantler, but also cynical, sexist and severe with inclusion of brutality. The third member, inspector Kraindl, is clearly professionally the best amongst all three, but, being the youngest and having the lowest title, he has not much to say. Then, there is as a fourth member a secretary, or to be more precise in the Viennese sense: a Vertragsangestellte, from 1965 on played by the then blood-young Lieselotte Plauensteiner. She was the secretary and as such an important figure in the later Marek-Tatorts. As a child, when I watched every newly broadcast episode, I always thought that she was much more beautiful than Marilyn Monroe. More than forty years later, nothing has changed in my judgment.
