Il laccio rosso

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.

"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!

The term "Krimi" refers to a genre of movies made between 1959-1967 in what was then West Germany. All of the early Krimis were shot in black and white and resembled the American "film noirs" of the 1940s and early 1950s. They are basically crime dramas although most also contained mystery elements, and were based on the works of English writer Edgar Wallace (1875-1932). Most of the stories are set in England but were shot in Germany using German actors and feature German and English soundtracks, although the latter are all dubbed and, as is usually the case, not very well.

There were 32 Edgar Wallace movies made, and all by one company, Rialto Films. Another company, CCC Films, produced a series of movies based on works of the writer's son, Bryan Edgar Wallace. The principal director for the Rialto series was Alfred Vohrer who directed 14 of the 32 films which were produced. DAS INDISCHE TUCH (The Indian Scarf), the 14th film in the series, is one of the better ones as it contains all the classic mystery elements with comic relief provided by series regular Eddi Arent who usually appeared as an aloof butler or a self-effacing sidekick.

The frequently recycled plot features several greedy relatives who have gathered for the reading of a will hoping to inherit a rich man's money. However the will stipulates that in order to inherit any legacy they all must spend a week together in his castle. This allows one of them the opportunity to bump off the others as the week progresses...but which one of them is doing it? Almost all of the characters are unsympathetic and exceedingly avaricious so they get, in celebrated old dark house fashion, what's coming to them. Nothing new there. The twist (pun intended) comes from the film's title as all the victims are strangled with a silk Indian scarf.

The cast of German actors includes the dependable Heinz Drache who was usually a stalwart leading man for many European productions during the 1960s. Here he plays the lawyer who not only reads the will but he also winds up solving the mystery. Then there is the one and only Klaus Kinski who brings his celebrated brand of intensity to the role of a temperamental sculptor who may also be a drug addict. Veteran actress Elisabeth Flickenschildt is given the showy role of the widowed matriarch who harbors a dark secret while Hans Clarin is her artistic son who has dreams of being a concert pianist.

The murders are committed from the killer's point-of-view and we are treated to a scene of a scarf being rolled tight in front of the camera before something happens. The film is well made and manages to be spooky and tongue-in-cheek at the same time. The end sums up the movie perfectly. Although SCARF isn't a great film, it holds a special memory for me as I first saw it with my mother, who was a great fan of mysteries, on board a German liner during my one and only jaunt to Europe back in 1964. I was 12 year old at the time and this was the first subtitled movie I'd ever seen. This disc is one of the fully restored EDGAR WALLACE series which was released back in 2004...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

It was a super entertaining watch, I enjoyed especially the humor indicating home gadgets a lot, that served the story. The oversized beethoven statue that holds some murder weapons, the tea wagon following Eddie Arent without a leash, the mysterious secret doors leading to cupboards, the weird clay statue of a stupid handyman, the oversized horse... set design in these Edgar Wallace adaptions in Germany is a real GEM and often overlooked. For me, the humor and the set design are a major plus point for the film experience, together with an EXTREMELY exciting cast, such as Eddie Arent, Heinz Drache and Elisabeth Flickenschild. Really fun, fast paced and easy going entertainment!

"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.