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As a change from the many Edgar Wallace crime novels, producer Horst Wendlandt from Rialto Film probably wanted to have another writer make a film. And so Alfred Vohrer got to work and brought "Pay or Die" (Mission to Siena) by James Hadley Chase to the wide screen (Ultrascope). It was shot in black and white in the Hamburg studio as well as in London and Trieste.

What's it about? A rich lord (Hans Paetsch) and his lady (Adelheid Seeck) are blackmailed by the turtle gang. Her smart nephew Donald (Götz George) rushes to help, but cannot prevent the uncle's nasty murder. Together with his friend (Hans Clarin), the smart sonny boy goes looking for murderers and meets a sophisticated social snake named Laura Lorelli (Hildegard Knef). Can this enchanting lady who pays her respects to the young dynamic hero with a cucumber mask on her face or in the bubble bath have something to do with the turtle's devious machinations? Lorelli certainly knows her way around the darkest corners of London. There she also surrounds herself with the darkest guys (Carl Lange, Klaus Kinski). The inspector (Heinz Reincke) from Scotland Yard doesn't know what to do next.

Change of scene!

With a tip, the nephew and his friend manage to follow the sunglassed beauty to Trieste. There it turns out that the good woman is married to Margrave Mario (Richard Münch) and resides at Miramare Castle. The Margrave is more than respected in Trieste, but secretly a little Doctor Mabuse has been lost to him. The surveillance equipment he installed in the castle is impressive. Nephew Donald also feels this. And what role does the margrave's obscure secretary (Pinkas Braun) play, who so conspicuously sneaks around the moody Lorelli? Questions upon questions...

Alfred Vohrer had a top cast at his disposal for this production, and yet this film didn't really work at the box office. The great Hildegard Knef is a dream for this role, opaque, lascivious, capricious. Plus the agile Götz George, young and wiry. From the beginning, there is an underlying eroticism between the two, but this is repeatedly interrupted by scratchiness.

A certain thematic and spatial division of the film is certainly problematic. The shots in London are gloomy, the areas shown are rancid and dilapidated. In Trieste, flooded with light, everything takes place in a castle. But here the Dr. Mabuse-like aspects of the story come into their own wonderfully. Things get really wonderful when Knef and George end up in a room whose ceiling keeps coming towards them and threatens to crush them both. Delightfully creepy!

Even if the film isn't entirely successful, it's something of a little gem. Having world star Hildegard Knef and the chanting action guy Götz George together in a horror thriller by Alfred Vohrer is too much fun to rate below 9 points. Scary beautiful!!!

Although this 1964 German "krimi" b&w crime film has the look and feel of one of the Edgar Wallace based films (although it doesn't have as many outrageous plot contrivances!), it's actually based on a novel by the great crime novelist James Hadley Chase and features the stunning Hildegard Knef in the lead role, along with Gotz George, a name familiar to any fan of 60s German films. Knef, first seen in the film as a platinum blonde with a hairdo that retro girls would kill for, brings an air of icy yet seductive intrigue to the film, and it's a shame she did not make more of these. The plot, about a gang of blackmailers led by a crippled mastermind who is motivated by misanthropy, moves quickly and director Alfred Vohrer, an old hand at creating a bleak, mysterious atmosphere in his crime films, has created a gem of a krimi film with MARK OF THE TORTOISE. It has all the good qualities of the Edgar Wallace series, yet is quite different and a change of pace...largely due to the presence of the great Hildegard Knef.

There's so much to like in this film - an adaptation of a James Hadley Chase novel - and so much to admire, especially in the playing, and the all-pervasive sense of cruelty and despair - but ultimately it fails, due to the compromises it makes, not least in the apparent need to appeal to fans of James Bond films; and of super- villains, and 60s cool.

For the most part, the best elements are in the London scenes of the first third of the film, and our expectations are high for the film, given the crispness and bluntness of the early establishing scenes: the way that we're forewarned of an imminent assassination- and the manner in which we are familiarised with the various gang members assigned to carry it out: ice-cruel blonde, (Hildegarde Knef); facially-disfigured henchman, Crantor (Carl Lange) - masquerading here as a London taxi-driver - and twitchy ex-circus knifethrower, Shapiro (Klaus Kinski). And then there's their mysterious leader, Alsconi (Richard Munch ), initially present only by way of a trans- continental car-phone,

Doubts begin to set in when the action switches to Trieste, - and the budget cranks up, accordingly: a far remove from the claustrophobia of dingy hotels and broken down caravans of London backstreets. Now, we're in a land of exotic castles; and gadgetry more befitting the 21st Century; and underground tunnels, and sleek rooms and corridors; and super-villains more suited to Bonds and UNCLEs. It doesn't unravel completely, as we're continually pondering character motivations, and who will ultimately double-cross who; and danger seems to lurk around every frame. But, ultimately it's not the film I had wanted it to be.

Knef's magnetic screen charisma - and carefully-enunciated calculation - dominates every scene she's in, irrespective of competition ;the bleached-blond, cruel-lipped Munch just manages to steer the right side of caricature; Kinski is even more riveting - and his characterisation is all the more iconic for being briefer than we might have wanted it to be; and Götz George - although he perhaps shows a tad too much resourcefulness for the of average intelligence Cambridge student that's introduced to us - at least proves that he could make for an ideal German James Bond equivalent.

If for no other reason than the London scenes, series stalwart, Alfred Vohrer, acquits himself well; I'd lay the film's failings at the hands of the scriptwriters and producers

The Mark of the Tortoise is not, as is the case with most of the rest of the genre, based on a book by the great Edgar Wallace (or his son Bryan) and instead takes its plot from a novel by crime writer James Hadley Chase. Alfred Vohrer once again takes the director's reigns but unfortunately the end result is a film that is simply not as good as many other genre offerings. The main thing I like about this genre is the style and the wayward/ridiculous plot occurrences; and this one is lacking in both areas, which leaves it feeling rather plain and bland. The plot focuses on a young man whose uncle is a rich man. The uncle has fallen under the threat of blackmail and the nephew endeavours to get to the bottom of it. It turns out the gang of blackmailers is being lead by a crippled mastermind who, due to loss of the use of his legs, finds his only pleasure in life is derived from extorting money from rich people.

One benefit of the film being fairly simple is that it's easy to follow and this allows the director to focus more on the characters and their situations rather than getting wrapped up in various plot points. It's the antagonists that are most interesting; with the crippled mastermind in particular being the most fleshed out character, and he gets support from his scarred assistant and his beautiful mistress who may or may not be entirely loyal to him. The film really lacks in suspense and mostly just relies on its plot to deliver the thrills and this doesn't always happen. The film rather lacks atmosphere and a lot of it takes place in the daytime too, which doesn't really help a lot. It does at least feature the crisp black and white picture that is seen in most of the early Krimi films. There's one moment of suspense towards the end in which some characters are trapped inside a room and that leads into the ending which is not entirely typical or expected; but isn't all that good either. This is a little different from most Krimi films, but I wouldn't list it among the best of the genre.

Mark of the Tortoise (in the u.s.)... in germany, it's "wartezimmer zum jenseits", which loosely means waiting room to the afterlife. A german production, by german director alfred vohrer. Filmed in italy and england. Dubbed in english, for the version, currently showing on tubi. When a famous family member is knocked off, donald ( götz george) vows to avenge his death. Can donald figure this all out before shapiro (klaus kinski) and laura loreli (hildegard knef) knock off more people? And will they be knocked off themselves? It's a pretty good thriller, partially because of the international intrigue. At forty two minutes, they leave the savoy in a car, and drive just past a HUGE ship tied at dock. Too bad they couldn't work that into the plot... would have added some fun intrigue! The plot is kind of all over the place, but it's entertaining. Traitors and treachery. The dub track is very well done! Based on the book mission to siena by james chase. He apparently had TONS of novels made into film!