Babeck
Babeck is a ZDF crime thriller from 1968, also known as the street sweeper . The individual parts are about 60 minutes long.
The film is based on a script by Herbert Reinecker , directed by Wolfgang Becker and produced by Helmut Ringelmann .
action
A young man named Manfred Krupka tries to explain the disappearance of his father, the scissors grinder Krupka. The trail leads to Lake Starnberg , where his father visited the doctor Dr. Brenner was seen. It soon turns out that this has something to do with the murder.
Shortly afterwards, the body of a Mr. Hohmann from Genoa is transferred to Germany. But his daughter Marianne does not believe in Hohmann's death, who allegedly drowned. After Dr. Brenner is found dead, the trail also leads Manfred Krupka to Hohmann's daughter. It turns out more and more that Hohmann's body was not even transferred to Germany, but was replaced by the body of Krupka's father. Herr Weingarten, a relative of Hohmann's, cannot cover up the traces either. While the responsible detective proves to be overwhelmed, Krupka does his own research and subsequently escapes several attacks.
After a few murders, the trail leads more and more to a certain Babeck, who seems to be behind all the crimes. Marianne Hohmann and Manfred Krupka also have to travel to Genoa to shed light on the darkness. This shows that Hohmann lives and works for Babeck, the boss of arms smugglers who have already loaded the freighter Calasetta destined for Africa with weapons. The weapons are destined for a revolution to be led by an African politician in exile living in a European country. Krupka and Marianne are able to uncover the gang's machinations and Krupka believes that he has the mysterious Babeck in front of him in a wheelchair. Only at the very end does Kaminsky, ostensibly Babeck's "right hand", reveal himself as the real Babeck by having the wheelchair user, his straw man , shot; the murder is staged as suicide . But shortly afterwards he is shot himself by his daughter Susanne Stefan, Kaminsky's lover. The wheelchair user unknown by name was just an actor who had taken on "Babeck's" role. The planned revolution does not take place because Krupka, who is himself a journalist, launched the plan of uprising to the international press in London , which also causes the arms smuggling to fail and everyone involved to suffer a huge financial loss.
particularities
Babeck was the second ZDF crime trilogy that became a so-called street sweeper with an audience rate of over 70%. Part 1 had 68% visual participation, part 2 75%.
ZDF produced the trilogy in order to create competition for the successful Durbridge films by ARD. Curd Jürgens, who plays the man in the wheelchair, was originally supposed to play the main role, but after an accident he was dependent on a wheelchair, which is why the script had to be rewritten. The part of Mr. Weingarten was originally occupied by Martin Held .
It is noticeable that the Durbridge films previously shot on ARD are set in England. In the ZDF productions, however, the locations change. If the action of Death Runs afterwards took place in England and France, the location of the action at Babeck has already shifted to Germany and Italy. Finally, 11:20 am will be played in Turkey and Tunis. In 1969, the ZDF television film Hotel Royal was also produced , and a large part of the staff and actors were again involved in its production.
All three Reinecker trilogies show decisive parallels. These lead the respective investigator ( Fuchsberger or Lohner) through a series of interlinked storylines to a surprising, but also for the investigator thoughtful or even pointless ending. Similar characters appear again and again, e.g. B. Gerd Baltus in Death runs after Siegfried Lowitz in Babeck , or Friedrich Joloff in his three roles. The summaries (“What happened so far”) at the beginning of the second and third part can still make it clear today, due to the strong condensation of the plot, what Beckett's achievements Herbert Reinecker was capable of at that time.
In the second part of the trilogy Senta Berger sings the song Vergiß mich, if you can , which is also Babeck's theme music in an instrumental version . The vocal title was published on the sampler CD Moonflowers & Mini Skirts by the composer Peter Thomas, the instrumental version on the sampler CD Straßenfeger , Colosseum - Cinesoundz CST 80772.
Babeck is rarely seen on television these days. According to the ZDF, the trilogy does not correspond to today's viewing habits. The three-part series was released on DVD in November 2006. However, the action-immanent summaries before Part 2 and Part 3 are missing and the original opening credits for Part 2 and Part 3 have been replaced by a title running against a black background.
Episodes
- A coffin from Genoa (German first broadcast: December 27, 1968 ZDF)
- The secret of the Calasetta (German first broadcast: December 28, 1968 ZDF)
- Deadly deals (German first broadcast: December 29, 1968 ZDF)
Web links
- Babeck in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Babeck at filmportal.de
- Babeck at Die Krimihomepage
- Sound carrier with the theme music