The puzzle of the silver triangle
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The puzzle of the silver triangle |
| Original title | Circus of Fear / The riddle of the silver triangle |
 | |
| Country of production | Great Britain , Germany |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1966 |
| length | 91 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director |
John Llewellyn Moxey , Werner Jacobs (German version) |
| script | Peter Welbeck |
| production | Harry Alan Towers |
| music |
Johnny Douglas , Raimund Rosenberger (title music), Martin Böttcher (closing music) |
| camera | Ernest Steward |
| cut | John Trumper |
| occupation | |
| |
The Riddle of the Silver Triangle (sometimes also correctly spelled The Riddle of the Silver Triangle ) is a German-British crime film (English title: Circus of Fear ), based on motifs from the short story "The Silver Triangle" (original title: Again the Three Just Men / The Law of the Three Just Men ) by Edgar Wallace . The film was produced by Harry Alan Towers and shot in London from November 1965 to January 1966 . Constantin Film contributed 500,000 DM to the production costs and released the film in German cinemas on April 29, 1966 as the 25th Edgar Wallace film of the post-war period .
action
On a Sunday morning, a money truck is ambushed by bandits. Mason, one of the bandits, kills a police officer. Nevertheless, the unknown boss sends him to the Barberini Circus, where he is supposed to hand over the stolen money. Once there, Mason is murdered by a well-aimed throwing knife and the money disappears. Scotland Yard's Inspector Elliot follows the trail to the circus, where he meets the lion tamer, Gregor. This is said to have been attacked by one of his animals years ago, and his face was so disfigured that he can only go out in public under a black mask.
Then the murder of the girl Gina is committed in the same way. Inspector Elliot notes that there is a silver triangle on the handle of both knives. They are part of a set of throwing knives that the late famous artist Danilo used to work with. Nothing is known about his only child.
Inspector Elliot interrogates the circus people, among whom are several strange and suspicious characters. One of them, Carl, is looking for his father's murderer.
One night a fire breaks out in the circus. In the confusion, the lion tamer Gregor loses his half-burned mask. His face is not disfigured, and Carl recognizes him as his father's murderer.
Together with his daughter Natascha, he flees to a remote cave, where he is found by Carl. Gregor protests that he is not the murderer of Carl's father, he died in an accident. Then Gregor flees again, but is stopped by a masked figure and falls to his death. The banknotes from the robbery are in his suitcase.
The killer is finally exposed at the dress rehearsal in the circus when the accountant Eddie appears as the new partner of the knife thrower Mario, because none other than Eddie himself is the cold-blooded wanted killer and boss of the gang that robbed the money truck. On the run from the police, Eddie, who is actually the son of the late knife thrower Danilo, falls to his death. That was why he was so unerringly able to handle a knife and commit the two murders.
Reviews
"As a rule, series films decrease in quality, but since the author's name is Wallace, this time too, solid cinema entertainment is provided."
“Edgar Wallace's crime fiction fabrics are grip and crease-proof like real tweed. There is no weaving flaw in it from which to pull the threads. And since there were also good (film) tailors at work, there was a perfectly fitting (film) suit. Which means, above all, that you sit on hot coals right up to the last film meter. "
"There is plenty of tension from the first to the last meter, but there is also confusion and illogic."
“Cheap, lengthy and confused thriller from England [...]. Without any recommendation. "
“British Wallace film on the same low level as the German productions. Once again, inevitably in this story about a circus killer, Klaus Kinski is charged. "
German version
The German actors Heinz Drache and Eddi Arent synchronized themselves and can be heard with their own voices. Other voice actors were:
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Gregor | Christopher Lee | Heinz Engelmann |
| Inspector Elliot | Leo Genn | Holger Hagen |
| Barberini | Anthony Newlands | Herbert Weicker |
| Manfred | Klaus Kinski | Werner Uschkurat |
| Gina | Margaret Lee | Kathrin Ackermann |
| Natasha | Suzy Kendall | Heidi Treutler |
| Sir John | Cecil Parker | Robert Klupp |
| Mario | Maurice Kaufmann | Horst Naumann |
| Detective Manley | Lawrence James | Klaus Kindler |
| Jackson | Tom Bowman | Niels Clausnitzer |
| Mr. Big | Skip Martin | Wolf Rahtjen |
| mason | Victor Maddern | Klaus Höhne |
Others
- Producer Harry Alan Towers wrote the script again for his third and final Edgar Wallace film under his pseudonym Peter Welbeck.
- The film was directed by John Llewellyn Moxey . Werner Jacobs , who was named as the director in the German version, only acted as a director's coordinator.
- The film's exterior shots were shot on location in London and around Windsor Castle. The interior shots were shot at Bray Studios in London.
- The title music in the German version was taken from the Bryan Edgar Wallace film “ The Seventh Sacrifice ” (1964) and was composed by Raimund Rosenberger . Other archive music by other composers was also used in the film. The music in the original version was entirely by John Douglas .
- The film was shot in color and was shown in the original English version. For the German dubbing, however, a previously drawn black and white copy of the film was used. The later delivered color copy contained a different cutting sequence and z. T. other settings . It was therefore decided to distribute the film in Germany as a black and white film. All other Edgar Wallace films appeared in color from then on.
- According to other sources, Constantin Film released the film as a black and white film in order to give preference to the Rialto production “ The Hunchback of Soho ” as the first Edgar Wallace film in color. However, this is countered by the fact that the distributor marketed the adventure film " Death Drums on the Great River " produced by Harry Alan Towers as the first color film in the series as early as 1963 .
- The film was approved by the FSK for ages 12 and over after the murders of Mason (Victor Maddern) and Gregor (Christopher Lee) had been cut. The colored opening credits were initially only broadcast in black and white on television. In the meantime, the film has been released in the uncut German original version and is released for people aged 16 and over.
- In the USA the film was also shown under the title Psycho-Circus .
literature
- Edgar Wallace: The silver triangle (Original title: Again the Three Just Men ). German translation. Wilhelm Goldmann GmbH, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-442-05358-7 .
- Joachim Kramp , Jürgen Wehnert: The Edgar Wallace Lexicon. Life, work, films. It is impossible not to be captivated by Edgar Wallace! Verlag Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89602-508-2 .
- Joachim Kramp : Hello! This is Edgar Wallace speaking. The story of the legendary German crime film series from 1959–1972 . 3. Edition. Verlag Schwarzkopf and Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-89602-645-3 .
Web links
- Circus of Fear in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The riddle of the silver triangle ( memento from December 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) at deutscher-tonfilm.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Evangelischer Presseverband München, Review No. 164/1966
