The Indian cloth
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The Indian cloth |
 | |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1963 |
| length | 86 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Alfred Vohrer |
| script |
Harald G. Petersson Georg Hurdalek |
| production |
Horst Wendlandt , Preben Philipsen |
| music | Peter Thomas |
| camera | Karl Löb |
| cut | Hermann Haller |
| occupation | |
| |
The Indian Cloth , a crime film by director Alfred Vohrer , is the 16th German-language Edgar Wallace film of the post-war period . The film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Edgar Wallace (original title: The Case of the Frightened Lady ) was produced by Rialto Film and shot in West Berlin from July 8 to August 13, 1963 . The film recorded in Ultrascope was shown in German cinemas on September 13, 1963.
action
One evening the old Lord Lebanon is strangled from behind with an Indian cloth during a phone call in his castle “Marks Priory”. The nine heirs, who later gathered in the castle of the late Lord Lebanon, were amazed when, when attorney Tanner opened his will, they only read out the penultimate will of the deceased - who, according to the doctor, died of a heart attack: You should Spend the following six days and nights together in the old walls and only then find out which inheritance they are entitled to. Should someone leave the castle prematurely, their entitlement will expire; this is then divided among the remaining members. After the completely divided kinship has to some extent come to terms with the unpleasant content of the will, a storm disrupts the electricity and telephone lines and cuts off the property from the outside world. Shortly afterwards, the first heir is also strangled with an Indian cloth. Since they are on their own and there is no police officer in the house, attorney Tanner takes over the investigation. After further murders according to the same scheme, besides Tanner, only the lady with son and butler and Isla are left. Lady Lebanon finally realizes that her insane son is the killer before she becomes his final victim herself. When Edward is followed by the family dog after the crime, he falls out of a window while escaping and dies too. The reading of the last will takes place in the presence of the three remaining lawyers Tanner, Butler Bonwit and Isla Harris. The faithful butler receives an Indian bandana and the entire inheritance goes to Edgar Wallace.
Reviews
"Alfred Vohrer, meanwhile turned into a kind of cinematic criminalist, walks safely and nerve-ticklingly in the footsteps of the great master."
“Edgar Wallace, the old master of the 'suspense maker', remains true to his reputation again and keeps the audience in suspense for 90 minutes. However, there are a few macabre excesses in the picture and plot, and statements by butler Eddi Arent also go beyond the scope of the conventional. Nevertheless, the lover of crime films will get the coveted thrill and overlook the 'blemishes'. "
“Alfred Vohrer got this issue of his series under control particularly quickly and wittily. Experienced actors [...] made the ironic horror game exciting. "
"Again an original material, which, running down to the smallest detail, wins through its macabre-serene side lights, has a collective of actors calibrated for it and [...] is quite exciting."
"The weird crime thriller jokes with horror."
"Macabre fun of the horror master."
"Scary series thriller based on Edgar Wallace, which disappoints even the slightest expectations."
Trivia
- The treatment written by Egon Eis based on the Wallace novel “The Indian Cloth” still had the working title “The Unheimliche” and was reworked into a script by Georg Hurdalek . After this proved to be unsuitable, it was extensively revised by Harald G. Petersson .
- In order to save production costs, outdoor shots should be avoided and the film should be shot entirely in the studio. It was finally made on the studio premises of CCC-Film in the Berlin district of Spandau , where the only two outdoor shots were shot; one shows a former water tower on the studio premises. Exterior shots of the castle were also dispensed with, instead a painted backdrop ( matte painting ) was filmed.
- Eva Ebner lent her voice to the operator at the beginning of the film ("Please stay on the line - I'll connect ..."). The following sentence "Hello, this is Edgar Wallace speaking." Was spoken by director Alfred Vohrer. At the end of the film, Rainer Brandt can be heard on the phone as “Inspector Fuchsberger”.
- Several piano classics can be heard in the film: the Fantasie Impromptu No. 4 (B part), Op. 66 by Frédéric Chopin , the Prelude in C sharp minor by Rachmaninov and the beginning of the 1st Piano Concerto by Tchaikovsky . The first movement (Adagio sostenuto) of the Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven and the Liebestraum No. 3 by Franz Liszt can also be heard in one scene.
- The film was approved by the FSK for ages 16 and over without any restrictions. The film was shown on television in a heavily shortened version in the wrong format . The original colored opening credits were replaced by a black and white opening credits. In 1991, the shortened version for ages 12 and up was released. In the meantime, the film has been released in the original theatrical version, which is released again from the age of 16.
- The film was first shown on German television on December 18, 1973 at 7.30 p.m. on ZDF .
literature
- Edgar Wallace: The Indian Cloth / Secret Agent No. 6 / The Diamond River . Three novels in one volume. German translation. Goldmann Verlag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-442-55510-9 .
- 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
- The Indian cloth in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Indian cloth ( memento from December 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) at deutscher-tonfilm.de
- The Indian cloth at Filmportal.de
- Sound carrier with the film music
Individual evidence
- ↑ ... and five more premieres . In: Hamburger Abendblatt . November 2, 1963, p. 33 ( PDF file; 1.7 MB ). PDF file; 1.7 MB ( Memento of the original from January 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The Indian cloth. Number 2819_2. (No longer available online.) In: old.filmarchiv.at. Paimann's film lists , November 5, 1963, archived from the original on May 28, 2018 ; accessed on May 28, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The Indian cloth. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 25, 2017 .
- ^ Filmlexikon and Spiegel.de .
