The curse of the yellow snake

Movie
Original title	The curse of the yellow snake
Country of production	Germany
original language	German
Publishing year	1963
length	98 minutes
Age rating	FSK 16
Rod
Director	Franz Josef Gottlieb
script	Janne Furch , ; Franz Josef Gottlieb
production	Artur Brauner
music	Oskar Sala
camera	Siegfried Hold
cut	Walter Wischniewsky
occupation
	Joachim Fuchsberger : Clifford Lynn; Brigitte Grothum : Joan Bray; Pinkas Braun : Fing-Su; Werner Peters : Stephan Narth; Doris Kirchner : Mabel Narth; Charles Regnier : Major Spedwell; Eddi Arent : Samuel Carter; Claus Holm : Inspector Frazer; Fritz Tillmann : Joe Bray; Zeev Berlinski : street sweeper;

The Curse of the Yellow Snake was the 13th German Edgar Wallace film of the post-war period . The film adaptation of the novel "The Yellow Snake" by Edgar Wallace (original title: The Yellow Snake ) was filmed from November 20, 1962 to January 10, 1963 in West Berlin under the direction of Franz Josef Gottlieb . The first Edgar Wallace film produced by Artur Brauner's CCC-Film was shown in German cinemas on February 22, 1963.

action

Joe Bray - a wealthy Brit living in Hong Kong - owns an ancient Chinese oracle , the yellow serpent. One night strangers break into Bray's Pagoda to steal the snake. Bray's son, Clifford Lynn, witnesses the deed and takes possession of the snake. He suspects his half-brother Fing-Su and his organization “The joyful hands” as the client of the attempted theft, which Bray initially does not believe.

Shortly afterwards, Clifford Lynn travels to London to meet Bray's cousin Stephan Narth. He hopes for his financial rescue through Clifford Lynn's marriage to his foster daughter Joan. The young people do not agree to this agreement at first, which Fing-Su, who also lives in London, gets wind of. This gives Stephan Narth the necessary 50,000 pounds, making him a willless tool.

In the meantime, Clifford Lynn discovers an armory and a secret lodge in a hideout owned by Fing-Su and his sect, where a fight against all whites is to begin on November 17th. To do this, Fing-Su needs the yellow snake that Clifford Lynn has hidden from a friend as a symbol of power. Shortly afterwards he is robbed by cult members.

Reviews

“The crime story is based on global political conflicts in the plans of the“ Federation ”, while its details remain within the usual framework; the eerie atmosphere of the locations is cleverly illustrated [...]. "

- Paimann's film lists , March 19, 1963

“No, it's not worth following Fing-Su and his family on the wrong track. Worse than the hero's bullet is the audience's laughter. Only the tear that gives you nothing to laugh about is questionable: the silence in the cinema makes you suspicious, because claims may be processed in this silence. The ghost voice of Edgar Wallace invites you to the cinema 'To the silly goose bumps'. "

- German newspaper and business newspaper

“In the dialogue, the allusions to the 'yellow danger' and 'racial prejudice' become even clearer. Little different from Goebbels' style, Fing-Su suggests to his Chinese slaves in a mystical ceremony that they will one day be masters of the world. "

- film service

“The Edgar Wallace films could never be expected to provide intellectual highs; but they were mostly old-fashioned charming with their harmless horror appeal. In this case, however, it is not only the incongruous plot that is annoying, but also the clearly racist allusions in the dialogues and roles: The Chinese are evil, submissive and lustful, while the whites are all "good guys". "

- TV movie

"Serial Edgar Wallace film adaptation."

- Lexicon of international film

Others

Charles Regnier played Major Spedwell

In contrast to the Kurt Ulrich production “ The Avenger ” (1960), this film was distributed by Constantin Film , which also marketed the Wallace films by Rialto Film . This meant that the contract actor and star of the series, Eddi Arent , was available for this production . In addition, the start date of the film could be planned in such a way that it did not have to compete directly with a Wallace film from the Rialto Film.

This was the first Edgar Wallace film by director Franz Josef Gottlieb . For Rialto Film he was supposed to direct the Wallace films “ The Black Abbot ” and “ The Crypt with the Riddle Castle ”.

The outdoor shots were shot in West Berlin , including a. in the aquarium at the zoological garden . The London recordings came from the archive. For the first time for a film in the series, the interior recordings took place in the studios of CCC-Film in the Berlin district of Spandau . This is where most of the Edgar Wallace films from Rialto Film were made.

Initially, other actors were planned: Lex Barker instead of Joachim Fuchsberger , Senta Berger instead of Brigitte Grothum , Christopher Lee instead of Pinkas Braun , Maria Sebaldt instead of Doris Kirchner , Siegfried Lowitz instead of Claus Holm and Gustav Knuth instead of Fritz Tillmann . Only Werner Peters kept the role intended for him.

Shortly before, film composer Oskar Sala also set the Hitchcock film “ The Birds ” to music with his mixed trau- tonium .

The film was approved by the FSK without editing requirements from the age of 16.

literature

Edgar Wallace: The Yellow Snake / The Angel of Terror / By the three oaks . Three novels in one volume. German translation. Goldmann Verlag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-442-55505-5 .
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 curse of the yellow snake in the Internet Movie Database (English)
The curse of the yellow snake at filmportal.de
The curse of the yellow snake ( Memento from December 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) at deutscher-tonfilm.de
Sound carrier with the film music

Individual evidence

↑ The Curse of the Yellow Serpent. (No longer available online.) In: old.filmarchiv.at. Paimann's film lists , No. 2769_1, March 19, 1963, archived from the original on October 12, 2016 ; accessed on October 12, 2016 . 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. @1@ 2
↑ The Curse of the Yellow Serpent. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 12, 2016 .

[1] The Curse of the Yellow Serpent. (No longer available online.) In: old.filmarchiv.at. Paimann's film lists , No. 2769_1, March 19, 1963, archived from the original on October 12, 2016 ; accessed on October 12, 2016 . 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. @1@ 2

[2] The Curse of the Yellow Serpent. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 12, 2016 .


Pre-war period	The Great Unknown (1927) • The Red Circle (1929) • The Strangler (1929) • The Zinker (1931) • The Witcher (1932) • The Double (1934)
post war period	The Frog with the Mask (1959) • The Red Circle (1960) • The Avenger (1960) • The Gang of Terror (1960) • The Green Archer (1961) • The Dead Eyes of London (1961) • The Secret of the Yellow Daffodils (1961) • The Forger of London (1961) • The Strange Countess (1961) • The Riddle of the Red Orchid (1962) • The Door with the Seven Locks (1962) • The Inn on the Thames (1962) • The Curse the yellow snake (1963) • The zinc man (1963) • The black abbot (1963) • The Indian cloth (1963) • The drums of death on the great river (1963) • Room 13 (1964) • The crypt with the riddle lock (1964) • The Witcher (1964) • The Gates of Traitors (1964) • Sanders and the Ship of Death (1965) • News from the Witcher (1965) • The Scary Monk (1965) • The Mystery of the Silver Triangle (1966) • The Hunchback of Soho ( 1966) • The White Nun's Secret (1966) • The Blue Hand (1967) • The Monk with the Whip (1967) • The Dog of Blackwood Castle (1968) • Under the Spell of the Eerie (1968) • The Gorilla of Soho (1968) • The Man with the Glass Eye (1969) • The Face in the Dark (1969) • The Devil Came from Akasava (1971) • The Dead from the Thames (1971) • The Secret of the Green Pin ( 1972) • The Mystery of the Silver Crescent (1972)