The Witcher (1932)

Movie
Original title	The witcher
Country of production	Germany
original language	German
Publishing year	1932
length	85 minutes
Rod
Director	Carl Lamac
script	Knut Borries ; Gigotte Walter
production	Carl Lamac ; Arthur Hohenberg
music	Jara Beneš ; Artur Guttmann
camera	Otto Heller
cut	Ella Ensink
occupation
	Paul Richter : Inspector Wenbury; Maria Solveg : Mary Lenley; Carl Walther Meyer : John Lenley; Wera Engels : Cora Ann Milton; Fritz Rasp : Lawyer Maurice Meister; Paul Henckels : Chief Inspector Bliss; Leopold Kramer : Police doctor Dr. Lomond; Karl Etlinger : Thief Sam Hackitt; Karl Forest : Colonel Walford; Franz Schafheitlin : Constable Carter;

The Witcher is a German-Austrian crime film based on the novel of the same name (original title: The Ringer ) by Edgar Wallace . The film, directed by the director Carl Lamac , was produced in 1932 by the Berlin-based Ondra-Lamac-Film GmbH in the Austrian Sascha studio. The premiere took place on July 22, 1932 in the atrium in Berlin . This film is the fifth Edgar Wallace film with German participation.

action

A young woman plunges into the Thames from a bridge. Pickpocket Sam Hackitt identifies the dead woman as Gwenda Milton, secretary to lawyer Maurice Meister and sister of the 'witcher'. Inspector Wenbury, who at the same time has to clarify the theft of Lady Darnleigh's precious pearl necklace, takes over the investigation. He also learns that Cora Ann Milton, the witcher's wife, is on her way to London. Wenbury assumes that the witcher will also leave Australia and travel to London.

Attorney Maurice Meister hires Mary Lenley, a childhood friend of Wenbury, as the new secretary. A little later the ship with Cora Ann Milton arrives in London. Chief Inspector Bliss is also on board. John Lenley, Mary's brother, is accused of stealing Lady Darnleigh's pearl necklace. The evidence seems clear, so Wenbury has to arrest John. Wenbury suspects the anonymous report was from Maurice Meister and warns Mary.

During the trial of John Lenley, Mary meets the police doctor Dr. Know Lomond. Meanwhile, although Cora Ann Milton is being followed, the police have been unable to determine the witcher's whereabouts. Cora Ann pays lawyer Meister a visit and informs him that her husband will take revenge for his sister's suicide. Master, who protects his house against intruders with security systems, however, does not fear the witcher.

But a little later Hackitt, who works as a servant for Meister, discovers his boss lifeless in his armchair. Wenbury, called for help, takes Doctor Lomond to the crime scene. There the two meet Inspector Bliss. Lomond manages to save masters. Just as he comes to, the lights go out and Master is shot. But which of those present is the witcher?

background

The director Karel Lamač ( Carl Lamac ), around 1930

Ondra-Lamac-Film GmbH produced the Edgar Wallace film Der Zinker as early as 1931 . In 1933/34 the production company produced the only German adaptation of Wallace's Der Doppelgänger to date . A French version of the film was also shot with other actors under the title Le jugement de minuit .

After the Second World War, Fritz Rasp played in five other Edgar Wallace films. Franz Schafheitlin played Scotland Yard boss Sir John in Wallace's 1961 film The Dead Eyes of London .

The film inspectorate issued a youth ban on the film. The film was no longer shown after the war. It was released on DVD on November 26, 2010.

Reviews

“The readers of the novel and the admirers of Wallace's tension technique were not disappointed. They saw a film uploaded with excitement and surprise, exciting from the first to the last picture, completely understandable - true to the tried and tested Wallace recipe - but only in the very last shot. "

- Photo stage , July 23, 1932

“At first glance, Wallace's Witcher appears to be excellent film material; Loaded with tension, mathematically ingenious, the uncanny plot with sculpted figures. The play took advantage of all of these assets. The film is different now. Carl Lamac's direction is stretched. He puts the love story in the foreground and thereby robs the criminal case of its main importance. The people and events have no speed, are clumsy. Nevertheless, Fritz Rasp, as a lawyer Meister, is able to evoke Wallace's horror in mask and game. He remains the only one; because Maria Solveg and Wera Engels may look excellent, but they don't have the strength to individualize their template roles. In the comic area, Karl Etlinger's Hackitt is a delicious type. "

- Berliner Morgenpost , September 3, 1932

Further film adaptations

Feature films

The Ringer (UK 1928) - directed by Arthur Maude (with Leslie Faber , Annette Benson )
The Ringer (Great Britain 1931) - directed by Walter Forde (with Patric Curwen , Franklin Dyall )
Le jugement de minuit (France 1932) - directed by André Charlot and Alexander Esway (with Marion Delbo , Janine Merrey )
The Gaunt Stranger (UK 1938) - directed by Walter Forde (with Sonnie Hale , Wilfrid Lawson )
The Strangler Comes at Midnight (UK 1952) - Directed by Guy Hamilton (with Herbert Lom , Donald Wolfit )
The Witcher (Germany 1964) - Director: Alfred Vohrer (with Joachim Fuchsberger , Heinz Drache )

Television films

The Ringer (Great Britain 1938) - (with Garry Marsh , Neville Brook )
The Witcher (1956) - Director: Franz Peter Wirth (with Franz Schafheitlin , Susanne von Almassy )
The Witcher (1963) - Director: Rainer Erler (with Peter Pasetti , Eva Maria Meineke )

literature

Edgar Wallace: The Witcher / The Blue Hand / The Secret of the Yellow Daffodils . Three novels in one volume. German translation. Goldmann Verlag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-442-55502-4 .
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 .

Web links

The sorcerer in the Internet Movie Database (English)
The Witcher ( Memento from December 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) at deutscher-tonfilm.de
The witcher at Filmportal.de


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)