The Witcher (1964)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The witcher |
 | |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1964 |
| length | 85 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Alfred Vohrer |
| script |
Herbert Reinecker , Harald G. Petersson |
| production |
Horst Wendlandt , Preben Philipsen |
| music | Peter Thomas |
| camera | Karl Löb |
| cut | Jutta Hering |
| occupation | |
| |
The Witcher is a German crime film by director Alfred Vohrer and the 20th German-language Edgar Wallace film of the post-war period . The film adaptation of the novel of the same name (original title: The Ringer ) by Edgar Wallace was produced by Rialto Film . The sequel appeared in 1965 under the title News from the Witcher .
action
Gwenda Milton, the attorney's secretary, is found dead in the Thames . What looks like an accident turns out to be murder . The autopsy shows that she did not drown , but was strangled . She was the sister of Arthur Milton, the so-called "Witcher". This had forced some crooks to suicide to commit, so he was expelled from England and since then in Australia lives. The murder of Gwenda calls not only Scotland Yard , but also the "witcher" on the scene, who should not leave the murder of his sister unpunished.
Sir John and Inspector Higgins of Scotland Yard are faced with the difficult task of finding Gwenda Milton's murderer before the "witcher" punishes the perpetrators. Inspector Higgins is pleased that the retired Scotland Yard Inspector Warren, the only one who saw the "Witcher", reports to Sir John and offers to help with the hunt. The "witcher" is a master of camouflage and knows how to change his appearance.
The police suspect that he himself has arrived in London with the wife of the “witcher”, Cora Ann Milton: An Australian named James W. Wesby entered London at the same time. Scotland Yard uncovered a girl trafficking run by Messer with three accomplices . The alleged crime reporter Wesby is surprisingly well informed and first saves Elise, Higgins' friend, and then Higgins himself from Messer's gang. She receives a letter with their names on it and that they have been sentenced to death. In fact, the first on the list is shot dead in self-defense at Higgins' Liberation of Wesby. Higgins and Warren try to arrest Wesby as a "witcher", but he escapes. Messer gets rid of his remaining accomplices and now feels safe enough to ask the police for protection from the "witcher", because Cora Ann Milton has announced a visit to him. When the time came, Messer found his death despite the presence of the police. Wesby reveals himself to be the inspector of the Australian police and exposes the "witcher". He manages to escape with a prepared trick.
Background and origin
The oldest version of the novel The Witcher wrote Edgar Wallace in 1925 (original title: The Gaunt Stranger ). In 1926 he rewrote the novel as a play and, based on the changes it contained, also wrote a new version of the novel (original title of the play and the novel: The Ringer ). The second version of the novel was published in German in 1926, the play in 1927. The German translation of the first version of the novel was not published until 1983. In Germany, all three versions are titled The Witcher . The first version of the script for the film after a treatment by Egon Eis came from Harald G. Petersson , who is mentioned on the movie poster, but not in the opening credits of the film. In the fall of 1963, producer Horst Wendlandt hired the well-known author Herbert Reinecker , who wrote the final version of the script. Reinecker, who also wrote for the Edgar Wallace films under his pseudonym Alex Berg, became one of the most important authors in the series, for which he wrote a total of six scripts.
The film was shot in West Berlin from June 3 to July 11, 1964 ; Scenes that take place at London Airport, also at Hamburg Airport (a map of Hamburg can be seen in the background). The outdoor shots in West Berlin took place in the Spandau Citadel and in the former Hotel Esplanade . The London recordings were made during the filming of The Zinker and Waiting Room to the Hereafter . The interior shots were shot in the CCC-Film studios in Berlin's Spandau district . The scene with Archibald Finch and a newspaper seller in Trafalgar Square was taken from the film Der Zinker (1963) and set to music for this film.
It premiered on August 21, 1964 in the Capitol and Alhambra cinemas in Düsseldorf and Rivoli and Luna in Hanover .
The films The Crypt with the Riddle Castle and Waiting Room to the Hereafter , which premiered at the end of April 1964, did not bring the Rialto film the expected box office results. With the film adaptation of Edgar Wallace's best-known novel, producer Horst Wendlandt managed to win back the favor of the audience. The most successful film in the series, however, was to remain Das Gasthaus an der Thames , which had around a million more viewers than The Witcher when it premiered . This was the last of a total of six Edgar Wallace films produced in Ultrascope . In addition, the films Drums of Death on the Great River , Sanders and the Ship of Death , The Secret of the Green Pin and The Riddle of the Silver Crescent , four more Wallace adaptations in a similar format, were recorded in Techniscope .
The two most popular investigators in the Edgar Wallace series, Joachim Fuchsberger and Heinz Drache , stood together in front of the camera for the only time in this film. The inspector Higgins, portrayed by Fuchsberger, who has the same first name as Edgar Wallace's son ( Bryan Edgar Wallace ), is once addressed in the film as Edgar Bryan. René Deltgen's name was never mentioned on the movie poster or in the opening credits; he only appears as a witcher at the end of the film. In addition to Deltgen, Sophie Hardy , Margot Trooger , Hilde Sessak and Karl John were seen for the first time in a film in the series. Ann Savo and Jochen Brockmann said goodbye to the series after each two striking guest appearances. The voice of director Alfred Vohrer can be heard on a radio. A newspaper seller was dubbed by Gerd Martienzen .
The film was approved by the FSK from the age of 16 after the nude photo found in a scene of Sir John ( Siegfried Schürenberg ) had been replaced by one with a bikini. However, the photo of the original version could be seen in the film's trailer, which was also released for ages 16 and over . The film initially ran in the wrong format on television . The original colored opening credits were replaced by a black and white opening credits, a text that was displayed shortly before the dissolution with the question “Do you already know who the witcher is?” Has been removed. In 1991 the film was released for ages 12 and over. In the meantime, the film has been released in the original version and approved for ages 12 and up.
The title was parodied in 2004 by the film Der WiXXer .
Awards
- Feature film bonus (200,000 DM) from the Federal Ministry of the Interior , 1964
Reviews
“Not only does Scotland Yard fail in front of this witcher, but also the acumen of old crime bunnies on the floor. Who would have known? Director Alfred Vohrer bewitches his actors, who are excellent down to the smallest role, provokes ever new false conclusions with optical finesse and solves the whole tangle with a real bang that Edgar Wallace would have been delighted with. Who is the witcher now? You have to experience it yourself! "
"Well bewitched, Wallace and Company, you could go on like this."
"A successful remake, which, in addition to the routine directing, owes this to its actors, who often put on grotesque highlights - surrounded by attractive femininity."
“Alfred Vohrer staged a good dose of irony. This loosens up and at the same time increases tension. The scary effects are brilliantly balanced on the limit of the possible. There is also a star cast that has proven itself in German crime films. A treat for the friends of crime novels. Those who do not count themselves among them can easily become one here. "
“Lots of suspense-creating gags, a good team and an experienced script by Herbert Reinecker. (Rating: above average) "
"A Wallace classic optimally modernized."
"Scary - and involuntarily funny."
“A routine and excitingly staged crime film based on Edgar Wallace with some all too cheap, but also some quite amusing effects. The justice of revenge, which is presented as a matter of course, remains to be criticized.
Further film adaptations
Feature films
- The Ringer (1928)
- The Ringer (1931)
- The Witcher (1932)
- Le jugement de minuit (1932)
- The Gaunt Stranger (1938)
- The Ringer (1952)
Television films
- The Ringer (1938)
- The Witcher (1956) - directed by Franz Peter Wirth , with Armas Sten Fühler , Susanne von Almassy , Franz Schafheitlin , Walter Reymer , Herbert Tiede , Hans-Walter Clasen , Arnulf Schröder , Irene Marhold , Joachim Fontheim , Dieter Eppler
- The Witcher (1963) - directed by Rainer Erler , with Peter Pasetti , Eva Maria Meineke , Hermann Lenschau , Robert Meyn , Wolfgang Reichmann , Sigurd Fitzek , Sabine Eggerth , Claus Biederstaedt , Balduin Baas
literature
- Edgar Wallace: The Witcher (Original title: The Ringer) / 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 .
- Edgar Wallace: The Witcher (original title The Gaunt Stranger). German translation. Scherz Verlag, Bern 1996, ISBN 3-502-55223-1 .
- 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 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
- Sound carrier with the film music
- Comparison of the cut versions Kinowelt DVD - Universum DVD by Der Hexer at Schnittberichte.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ Der Hexer / BR Germany 1964, feature film on filmportal.de
- ↑ movie Hamburg filmmuseum-hamburg.de
- ↑ The Witcher . In: Hamburger Abendblatt . August 29, 1964, p. 11 ( abendblatt.de [PDF; 1.9 MB ]). PDF; 1.9 MB ( memento of the original from January 1, 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 Witcher . In: Paimann's film lists . No. 2892 , October 8, 1964 ( online ).
- ↑ The Witcher. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 25, 2017 .
