The man with the glass eye
The Man with the Glass Eye is a German crime film from 1969. The feature film directed by Alfred Vohrer , which is based on motifs by Edgar Wallace , is the 33rd entry in the German Edgar Wallace film series . The premiere of the color film took place on February 21, 1969 in the Mathäser-Filmpalast in Munich .
action
The dancer Leila, a member of the London “Las Vegas Girls”, meets her lover Mr. Jefferson in a hotel, who offers her a new contract. Jefferson is killed by a masked knife thrower in front of Leila's eyes. Horrified, the girl leaves the hotel. Inspector Perkins and Sir Arthur of Scotland Yard find a glass eye in the murdered man's pajamas . The hotel porter knows to report that shortly before the crime, some pool cues were handed in for Jefferson at the reception . Perkins and his assistant Sergeant Pepper soon discover that Jefferson was an internationally active girl trafficker . Shortly before her next rehearsal in the Odeon Theater, the witness Leila falls victim to a cruel poisoning. Behind the scenes of the stage, the investigators encounter numerous suspicious people such as the curious ventriloquist Eric and the knife thrower Rubiro, who is missing one of his knives. Meanwhile, Bruce Sharringham, who is in love with the dancer Yvonne Duval, appears in the theater. His mother, Lady Sharringham, is strictly against her son's marriage to a dance girl. Bruce, who is absolutely submissive to his mother, asserts that he is now leading a free life, but Yvonne can not believe the promises of the now heroin addicted lord.
Sergeant Pepper has to inform Inspector Perkins that Leila's boarding room has long been cleared by a stranger. All they found there was a ticket to a billiards club in Soho , which Pepper pays a visit in the evening. He notices a lively and strange exchange of billiard cues there. He himself is being watched by a certain Bob and his boss, a man with a glass eye. After their appearance, the two Las Vegas girls Linda and Leslie are taken to a Mr. Donovan's villa. But the man who holds the girls and offers them a new contract is fatally hit by a knife. The two dancers claim to have seen a masked man with a glass eye as the perpetrator. To protect them, Perkins and Pepper take them into custody. In the Odeon Theater, the ventriloquist Eric overhears a conversation between Bruce Sharringham and Yvonne Duval. He learns that Yvonne's real name is Nora Wilson and that she has been in South America for a long time . But when Inspector Perkins shows up at the theater, he finds Eric strangled in his dressing room.
The Scotland Yard officials found Mr. Nuthatcher, the owner of a curio shop. In addition to glass eyes, its range also includes billiard cues that serve as hiding places for heroin . During a search of the billiards club, however, the officials found nothing, as the boss and his assistant Bob had long been warned. A short time later, Nuthatcher is also killed with a throwing knife. Parker and Pepper find evidence of girl trafficking in his shop. The boss suspects that he has little time left to escape. With the help of the agent of the Las Vegas girls, Mr. Parker, he wants to deport all the girls of the troop as quickly as possible on the ship "Olaf Ericsen" to Caracas . The investigation at the yard is in full swing. To follow the trail of the perpetrators, the two dancers Linda and Leslie are equipped with transmitters and Mr. Parker is leaked. Bruce is able to save Yvonne aka Nora at the last minute by buying her from the criminals for 1000 pounds. He introduces her to his mother, Lady Sharringham. In private and under her false name, the dancer Lady Sharringham accuses of being involved in the one-time kidnapping of Nora Wilson in a brothel . Angrily, the lady asks the girl, who in her eyes is unworthy, to leave the house. Lady Sharingham claims to her son that Yvonne renounced marriage in exchange for the payment of 3000 pounds.
Nora rushes to see Mr. Parker to get the £ 1,000 back. He holds the girl in order to have her shipped with the other dancers on behalf of Lady Sharingham. But Nora, who is armed, can break free. In the billiards club, Inspector Perkins and Sergeant Pepper discovered a secret door behind which they find a telex with a reference to "Olaf Ericsen". On the ship, the boss also falls victim to the masked knife thrower. Opposite Lady Sharingham, who is also on board, the mysterious murderer reveals himself. It is Nora Wilson, who was once abducted to South America and had to work as a prostitute there. After she managed to escape, she resettled in London as Yvonne Duval to take revenge on her kidnappers. Before Parker and Pepper arrive on the ship, Nora is killed by the unscrupulous Lady Sharingham. Bruce now also learns of the machinations of his mother, who is immediately arrested. Scotland Yard boss Sir Arthur insists on freeing the captured girls personally.
History of origin
Background and script
The Edgar Wallace film The Gorilla of Soho (1968) had proven to be a great disappointment for many viewers. Nevertheless, the film producer Horst Wendlandt ( Rialto Film ) and the theatrical distributor Constantin Film continued to believe in a successful continuation of the series. As early as 1967, the writer Ladislas Fodor was commissioned to write two scripts in the style of the hit film The Unheimliche Mönch (1965). The first script to emerge was Die Laughende Leiche , which was revised by Paul Hengge and renamed Der Unheimliche . Its film was released in 1968 with the final title Im Banne des Unheimlichen in the cinemas and proved to be a popular success.
Fodor's second screenplay, The Cruel Doll, was to be followed in the same direction. Hengge's revision finally received the title The Man with the Glass Eye . Artur Brauner's CCC film had already announced a Bryan Edgar Wallace film under this film title in the journal Filmecho / Filmwoche in 1963 . It can be assumed that this project resulted in the film The Phantom of Soho, completed in 1964 . It is possible that his treatment or original script, which was also penned by Ladislas Fodor, was later sold to Rialto Film . The fact that The Phantom of Soho and The Man with the Glass Eye have several parallels in terms of content would also fit this process, which was quite common in the film industry at the time. These include, above all, the prostitute's motives for revenge , knife throwers and being abducted by ship.
occupation
It was already clear in the early planning phase that The Man with the Glass Eye would be staged by director Alfred Vohrer . The actor Horst Tappert , whom they wanted to build up as the new inspector since his assignment in The Gorilla of Soho , was also able to be engaged in good time. Uwe Friedrichsen , who played Sergeant Pepper in the predecessor, was not available due to television obligations. The role, the name of which was retained, was eventually filled with Stefan Behrens . Ilse Pagé as Miss Finley and Hubert von Meyerinck as Scotland Yard boss Sir Arthur ensured continuity .
For further roles, the actors Ann Smyrner , Anita Kupsch , Hans Clarin , Hannelore Auer , Jürgen Draeger , Peter Pasetti and Agnes Windeck were initially named in various advance announcements . However, these were just as rarely used as Günther Stoll , who was intended for the role of the drug addict Bruce Sharringham. The latter was ultimately embodied by Fritz Wepper , who was in front of the camera for the first time in this film with Horst Tappert. The later detective duo of the 281 Derrick episodes was already seen in special scenes in 1959 in the Kurt Hoffmann film Der Engel, who moved his harp .
While Karin Hübner could be engaged for the female lead , the supporting roles again saw some actors who were part of the permanent cast of the Wallace series. These included in particular Tilo von Berlepsch , Jan Hendriks , Kurd Pieritz , Heinz Spitzner and Harry Wüstenhagen . In her first published film role, however, you saw Iris Berben . Before that, she only appeared in Rudolf Thome's film Detectives , which was premiered later.
production
The shooting for the color film (Eastmancolor), produced in widescreen format 1: 1.85, took place from November 4 to December 18, 1968 in West Berlin , Hamburg and London . The studio recordings were shot in the CCC-Film studios in Berlin-Haselhorst . Further recordings in Berlin were made on the studio premises and its surroundings, in the Theater des Westens , in the Hotel Gehrhus (in the film as the hall of Sharringham Palace) and in the Hotels Palace and Berlin Hilton on Budapester Strasse . The scenes with the ship were filmed at the port of Hamburg . Cameraman Karl Löb and assistant director Eva Ebner shot the London footage for the opening credits in mid-December 1968 without the director's involvement. The film structures came from Wilhelm Vorwerg and Walter Kutz . Ina Stein was responsible for the costumes . Production manager was Fritz Klotzsch .
Material from the revue film Scala - totally crazy (1958) was added as a dance scene . Its opening credits also showed flashing neon signs as credits .
The shot for The Man with the Glass Eye , in which several girls leave the hall via the stage entrance, was also used in the German version of the next Edgar Wallace film The Face in the Dark .
Film music
The soundtrack was penned by Peter Thomas , who composed his 17th soundtrack for an Edgar Wallace film for The Man with the Glass Eye . His repertoire ranged from the rapidly accelerated title topic to dreamily playful instrumental numbers . The title music and the pieces Nora and Sweet Revenge were included on the double CD released in 1992 and the single CD of the same name, Peter Thomas - Film Musik , released the following year . The theme music and Nora also appeared on the CD The Best of Edgar Wallace from 2002. The theme music was reused by Peter Thomas for a scene in the film Our Willi is the Best (1971).
Post production
For unknown reasons, some scenes are missing from the film that show the arrest of the helper Bob (Harry Riebauer). According to the script, they should be right after the search of the gangster headquarters by Inspector Perkins (Horst Tappert) and Sir Arthur (Hubert von Meyerinck). In summary, it could be seen as follows: After the secret door closes, Perkins and Sir Arthur are briefly in the control of Bob. He steals a weapon from the inspector that turns out to be a joke pistol from Nuthatcher's shop. Perkins uses Bob's astonishment to knock him out with a blow of the hand. Then Bob is arrested by Sir Arthur.
A poster photo and a short shot in the trailer prove that these scenes were shot . Since the terms of theatrical version and re-releases the same, one can assume that the passage already at the final cut removed the film.
synchronization
Unlike in The Monk with the Whip , Narcissus Sokatscheff can not be heard in this film with his own voice. It was dubbed by Rolf Schult .
reception
Publications
The film was released on February 5, 1969 by the FSK for ages 16 and up. The world premiere took place on February 21, 1969 in the Mathäser-Filmpalast in Munich . Constantin Film promised a "crime thriller of the highest perfection". After the disappointing work The Gorilla of Soho , Rialto Film was able to bring another passable thriller to the screen, which was seen by around 1.6 million viewers during its premiere. But the previous disappointment obviously had an effect. In the polls carried out by the trade journal Filmecho / Filmwoche at the time , in which cinema visitors rated current films on a scale from 1 (excellent) to 7 (very bad), The Man with the Glass Eye scored 3.2. For comparison: The Rialto productions The Gorilla von Soho (3.1), Zum Teufel mit der Penne (1.9) and Klassenkeile (2.8), also published in 1968/69 .
Not least the enormous success of the second Lümmel film he produced showed Horst Wendlandt that with the previous concept of the Edgar Wallace series he was increasingly bypassing the changed public taste. The '68 movement and the sex wave had meanwhile developed into mass culture . Wendlandt was therefore compelled to take a completely different path with his next Wallace film, The Face in the Dark, and thus end an era. For director Alfred Vohrer, who eventually switched to Luggi Waldleitner's Roxy film with part of his team , The Man with the Glass Eye was supposed to be the last of a total of 14 Edgar Wallace films. Numerous actors said goodbye to the film series.
The man with the glass eye could also be marketed abroad and ran there under the following titles:
- Brazil : O Homem do Olho de Vidro
- Greece : O dolofonos me to gyalino mati
- Italy : L'uomo dall'occhio di vetro
- Netherlands : De man met het glazen oog
- Uruguay : El asesino del ojo de vidrio
- United States : The Man with the Glass Eye
The film was first broadcast on German television on May 2, 1985 on the Sat.1 predecessor PKS. For publication as a purchase video, the age rating was downgraded from 16 to 12 years in 1992. In 2005 the film was released on DVD in a newly scanned version .
Reviews
“The opening credits announce: This is Edgar Wallace speaking. Not a trace: Anyone who flirts with the classic crime story will lead the viewer properly. The fact that a ventriloquist is strangled is still a strange idea, if not meant that way. But that in the end the knife thrower is not the knife thrower and the glass eye is not the glass eye, just because one of the girls from the girl group wore two masks - well! "
"Director Vohrer doesn't leave out any common cliché."
“A real Wallace thriller with a lot of question marks. Well done by Alfred Vohrer. "
“In five murders, five glass eyes remained; an inspector wonders what that means; routine. (Rating: 1 star - weak) "
“The film uses some of the motifs from Wallace's novels in order to place them in the tradition of tension-free German adaptations. The same thing had already been tried - unsuccessfully - with other films. So it was inevitable that the series gradually came to its well-deserved end due to a lack of innovative ideas. "
“Series film from the German Edgar Wallace cinema. With a few interludes of convulsive cheerfulness. "
literature
- 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 man with the glass eye in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The man with the glass eye at filmportal.de
- Sound carrier with the film music
Individual evidence
- ↑ 87 minutes for cinema projection (24 images / second), 84 minutes for television playback (25 images / second), film length: 2389 meters
- ↑ a b Joachim Kramp: Hello! This is Edgar Wallace speaking. The history of the crime film series from 1959 to 1972. Third, revised and expanded edition . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-89602-645-3 , p. 368-376 .
- ↑ Detective at Filmportal.de, accessed on August 11, 2013.
- ^ Gerd Naumann: The film composer Peter Thomas. From Edgar Wallace and Jerry Cotton to Orion space patrol . ibidem-Verlag, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-8382-0003-3 , p. 156 .
- ^ CD Peter Thomas - Film Music (double CD). Polydor . 1992. Order no. 845 872-2
- ↑ CD Peter Thomas - Film Music (single CD). Polydor . 1993. Order no. 517 096-2
- ^ CD The Best of Edgar Wallace . All Score Media, 2002. Order no. ASM 005
- ↑ The man with the glass eye. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on March 2, 2017 .
- ^ Joachim Kramp and Jürgen Wehnert: The Edgar Wallace Lexicon. Life - work - films . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89602-508-2 , p. 97 .
- ↑ De Tijd : Advertentie . June 2, 1971. As of December 16, 2013.
- ^ New films in Hamburg . In: Hamburger Abendblatt . April 19, 1969, p. 22 ( abendblatt.de [PDF; 2.0 MB ]). PDF; 2.0 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.
- ^ Adolf Heinzlmeier, Berndt Schulz: Lexicon "Films on TV". Extended new edition. Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-392-3 , p. 541.
- ^ Meinolf Zurhorst: Lexicon of the crime film. With more than 400 films from 1900 until today . Heyne, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-453-05210-2 , p. 204.
- ↑ The man with the glass eye. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed February 27, 2017 .
