The blue hand (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The blue hand |
 | |
| Country of production | Federal Republic of Germany |
| Publishing year | 1967 |
| length | 87 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Alfred Vohrer |
| script |
Alex Berg , Harald G. Petersson , Fred Denger |
| production |
Horst Wendlandt , Preben Philipsen ( Rialto Film ) |
| music | Martin Böttcher |
| camera | Ernst W. Kalinke |
| cut | Jutta Hering |
| occupation | |
| |
The Blue Hand is a German crime film that was shot in 1967 under the direction of Alfred Vohrer . This 28th contribution in the German Edgar Wallace film series is a free film adaptation of the novel of the same name (original title: The Blue Hand ) by Edgar Wallace . The premiere of the color film took place on April 28, 1967 in the Gloria Palast in Berlin .
action
Dave Emerson, one of four sons of the criminal Earl of Emerson who escaped to America, is on trial for the murder of the gardener Edward Amery. With an opinion from the psychiatrist Dr. Albert Mangrove reached out to the family's lawyer, Lionel Douglas, that Dave would be admitted to Mangrove's insane asylum indefinitely because of "total insanity " . A stranger later helps Dave to escape from the clinic. A nurse is murdered under mysterious circumstances. A guard and a guard dog, who pursued Dave on his escape to his parents' castle Gentry, are killed by a hooded figure with a blue iron hand.
In the castle, Dave almost meets his twin brother Richard, who looks very similar to him and disappears that evening without a trace. When Inspector Craig and Scotland Yard boss Sir John arrive at Gentry Castle and want to interrogate everyone present, Dave adopts the identity of his brother Richard. Neither the investigators nor Dave's siblings Robert, Charles, Myrna and their stepmother Lady Emerson notice this at first. Craig searches Dave's room and comes across strange things, including a reference to the "blue hand", a historical murder instrument. Inspector Craig finds out that Richard is Dave. Myrna just barely escapes being attacked by the blue hand. Dave can convince the inspector and Sir John of his innocence.
The next day, Myrna is lured to the Petit Maxim club by Mangrove's guard Reynolds, who pretends to be Dave . Robert Emerson learns what has happened from the curious butler Anthony Smith and goes on chasing his sister. In the Petit Maxim he can save Myrna, but falls victim to the blue hand himself. Mr. Snobbits, the club's leaseholder with multiple criminal records, reportedly knows nothing. After his interrogation at Scotland Yard, he meets Sister Harris from Mangrove Asylum, whom he obviously knows. The nurse reports to Inspector Craig and Sir John that their murdered colleague, Agnes Dairen, wrote a report contradicting Mangrove's report and founding that Dave was not insane. The report and other notes against Dr. Set up mangroves have disappeared since Sister Dairen's death.
Since Mangrove fears a search of the asylum by Scotland Yard, he has numerous cells cleared and patients hidden in the basement. It turns out that the psychiatrist is dependent on a mysterious "boss", on whose behalf he is to eliminate Myrna the coming night. In the evening, guard Reynolds and a patient with the sinister murder weapon leave the clinic in a van. They drive to Gentry Castle, where the Blue Hand murders another member of the Emerson family: Charles. In order to deceive his boss, Mangrove kidnaps Myrna into his institution. He also doesn't shy away from the use of narcotics, snakes, and rats to get Myrna to sign a waiver. But the young woman consistently refuses. To the "boss" Mangrove claims not to know where Myrna Emerson is. Sister Harris finds the files of her murdered colleague, but is caught by Mangrove. The subsequent torture by the unscrupulous doctor drives the nurse insane.
Inspector Craig and Sir John arrange for the insane asylum to be searched. The police officers do not discover the hiding place with the patients and Myrna. Dave confesses his true identity to his stepmother and reaffirms his innocence. During the night he escapes a blue hand attack. Craig manages to free Myrna from the asylum and Dr. Arrest Mangrove. When investigators interrogate Mangrove, they learn that the Earl of Emerson was innocent and committed the criminal offenses of his second wife, Lady Emerson. In America, the late Earl became very wealthy. In his will he named his five children as heirs. Thus the inheritance would only pass to Lady Emerson after the death of the children.
Inspector Craig and Sir John confront Lady Emerson and the attorney Lionel Douglas, also present at Castle Gentry, with the results of the investigation. Douglas admits to having known about the will and death of the Earl of Emerson. He also admits to being Lady Emerson's lover. Still, Douglas and Lady Emerson claim they have nothing to do with the Blue Hand murders. Craig and Dave investigate a secret passage that the Blue Hand used for their assassinations. Several secret doors and a gloomy labyrinth lead into the gardener's house, of all places, in which Dave is said to have murdered the gardener Edward Amery. Dave and the inspector can expose the blue hand as the allegedly dead gardener Amery. Craig arrests Mangrove's accomplice, Reynolds. Now Inspector Craig knows who is really behind the crimes. After the death of the Earl of Emerson, Lionel Douglas arranged for Dave to be arrested and then escaped so that he could be charged with Dr. Mangrove blamed organized murders. Richard Emerson, who has meanwhile been overwhelmed and tied up by the butler Anthony, is revealed as the real “boss”.
History of origin
prehistory
Edgar Wallace's novel The Blue Hand was first published in English in 1925. In 1928 the German first edition was published by Hesse and Becker and in the same year by Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag . Since 1952 the work has been available as Goldmanns Taschen-Krimi Volume 6 .
Since 1959, the film distributor Constantin Film and the production company Rialto Film , which has been headed by Horst Wendlandt since 1961, have had one box-office success after another with the Edgar Wallace films . Gerhard F. Hummel , the lead program advisor at Constantin, pulled in the film adaptations of the Edgar Wallace novels Die seltsame Countess (original title: The Strange Countess ) and The blue hand (original title: The Blue Hand ) for the cinema season 1960/61 Consideration. Since they definitely wanted to hire the actress Lil Dagover and the novels were similar to each other, it was decided to make the film The Strange Countess , which opened in theaters in November 1961. The project The Blue Hand was initially not pursued in the subsequent Edgar Wallace films.
With the two color films released in 1966, The Hunchback of Soho and The Secret of the White Nun , Rialto Film was able to continue the success of the Edgar Wallace films. Accordingly, in consultation with Constantin Film, preparations for further contributions in the series were made. The following Wallace films were initially planned for Rialto Film in 1967:
- The blue hand
- The man with the whip , realized in 1967 under the title The monk with the whip
- The angel of terror , not realized and the Monster of Blackwood Castle replaced
When the project The Blue Hand was taken up again, Gerhard F. Hummel, who always paid attention to film adaptations as true to the novel as possible, had already left the Constantin Distribution. Due to the growing influence of Horst Wendlandt, the scripts became increasingly free. In 1965/66 there was even a switch to completely fictitious acts and film titles. With this step, it was hoped to be able to adapt the film series more to the current zeitgeist. Although Rialto Film was supposed to produce a Wallace film with an original novel title for the first time since The Unheimliche Mönch (1965) with The Blue Hand , Herbert Reinecker and the team Harald G. Petersson and Fred Denger were each commissioned to provide a treatment that was independent of the novel to compose.
Treatment by Herbert Reinecker
The treatment completed by Herbert Reinecker in 1966 had the following content:
LSD addicted medical student Myrna Ferguson kills a man in a hotel on the London harbor . When Chief Inspector Ellis and Inspector Craig from Scotland Yard arrive at the scene, however, they find Myrna's body there, while the dead man has disappeared without a trace. Hotel owner Bensson is shot dead when he tries to give the police important information about the person on the phone. Myrna's sister Danny Ferguson arrives in London. In her sister's room she finds a picture with a man named Humphrey Lester, whom she then wants to visit. The picture is stolen from a certain Mr. Kelston. He is the first officer on the American freighter 'Maryland', which is in port. Danny meets Lester, from whom she does not learn anything important. Then you drag Danny into a car. Kelston and the seaman Kielow warn them against further investigation.
In Humphrey Lester's apartment, Inspector Craig finds a membership card for the 'Club Caravan'. Danny is invited to this club by Lady Emerson and her son John, the landlords of Myrna's apartment. Kelston, Kielow and Inspector Craig are also there. When Danny returns to her apartment, Humphrey Lester tells her that Myrna's killer is named Henry. Lester is murdered the same night. There is a 'blue hand' on his forehead as a sign.
Danny and Craig visit the 'Club Caravan' again, where they are involved in a fight by Crantz, Lester's former servant. Crantz is arrested but is able to escape from prison. A little later the police found his body on the 'Maryland'. There is also a 'blue hand' on the forehead of the murdered man. Kelston and Kielow manage to escape from the freighter under surveillance. On land, Lady Emerson awaits them. Danny Ferguson and Inspector Craig search the home of Miss Collins, the manager of the Club Caravan. In a darkroom , they discover negatives and photos that were obviously used for extortionate purposes. Then a stranger locks the door of the darkroom. Craig escapes but has to leave Danny behind. Then Mr. Kelston appears out of the dark.
Inspector Craig returns to Miss Collins' apartment with Chief Inspector Ellis to rescue Danny. But there is no trace of Danny or any evidence. Craig investigates his escape route again and finds the body of Myrna Ferguson's killer. Lady Ermerson identifies the body as Henry Maugham, captain of the Maryland. With the help of his accomplices on the freighter and in the 'Club Caravan' he had once blackmailed Lady Emerson's husband and driven him to suicide. Two sons of the lady were then hired under the names Kelston and Kielow on the 'Maryland'. They found out that the captain's real name is Henry Ellis and is the brother of Chief Inspector Ellis. As a Scotland Yard officer, he had the opportunity to remove important traces of the murders. Myrna Ferguson was murdered on behalf of Inspector Ellis. He killed the hotel owner Bensson and Humphrey Lester himself. He had put the symbol on the forehead of the victims. Chief Inspector Ellis is the 'blue hand'.
Treatment by Harald G. Petersson and Fred Denger
The treatment completed by Harald G. Petersson and Fred Denger in early 1967 was about an entirely different story:
In London, the attractive Mary Redmayne is sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of her sister Betsy. Lawyer Lindsay O'Leary, who loves Mary, is firmly convinced of her innocence. He asks his friend Sir John of Scotland Yard to reopen the case. Sir John referred the case to Inspector Hallick, who was also present at the trial. The now retired Chief Inspector Bradley had investigated the case at the time.
In a conversation with attorney O'Leary, Inspector Hallick learns of another branch of the family to whom the entire fortune would go if Mary died or were disinherited as a murderess. Hallick wants to investigate the Villa Redmayne, where Betsy was once shot, more closely. There he is attacked by a stranger and knocked unconscious. When he comes to, he finds a 'blue hand' cut from varnished cardboard next to him.
The next day, Inspector Hallick learns of a poison attack on the imprisoned Mary Redmayne. With the support of the fiend Black-Jack, Hallick has Mary kidnapped from prison and brought to safety with her uncle Reverend Jonathan Huxley. But the uncle is shot and the investigators find the 'blue hand' next to his corpse. The lawyer Lindsay O'Leary is also assassinated, but luckily it fails. There is another 'blue hand' at the scene.
Hallick brings Mary to live with her last relatives at Plimstock Castle. The somewhat senile lord of the castle, Lord Plimstock, lives there, his butler Monk, Lady Emily, Lord Digby Danton, Dorothy Groat and her husband, the fashion photographer Marlow Groat as well as three fashion photography students and the castle staff. Sir John explains the symbol of the 'blue hand' to Inspector Hallick. It was the mark of a defaced illiterate man who killed his scoffers. The series of murders, which has not yet been resolved, stopped by itself. But the murders continue in the castle. Lord and Lady Digby, Dorothy and Marlow Groat are killed. The sign of the 'blue hand' can be found on all of them.
Sir John receives a call from the illiterate man who asserts that he has long since retired. Another now use his symbol. Sir John and Inspector Hallick go to Plimstock Castle to settle the case for good. Mary learns that her own family wanted her killed. Attorney O'Leary, knowing the will and intentions of the heavily indebted family, committed the murder of Betsy Redmayne. Then he murdered the rest of the family. After all, he wanted to conquer Mary and emigrate with her. To cast suspicion on someone else, O'Leary had used the 'blue hand' sign.
script
Instead of having one of the two stories worked out by the authors, Horst Wendlandt commissioned the author Herbert Reinecker to write a script based on the treatment by Harald G. Petersson and Fred Denger. Ultimately, however, only a few motifs remained of his plot. One of the main changes was that the "blue hand" was now a murder instrument. In the two treatments as well as in the novel, the “blue hand” was only the symbol of the criminal. Reinecker (pseudonym: Alex Berg ) took the names Craig and Emerson from his own treatment, which later served as the basis for the Edgar Wallace film Die Tote aus der Thames (1971).
occupation
The first announcement of the film named next to director Alfred Vohrer the main actors Hanns Lothar , Harald Leipnitz and Siegfried Schürenberg . Lothar was initially intended for the role of inspector. When the actor fell ill in 1967 and finally died at the age of just 37, the role was cast with Harald Leipnitz. Leipnitz had already participated in the Wallace films The Crypt with the Riddle Castle (1964) and The uncanny monk . The actors Albert Bessler (six films), Carl Lange and Ilse Steppat (three films each ) said goodbye to the series in this film.
The classic actors in the film series also included Siegfried Schürenberg as Scotland Yard boss Sir John and Klaus Kinski . The latter was seen in The Blue Hand in a double role, which was the second leading role of his film career after the drama Der Rote Rausch (1962).
Ilse Pagé , who had a supporting role in the 1966 Edgar Wallace film The Hunchback of Soho , played Mabel Finley, Sir John's secretary, for the first time in The Blue Hand . She took on this role in five more Wallace films by director Alfred Vohrer .
In addition, the film offered roles for other well-known film and stage actors such as Hermann Lenschau , Gudrun Genest or Harry Riebauer . Among the young actors were Peter Parten , Thomas Danneberg and Diana Körner . The latter made her film debut in The Blue Hand .
production
The shooting for the film, which was produced in color (Eastmancolor) and widescreen format 1: 1.66, took place from February 9 to March 22, 1967 in West Berlin . This time there was no recording of London at all. The following locations can be seen in the film:
- Session room 500 in the Moabit Criminal Court: courtroom
- Grunewald Hunting Lodge : Outside insane asylum
- Villa Mendel, Am Sandwerder 37, Berlin-Wannsee : Exterior of Gentry Palace
- Villa Meyer, Toni-Lessler-Strasse 23, Berlin-Grunewald : Hall in Gentry Palace
- Boathouse at the Großer Wannsee : Petit Maxim
The CCC-Film studios in Berlin-Haselhorst served as the film studio . The film structures came from Wilhelm Vorwerg and Walter Kutz . Irms Pauli was responsible for the costumes . Production manager was Fritz Klotzsch . The production line took Wolfgang Kühnlenz , the assistant director Eva Ebner . The assistant director made her arm available for the scene with the syringe that Myrna Emerson (Diana Körner) received. The voice of the boss came from director Alfred Vohrer.
Since Vohrer's preferred cameraman Karl Löb was busy shooting the exploitation film The Rasthaus der Cruel Puppen in early 1967 , the director worked here for the first time with Ernst W. Kalinke . The two should make seven more feature films together. With Karl Löb, Vohrer then shot his five other Wallace films.
Film music
The soundtrack was penned by Martin Böttcher , who composed his fourth soundtrack for an Edgar Wallace film for Die Blaue Hand . The theme music has appeared several times on CD.
reception
Publications
The film was first examined by the FSK on April 20, 1967 . After a scene (murder of Charles Emerson) was cut, The Blue Hand was released on April 24, 1967, for ages 16 and up. On April 28 of the same year the world premiere took place in the Gloria-Palast in Berlin . Rialto Film and Constantin Film landed another success with the film. Around 1.7 million viewers saw the film during its premiere. 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 poor), Die Blaue Hand received a grade of 2.4. For comparison: the films The Secret of the White Nun (2.9), Inspector X - Three Green Dogs (2.7) and The Brooklyn Killer Club (2.7), which were also released in the 1966/67 cinema season .
The film could be marketed in other countries and ran there under the following titles:
- Belgium , French title: La main de l'épouvante
- Belgium , Dutch title: De hand der verschrikking
- Brazil : A Criatura da Mão Azul
- Denmark : Den blå hånd
- Finland , Finnish title: Sininen käsi
- Finland , Swedish title: Den blåa handen
- France : La main de l'épouvante
- Greece : Oikogeneia dolofonon
- Italy : L'artiglio blu
- Netherlands : De verschrikkelijke hand
- United States : Creature with the Blue Hand
The film was first broadcast on German television on April 4, 1985 on the Sat.1 predecessor PKS. For publication as a purchase video, the age rating was downgraded from 16 to 12 years in 1991. Most of the TV and video publications also included the cuts initiated by the FSK. In 2004 the film was released on DVD in its uncut version . This was also released from the age of 12.
Reviews
“This way you can have fun with the fun, and goosebumps run down your spine more comfortably than rarely because you don't have to take it seriously anymore. That is horror for pure pleasure. "
“Colored Wallace film from the horror cabinet. [...] Recommended only for people with a preference for rats, snakes and crazy people. "
“Not shrinking from anything, the proven director Alfred Vohrer designed the Edgar Wallace material into a horror film with ghost train effects. The fact that an ironic streak shimmers through from time to time increases the fun of the hooded murderer with the blue hand. "
"Confused in the script, but sometimes quite exciting."
"Vohrer knows [...] how to create tension and atmosphere and to deliver a visually and dramatically impeccable crime thriller in the best Wallace manner."
Others
The American director Quentin Tarantino counts the film The Blue Hand to his favorite films. During a re-performance he commented:
“This film was directed by Alfred Vohrer, known as the German Hitchcock. I saw this movie when I was in the 5th grade, when I was living in Tennessee, at a drive in. Little did I know that I was watching one of the most successful series of movies in the history of Germany. "
“This film was directed by Alfred Vohrer, the German Alfred Hitchcock . I saw the movie in the drive-in theater when I was in fifth grade and lived in Tennessee. Little did I know that I was watching a film from the most successful film series in German history. "
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 .
- 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 .
- Florian Pauer: The Edgar Wallace Films . Goldmann, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-442-10216-2 (Goldmann 10216, Goldmann Magnum , Citadel-Filmbücher) .
Web links
- The blue hand in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The blue hand ( memento from December 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) at deutscher-tonfilm.de
- The blue hand at Filmportal.de
- Sound carrier with the film music at soundtrackcollector.com
Individual evidence
-
↑ Original version: 87 minutes for cinema projection (24 images / second), 84 minutes for television reproduction (25 images / second), film length: 2387 meters;
FSK version 1967: 87 minutes for cinema projection (24 images / second), 84 minutes for television playback (25 images / second), film length: 2386 meters - ^ Joachim Kramp and Jürgen Wehnert: The Edgar Wallace Lexicon. Life - work - films . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89602-508-2 , p. 53 .
- ↑ 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. 311-324 .
- ↑ a b Joachim Kramp and Jürgen Wehnert: The Edgar Wallace Lexicon. Life - work - films . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89602-508-2 , p. 48-51 .
- ↑ Sound carrier with the film music at soundtrackcollector.com
- ^ Joachim Kramp and Jürgen Wehnert: The Edgar Wallace Lexicon. Life - work - films . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89602-508-2 , p. 97 .
- ↑ Evangelischer Presseverband München, Review No. 184/1967
- ↑ The blue hand. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed April 11, 2017 .
- ^ A film review by Thomas Ays at moviesection.de
