The dead eyes of London
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The dead eyes of London |
 | |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1961 |
| length | 99 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Alfred Vohrer |
| script |
Trygve Larsen with the assistance of Gerhard F. Hummel Dialogue assistance Wolfgang Lukschy |
| production |
Horst Wendlandt , Preben Philipsen |
| music | Heinz Funk |
| camera | Karl Löb |
| cut | Ira Oberberg |
| occupation | |
| |
The Dead Eyes of London is a German crime film by director Alfred Vohrer and the sixth Edgar Wallace film of the post-war period . The film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Edgar Wallace (original title: The Dark Eyes of London ) was shot from January 16 to February 21, 1961 in Hamburg and the surrounding area and produced by Rialto Film . The film premiered on March 28, 1961 in the Tower Palace in Frankfurt am Main and in the Walhalla in Wiesbaden . Nationwide start was on April 1, 1961.
action
Scotland Yard's Inspector Larry Holt does not believe there was an accident when the police once again fished an old man out of the Thames after a night of fog. His assumption that The Dead Eyes of London (a gang of blind peddlers ) is active again seems to be confirmed this time.
Together with his assistant Sunny Harvey and the former carer for the blind, Nora Ward, Holt goes in search of the "blind Jack" - a member of the gang. They not only end up in the gloomy home for the blind, The Open Gate, under the direction of the friendly Reverend Dearborn, but also in the initially honorable lawyer Stephen Judd, with whom all murdered were insured.
The wicked Fanny Weldon, the crook Flimmer-Fred and the little Lew Norris are eliminated before they can unpack. Nora Ward is attacked by the dreaded blind Jack before he himself is found shot in a garbage dump. Inspector Holt learns from Judd that Canada-based Gordon Stuart has an illegitimate daughter who is already in possession of her father's life insurance check. Shortly thereafter, Judd's secretary, Edgar Strauss, who was known to the police, is murdered. Reverend Dearborn turns out to be a dangerous criminal. At the end of the adventure, Larry Holt and Nora Ward become a couple.
History of origin
At the beginning of 1961, the German Rialto Film Filmproduktion und Filmvertrieb GmbH relocated its headquarters from Frankfurt am Main to Hamburg on the premises of the real film studio . Since a general meeting on January 13, 1961 and the departure of the film salesman Franz Sulley , Horst Wendlandt was co-partner with Preben Philipsen . For the film The Green Archer , Wendlandt was "only" the production manager .
Originally had Waldfried Barthel ( Constantin Film ) and Preben Philipsen ( Rialto film , prism film distribution) as the next Edgar Wallace film The Devil's Daffodil directed by Harald Reinl planned. Because the script still had to be revised in the opinion of the producers, the dead eyes of London were realized first . In addition to Egon Eis , Werner Jörg Lüddecke was also commissioned to write an alternative script based on the same template. However, it was decided again for the version by Eis, who again wrote under his pseudonym Trygve Larsen . Since the directors Reinl and Jürgen Roland , who had proven themselves in Wallace films, were not available, Wendlandt suggested Alfred Vohrer as director at short notice . He and actor Wolfgang Lukschy also made final changes to the script.
In addition to some actors who are already established in the series, including Joachim Fuchsberger in his third role as investigator, Karin Baal , Ann Savo , Adi Berber , Rudolf Fenner , Hans Paetsch and Dieter Borsche were seen for the first time in an Edgar Wallace film. These were later seen in other films in the series. Even Klaus Kinski played with adaptation Wallace Rialto movie for the first time in a. On February 22nd, 1961, a few weeks before the theatrical release of The Dead Eyes of London , Der Spiegel dedicated a title contribution to the actor, who until then was only known to a professional audience, which had an unexpected advertising effect for the film. However, Kinski made his debut in the Wallace films in the Kurt Ulrich production The Avenger . For the role of Scotland Yard boss Sir Archibald Ernst Fritz Fürbringer was planned, who played this role in the first three films in the series. Because of his illness, the role was renamed Sir John and cast Franz Schafheitlin once .
The shooting took place in Hamburg and the surrounding area. This is how the entrance scene on Sandberg in Hamburg-Altona was created , the Thames recordings were shot in front of the Fleetschlösschen in the Speicherstadt . Further exterior shots were shot behind the castle church in Ahrensburg at the so-called Gottesbuden . For real London recordings you could fall back on archive material. The interior shots were made in the real film studio in Hamburg-Wandsbek . For the first time, the opening credits of an Edgar Wallace film were designed in color , which from then on (with two exceptions) happened in all other films in the series.
The film was approved by the FSK without editing requirements from the age of 16. In 1991 it was approved for children aged 12 and over. However, the film was later broadcast on television in a shortened version; it can now be seen in its original length again. Alfred Vohrer's Die toten Augen von London created the most successful Edgar Wallace film to date. With a total of 14 Wallace adaptations, the director was to become the most successful director in this series.
The film was first shown on German television on March 16, 1974 from 11:05 p.m. on ZDF .
Reviews
"Otherwise the mixture of meticulously thought-out goosebumps effects, sex and humor is hardly original, because the well-known Wallace scheme is already sufficiently strained."
“Compared to the“ Green Archer ”there is a little more shudder and a little less humor in the“ Dead Eyes ”; but it is still a very appealing mixture, and the direction Alfred Vohrers (camera: Karl Löb) operates skillfully with optical and acoustic association fades; the cut has rhythm. "
"Wallace film adaptation, which - full of characters and eerie - has all the registers of this genre, juxtaposes the serious characters with bizarre ones and gives the locations a photographically shady atmosphere."
“The director Alfred Vohrer staged this famous Wallace crime thriller with an occasional wink and a pleasantly“ English ”atmosphere. Joachim Fuchsberger and Karin Baal are at the head of an excellent ensemble, in which Dieter Borsche surprises as the villain. "
“Compared to other Wallace films, the camera does a lot better. She managed to capture the gloomy mood of the murder nights, peppered with creepy surprises. "
"In his first, consistently appealing Edgar Wallace film, director Alfred Vohrer relied on exciting horror effects."
"As scary as the title - a classic!"
“A comparatively exciting film that knows how to build up a certain fear potential without squeamish restraint. Seen from a temporal distance in particular, the trivial series food has almost a certain entertainment value. "
literature
- Edgar Wallace: The Black Abbot / The Strange Countess / The Dead Eyes of London. Three novels in one volume. German translation. Goldmann, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-442-55504-8 .
- 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 to 1972 . 3. Edition. Verlag Schwarzkopf and Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-89602-645-3 .
Web links
- The Dead Eyes of London in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The dead eyes of London ( memento from December 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) at deutscher-tonfilm.de
- The dead eyes of London at filmportal.de
- Sound carrier with the film music
Individual evidence
- ↑ Filmdlexikon.de and Spiegel.de .
- ↑ The Dead Eyes of London. Number 2625-27_2. In: old.filmarchiv.at. Paimann's film lists , May 4, 1961, accessed May 31, 2018 .
- ↑ The Dead Eyes of London . In: Hamburger Abendblatt . May 31, 1961, p. 14 ( abendblatt.de [PDF; 2.2 MB ]).
- ↑ The Dead Eyes of London. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
