A coffin from Hong Kong
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | A coffin from Hong Kong |
| Original title | A coffin from Hong Kong / Du grisbi pour Hong Kong |
 | |
| Country of production | Federal Republic of Germany , France |
| Publishing year | 1964 |
| length | 86 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Manfred R. Koehler |
| script | Manfred R. Koehler |
| production | Urania Filmproduktion ( Erwin C. Dietrich ), Rapid-Film ( Wolf C. Hartwig ), Les Films Jacques Leitienne, Imp. Ex. Ci. |
| music |
Fred Strittmatter , Karl Barthel |
| camera | Klaus von Rautenfeld |
| cut |
Walter Boos , Anni Lautenbacher |
| occupation | |
| |
A coffin from Hong Kong is a German-French co-produced crime and adventure film by the director and screenwriter Manfred R. Köhler . The color film in Ultrascope is based on the novel of the same name (original title: A coffin from Hong Kong ) by James Hadley Chase . The German premiere took place on August 21, 1964 in the City Kino in Munich .
action
The London private investigator Nelson Ryan finds the shot Chinese Jo Ann Jefferson in his apartment. A short time later, their father-in-law, the wealthy industrialist William Jefferson, pays the detective a visit. He hires Nelson Ryan to clarify the circumstances that led to the death of his son George. He was allegedly killed in a car accident in Hong Kong five days ago . His wife Jo Ann Jefferson then traveled to London with a coffin containing her husband's body. After William Jefferson and his secretary Janet West say goodbye to Ryan, a stranger tries to kill Ryan. In the process, however, the assassin is killed.
Nelson Ryan travels to Hong Kong with his friend and assistant Bob Tooly. You stay at the Hotel Celestial Empire, where George Jefferson was also staying. The first trail leads you to the “Green Snake” bar. In addition to the usual drinks, there are also numerous girls to choose from for the guests. As it turns out, Jo Ann Jefferson was one of them. At the hotel, Nelson Ryan meets his roommate, Lee Lai. The attractive young woman offers Ryan to help him with his stay in Hong Kong. Then a girl from the "Green Snake" appears who pretends to be Jo Ann Jefferson. When Ryan confronts her, she tells him that the real Jo Ann was still working after she married George. In connection with this, the girl mentions a certain Mr. Belling. Ryan in turn learns from Lee Lai that George Jefferson left his wife at the hotel after he had become very wealthy and moved with Belling into a "White Villa" on Repulse Bay. Shortly thereafter, Lee Lai is kidnapped and drowned in a dungeon that can be flooded. Nelson Ryan almost falls victim to an attack with a poisonous scorpion .
Police inspector Chang visits Nelson Ryan because the detective has an arrest warrant because of the events in London. Chang releases him on the condition that Ryan finds the killer Lee Lais. Ryan learns that the White Villa is now inhabited by a man named Henri Gilbert and his sister Stella. Bob Tooley receives news from London that there is indeed a body in George Jefferson's coffin. However, traces of heroin have also been found. Meanwhile, Ryan has contacted Stella. On the pretext of reporting something, she drives Ryan to the summit of Mount Butler. There, however, the detective has to escape another murder attempt. In town, Stella finally tells that her brother's friend, Mr. Belling, has mysteriously disappeared. In addition, Belling has always been wearing a mask since his face was disfigured by an acid attack. Stella arranges a meeting for Ryan and Tooly with a man to whom the two owe several assassinations. They learn from him that Belling's hiding place was in the "Forbidden City" during his lifetime.
When Nelson Ryan visits the district, which is even avoided by the locals, he ends up in the power of the mysterious man in the mask. He admits that George Jefferson had to die after betraying his boss. Using a simple trick, he had managed to get hold of heroin smuggled from Macau . With the help of a little boy from whom Ryan had bought flowers some time ago, the detective escapes the masked man's deadly dungeon. Police inspector Chang tells him that Belling's half-decayed body has been fished out of the sea. The investigators assume that he has been dead for a week. Nelson Ryan and Bob Tooly rush to the “White Villa” to confront Henri Gilbert. His sister Stella is kidnapped. But she and Ryan, who has started the chase, are being held on a junk by the mysterious masked man . As Ryan correctly suspects this time, the stranger is George Jefferson, who was believed to be dead. Then the man, in whose place the body of a Chinese man was sent to London, sets the boat on fire. At the last moment, Bob Tooly and the police called in to rescue Stella and Ryan. In Ryan's hotel room, Stella admits that she was not the sister, but the mistress of the actual boss, Henri Gilbert. In the meantime, he has shot his rival George Jefferson in order to now target Nelson Ryan. But this time too, Bob Tooly and Inspector Chang intervene in good time. While trying to kill the investigator, Gilbert is shot by a police officer. Nelson Ryan promises Stella to extend his stay in Hong Kong.
History of origin
prehistory
As part of since 1959 by Constantin Film Distribution marketed Edgar Wallace film series of Rialto Film emerged in the 1960s, numerous other Mysteries by a similar pattern. The Swiss film producer Erwin C. Dietrich , who had worked in Germany since 1962, brought such a work to the cinemas in 1963 with Die Nylonschlinge . Dietrich's next film project was to be much more elaborate and now even for Constantin Filmverleih: A coffin from Hong Kong based on the 1962 novel of the same name (original title: A coffin from Hong Kong ) by James Hadley Chase .
production
The film was shot in color and ultrascope on original locations in what was then the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong . The film structures were created by Nino Borghi . With Les Films Jacques Leitienne and Imp. Ex. Ci. two French co-production partners were also involved in the project. Thanks to the collaboration with the renowned Constantin film distributor, Dietrich was able to use its well-known contract actor Heinz Drache . In addition, factors included Elga Andersen , Ralf Wolter , Sabina chair man and Willy Birgel with. Manfred R. Köhler , until then mainly working as a dubbing director and screenwriter , directed a feature film for Ein Sarg from Hong Kong for the first time.
In the middle of the shooting, Erwin C. Dietrich got into difficulties and a dispute with the Hong Kong-based service partners. In order not to endanger the film production, the Constantin film distributor even had to recall Dietrich and replace him with the more experienced Wolf C. Hartwig . He had already produced adventure thrillers such as Hot Harbor Hong Kong (1962) or White Freight for Hong Kong (1964) with his Munich- based Rapid Film and seemed to be predestined for the completion of this film.
synchronization
Heinz Drache, Ralf Wolter, Willy Birgel, Sabina Stuhlmann and Monika John dubbed themselves for the German version. Otherwise, the following voice actors can be heard in the German version of the film:
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Stella | Elga Andersen | Eva Pflug |
| Lee Lai | Chien Yu | Heidi Treutler |
| Jo Ann Jefferson | Greta Chi | Rosemarie Fendel |
| Yu Pei | Angela Ho | Ursula Herwig |
| bat | Henri Cogan | Kurt E. Ludwig |
| Henri Gilbert | Pierre Richard | Harald Leipnitz |
| Mr. Belling | Michael Bulmer | Alf Marholm |
| Anthony | René Scheibli | Horst Sachtleben |
| Hotel porter | NN | Werner Lieven |
reception
publication
The FSK released the film on August 4, 1964 for people aged 16 and over. The German premiere of the color film in Ultrascope took place on August 21, 1964 in the City Kino in Munich . In the polls carried out by the trade journal Filmecho / Filmwoche at the time , in which cinema owners rated the commercial success of current films on a scale from 1 (excellent) to 7 (very poor), a coffin from Hong Kong received a grade of 3.0. For comparison: The feature films The Witcher (2.4), Lausbubengeschichten (3.0) and The Crypt with the Riddle Castle (3.4), also published in 1964 .
A coffin from Hong Kong , which in France was called Du grisbi pour Hong Kong , could be marketed in other countries and ran under the following titles, among others:
- Finland : Hong Kong, vaarojen satama
- Greece : Praktor FX 15 ektos mahis
- Italy : Hong Kong: Postage franco per una bara
- Mexico : El ataud chino
- Spain : El ataud chino
- United States : Coffin from Hong Kong
A coffin from Hong Kong was shown several times on German television. In 2014 the film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by two labels . After initially a shortened version with a changed opening credits was published, the work was brought out in the "Film Jewels" series in the unabridged original version.
Reviews
"Once again, outdoor shots compensate [...] for a story that only emerges in confusing individual events without a complete solution [...]"
“Europe's last transshipment point in the Far East shimmers according to crime. In the wide-walled panorama of eventful events, Heinz Drache. We only have this one favorite in the inspector's field, and that is being used to the full here. What our man in Hong Kong has to endure on the trail of a drug ring is a bit much, even in view of the necessary tension curve. Nonetheless, the atmospherically well-prepared “funeral inspection” can be described as a neat film craft, especially since some Eurasian dialogue scenes with the adorable Angela Hu are very well done. "
"Exaggerated crime adventure with some creepy and erotic ingredients."
Web links
- A coffin from Hong Kong in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- A coffin from Hong Kong at filmportal.de
literature
- James Hadley Chase: A coffin from Hong Kong . New edition. Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Vienna 1975, ISBN 3-548-01720-7 (English: A coffin from Hong Kong . 1962. Translated by Elly and Wilm Wolfgang Elwenspoek).
Individual evidence
- ↑ 86 minutes for cinema projection (24 images / second), 83 minutes for television playback (25 images / second), film length: 2365 meters
- ↑ Booklet of the DVD A coffin from Hong Kong . Film Verlag TV Jewels. 2014. EAN : 4042564154344
- ↑ A coffin from Hong Kong. (No longer available online.) In: old.filmarchiv.at. Paimann's film lists , No. 2891_2, October 6, 1964, archived from the original on October 13, 2016 ; accessed on October 13, 2016 . 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.
- ↑ A coffin from Hong Kong. In: Abendblatt.de. Hamburger Abendblatt , October 28, 1964, accessed on October 13, 2016 .
- ↑ A coffin from Hong Kong. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 13, 2016 .
