Crime scene: Stars for the Orient

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Episode of the series Tatort
Original title Stars for the Orient
Country of production Germany
original language German
Production
company		 SFB
length 100 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
classification Episode 93 ( List )
First broadcast November 5, 1978 on German television
Rod
Director Günter Gräwert
script Günter Gräwert ,
Georg Alten
production Horst Borasch
music Klaus Doldinger
camera Horst Schier
cut Marion Richter
occupation

Stars for the Orient is an episode of the ARD crime series Tatort . The episode produced by the broadcaster Free Berlin (SFB) was first broadcast on November 5, 1978 on ARD. It is the first crime scene with Commissioner Behnke, who has to solve a death in connection with a series of car thefts.

action

The gangster Zankl and an accomplice have stolen an expensive Mercedes limousine for their boss Covacs in West Berlin and are handing the car with forged license plates and papers to Peter Schäfer, who was hired by Zankl, who delivered the car to a buyer in the Middle East. Commissioner Schumacher from the theft department is currently dealing with a whole series of thefts of luxury cars and knows that these are being sold in the Middle East. Covacs, meanwhile, instructs Zankl to steal even more luxury cars, whereupon Zankl lies in wait in a parking garage. He soon finds what he is looking for, breaks into the car with an accomplice and swaps the locks on site. When Zankl pays his courier Peter Schäfer for his tour, he confronts him with the fact that he believes the car he had delivered was stolen. Zankl then inaugurates Schäfer; the law student no longer wants to be part of the matter. The next day, however, Schäfer changed his mind and, after another phone call from Zankl, accepted his offer to work. Together, the two steal the car, the lock of which was previously manipulated by Zankl. Since the owner of the car has left his briefcase in the car, he comes back and notices the thieves driving away in his car. At Zankl's behest, Schäfer knocks the man over, who is fatally injured. Schäfer is shocked by the incident, but completes the theft of the car with Zankl.

Behnke and his team appear at the scene, but a witness can only testify that the car was a Mercedes. Schäfer meanwhile struggles with the fact that he got involved in the theft. He blames Zankl for having stepped on the gas pedal with his foot to run over the man. Behnke and his assistant Hassert go to the dead man's house, the man's car has disappeared. According to the description of the neighbor, the dead man's car also appears to be the one in which he was driven to death. Hassert suspects that the deceased, Dr. Weichert, must have had something in his pocket that was worth murder, but Behnke types that Dr. Softened should have caught the thief of his car in the act. He seeks out his colleague Schumacher, who believes that the dead man could help him stir up dust in the car thief scene so that he can finally clear up the series of thefts. Behnke then allows the border crossing to West Germany, Dreilinden, for all cars from Dr. Lock up Weichert's model, issue a manhunt within Berlin and monitor the workshops that repair cars of this type. Zankl calculates exactly that and prevents his employee from trying to get a spare part for the Mercedes. Schumacher, who, due to the low priority of his department, was unable to show any success in investigations for a long time, benefits from Behnke's investigations by being able to arrest several car thieves who are traveling on behalf of Covacs. This then becomes nervous and consults with Zankl. He fears for his business and therefore wants to deliver shepherds to the police so that they can see the murder as resolved and he can continue his business in peace. Zankl assures him that she will be handed over to the police. Covacs gives Zankl money so that he can hire a suitable man who can hand over Schäfer to the police.

While Zankl is working on extraditing Schäfer, Behnke learns from a new witness that two men are in the stolen car belonging to Dr. Weichert sat. Behnke combined with Hassert that the two men or one of the two will be presented as perpetrators in order to get the car thief scene going again by ending the police investigation through the apparent resolution of the case. Behnke believes that one of the perpetrators could even be killed in order to present him to the police as the culprit. Meanwhile, Zankl offers Schäfer another deal. Schäfer is supposed to bring another car out of West Berlin. But Zankl gets a remorse for delivering Schäfer to the knife. Covacs, however, talked him out of it and advised him to disguise Schäfer's death as a traffic accident. Zankl agrees with truck driver Jablonski that he should cause an accident with Schäfer's car, killing Schäfer. Out of fear, however, Jablonski appears drunk at the meeting point, so that Zankl has to drive the truck himself. Meanwhile, Behnke seeks out Schäfer's girlfriend and asks her about Schäfer, because the police have found out that he often delivers cars to the Middle East via the Eastern Bloc. He learns from her that Schäfer is supposed to bring another car out of West Berlin via the Dreilinden border crossing and has a manhunt initiated. In the meantime, Schäfer meets with Zankl to receive the stolen car. Instead of staging the accident with the truck, Zankl tries to kill Schäfer with an iron bar, but Schäfer notices this in good time. A fight ensues between the two men, in the course of which Schäfer kills Zankl in self-defense.

In the meantime, Behnke and Hassert learn from the taxi headquarters where Schäfer has been driven and go to the meeting point for Schäfer and Zankl. Meanwhile, Schäfer puts the dead Zankl in the car to be delivered and tries for his part to fake a traffic accident in order to cover up Zankl's killing, but Behnke and Hassert arrest him at the last moment. Schäfer confesses to stealing the car with Zankl and killing him in self-defense. Covacs cannot prove complicity, but Behnke and Hassert are happy to have saved Schäfer from taking on the role of Zankl. Shortly before the end credits begin, two men are shown getting into a Mercedes. One of the two could be seen in Zankl's car from the start, forging car documents. So the criminal business continues.

Audience and background

When it was first broadcast, the episode achieved a market share of 50.00%. The film was shot in West Berlin in June and July 1978.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for crime scene: Stars for the Orient . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 177804 / V). Template: FSK / maintenance / type not set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. ↑ Tatort: ​​Stars for the Orient on tatort-fundus.de, accessed on December 26, 2014.
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