Krimi! 2 due out soon (and what else have I been up to this year)

Super excited to reveal that the new issue of Krimi! will hit the stands (well, Amazon) September 30, and it's even bigger than last year's official first issue.

Though Mabuse is the main focus, especially unreleased Mabuse projects or films that one would not at first glance consider to be Mabuse productions, we do cover a lot of ground and also write about: LES COMPAGNONS D'ELEUSIS (a long forgotten French TV series that covered similar ground as Umberto Eco or Dan Brown years later); Continental Films and crime movies produced in Nazi occupied France; novels written by Edgar Wallace's daughter Penelope; Bryan Edgar Wallace's novel THE WHITE CARPET and its adaptation of sorts THE MAD EXECUTIONERS; DER ALTE, a long running German TV Krimi series; Marijan Vajda, “the Yugoslav Ed Wood”, and his most notorious film, MOSQUITO; Cornell Woolrich's connection to SEVEN BLOOD-STAINED ORCHIDS; and we also provide an overview of our ten favourite Rialto Edgar Wallace films.

Boris, my partner in Krimi, had created this graphic with an overview of all that we cover in this issue (not including our Top Ten cause that would be telling).

As always, this issue will be available on Amazon from September 30 on and exclusively print-only. (Ignore the fact that this says Issue 3. That booboo will be corrected before release.)

Boris also provided a sneak peak at some sample pages.

What else have I been up to this year that you may have missed?

Me and Boris both wrote separate articles for the "Adventure Calls! Karl May at CCC" Blu-ray set by Eureka.

And speaking of Karl May, I also had the pleasure of appearing yet again on Rod Barnett's "Bloody Pit" podcast, this time discussing TREASURE OF SILVER LAKE (1962), the first Karl May Western.

Following up from the release of the "Fantômas Returns" box-set (also by Eureka) to which I had contributed another article, I also guested on another episode of the "Cult Connections" podcast, discussing the Fantômas trilogy from the 1960s. This episode is available on Spotify or where-ever else you get your podcast fix from.

Oh, and I also was able to introduce THE MAD EXECUTIONERS at a screening in March in my local arthouse cinema, the Triskel in Cork (Ireland).

Looking ahead, there are another couple of podcast episodes in the pipeline and in November I am planning to visit the Isla Calavera festival in Tenerife for the first time. Guest stars expected this year are Lone Fleming, Barbara Crampton, Lloyd Kaufman, Christopher Lambert, Joanna Cassidy and Tom Berenger. Should I have any Spanish readers who also plan to go there, please drop me a line and maybe we can geek out together.

Italian Barber Calendar for "Seven Blood-Stained Orchids"

Looked for one thing. 

Found something else. 

And just had to get this "Calendarietto da barbiere" for  Sette orchidee macchiate di sangue/Seven Blood-Stained Orchids.

Hand on heart, I had never heard of the concept of an Italian style "barber calendar" or seen any of those before but from what I can tell these were traditional Italian pocket-sized (and often perfumed!) calendars distributed by barbers to customers, popular in the early-to-mid 20th century. They featured nostalgic, 1950s-style "girl next door" images, pin-up pics, scenes from operas or elegant illustrations.... or seemingly, as in my case, images of popular films of the time. They were a common gift, acting as a marketing tool and a holiday keepsake from a local barber.

This particular one was advertised as being from 1973, the year after the release of the last Rialto Edgar Wallace. 

If this had ever been perfumed, the scent has long since gone. The photos below should give you an idea of what it looks like: various promotional photos (that also don't shy away from nudity), next to calendar overviews with the relevant Saints Days marked next to the date. They also have a synopsis of the film that - spoiler alert - gives away the ending!

Now I am wondering what other barber calendars may be out there for other films, Edgar Wallace or otherwise.... 

The Rah Rah Girls

So strange...

Just came across this trailer for The Rah Rah Girls which is in fact an alternate title for What Have You Done to Solange? and totally misrepresents the film as a raunchy sex comedy! 

Das Rätsel des silbernen Halbmonds/Seven Blood-Stained Orchids (1972)

Just rewatched Das Rätsel des silbernen Halbmonds/Seven Blood-Stained Orchids (1972) in preparation for another article in the next Krimi! magazine. This Krimi/Giallo hybrid by Umberto Lenzi was (at least in Germany) marketed as the 32nd and final entry to the Rialto Edgar Wallace series, the end of an era.

Below a series of lobby cards for this production.

THE MAD EXECUTIONERS at the Triskel Arts Centre in Cork

Looking forward to experiencing THE MAD EXECUTIONERS locally in the cinema at The Triskel Arts Centre in Cork (Ireland) on March 27. 

It's not often that one experience these films theatrically so this is an amazing opportunity.

Prior to the film I will provide a little introduction about the Krimi genre in general and this production in particular. 

Tickets and additional info about this presentation can be found here. 

Die seltsame Gräfin/The Strange Countess (1961)

Margaret Reedle (Brigitte Grothum) accepts a position as companion to the eccentric - and unfortunately named - Countess Moron (Lil Dagover) at her remote castle, only to find herself surrounded by secrecy, hostility, and an atmosphere thick with unease. When a series of suspicious deaths and disappearances occur, Scotland Yard inspector Mike Dorn (Joachim Fuchsberger) begins investigating the household, where the enigmatic Dr. Tappat (Rudolf Fernau), head of a nearby psychiatric institution, exerts a troubling influence. 

 Die seltsame Gräfin/The Strange Countess was based on Edgar Wallace’s book by the same name from 1925. 

Some sources state that the novel had previously been adapted under the title The Jewel (1931). If not lost, then this version is currently at least not easily available, and it is difficult to examine whether this genuinely had indeed been a proper adaptation. 

It was Rialto’s eighth Edgar Wallace and the first they shot in Berlin and not Hamburg. That year they had already released four other Wallaces, a sign that the Krimiwave was running hot. Countess followed right on the heals of Der Fälscher von London/The Forger of London (1961). 

 It was the director’s first and only Wallace film. In actual fact Jürgen Roland had to finish the production when von Baky fell sick. Countess would ultimately be his final film. He died five years later in 1966. Hungarian born von Baky had a long and varied directorial career and is best known for his Münchhausen (1943) with Hans Albers. 

This film may feature typical Wallace tropes like orphans with a family secret, falsely accused innocents and mysterious inheritances, but it does forsake masked villains and instead is carried by bravura performances from Lil Dagover and Klaus Kinski. 

Dagover was one of Germany’s Grande Dames and as the titular Countess draws from all the registers of her acting nous. The entire movie often appears centred around her and this may arguably even constitute the best performance in an Edgar Wallace film ever.... provided you don't listen to her voice in the English dub.

 Kinski plays…. Kinski. 

 At his best. 

(Or is that: worst?) 

 Whatever one’s first thoughts are when the name Kinski comes up, in Countess he does just that as the seriously deranged Stuart Bresset who drives Margaret to the brink of madness with his phone calls warning her about her upcoming death. 

Countess marked a move away from the kind of masked villain drama that the viewer had become accustomed to and focused more on questions of sanity. The bulk of the characters are pure bonkers. No other word for it. 

In actual fact with an old school cast of talent in front of and behind the camera, the film often emulates old Weimar cinema (as well as, let’s not brush this under the table, the entertainment cinema of Hitler’s Third Reich). Apart from director von Baky and Lil Dagover, we also have again Fritz Rasp as Margaret’s benevolent but also somewhat creepy boss, Rudolf Fernau as the director of an insane asylum who is battier than his inmates, and Marianne Hoppe as a female convict with a mysterious interest in Margaret’s welfare. 

 Even screenwriter Robert A. Stemmle with his first Krimi credit had a writing and directing career going back three decades. As a writer he was responsible for the excellent Der Mann, der Sherlock Holmes war/The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes (1937); as a director he also tended to be responsible for various popular comedies but also for the Hitler Youth Propaganda film Jungens (“Boys”, 1941). He also directed a very young and very skinny Gert Fröbe in Berliner Ballade/Ballad of Berlin (1948). In this satirical production Fröbe’s character was named Otto Normalverbraucher (“Otto Average-Consumer”), a name that is still in usage in Germany today as a term for the “Average Joe”. 

 Wallace films often employed older actors in crucial roles but with Countess this reached its pinnacle, giving the production a very special vibe that was unique within the series. 

It’s a wonder that Brigitte Grothum’s character would stay any longer than absolutely necessary in the castle and not do a runner to the remotest part of Scotland. Margaret Reedle is threatened pretty much everywhere she goes and survives bomb attacks and collapsing balconies. Her resilience reminds me a lot of Victoria Winters in the early seasons of Dark Shadows who just can’t seem to let go of a location that is obviously not suitable for her. Grothum would later return back to the series in Das Gasthaus an der Themse/The Inn on the River (1962). 

Oh, and of course Joachim Fuchsberger is the male lead and Eddi Arent the comic relief. 

No surprises there. 

Peter Thomas supplied his first score for a Rialto Wallace but had not yet reached the level of musical madness we would grow to be accustomed to in later entries of the series. 

Overall this is very much an actor driven affair with a special focus on insanity rather than the typical masked villains. Countess often gets treated as second-rate Wallace but I have quite a soft spot in my heart for it not despite of but because of its diversions from the familiar formula.

As always, the film is best available in the Edgar Wallace box set from Amazon DE where it is available with English subs and dubs.

Indian Scarf posters

Following my recent 7-part marathon series dedicated to Rolf Olsen's St Pauli films, I feared I may go on a blogging hiatus again (hey, I got new articles to write for Krimi! 2), but I just came across these wonderful Italian posters for Das indische Tuch/The Indian Scarf (1963) by Renato Casaro (first two images) and Mario Piovano and nothing wrong with occasionally just posting pretty pictures.