Schachnovelle

Solid black and white film adaptation of the literary classic by Stefan ZWEIG!

The production by Luggi WALDLEITNER and his ROXY FILM imitates the films of the Italian-French cinema of those years in form and image design without reaching their class. But the film is still worth seeing because of the actors: BAFTA AWARD nominee Curd JÜRGENS (nominated in 1959 for THE ENEMY BELOW) in the leading role, EUROPEAN FILM AWARD nominee Mario ADORF (nominated in 1997 for ROSSINI) as the chess world champion, Hans SÖHNKER as a bishop, Dietmar SCHÖNHERR as a rabbi and, particularly well, the Hitchcock star Hansjörg FELMY (in TORN CURTAIN) as the jovial Nazi henchman. The female lead is played by British star Claire BLOOM, who starred alongside Charlie CHAPLIN in LIMELIGHT and alongside Maria SCHELL in THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOW. In later years, BLOOM was for a time the partner of the American writer Philip ROTH.

Not the weakest film from the West German film industry era!