Bangkok film from the RAPID film studio of successful producer Wolf C. Hartwig
This German-Italian adventure film by Jürgen Roland (1925-2007), shot in Thailand, celebrated its world premiere on March 15, 1963. It was produced by veteran Wolf C. Hartwig, who has brought many GERMAN ADVENTURE FILMS to cinemas since "Heißer Hafen Hong Kong" (1962). An exciting crime story in an exotic dream setting was the recipe for success of these films, which were very successful in the 1960s.
This time it's about a gang of criminals in beautiful Thailand who are after precious stones and a tin mine. And of course it's about strange deaths caused by a mysterious black cat that terrifies the village of Ratana.
Heinz Drache (1923-2002) as mining engineer Richard Paddberg and Marianne Koch (turned 90 on August 19, 2021!) as brilliant jungle doctor Dr. Marina Keller has to deal with these terrible events. Some of Rapid Film's regular actors can be seen in other roles: Horst Frank (1929-1999) as Jack Roller, Brad Harris (1933-2017) as Larry Finch, Dorothee Parker (born in Cologne in 1938) as the pretty secretary Madeleine, Luciana Gilli ( Born in Rome in 1944) as the seductive dancer Yvonne and Chris Howland (1928-2013) as the barman Charly who is responsible for the good mood. Of course, stuntman Brad Harris is responsible for the action (as is almost always the case with Rapid Film), but this time in a quite surprising role. Until the sneaky big cat is killed, there will be many other surprises.
Overall, this is a typical adventure film from the Rapid workshop, which just doesn't take place in Hong Kong, but in Bangkok. The main draws at the box office are Marianne Koch (as a film star, advertising face, real life medical doctor and advice aunt in the ARD television show "Was bin ich? / What am I?" - almost omnipresent for decades) and Heinz Drache (known from the Edgar Wallace horror thrillers and as a failed Kommissar / inspector in the ARD crime series TATORT (West Berlin) in the late 1980s). Director Jürgen Roland (virtually the West German inventor of television crime dramas with the crime series "Stahlnetz") was one of the most innovative filmmakers at the time, as he had already done with the Edgar Wallace film "Der grüne Bogenschütze / The Green Archer" (1961) and the very first rapid adventure film "Heißer Hafen Hong Kong / Hot Harbor Hong Kong" (1962).
What is perhaps interesting is that Dorothee Parker appeared in every Rapid production during her time as Wolf C. Hartwig's life partner (1959-1964). However, after "Die Goldsucher von Arkansas / The Gold Prospectors of Arkansas" (1964) that was over. From then on she took care of her modeling agency.
Highly recommended for fans of the GERMAN ADVENTURES FLICKS!
