The term "Krimi" refers to a genre of movies made between 1959-1967 in what was then West Germany. All of the early Krimis were shot in black and white and resembled the American "film noirs" of the 1940s and early 1950s. They are basically crime dramas although most also contained mystery elements, and were based on the works of English writer Edgar Wallace (1875-1932). Most of the stories are set in England but were shot in Germany using German actors and feature German and English soundtracks, although the latter are all dubbed and, as is usually the case, not very well.
There were 32 Edgar Wallace movies made, and all by one company, Rialto Films. Another company, CCC Films, produced a series of movies based on works of the writer's son, Bryan Edgar Wallace. The principal director for the Rialto series was Alfred Vohrer who directed 14 of the 32 films which were produced. DAS INDISCHE TUCH (The Indian Scarf), the 14th film in the series, is one of the better ones as it contains all the classic mystery elements with comic relief provided by series regular Eddi Arent who usually appeared as an aloof butler or a self-effacing sidekick.
The frequently recycled plot features several greedy relatives who have gathered for the reading of a will hoping to inherit a rich man's money. However the will stipulates that in order to inherit any legacy they all must spend a week together in his castle. This allows one of them the opportunity to bump off the others as the week progresses...but which one of them is doing it? Almost all of the characters are unsympathetic and exceedingly avaricious so they get, in celebrated old dark house fashion, what's coming to them. Nothing new there. The twist (pun intended) comes from the film's title as all the victims are strangled with a silk Indian scarf.
The cast of German actors includes the dependable Heinz Drache who was usually a stalwart leading man for many European productions during the 1960s. Here he plays the lawyer who not only reads the will but he also winds up solving the mystery. Then there is the one and only Klaus Kinski who brings his celebrated brand of intensity to the role of a temperamental sculptor who may also be a drug addict. Veteran actress Elisabeth Flickenschildt is given the showy role of the widowed matriarch who harbors a dark secret while Hans Clarin is her artistic son who has dreams of being a concert pianist.
The murders are committed from the killer's point-of-view and we are treated to a scene of a scarf being rolled tight in front of the camera before something happens. The film is well made and manages to be spooky and tongue-in-cheek at the same time. The end sums up the movie perfectly. Although SCARF isn't a great film, it holds a special memory for me as I first saw it with my mother, who was a great fan of mysteries, on board a German liner during my one and only jaunt to Europe back in 1964. I was 12 year old at the time and this was the first subtitled movie I'd ever seen. This disc is one of the fully restored EDGAR WALLACE series which was released back in 2004...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
