When earlier on this year I did my little retrospective of Rolf Olsen's St Pauli films, I had totally forgotten that I had scans of two of the films under discussion in my digital collection. I happened to come across them again this week, so no better time than now to post them on the blog.
First of Das Rasthaus der grausamen Puppen/Devil's Girls (1967) that I had covered in my introduction to the project.
It's a good time to be a Krimi fan...
After Eureka had released the Dr Mabuse movies of the 1960s as well as CCC's (Bryan) Edgar Wallace films, Vinegar Syndrome is now following suit: They have just announced that pre-order has started for a set of three Rialto Edgar Wallace films for their new "Krimis in B&W" Blu-Ray boxset: DAS INDISCHE TUCH (THE INDIAN SCARF, 1963), DER ZINKER (THE SQUEAKER, 1963) and ZIMMER 13 (ROOM 13, 1964).
Two of those films are directed by Alfred Vohrer, one of them by Harald Reinl. And without spilling the beans too much... one of those three choices had also made it to my list of Top 5 Edgar Wallace films for Krimi! 2 that is out now.
My understanding is that the transfers will be identical to the German Blu-Ray sets but this release is full of specially produced new features that include:
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.
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....
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!
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.
