DAS VERRÄTERTOR - "Traitor's Gate" (1964)

"Das Verrätertor," now that's a mouthful, and the English translation as "The Traitor's Gate," or the betrayed gate, are words that just don't go together well, and I think that just kinda sets the mood for this Edgar Wallace Wednesday feature. Actually, when I got this, it was labeled "Trailor's Gate," and I was really have a hard time trying to figure out what in the Hell that meant!

 

"Das Verrätertor," was made in 1964, and is a little different from many of the Edgar Wallace films of the same time period, because they don't use the same players as much.

"Das Verrätertor" was a novel written by Edgar Wallace, but the screenplay was by Hammer's Jimmy Sangster credited as John Samson.

Something else that's different about this film is that it was directed by Dungeon fave Freddie Francis.
 

Gary Raymond was a co-star on the popular 60's TV show "The Rat Patrol" as Sergeant Jack Moffitt, but I think this was the only Edgar Wallace film he was in.

 

You just can't hardly have an Edgar Wallace movie without Klaus Kinski in it. There are a few, but usually he's lurking around in there somewhere!

Another unfamiliar face in Edgar Wallace films is Catherine Schell. This was only Catherine Schell's second on screen appearance, the first being "Lana, Queen Of The Amazons." She would later be in "Moon Zero Two," "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," and appear as Maya in "Space:1999." Catherine came from a royal bloodline, and her Father was a Baron, but World War II put and end to all that.

Margot Trooger was also not in a lot of the Edgar Wallace films, except for this one and "The Mysterious Magician," and "Again The Ringer."

Same thing with Albert Lieven, besides this film he was in "The Devil's Daffodil," and one episode of "The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre."

Und....(That's German for 'And' for you non-German speakers. It took me three years of high school German class to figure that out!).............Eddi Arent, who like Klaus Kinski was in almost every Wallace film!

(And personally, sometimes I wish he wasn't.)

The basic story here is that a group of crafty thieves try and steal the Crown Jewels which are housed in The Tower of London!

Maestro Peter Thomas was once again responsible for the music, and that's reason enough in my book, to watch this film!

Other than that, there's a lot of this..............."Hilf Mir!!"

 

"Was meinst du damit, dass ich albern aussehe?"

 

"Keine Sorge Boss, das wird ein Kinderspiel."

Just using the keys would have been the simplest solution!

But you just can't go wrong with a team of guys with cutting torches. Just ask anybody who has ever had their catalytic convertor stolen! Very Effective!

DER UNHEIMLICHE MÖNCH - "The Sinister Monk" (1965)

 

It's a Sinister Saturday Night Special down in The Dungeon with another Edgar Wallace tale of woe, "Der Unheimliche Mönch," oder auf Englisch................................

 

 

........."The Sinister Monk!"

 

"We know where to find him, it's right about here, in London some place!"

And this would be the him in question! This is a story of cold-blooded murderer, and what happens after a young girl is murdered in a famous English boarding school.

 "The Sinister Monk" has an all-star cast that includes:

Harald (The Brides Of Fu Manchu) Leipnitz as Inspector Bratt, the man who has to untangle the whole mess!

 

Perennial Dungeon favourite Karin Dor is Gwendolin Gilmore, the girl who inherited the money, because of course, there has to be a girl who inherits the money, and a seriously nasty family who all want to get their mitts on it!

"The entire country lives in terror. The newspapers call the mad killer "The Sinister Monk."

Siegfried (The Mysterious Magician) Lowitz is the villainous Sir Richard.

Ilse (The Curse Of The Hidden Vault) Steppat is Lady Patricia.

 

Hartmut (Überfahrt) Reck is the sniveling Ronny.

Uta (The Oblong Box) Levka is Lola.

Rudolf (The College Girl Murders) Schündler is the eccentric mask making in house artiste!

Dieter (Curse Of The Blood Ghouls) Eppler is Sir William. 

There are a lot of Sirs in this film, but not many gentlemen!

"Who is "The Sinister Monk?"

Siegfried (Room 13) Schürenberg is back as Sir John, a role he would play for at least six more movies after this. "The Sinister Monk" was also the last of this series of Edgar Wallace films that was in black and white.

Und..........Last but not least is Eddi Arent as Smith, who if I counted correctly was in eighteen of these Edgar Wallace masterpieces!

 

Let us not forget the man who wrote this show, Mr. Edgar Wallace!

And his Co-star, the man who wrote the score, the always astounding, Maestro Peter Thomas!

DER GORILLA VON SOHO - "Gorilla Gang" (1968)

 

It's time for another Edgar Wallace Wednesday down in The Dungeon, so hold on to your popcorn, and get ready for "Gorilla Gang!"

 

Edgar Wallace haunts all of us each and every day, and yet most people don't even realize it, but trust me, he's watching!

It's Cinco de Mayo, so I decided to watch a German film with Spanish sub-titles while drinking Margaritas, and I suggest you do so too!

One thing for sure, no matter what language it's in, anything is enjoyable when it has a soundtrack composed by Maestro Peter Thomas.

"Der Gorilla Von Soho" was also known as "Gorilla Gang."

In Spanish, that translates roughly to "Pandilla de Gorilas."

To you it might just look like some goof in a gorilla suit, but the reality is that it's

"A monster that strikes fear into the heart of a whole city!"

"A strange bar in London's Soho District...........

 ............Conceals many a mystery!"

 

Strange indeed! 

The wealthy patrons get drunk and either paint, or take pictures of a bunch of semi-nude Adam & Evil models!

As always, there are those tricky Edgar Wallace elements, like this safe with a pistol in it that shoots the unsuspecting person who opens it, square in the chest!

Sir John is not in this film but is replaced with another perv from Scotland Yard, the amazing Hubert von Meyerinck as Sir Arthur, who was also in a ton of other Edgar Wallace films like "The Man With The Glass Eye," "The Hunchback Of Soho," and "Again The Ringer." 

Here's some more info from the German Wikipedia site about Hubert provided by my Editor in Berlin that is pretty interesting.

 

 "I remember a gay actor we called 'Hubsi,' Hubert von Meyerinck. He never boasted of it himself, but on Kristallnacht he ran across Kurfürstendamm shouting, 'Whoever among you is Jewish, follow me.' He hid people in his apartment. Yes, they existed, the decent people whose words you could believe that it was difficult to become a resister in those days. People like Meyerinck were marvelous, wonderful."
- Billy Wilder: in an interview with Der Spiegel, Special, June 1997

This gorilla looks like he just got back from the hair stylist!

The Gorilla Gang use this ambulance as their getaway car after they pull a job.

In one scene, the gorilla dives into the open back door!

"With one vicious slash they severed the jugular vein of an entire city!"

 

 

"People disappear mysteriously!"

The fact that she has the "Sergeant Pepper" album hanging on her wall, and the other exposed record is by the phenomenal jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal, shows that this gal has got good taste in music, but too bad that's not going to be good enough to save her life.

"Nobody knows the hideout of the horrible monster," but that doesn't stop them from trying!

Victims get drowned so that the gorillas can get the insurance money! The difficult part was filling out all the paperwork!

Darn, who'd a thunk? 

It wasn't a gorilla at all, but just some moron in a gorilla suit instead!

Just in case you missed it on the last gorilla movie, here's Glen Armstrong again with the classic

"Gorilla Suit Blues."

Even after the whole ordeal is over, horndog Sir Arthur continues to investigate in his own special way!