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!

TALES OF TOMORROW / "Ghost Writer" - 1953

An out of work writer decides to accept a well-paying offer from a mysterious man, to help with the bills while his wife works at a small market. But, he becomes increasing disturbed after the fictional incidents he writes about occur in real life! 

This crazy little story stars Leslie Nielsen as Bert, Gaby Rodgers as Joan, Murray Matheson as Lee Morton and Harry Mehaffey as Lou, the store owner.

Bert was laid off from his job and is writing a novel that he wants to sell to a publisher, but he still has a ways to go before it's finished. His wife Joan encourages him to just keep chipping away, and that it's just a matter of time before it sells...

Bert gets a letter from a Mr. Lee Morton, he says he'd like to hire him as an assistant writer. Bert wants to go for an interview but wifey says no way, do not get sidetracked with other projects, you need to finish your novel.

But thinking about the money, he gives Mr. Morton a call...

Bert goes to Morton's home to meet with him. Mr. Morton's a strange kind of fellow, he's written a number of novels, but none of them have an ending! He tells Bert that he will pay him $500 dollars each for two endings!

Bert agrees to try and he finishes the two stories. Morton is thrilled with the endings he comes up with and pays Bert his $1000. The endings are about how people die in their particular situations in each different story Morton has written about, love triangles, adultery, blackmail, disputes, etc.

As Bert is leaving, Morton gives a sly smile, you think something's going on here?

Bert goes to see Joan at work and tells her the great news! Joan is not happy, he had told her that he would not contact Morton. She tries to leave but trips over a pile of newspapers.

Bert goes over to help her and notices the headlines on the newspaper, he reads the article and it is exactly what he had written for the ending, even the names are the same! Then he finds out that the other ending also came true, a deadly fire...

By 1953 ABC had started running network ads of upcoming events, like this Saturday Night Fights promo with commentators Red Smith and Don Dunphy. I remember watching the Gillette Friday Night Fights in 1955 with my dad when I was 7.

Joan demands that Bert give the money back to Mr. Morton. Shaken by the events, Bert agrees.

But when Bert tries to give the money back, Morton offers him $1000 for one last ending.

With the lure of the money though, Bert decides that he'll come up with his last ending for a total of $2000. Man, that was a lot of money back then, rent was like $50 a month, or less!.. Anyway, Morton sets up the scene for Bert, then Bert describes how it should end. He takes the money and goes back to the store to see Joan.

He only finds Lou, the owner, at the store. He tells him that Joan was leaving, then Bert realizes that the ending he wrote was about him and Joan, he runs outside to watch her die in a car crash, just as he had written...

Later, Mr. Morton drops by the store and reminds Lou, sometimes you have to pay for the things you want. This was a fun episode...

OTLEY - "Nobody Loves Otley" (1969)

There was a British film made in 1969 called "Otley," a story of of a common man named Jerry Otley who, just like Howard the Duck, gets caught up in a world he didn't create! Must just be perfect for another Saturday Night Special in The Dungeon!

I normally like British movies and TV shows, but this one just didn't do much for me. It has it's moments, it's just that most of the time you don't know if it's a spy film or a comedy, I guess it's both, but then that's British humour for you!

Sir Tom Courtenay as Gerald Arthur Otley was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire twenty years ago in 2001 for drama, and is still acting today!

Austrian born Romy (Death Watch) Schneider is a beautiful but mysterious woman named Imogen who is about to make Otley's life very miserable!

First off, two bit crook, and antiques dealer wannabe Otley gets kicked out of his apartment for lack of payment!

A friend tells Otley about a party that he could go to and at least get out of the weather for a couple of hours, and while there, he asks everybody he comes in contact with if he could just spend a night or two at their place, but he gets no takers.

Finally one guy gives in, and allows Otley to sleep on his couch, but when he wakes up, he's in the middle of an airfield, and his host is dead, and this is where all the fun begins.

 

If it's not bad enough to wake up in the middle of an airport......... 

 

 

 ..........It's even worse when your shoes are on the wrong feet!

 

For the rest of the movie, it's Imogen taunting Otley, and getting him into, and out of trouble!

There's a cast of colourful characters pursuing him, and he doesn't know why!

 

And Otley just can't figure out how he got himself into this mess, and how he's going to get out of it!

There's one group of people using him to set up some other people, and they try to turn him into someone he isn't, like a customer at The Playboy Club in London.

While dining at The Playboy Club, the server brings out the biggest pepper grinder you've ever seen in your life!

A depressed Romy Schneider passed away at the age of 43, diagnosed with cardiac arrest, but some people claim it was intentional and was brought on by her consuming a large amount of sleeping pills.

After teasing him for days, Imogen finally comes to Otley specifically to have sex, but this is as far as it goes onscreen.

 

After much confusion, crooked officials, death attempts, and multiple chase scenes, Gerald Arthur Otley returns to the streets where the whole ordeal started!