Room 13
Director: Harald Reinl
Year: 1964
Rating: 6.0
Country: Germany
Aka - Zimmer 13
Here is another Krimi from director Harald Reinl who directed a number of
them from the late 1950s through the 1960s. It is as usual based on an Edgar
Wallace criminal tale (Room 13 in 1924) and it announces this fact at the
beginning of the film like a car tooting its horn. It takes place in London
of course where everyone speaks German. Even Scotland Yard. The only thing
this one is missing is Klaus Kinski who shows up as some shady character
in so many of them. But it does have Joachim Fuchsberger, Karin Dor, Eddi
Arendt and Siegfried Schürenberg who all show up in lots of these films.
I noticed that Schürenberg seems to get the name of Sir John in most
of his as a Scotland Yard Inspector. These are produced by Rialto Films which
explains the same actors showing up so often. I am just getting into these
Krimi films as I come across them and so am still trying to learn their ins
and outs and who is who. I have enjoyed them for the most part - smallish
budgets - the early ones in black and white; the later ones in color - with
a bit of gore, maybe a touch of nudity, suspense and murder. I think most
of them are not actually shot in London other than a few establishing shots
- this one in Germany and Denmark. This has all of that and a more complicated
plot than many.
Joe Ligge (Richard Häussler) is back in England after being away for
20 years after he escaped being tried for robbery. He has reached the Statute
of Limitations. He is planning a train robbery and needs the help of an old
friend Sir Robert Marney who is now a member of Parliament. He has something
on him from the past. Marney has a daughter Denise (Karin Dor) who he is
worried may become collateral damage and so he hires the "best detective"
in London, Johnny Gray (Fuchsberger), to protect her. Gladly. Detecting and
beautiful women are his main interests. There is also Marney's dead wife
for 20 years in the mix but hard to know why other than she is the spitting
image of his daughter and her portraits overlook everything.
The train robbery is planned down to the last second - all the planning being
done in room 13 of the Highlow night club where the room is hidden behind
a vault and strippers are on the stage. But a problem has cropped up bringing
in Scotland Yard (Schürenberg and his assistant Arendt who provides
the technology and the comedy relief, which involves his love for a mannikin
and is pretty bad - is there no escape from comedy relief in police assistants?).
Someone is killing women by slicing their throats and two of them were working
in the club. Very inconvenient for business. But the show must go on. Solid
thriller.
