THE MYSTERIOUS MAGICIAN

Bad guys: Brockmann, Lange, John, Waitzmann

THE MYSTERIOUS MAGICIAN (aka Der Hexer/1964). Director: Alfred Vohrer. In "Ultrascope." 

Gwenda Milton (Petra von der Linde), the secretary to a corpulent man named Messer (Jochen Brockmann), is strangled and her body dumped in the Thames. Realizing that Gwenda was the sister of criminal mastermind Arthur Milton, popularly known as the "Ringer," Inspector Bryan Edgar Higgins (Joachim Fuchsberger of The Fellowship of the Frog) figures that his adversary is bound to come to London for the funeral and to get even with the people who killed Gwenda. Joining him in his quest for the Ringer is veteran cop Inspector Warren (Siegfried Lowitz), as well as a mysterious man named Wesby (Heinz Drache of The Brides of Fu Manchu), who shows up at opportune moments and may even be the Ringer. Meanwhile Milton's wife, Cora Ann (Margot Trooger), has arrived in London and is in obvious communication with her unseen husband. Higgins promises his girlfriend, Elise (Sophie Hardy), that he will marry her if he captures the Ringer. As for the Ringer, he is going about taking care of the members of Messer's white slavery racket, including Reverend Hopkins (Carl Lange of Death in a Red Jaguar),  Shelby (Karl John), and Reddingwood (Kurt Waitzmann), who guides the gang's mini-sub.

Heinz Drache and Joachim Fuchsberger

Another Edgar Wallace adaptation from West Germany, this is a fast-paced, entertaining, fun movie featuring both of the "heroes" from the series, Fuchsberger and Drache. Elements from sixties spy movies had crept into the krimi movies and Fuchsberger sometimes comes off more like a spy than a police inspector, but that's not a problem in this picture. The Ringer had also appeared in a couple of earlier British films. You may think you have figured out who the Ringer is but you might be wrong. Siegfried Schurenberg appears as Higgins' boss, Sir John, but is not so buffoonish in this. The name Bryan Edgar Higgins is an in-joke referring to Bryan Edgar Wallace, the son of the famous author and a writer himself.  

Verdict: One of the better West German Wallace adaptations. ***.