THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE FROG

The Frog: would you buy a used care from this man?

THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE FROG (aka Face of the Frog aka Der Frosch mit der Maske/1959). Director: Harald Reinl. 

London is the locale of a sinister criminal leader known only as the Frog, who has hundreds of cutthroat agents in his employ, and who runs about decked out in a kind of ski cap with bulging bubble eyes. Richard Gordon (Joachim Fuchsberger), the nephew of Scotland Yard's Sir Archibald (Ernst Fritz Furbringer of The Curse of the Hidden Vault), is certain that the Frog is actually the supposedly dead master criminal Harry Lime, but whom is he impersonating when he isn't posing as the Frog? The Frog seems to have an unhealthy interest in the family of John Bennet (Carl Lange of Death in a Red Jaguar), especially his daughter, Ella (Elfie von Kalckreuth), but it's his son, Ray (Walter Wilz), who winds up framed for murder. Then there's the singer, Lolita (Eva Pflug), who seems to be working for the Frog but elicits his wrath in an especially brutal sequence involving a machinegun. Can Ray be saved before he's hanged, and will the Frog ever be unmasked? Inspector Elk (Siegfried Lowitz of The Sinister Monk) has a plan ... 

Matinee Idol: Joachim Fuchsberger

This is the very first of a West German film series based on the novels of Edgar Wallace that would eventually add up to nearly sixty movies (if you also include adaptations of novels written by Wallace's son as well as films clearly influenced by Wallace)! This one, directed by Harald Reinl -- who helmed many of the Jerry Cotton films starring George Nader, as well as Dr. Mabuse movies and The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism -- keeps things moving briskly in this initial entry. Handsome Fuchsberger would appear in many of the subsequent films, generally in a heroic role. Frog is fast-paced, entertaining, and amusing, although the whole business with Ray being arrested and convicted so rapidly seems more than contrived and downright weird. The biggest problem with Frog is that the identity of the master criminal seems obvious, at least to me, almost from the first -- he just sticks out like a sore thumb! Other characters include the cadaverous Maitland, Ray's boss (Fritz Rasp), and his kindly associate Johnson (Jochen Brockmann), as well as Eddi Arent as Gordon's comical butler, James. 

Verdict: Successful enough to engender a whole slew of krimi movies. **3/4.   

THE CURSE OF THE HIDDEN VAULT

Ernst Fritz Furbringer and Harald Leipnitz

THE CURSE OF THE HIDDEN VAULT (aka Die Gruft mit dem Ratselschloss/1964.) Director: Franz Josef Gottlieb.  

An old gangster named Real (Rudolf Roster) has amassed a fortune -- mostly from others -- and placed it in a booby-trapped vault on his estate. Real wants to leave his fortune to Kathleen Kent (Judith Dornys), the daughter of a man he cheated years ago, but all of Real's associates want their cut first and will kidnap and murder anyone they can to get it. Kathleen is accompanied by her nerdy, officious lawyer, Ferry Westlake (Eddi Arent) and is befriended by the mysterious Jimmy Flynn (Harald Leipnitz), who seems to be playing both sides against the other. Meanwhile Inspector Angel (Harry Meyen), egged on by Sir John (Siegfried Schurenberg), tries to get enough on everyone to make an arrest. 

Klaus Kinski

The main problem with Hidden Vault is that it can't make up its mind if its a serious thriller or a parody of one. The presence of Eddi Arent, playing his usual role of comedy relief, doesn't help at all, although he does get the last laugh at the very end. While much of the film is tedious, there are a couple of good scenes set in an old mill, and a gruesome business where one character falls in front of a grindstone. Klaus Kinski [Schizoid] plays a sinister mute character who slithers about causing mischief and worse. The movie has just a few James Bond-like touches and there are some surprises to boot. For the record the vault in this movie is hardly "hidden" as lots of characters find it with ease. Franz Josef Gottlieb also directed the eurospy feature Die Slowly, You'll Enjoy it More with Lex Barker.   

Verdict: Another Edgar Wallace adaptation from West Germany. **1/4.