"Das Indische Tuch" aka. "The Indian Scarf" of 1963 is a highly entertaining example for the German Edgar Wallace movies. Adaptations of Edgar Wallace's novels were immensely popular in Germany of the late 50s and early 60s, and these Edgar Wallace movies are sometimes considered to be the predecessors of the Italian Gialli. Even though the German murder mysteries do not nearly come up to the greatness of the Italian Thriller/Horror sub-genre (Giallo is one of my personal favorite genres), it is obvious why these comparisons are made, which "The Indian Scarf" is one of the best examples for. Released in the same year as the great Mario Bava's "La Ragazza che sapeva troppo" aka. "The Gril Who Knew Too Much", which is widely considered to be the very first Giallo ever, "The Indian Scarf" is a murder mystery that takes place in a mansion, where a bunch of relatives of a recently deceased man are to spend a week together in order to inherit his money. As the week goes on, the bodies pile up... The murders are shown from the killer's perspective, as it is the case in most Gialli. This may not be the most suspenseful thing in the world, but it is definitely a highly entertaining little murder mystery, with a nice style and interesting characters. The performances are fine, especially the immortal Klaus Kinski, who is still quite young here, is once again excellent in his role. Other very good performances include Elisabeth Flickenschildt as the imperious lady Lebanon, Eberhard Junkersdorf and Hans Nielsen. Every actor delivers, but, of course, Kinski steals the show as always. Fans of murder mysteries and cult cinema should not miss out on this moody little flick that promises a highly entertaining hour and a half!
11 Reviews
DON'T Look Out Behind You!
Joseph_Gillis9 November 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Not so much 'family gathering, haunted-house mystery' - although the phone lines get knocked out, early on - as 'family gathering, there's a killer among us mystery' , where, once the first unfortunate get's knocked off, it becomes quickly apparent to the remainder that one of them - being that there's a shared inheritance involved - is determined to kill the others.
Your enjoyment of this type of film depends of course on how much of a fan you are, but especially on the quality of the ensemble playing and the quality of the 'dispatches', and I think it scores highly on both fronts. Performance-wise, I've only recently become acquainted with many of these actors, but I particularly enjoyed the performances of Elisabeth Flickenschildt, as Lady Isabel Lebanon; Hans Clarin, as Lord Edward, her son; the more familiar, Klaus Kinski, as Peter Ross; and regular comic relief, Eddi Aren't, as the family butler, whose trolley seems to have a life of its own.
*** Of the killings, - all strangulations, using one of a set of distinctive scarves - possibly the most inventive was that carried out in a sauna, where the victim's neighbour both survives unscathed, and remained oblivious to the killer's presence. ***
The film boasted more external scenes than one is usually accustomed to in films of this type,including a number of frenetic chase scenes; also some of the cinematography was quite inventive; particularly in those external scenes.
I managed to figure out who the killer was, quite early on, but not the final scene, and I suspect only friends and acquaintances of the scriptwriters were able to do that.
Undemanding entertainment, nicely handled by director Alfred Vohrer, who was already establishing himself as a stalwart of the series
Your enjoyment of this type of film depends of course on how much of a fan you are, but especially on the quality of the ensemble playing and the quality of the 'dispatches', and I think it scores highly on both fronts. Performance-wise, I've only recently become acquainted with many of these actors, but I particularly enjoyed the performances of Elisabeth Flickenschildt, as Lady Isabel Lebanon; Hans Clarin, as Lord Edward, her son; the more familiar, Klaus Kinski, as Peter Ross; and regular comic relief, Eddi Aren't, as the family butler, whose trolley seems to have a life of its own.
*** Of the killings, - all strangulations, using one of a set of distinctive scarves - possibly the most inventive was that carried out in a sauna, where the victim's neighbour both survives unscathed, and remained oblivious to the killer's presence. ***
The film boasted more external scenes than one is usually accustomed to in films of this type,including a number of frenetic chase scenes; also some of the cinematography was quite inventive; particularly in those external scenes.
I managed to figure out who the killer was, quite early on, but not the final scene, and I suspect only friends and acquaintances of the scriptwriters were able to do that.
Undemanding entertainment, nicely handled by director Alfred Vohrer, who was already establishing himself as a stalwart of the series
Krimi Scarf.
morrison-dylan-fan18 February 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Going to book tickets to see satirical comedian Jonathon Pie in March,I found out that an Edgar Wallace adaptation was being staged in March as well. A fan of the Krimi movies with Karin Dor, (who sadly does not appear here)I was pleased to find that Wallace's novel had been filmed as a Krimi,which led to me putting the scarf on.
View on the film:
Limited by producer Horst Wendlandt's attempt to save money by filming it all in a studio,director Alfred Vohrer & cinematographer Karl Löb brilliantly overcome the limitations, and unfold an early Giallo Krimi.
Handling black leather gloves before their arrival in the Giallo with the 1970 Bird with the Crystal Plumage (also reviewed), Vohrer gives each murder a highly stylised shine,gliding in smoothly-handled first person track shots,which along with building tension to the next attack,also cleverly map out the corners of the mansion.
Solving the mystery with a mischievous twist, Vohrer and Löb do extremely well keeping anxiety running high in the isolated location,by using swift overlapping close-ups to draw out the fear from each family member over possibly sitting next to the killer.
Leaning towards Agatha Christie in this take on the Krimi, the screenplay by Harald G. Petersson and George Hurdalek spreads the mystery across the family evenly, with them each being given quirks that crack the façade of their royal upper-crust status. Catching a handful of the Giallo, the writers keep the twists in the Krimi strong by playing allowing with the early set-ups of the Giallo,such as a haunted family gathering round the table for the final,a death in the family sauna, and an wry spin on the dope/druggie loner of Gialli.
The black sheep in the family from his first meeting with Heinz Drache's smooth lawyer Frank Tanner, Klaus Kinski gives a great, fidgeting performance as the howling Peter Ross,who keeps all the family ill at ease,as the killer puts on the Indian scarf.
View on the film:
Limited by producer Horst Wendlandt's attempt to save money by filming it all in a studio,director Alfred Vohrer & cinematographer Karl Löb brilliantly overcome the limitations, and unfold an early Giallo Krimi.
Handling black leather gloves before their arrival in the Giallo with the 1970 Bird with the Crystal Plumage (also reviewed), Vohrer gives each murder a highly stylised shine,gliding in smoothly-handled first person track shots,which along with building tension to the next attack,also cleverly map out the corners of the mansion.
Solving the mystery with a mischievous twist, Vohrer and Löb do extremely well keeping anxiety running high in the isolated location,by using swift overlapping close-ups to draw out the fear from each family member over possibly sitting next to the killer.
Leaning towards Agatha Christie in this take on the Krimi, the screenplay by Harald G. Petersson and George Hurdalek spreads the mystery across the family evenly, with them each being given quirks that crack the façade of their royal upper-crust status. Catching a handful of the Giallo, the writers keep the twists in the Krimi strong by playing allowing with the early set-ups of the Giallo,such as a haunted family gathering round the table for the final,a death in the family sauna, and an wry spin on the dope/druggie loner of Gialli.
The black sheep in the family from his first meeting with Heinz Drache's smooth lawyer Frank Tanner, Klaus Kinski gives a great, fidgeting performance as the howling Peter Ross,who keeps all the family ill at ease,as the killer puts on the Indian scarf.
Highly entertaining and so many weird gadgets in the film!
thedarkhorizon9 April 2021
It was a super entertaining watch, I enjoyed especially the humor indicating home gadgets a lot, that served the story. The oversized beethoven statue that holds some murder weapons, the tea wagon following Eddie Arent without a leash, the mysterious secret doors leading to cupboards, the weird clay statue of a stupid handyman, the oversized horse... set design in these Edgar Wallace adaptions in Germany is a real GEM and often overlooked. For me, the humor and the set design are a major plus point for the film experience, together with an EXTREMELY exciting cast, such as Eddie Arent, Heinz Drache and Elisabeth Flickenschild. Really fun, fast paced and easy going entertainment!
giallo style in 1963
happytrigger-64-39051730 August 2019
"The indian scarf" was directed in 1963 by Alfred Vohrer , from a novel by Edgar Wallace. The murders were shot like future italian gialli, spoiled by few lousy german "comic" scenes (most with Heinz Drachi). There are still a majority of moody expresionnist scenes with a bunch of terrifying actors like Ady Berber (as the massive weird domestic), Elisabeth Flickenschildt, Hans Clarin and the inevitable Klaus Kinski. Very entertaining.
Who is the strangler?
Horst_In_Translation2 June 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This is another German-language Edgar Wallace movie from the 1960s, over 50 years old, and as in some others of these Heinz Drache plays a main character. The cast is pretty good in general. Clarin, Uhlen, Junkersdorf and Aren't are known names to German audiences and the rest of the cast are all pretty experienced as well. The standout here, however, is Klaus Kinski before his big breakthrough and it is already easy to see from this film why he became such a big star. He only really fills one niche, which is people with disorders of any kind that always have a touch of insane with them, but he fits these characters better than pretty much anybody else.
The film runs for clearly under 90 minutes, is in black-and-white and has a fairly simple premise. A rich man is killed and all his relatives come to inherit a part of his wealth. However, the deceased included in his will that they have to spend six days and nights at his place and so they do. And one by one of them get killed, usually after showing their true colors and threatening (members of) the group. A simple, yet entertaining premise. Side-question: What's with their testament by the way? And you can guess yourself which member of the group the killer is. As always with these films, it's not the most obvious choice. Not at all. Alfred Vohrer was one of Germany's most known filmmakers back then. The writer has a decent body of work too, worked a.o. on the multiple Academy-Award winning "The Sound of Music". The film ends with a pretty spectacular finish. It's not really logical all in all, but still interesting to watch and one of the best German Edgar Wallace films in my opinion. Recommended.
The film runs for clearly under 90 minutes, is in black-and-white and has a fairly simple premise. A rich man is killed and all his relatives come to inherit a part of his wealth. However, the deceased included in his will that they have to spend six days and nights at his place and so they do. And one by one of them get killed, usually after showing their true colors and threatening (members of) the group. A simple, yet entertaining premise. Side-question: What's with their testament by the way? And you can guess yourself which member of the group the killer is. As always with these films, it's not the most obvious choice. Not at all. Alfred Vohrer was one of Germany's most known filmmakers back then. The writer has a decent body of work too, worked a.o. on the multiple Academy-Award winning "The Sound of Music". The film ends with a pretty spectacular finish. It's not really logical all in all, but still interesting to watch and one of the best German Edgar Wallace films in my opinion. Recommended.
Ten greedy little nobodies
Coventry1 May 2021
What legendary author wrote the best murder mysteries/whodunits; - Agatha Christie or Edgar Wallace? For me, personally, the answer is undoubtedly Agatha Christie! And not just by a small mile, but with lightyears ahead. Nonetheless, I'm also a big fan of Wallace, and I'm eternally grateful to him, because his work kickstarted the German Krimi-films, and eventually the Italian giallo-boom.
"The Indian Scarf" is very reminiscent to Christie's most famous story, namely "And Then There Were None" aka "Ten Little Indians". It's the same old and traditional plot of greedy family members gathering in a gothic castle for the reading of a will, but then naturally get killed off one by one by someone whirling around scarves. It's a prototypic, but amusing and reasonably fast-paced Krimi, with familiar faces in the cast (Klaus Kinski, Eddi Arent, ...) and clichéd twists in the script. Whenever one of the characters is suspected by the others of being the killer, the suspect is killed him/herself. You know; - that sort of twists. I don't think I've ever seen a castle/mansion with SO many secret passageways and hidden doors, though...
Oh, and Eddi Arent - as the dry sarcastic butler - has a fully automated breakfast trolley, which results in a handful of subtle but hilarious comic-relief sequences.
"The Indian Scarf" is very reminiscent to Christie's most famous story, namely "And Then There Were None" aka "Ten Little Indians". It's the same old and traditional plot of greedy family members gathering in a gothic castle for the reading of a will, but then naturally get killed off one by one by someone whirling around scarves. It's a prototypic, but amusing and reasonably fast-paced Krimi, with familiar faces in the cast (Klaus Kinski, Eddi Arent, ...) and clichéd twists in the script. Whenever one of the characters is suspected by the others of being the killer, the suspect is killed him/herself. You know; - that sort of twists. I don't think I've ever seen a castle/mansion with SO many secret passageways and hidden doors, though...
Oh, and Eddi Arent - as the dry sarcastic butler - has a fully automated breakfast trolley, which results in a handful of subtle but hilarious comic-relief sequences.
Drache does it
Liedzeit4 May 2002
Heinz Drache recently died. Reason enough to watch this one again. I find that of all the movies on tape the films of the Wallace series are the ones that I watch again and again. And the "Tuch" is after "Der Hexer" the best one. It just got everything. As a rule of thumb: the ones with Drache are best, the ones with Fuchsberger are all okay. If Kinski is in it, great. But really important is the presence of Eddi Aren't and Siegfried Schuerendorf. Luckily they are in practically every of the 38 or so of the series.
Alfred Vohrer, one of the unrecognized geniuses of Film, directs his incredible cast through a story that is both negligible and a highlight of mystery. Lord Lebanon died and his greedy family is forced to spend a week in the castle, if they want to inherit. Of course, they are cut off from the outside world because of a storm or something. And so (and this is hardly a spoiler I hope) as one after the other gets strangled, they are on their own. And Frank Tanner (Drache), the lawyer, has to solve the crime. He does it with his usual light spirit. Unfortunately not to successful, for he suspects each and everyone (and is suspected by the others) and even after there are only three members of the family left - one of them the beautiful women (well not so beautiful to be honest) who has literally no other role than to bring in some female presence, he still suspects the wrong one, namely wonderful Elisabeth Flickenschildt. Well. Of course, the whole thing cannot be taken seriously and is not meant to be taken seriously. There are funny scenes throughout the film. Eddie Aren't as butler Bonwit is superb but easily overshadowed by Schuerenberg, who only has to say "Was sind denn das für Sachen?" to make my heart jump from joy. Even better when he imitates his parrot saying "Murderer, murderer" as Aren't leaves his room. At the end all the dead are present as ghosts as the will is read to the final family member, the above mentioned young lady (Gisela Uhlen). But she does not inherit, no. Guess who is the lucky one? Try to rent this one somewhere. An easy ten out of ten.
Alfred Vohrer, one of the unrecognized geniuses of Film, directs his incredible cast through a story that is both negligible and a highlight of mystery. Lord Lebanon died and his greedy family is forced to spend a week in the castle, if they want to inherit. Of course, they are cut off from the outside world because of a storm or something. And so (and this is hardly a spoiler I hope) as one after the other gets strangled, they are on their own. And Frank Tanner (Drache), the lawyer, has to solve the crime. He does it with his usual light spirit. Unfortunately not to successful, for he suspects each and everyone (and is suspected by the others) and even after there are only three members of the family left - one of them the beautiful women (well not so beautiful to be honest) who has literally no other role than to bring in some female presence, he still suspects the wrong one, namely wonderful Elisabeth Flickenschildt. Well. Of course, the whole thing cannot be taken seriously and is not meant to be taken seriously. There are funny scenes throughout the film. Eddie Aren't as butler Bonwit is superb but easily overshadowed by Schuerenberg, who only has to say "Was sind denn das für Sachen?" to make my heart jump from joy. Even better when he imitates his parrot saying "Murderer, murderer" as Aren't leaves his room. At the end all the dead are present as ghosts as the will is read to the final family member, the above mentioned young lady (Gisela Uhlen). But she does not inherit, no. Guess who is the lucky one? Try to rent this one somewhere. An easy ten out of ten.
Not up to the standard Edgar Wallace movies
evilskip16 July 1999
A rich man is bumped off and it is made to look like a heart attack. His possible heirs must spend 7 days in "peaceful coexistence" before his will is read.As usual the heirs are strangled one by one(with an Indian scarf).The finger of suspicion points to anybody and everyone. Is it the lawyer? Or wife; the son; the dope addict (Klaus Kinski intense as usual); the clergyman etc. Well this film drowns in red herrings and the ending is off the wall and irritating. I'm a big fan of this series and this disappoints. Only the acting and settings gives this a 4.
Indian Scarf
coltras3510 February 2023
When a wealthy man dies, his avaricious relatives look forward to inheriting all his money. However, he leaves a provision in his will that they all must spend a week together in his castle before they will be able to inherit anything. At the castle (which is cut off from the outside world), the relatives soon begin to be killed off one by one, each strangled with an Indian scarf.
Nicely shot Agatha Christie-esque stylistic German thriller that is a spin on the "ten people get bumped off a la And then there were none" storyline, however there's a freshness to the story mainly due to the self-aware humour, a wide cast of characters who are quite barmy and creepy, especially Kinski's character who is seen as a suspect, POV scarf strangling, a painting with peephole nipples, and the dense-like Gothic atmosphere. It's quite Fun, but then I am a sucker for the "ten people in an isolated castle getting bumped off by an unseen killer" story, and the identity of the killer came as a surprise. The Butler is quite hilarious with his one liners.
Nicely shot Agatha Christie-esque stylistic German thriller that is a spin on the "ten people get bumped off a la And then there were none" storyline, however there's a freshness to the story mainly due to the self-aware humour, a wide cast of characters who are quite barmy and creepy, especially Kinski's character who is seen as a suspect, POV scarf strangling, a painting with peephole nipples, and the dense-like Gothic atmosphere. It's quite Fun, but then I am a sucker for the "ten people in an isolated castle getting bumped off by an unseen killer" story, and the identity of the killer came as a surprise. The Butler is quite hilarious with his one liners.
Passable
feindlicheubernahme5 September 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The Indian Scarf, as others, have already said, is a version of Christie's Ten Little Indians, a story which I've seen many other adaptations of. So I was looking for the great cast to make this one special.
Well, maybe I was expecting too much of them. For, while they do perform well, especially Elisabeth Flickenshildt and Klaus Kinski, the final product just isn't as absorbing as I hoped it would be.
It could be because Eddi Arent's comic antics, while certainly amusing in themselves, dissipate any tension that may have built up. Or it could be because, with the focus squarely on Heinz Drache's lawyer (Tanner), we don't really get to a chance to get under the skin of the other characters, apart from Flickenshildt's and Kinski's, so their fates don't really feel like they matter. Whatever the case, I just didn't enjoy this as much as I expected.
My pet peeve of romance being shoehorned in - romance for romance's sake - looms large over this film. There's one pretty girl in the group, Isla, who it soon becomes clear is here solely to serve as the love interest for the lead. We learn nothing about her and she hardly even gets to open her mouth. I swear she has less dialogue than the first members of the group to die even though she makes it to the very end!
And how's this for an example of 60s attitudes, when men were men and women were property: after having known her for all of two or three days and with no evidence that they've even become romantically involved yet, upon deciding that Isla needs to be protected, Tanner storms into her room, throws her clothes into a suitcase and informs her that she'll be staying in his room from now on.
You don't need equality, babe; you've got me.
Well, maybe I was expecting too much of them. For, while they do perform well, especially Elisabeth Flickenshildt and Klaus Kinski, the final product just isn't as absorbing as I hoped it would be.
It could be because Eddi Arent's comic antics, while certainly amusing in themselves, dissipate any tension that may have built up. Or it could be because, with the focus squarely on Heinz Drache's lawyer (Tanner), we don't really get to a chance to get under the skin of the other characters, apart from Flickenshildt's and Kinski's, so their fates don't really feel like they matter. Whatever the case, I just didn't enjoy this as much as I expected.
My pet peeve of romance being shoehorned in - romance for romance's sake - looms large over this film. There's one pretty girl in the group, Isla, who it soon becomes clear is here solely to serve as the love interest for the lead. We learn nothing about her and she hardly even gets to open her mouth. I swear she has less dialogue than the first members of the group to die even though she makes it to the very end!
And how's this for an example of 60s attitudes, when men were men and women were property: after having known her for all of two or three days and with no evidence that they've even become romantically involved yet, upon deciding that Isla needs to be protected, Tanner storms into her room, throws her clothes into a suitcase and informs her that she'll be staying in his room from now on.
You don't need equality, babe; you've got me.
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