The Dead Eyes of London

For the 1939 film, see The Dark Eyes of London (film).

The Dead Eyes of London
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Alfred Vohrer
Written by	Edgar Wallace (novel) Egon Eis Wolfgang Lukschy
Produced by	Horst Wendlandt
Starring	Joachim Fuchsberger Klaus Kinski
Cinematography	Karl Löb
Edited by	Ira Oberberg
Music by	Heinz Funk [de]
Production company	Rialto Film
Distributed by	Prisma Film
Release date	28 March 1961 (1961-03-28)
Running time	98 minutes
Country	West Germany
Language	German

The Dead Eyes of London (German: Die toten Augen von London and also known as Dark Eyes of London) is a 1961 West German black and white crime film directed by Alfred Vohrer and starring Joachim Fuchsberger, Karin Baal and Dieter Borsche.

Plot

A series of murders of wealthy men leads investigators to a group of blind men with a mysterious leader.

Cast

• Joachim Fuchsberger as Inspector Larry Holt
• Karin Baal as Eleanor "Nora" Ward, née Finlay
• Dieter Borsche as David Judd aka Mr. Lennox aka Reverend (Paul) Dearborn
• Wolfgang Lukschy as Stephan Judd
• Eddi Arent as Sergeant / Inspector S. "Sunny" Harvey
• Anneli Sauli as Fanny Weldon (as Ann Savo)
• Bobby Todd as Lew Norris
• Franz Schafheitlin as Sir John
• Ady Berber as Jacob "The Blind Jack" Farrell (as Adi Berber)
• Harry Wüstenhagen as "Flimmer-Fred" (German version) / "Flicker-Fred" (English version)
• Rudolf Fenner [de] as Matthew "Matt" Blake
• Hans Paetsch as Gordon Stuart
• Ida Ehre as Ella Ward
• Fritz Schröder-Jahn [de] as Chief Inspector
• Klaus Kinski as Edgar Strauss

Production

The film is based on the 1924 novel The Dark Eyes of London by Edgar Wallace,^[1] which had been previously adapted into the 1939 British film The Dark Eyes of London, a.k.a. The Human Monster, introducing a number of horror elements which had not been in the original book. The British film had been released in Germany and proved to be popular. The German film is closer to being a remake of the earlier British film, rather than a close adaptation of Wallace's novel.

The Dead Eyes of London was the first Edgar Wallace film to be directed by Alfred Vohrer, who directed 13 more films in the genre.

Reception

The FSK gave the film a rating of "16 and up" and found it not appropriate for screenings on public holidays. The film premiered on 28 March 1961 at the "Walhalla" cinema in Wiesbaden.^[2] Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film two out of four stars, calling the film "[an] Acceptable thriller".^[3]

References

1. Hal Erickson (2009). "New York Times: The Dead Eyes of London". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 16 September 2009. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
2. "Filmportal: Die toten Augen von London". Retrieved 18 November 2014.
3. Leonard Maltin; Spencer Green; Rob Edelman (January 2010). Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide. Plume. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-452-29577-3.

External links

• The Dead Eyes of London at IMDb