THE WHITE SPIDER

 

THE WHITE SPIDER (original title DIE WEISSE SPINNE) is a 1963 German Krimi that appears to be part of the Edgar Wallace series of crime thriller adaptations. It stars Joachim Fuchsberger and Karin Dor, the First Couple of Krimi, and it was directed by Harald Reinl, an Edgar Wallace veteran. It has a black & white noir look, a weird jazzy music score by Peter Thomas, and it's set in London and the story involves Scotland Yard. 

It is not based on anything written by Edgar Wallace, however--its story is based on the writings of mystery author Louis Weinert-Wilson. THE WHITE SPIDER is in fact part of a small series of films based on Weinert-Wilson's works, a group of films that are basically Edgar Wallace Krimi imitations. (The first film in this series was THE CARPET OF HORROR, a movie I wrote a blog post on a few years ago.) THE WHITE SPIDER might be an imitation, but it holds up as a very good Krimi in its own right. 

A gambling addict is killed in a car accident. His widow, Muriel Irvine (Karin Dor) finds out that her husband's life was insured for a large sum of money. Similar deaths have also incurred recently, with the men also heavily insured and also connected to a secret gambling club. Scotland Yard takes an interest in the case. The late Irvine's lucky charm was a glass white spider, and as Muriel tries to discover whether her husband was murdered or committed suicide, similar trinkets start popping up all over, as do more dead bodies. A mysterious ex-con (Joachim Fuchsberger) worms his way into Muriel's problems, while the widow herself comes under suspicion of the death of her husband. 

THE WHITE SPIDER has plenty of plot machinations to pay attention to, such as the gambling club, a murder-for-hire organization (called "The White Spider" of course), and a society dedicated to reforming ex-convicts. There's also a main villain that is a master of disguise, and who also kills those in his way by strangling them with a trick lasso made of wire. On top of that, the inspector that Scotland Yard has called in to handle the case hides his identity by sitting in the dark in his office while flanked by spotlights shining out at his visitors, much like Dr. Mabuse would. (I do have to say that it's quite easy to figure out the identity of the main villain and the inspector.) 

The insurance subplot, a society of reformers, and a villain with multiple identities easily calls to mind DARK EYES OF LONDON, probably the most famous Edgar Wallace story of them all. THE WHITE SPIDER in fact resembles a lot of other Krimis, but that is the reason why it was made in the first place. It's an entertaining movie, perfect for late night viewing, and while the plot twists are not very surprising, it's fun to watch how the story works itself out. 

Among the supporting cast are plenty of Krimi veterans such as Werner Peters, Dieter Eppler, and Chris Howland. You certainly don't believe that this story is really taking place in London, but I've seen so many Krimis by now that I just go ahead and accept the situation. Dor as always is an appealing heroine, and Fuchsberger is as usual the stalwart hero, although there are times when his attempted romancing of Dor gets a bit annoying. Fuchsberger and Dor could have played these roles in their sleep by this time, but the important thing is that they don't. 

I viewed THE WHITE SPIDER on YouTube, and it was a version that was dubbed in English but was not in widescreen (it appeared to have been put together for American television). THE WHITE SPIDER is another of the many Krimis that still need to be put out on official home video in a fully restored version.