MARK OF THE TORTOISE

 

Yes, it's another Krimi--with a title like MARK OF THE TORTOISE, what else could it be?? This one is from 1964, made by Rialto, the German company that produced the "official" Edgar Wallace series. MARK OF THE TORTOISE, however, is not based on anything written by Edgar Wallace--it apparently is based on a novel by James Hadley Chase. 

Donald Micklem (Gotz George) arrives at his rich uncle's English estate to find out that he is being blackmailed by a mysterious figure known as "The Tortoise". Micklem's uncle refuses to pay, and he is killed. Donald decides to track down the gang behind the murder, and he becomes involved with the Tortoise's main subordinate, Lorelli (Hildegard Knef) a woman whose motives are not entirely clear. 

MARK OF THE TORTOISE (original German title WARTEZIMMER ZUM JENSEITS) is very different from the usual run of Krimi fare. Its main hero is not a Scotland Yard inspector, but a close relative of the main victim, and the leading lady isn't pursued by the major villain--she's actually working for him. The film noirish aspects of the Krimi are toned down as well, as a large part of the story is set in Trieste (where surprisingly the production actually traveled to and shot scenes there). There are more daytime sequences in MARK OF THE TORTOISE than there are in about a dozen Krimis picked at random altogether. 

Being that it is a different type of Krimi, some of the weirder aspects of the genre are not present here, but there are still some outlandish details. The calling card of The Tortoise is a real live tortoise that has a skull painted onto its shell, a particularly bizarre touch. The Tortoise's base of operations is a large castle in Trieste that has underground levels with all sorts of tricked-out rooms, and the villain (Richard Munch) resembles Dr. Strangelove, in that he wears dark glasses and is wheelchair bound. (His wheelchair is tricked out as well). 

Gotz George and his comic relief sidekick played by Hans Clarin are not exactly standout heroes, and they are overshadowed by The Tortoise and his gang. The bad guys include familiar Krimi faces such as Pinkus Braun and Carl Lange, and good old Klaus Kinski shows up, as the thug who carries out the murder of Micklem's uncle. (Unfortunately Kinski doesn't stay around too long.) Hildegard Knef's femme fatale with a heart is by far the most interesting character. Her ambiguity gives the story an added twist--you have no idea which way she's going to go. 

MARK OF THE TORTOISE was directed by Alfred Vohrer, who made a number of Krimis. With this one he focuses more on the adventure aspects of the story. There's no real mystery in MARK OF THE TORTOISE--we are shown who the bad guys are, and where they hide out. The main suspense is how the hero is going to get back at them, but due to Gotz George's lighthearted nature, the movie doesn't have as much of an edge to it as it should. MARK OF THE TORTOISE is available on Tubi, in an excellent looking black & white widescreen print with an English dubbed voice track.