''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 Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

Alfred Vohrer Alfred Vohrer (29 December 1914 – 3 February 1986) was a German film director and actor. He directed 48 films between 1958 and 1984. His 1969 film ''Seven Days Grace'' was entered into the 6th Moscow International Film Festival. His 1972 ...

and starring

Joachim Fuchsberger Joachim "Blacky" Fuchsberger (pronounced ; 11 March 1927 – 11 September 2014) was a German actor and television host, best known to a wide German-speaking audience as one of the recurring actors in various Edgar Wallace movies (often a Detecti ...

Karin Baal Karin Baal (born 19 September 1940), real name Karin Blauermel, is a German film actress. She has appeared in more than 90 films since 1956. Filmography Films *1956: ''Teenage Wolfpack'' *1957: '' Tired Theodore'' *1957: ' *1957: '' The Heart ...

and

Dieter Borsche Albert Eugen Rollomann (25 October 1909 – 5 August 1982), better known as Dieter Borsche, was a German actor. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1935 and 1981. Since 1944, he suffered from muscle atrophy and had to use a wheelchair ...

Plot

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

Cast

as Inspector Larry Holt *

as Eleanor "Nora" Ward, née Finlay *

as David Judd aka Mr. Lennox aka Reverend (Paul) Dearborn *

Wolfgang Lukschy Wolfgang Lukschy (19 October 1905 – 10 July 1983 in Berlin) was a German actor and dubber. He performed in theater, film and television. He made over 75 film and television appearances between 1940 and 1979. Possibly his most noted performanc ...

as Stephan Judd *

Eddi Arent Gebhardt Georg Arendt (5 May 1925 – 28 May 2013) was a German actor, cabaret artist and comedian. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1956 and 2002. He was born in Danzig, Free City of Danzig (present-day Gdańsk, Poland) and died in ...

as Sergeant / Inspector S. "Sunny" Harvey *

Anneli Sauli Anneli is a female given name common in Finland, Sweden, Estonia and Norway. It originated as a variation of the name Anna (given name), Anna. It is listed by the Finnish Population Register Centre as one of the top 10 most popular female given ...

as Fanny Weldon (as Ann Savo) *

Bobby Todd Bobby Todd (22 June 1904 – 7 September 1980) was a German film actor. He appeared in 34 films between 1926 and 1961. Selected filmography * ''Cruiser Emden'' (1932) * ''The Dream of Butterfly'' (1939) * '' The Original Sin'' (1948) * ''He ...

as Lew Norris *

Franz Schafheitlin Franz Schafheitlin (9 August 1895 – 6 February 1980) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 160 films between 1927 and 1974. He was born in Berlin, Germany and died in Pullach, Germany. Selected filmography * '' The Bordellos ...

as Sir John *

Ady Berber Ady Berber (4 February 1913 – 3 January 1966) was an Austrian film actor, professional wrestler and café owner. He appeared in more than 40 films between 1936 and 1966. He was born and died in Vienna, Austria. Selected filmography * '' C ...

as Jacob "The Blind Jack" Farrell (as Adi Berber) *

Harry Wüstenhagen Harry Wüstenhagen (11 January 1928 – 11 December 1999) was a German film actor. He appeared in 45 films between 1953 and 1988. He was born in Berlin, Germany and died in Florida. Wüstenhagen was the German dubbing voice for Sherlock Holm ...

as "Flimmer-Fred" (German version) / "Flicker-Fred" (English version) * as Matthew "Matt" Blake *

Hans Paetsch Hans Paetsch (7 December 1909 – 3 February 2002) was a German actor. He appeared in 52 films between 1939 and 2002. He is most notable for his voice acting, especially as a narrator of fairy tales and audio dramas. Selected filmography * ...

as Gordon Stuart *

Ida Ehre Ida Ehre (; 9 July 1900 in Přerov, Moravia – 16 February 1989 in Hamburg) was an Austrian-German actress and theatre director and manager. Biography Ehre’s father was a hazzan. She learned acting at the University of Music and Performing Art ...

as Ella Ward * as Chief Inspector *

Klaus Kinski Klaus Kinski (, born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski 18 October 1926 – 23 November 1991) was a German actor, equally renowned for his intense performance style and notorious for his volatile personality. He appeared in over 130 film roles in a c ...

as Edgar Strauss

Production

The film is based on the 1924 novel '' The Dark Eyes of London'' by

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...

, 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 A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...

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

, who directed 13 more films in the genre.

Reception

The

FSK FSK may refer to: * FSK (band), a German band * Federal Counterintelligence Service, (Russian ') of Russia * Fiskerton railway station, in England * Forskolin, a diterpene * Forsvarets Spesialkommando, a Norwegian special forces unit * Fort Scott M ...

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 Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

. Author and film critic

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

awarded the film two out of four stars, calling the film " nAcceptable thriller".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dead Eyes Of London, The 1961 films 1960s mystery thriller films German mystery thriller films West German films 1960s German-language films Remakes of British films Films shot in Hamburg German black-and-white films Films directed by Alfred Vohrer Films based on British novels Films based on works by Edgar Wallace Films set in England Films set in London Films produced by Horst Wendlandt Films about blind people 1960s German films