''The Sinister Monk'' (german: Der unheimliche Mönch) is a 1965 West German

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Harald Reinl Harald Reinl (8 July 1908 in Bad Ischl, Austria – 9 October 1986 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) was an Austrian film director. He is known for the films he made based on Edgar Wallace and Karl May books (see Karl May movies and Edgar Wal ...

and starring

Karin Dor Karin Dor (, born Kätherose Derr; 22 February 1938 – 6 November 2017) was a German actress. She was famous to international audiences for her role as Bond girl Helga Brandt in the James Bond film '' You Only Live Twice'' (1967) and her appear ...

Harald Leipnitz Harald Leipnitz (22 April 1926 – 21 November 2000) was a German actor, who was born in Wuppertal and died in Munich of lung cancer. Filmography *1961: '' The Big Show'' (Uncredited) *1963: ', as Wolfgang Spitz *1963: ', as Pedro *1964: ''The ...

and

Siegfried Lowitz Siegfried Lowitz (22 September 1914 – 27 June 1999) was a German actor. Born in Berlin, he played the Hauptkommissar ''Erwin Köster'' in the German television drama '' Der Alte''. Prior to his tenure as Hauptkommissar, he played a killer ...

. It is based on the 1927 play ''

The Terror The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, ...

'' 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 ...

and was part of a very successful series of German films inspired by his works.A New History of German Cinema p. 380 It was shot at the

Spandau Studios The Spandau Studios or CCC Studios were film and television studios located in Spandau, a suburb of Berlin. They were established in 1949 following the Second World War by the producer Artur Brauner controller of CCC Films, on the site of a form ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

with

location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. The filming location may be the same in which the story is set (for ex ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and Hamelin in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

. The film's sets were designed by the art directors

Walter Kutz Walter Kutz (1904 – 1983) was a German art director.Langford p.223 Selected filmography * ''Nora'' (1944) * '' Dreaming'' (1944) * ''The Silent Guest'' (1945) * '' And the Heavens Above Us'' (1947) * ''Nights on the Nile'' (1949) * '' The Cha ...

and

Wilhelm Vorwerg Wilhelm Vorwerg (1899–1990) was a German art director who designed the sets for over fifty films including a number of Rialto Film's series of Edgar Wallace adaptations in the 1960s.Bergfelder p.256 Selected filmography * '' In the Name of th ...

Cast

as Gwendolin *

as Inspector Bratt *

as Sir Richard *

Siegfried Schürenberg Siegfried Schürenberg (12 January 1900 – 31 August 1993) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1933 and 1974. He was born in Detmold, Germany and died in Berlin, Germany in 1993, at age 93. Although he never p ...

as Sir John *

Ilse Steppat Ilse Paula Steppat (30 November 1917 – 21 December 1969) was a German actress. Her husband was noted actor and director Max Nosseck. Biography She began her cinematic career at the age of 15 playing Joan of Arc. Steppat appeared regularly on ...

as Lady Patricia *

Dieter Eppler Dieter Eppler (11 February 1927, in Stuttgart – 12 April 2008, in Stuttgart) was a German television actor and director of radio dramas. He was an actor, known for ''Jonas'' (1957), ''The Country Doctor'' (1987) and '' The Last Winter'' (1960). H ...

as William * Hartmut Reck as Ronny * Kurt Waitzmann as Cunning *

Rudolf Schündler Rudolf Ernst Paul Schündler (17 April 1906, in Leipzig – 12 December 1988, in Munich) was a German actor and director. He played "Karl" in ''The Exorcist'' (1973). After finishing the film '' The Nasty Girl'', Schündler died of a heart attac ...

as Mr. Short * as Monsieur d'Arol *

Uta Levka Uta Levka (born 1942) is a former German film and television actress active during the 1960s and early 1970s. She was discovered by the actress Maria Schell while working at the Bavaria Studios in Munich and appeared in a succession of glamorou ...

as Lola * as Dolores * as Mai Ling *

Uschi Glas Helga Ursula "Uschi" Glas (; born 2 March 1944), sometimes credited as Ursula Glas, is a German actress in film, television and on stage, and a singer. Biography Born in Landau an der Isar, Bavaria, Glas started appearing in films in 1965. ...

as Mary *

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 Pedell Smith * Walter Echtz as Mr. Smith / Monk * as Servant * Wilhelm Vorwerg as Notary

Production

It is the third film adaptation of the play ''

'' by Edgar Wallace. Earlier versions were made in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhan ...

and 1938. Cinematography took place from 6 October to 17 November 1965 at London and Hameln (or Hamelin).

Reception

The FSK gave the film a rating of 16 and up and found it not appropriate for screenings on public holidays.

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* German black-and-white films 1965 films 1960s mystery thriller films 1960s crime thriller films German mystery thriller films German crime thriller films West German films 1960s German-language films Films directed by Harald Reinl Films based on British novels Films set in England Films set in London Films shot in London Films based on works by Edgar Wallace Constantin Film films Films shot at Spandau Studios 1960s German films {{1960s-Germany-film-stub