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Der Kommissar - Toter Herr im Regen
episode 1
West Germany 1969
produced by Helmut Ringelmann for Neue Münchner Fernsehproduktion/ZDF
directed by Wolfgang Becker
starring Erik Ode, Günther Schramm, Reinhard Glemnitz, Fritz Wepper, Emily Reuer, Helma Seitz, Alwy Becker, Dorothea Wieck, Rosemarie Fendel, Charlotte Witthauer, Susanne Barth, Friedrich Karl Grund, Ursula Grabley, Ingrid Simon, Rainer Penkert, Ralph Persson
written by Herbert Reinecker, series created by Helmut Ringelmann, Herbert Reinecker, music by Herbert Jarczyk, title theme by Herbert Jarczyk
TV-series Der Kommissar, Harry Klein
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Dr. Steiner is a wealthy businessman who has actually been to a
prestigious event this evening - and yet he's found dead in the rain in a
poor part of the town, apparently murdered. Inspector Keller (Erik Ode)
and his assistants Robert (Reinhard Glemnitz), Walter (Günther Schramm)
and Harry (Fritz Wepper) investigate, upon Keller's insistance within his
family and close relations first. There's his stepson Wolfgang (Friedrich
Karl Grund), who hated the man and seems to rather enjoy being a prime
suspect, also because he's the main heir to Steiner's fortune - or rather
his own deceased mother's fortune Steiner has been the caretaker of - and
he hasn't got an alibi, then there's Steiner's young and attractive
stepdaughter Inge (Susanne Barth), who Steiner has grown very fond of
late, there's Steiner's mistress Marianne (Alwy Becker), whom he
apparently treated like trash, Marianne's ex-husband Rothe (Rainer
Penkert), who is still good friends with her and still has feelings for
her, and even the prostitute (Ingrid Simon) Steiner visited the very night
after above mentioned event in the neighbourhood he was killed. While his
assistants try to wade through all the suspects a bit cluelessly, Keller
himself manages to form an opinion rather quickly after only short
interviews and ultimately asks all involved and their close relations to
Steiner's home to finger the culprit - who turns out to be Marianne's
mother, who always found Steiner unworthy of her daughter. First
episode of a series that would become pretty much a milestone in German
krimi TV, as being shot on 35mm rather than on tape, it brought a
cinematic feel to the genre, and also tried its hands on more adult themes
than usual in 1960s TV, likewise a level of realism uncommon back when,
with some episodes seemingly torn from then current headlines. Also, other
than American crime shows of the time, Der Kommissar relied
more on actual investigations and especially psychological methods than
action, only emphasized by the fact that its titular character is a man in
his 60s - though that's not to say that several episodes weren't targeted
to a teen audience, including performances by then current bands and the
like. Now the downside of the series (which is also one of its charms
nowadays) is its over-reliance on dialogue, with some of it seeming
stilted, unintentionally funny, or dialogues going in circles even, and
characters so over-frought with psychology they stop feeling real. Now
this first episode is hardly as hard-hitting as some of the later ones,
but it does a good job introducing all the lead characters of the series
without making much of an ado about it and concentrating on the main story
instead. And in many ways, the episode still owes a lot to the krimis of
the 1960s both in the theatres and on TV, which co-creator and writer
Herbert Reinecker has written a whole lot of, especially in the scene
where the title character invites everyone to the revealing of the
culprit, and the culprit being pulled out of a hat rather than having
actually been worked towards during the story. Also, not all the dialogue
feels very real, some to the point where it verges on parody - but here it
feels like a wink to the audience rather than unintentional at least. All
that said, it's a solid start to one of the best German crime shows - not
only of its era.
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