Review of Die weiße Spinne

This predictable but entertaining murder & mystery about a woman's husband who is found burned to death in a car and her efforts to recover from this tragedy take her down a dark path. Muriel Irvine (Karen Dor of "You Only Live Twice") learns about the horrible death of her husband and admits that he was a reckless, inveterate gambler who had ruined their marriage. Her husband's attorney lands her a job at a welfare agency that accommodates inmates who have just been released from prison. Monks help with these poor broken men, and Ralph Hubbard (Joachim Fuchsberger of "Commandos") is given employment at a private bridge club that limits membership to 55. A sinister looking fellow with a bald head and an eye patch runs the club. As it turns out, these innocent bridge players are gamblers, and Muriel's husband left the club late one evening afterward. Meantime, she is left high and dry by her husband's funeral and his life insurance company refuses to give her $5000 because the husband raised the amount on his death to $50.000. Mind you, the police keep tabs on Murial and she finds herself cornered more than once by the handsome Ralph. The villain is a grisly individual who likes to strangle his victims, and he comes terribly close to killing Ralph. You don't have to be a genius to figure out that Ralph is actually member of Scotland Yard. "The Invisible Dr. Mabuse" director Harald Reinl helms this murder & mystery with style and flair, and the performances are fine, especially Horst Frank as a slimy killer. Ostensibly, prolific scenarist Egon Eis adapted Louis Weinert-Wilton's novel, but since it is available only in German, I cannot say how closely Egon followed the book. Reinl paces the action well and the close quarters combat scenes are good. Like Edgar Wallace's thrillers, "The White Spider" features a master of disguise villain. I enjoyed this West German film about Scotland Yard.