Overall, I thought this was a slightly better effort than the previous one I saw: The Door with Seven Locks. This was mostly due to its unique setting; this time, we were on the waterfront, rather than in the concrete jungle. Every time we were in the Mekka, though, I did half expect Nancy to jump out and give us a rousing rendition of Oom-Pah-Pah.
Joachim Fuchsberger and Brigitte Grothum were back as the leads, three films after we last saw both in The Strange Countess. Incidentally, Grothum is still professionally active, her latest roles to date being in WaPo Berlin in 2021 and 2022, at 86 and 87 years of age respectively.
Good old Klaus Kinski was also back. Amazingly, this time it seemed he really was good - a policeman, no less. That must be a first. He was doing so many of these films at this point that one wonders whether he had aspirations to join Arent as an every-episode cast member. Unfortunately, hindsight tells us that, if he did, his dream remained unrealized and he instead had to make do with becoming an international superstar.
The standout cast member for me was Elisabeth Flickenschildt as Mrs Oaks. I didn't realize until after I'd finished watching that she was also Mrs Revelstoke in The Terrible People. Now it makes sense; she was great in that as well.
As for the plot, it was all right, the usual stuff but decently done. The villains outfit was pretty ludicrous and it takes a larger suspension of disbelief than usual to accept that he could go around doing the things he did on land without easily getting caught. It was also pretty clear just who was in the outfit by the halfway point. And I didn't quite understand what the connection was between The Shark and Leila was. I had thought they were separate storylines and linked only through Oaks and Broen, but then he tried to kidnap her!
I'm deducting a point from my score because of the damned kiss at the end. It had been clearly established that Leila was only 18 years old and I had - foolishly - believed that the writers wouldn't wade into such murky waters just for the sake of adding a romance angle, that the inspector's interest in her was purely as a father figure looking out for her safety. I should have known better.
Joachim Fuchsberger and Brigitte Grothum were back as the leads, three films after we last saw both in The Strange Countess. Incidentally, Grothum is still professionally active, her latest roles to date being in WaPo Berlin in 2021 and 2022, at 86 and 87 years of age respectively.
Good old Klaus Kinski was also back. Amazingly, this time it seemed he really was good - a policeman, no less. That must be a first. He was doing so many of these films at this point that one wonders whether he had aspirations to join Arent as an every-episode cast member. Unfortunately, hindsight tells us that, if he did, his dream remained unrealized and he instead had to make do with becoming an international superstar.
The standout cast member for me was Elisabeth Flickenschildt as Mrs Oaks. I didn't realize until after I'd finished watching that she was also Mrs Revelstoke in The Terrible People. Now it makes sense; she was great in that as well.
As for the plot, it was all right, the usual stuff but decently done. The villains outfit was pretty ludicrous and it takes a larger suspension of disbelief than usual to accept that he could go around doing the things he did on land without easily getting caught. It was also pretty clear just who was in the outfit by the halfway point. And I didn't quite understand what the connection was between The Shark and Leila was. I had thought they were separate storylines and linked only through Oaks and Broen, but then he tried to kidnap her!
I'm deducting a point from my score because of the damned kiss at the end. It had been clearly established that Leila was only 18 years old and I had - foolishly - believed that the writers wouldn't wade into such murky waters just for the sake of adding a romance angle, that the inspector's interest in her was purely as a father figure looking out for her safety. I should have known better.