Face of the Frog (1959)

Both Scotland Yard and an amateur American sleuth are tracking a master criminal known as The Frog. This moniker refers to the bulging-eyed mask worn by the evildoer, and is reflected by ... See full summary »

Director:

Harald Reinl

Writers:

Edgar Wallace (novel), Egon Eis (script) (as Trygve Larsen)

Stars:

Joachim Fuchsberger, Elfie von Kalckreuth, Jochen Brockmann

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joachim Fuchsberger	...	Richard Gordon
Elfie von Kalckreuth	...	Ella Bennet (as Eva Anthes)
Jochen Brockmann	...	Philo Johnson
Carl Lange	...	John Bennet (as Karl Lange)
Dieter Eppler	...	Joshua Broad
Eva Pflug	...	Lolita
Walter Wilz	...	Ray Bennet
Fritz Rasp	...	Ezra Maitland
Erwin Strahl	...	Sergeant Balder aka Nummer 7 (German version) / Sergeant Barclay aka Number 7 (English version)
Ernst Fritz Fürbringer	...	Sir Archibald (as Ernst W. Fürbringer)
Eddi Arent	...	James
Ulrich Beiger	...	Everett
Reinhard Kolldehoff	...	Lew Brady
Michel Hildesheim	...	Mills
Charlotte Scheier-Herold	...	Lady Maggie Farnsworth (German version) / Lady Aubrid Farnsworth (English version)

Storyline

Both Scotland Yard and an amateur American sleuth are tracking a master criminal known as The Frog. This moniker refers to the bulging-eyed mask worn by the evildoer, and is reflected by the frog icons painfully tatooed onto the forearms of his henchmen. The trail leads to the country manor of an enigmatic, steely-eyed nabob, whose repressed son has eyes for the artistes at the Lolita cabaret, and whose lovely daughter captures the fancy of both the American playboy and the villain himself. Murder, kidnapping and seduction ensue.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | scotland yard | mask | krimi | knife throwing | 

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Taglines:

A classical "Criminal" (colloquial) - an electrifying film

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Denmark West Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

4 April 1960 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Face of the Frog

Filming Locations:

Copenhagen, Denmark

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rialto Film Preben-Philipsen, Rialto Film

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The idea of creating a German Edgar Wallace-Adaption for the screen came to 'Walfried Barthel', then head of Constantin Film, and Constantin's scenario editor Gerhard F. Hummel after a private screening of Guy Hamilton's film of The Ringer (1952).

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Goofs

When Richard Gordon and his butler James start the training fight while being held captive at the Frog's, there is suddenly a carpet on the ground, covering the mattress that softens James' fall. The carpet even covers the lower part of the door. In the next shot, the carpet is gone.

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Connections

Referenced in Taxi für eine Leiche (2002)

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Soundtracks

Nachts im Nebel an der Themse
Music by Karl Bette
Text by Theo Maria Werner (as Theo M. Werner) and Hans Billian
Performed by Eva Pflug (dubbed by unknown)

User Reviews

The first of the German Edgar Wallace flicks (not one of the best though)

"Der Frosch mit der Maske" aka. "Fellowship Of The Frog" of 1959 is the first of the popular German Edgar Wallace movies, but it certainly isn't one of the best. It has to be respected for inciting the wave of these Wallace-based German crime flicks that became extremely popular in the early 60s. Generally speaking, I am a fan of the German Edgar Wallace flicks, but I personally always preferred those dealing with a murder series to those dealing with super-criminals like this one. Also, "Fellowship of The Frog" is a bit too naive for my tastes. Sure, the German Edgar Wallce films never were nasty, brutal or cynical like the Italian genre-cinema in the 60s, for example. Still, the naiveté is quite extreme here. This makes the film a pleasure to watch for its sentimental value, but, for me personally, it doesn't go beyond that.

Scotland Yard are in desperate search for a ruthless super-criminal wearing a frog mask, whose henchmen can be identified by a frog tattoo on their forearms. The police have hardly any success in the search for the mysterious arch-criminal, even though the investigating chief inspector (Siegfried Lovitz) is a clever man. Richard Gordon (Joachim Fuchsberger), a rich man and hobby detective decides to investigate in the case himself, with the help of his loyal butler (Eddi Aren't)...

It is Aren't, one of the absolute cult-actors of the German Edgar Wallace 'krimis', who is responsible for many of the (half-dumb, but often very amusing) gags in the film. Aren't, an Edgar Wallace flick regular, often played the more comical parts in these films (often that of the butler), and this is his first role to do so. Siegfried Lovitz is very good in the role of the chief inspector, and the Eva Pflug fits in well as the seductive femme fatale. The rest of the performances are not necessarily breathtaking (the greatest performances in Edgar Wallace flicks always came from the great Klaus Kinski), but they're not bad either. The only awful performance comes from Walter Wilz, who is quite terrible as a naive young guy. All things considered, "Fellowship of the Frog" is an important film for its value as the first of the German Edgar Wallace films. Nevertheless, I recommend other Edgar Wallace flicks, such as "Das Indische Tuch" (aka. "The Indian Scarf") way over this. "Fellowship Of The Frog" is a fun film to watch, but only for sentimental values. Recommended to fans of the German Edgar Wallace films.