Edgar Wallace - Watch Order: Black and White Films

1959 - 196524 Films36h 21m3.3 Average

This watch list represents the atmospheric early years of the Edgar Wallace Krimi series, when gothic shadows and noir-style cinematography defined the visual identity. These black-and-white productions from 1959 to 1965 established the series' signature mood and style.

Filmed before the transition to color with The Hunchback of Soho, these entries capture the classic Krimi atmosphere that made the series a cultural phenomenon. The stark black-and-white photography enhances the gothic mystery elements and creates the distinctive visual style that fans associate with the golden age of German crime cinema.

1
Fellowship of the Frog poster

Fellowship of the Frog

19591h 29m3.5
Director: Harald Reinl
Cast: Joachim Fuchsberger, Siegfried Lowitz, Eddi Arent, Elfie von Kalckreuth, Walter Wilz

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.

CrimeThrillerMystery
2
The Red Circle poster

The Red Circle

19601h 30m3.1
Director: Jürgen Roland
Cast: Klausjürgen Wussow, Renate Ewert, Ernst Fritz Fürbringer, Fritz Rasp, Eddi Arent

A strange, red circle appears on the neck of a man saved from the guillotine. What is its mysterious meaning? Tragically, it turns out to be something of a family curse, as each generation thereafter bears the same sign, which in turn leads to blackmail and murder.

ThrillerCrime
3
The Avenger poster

The Avenger

19601h 39m4.1
Director: Karl Anton
Cast: Heinz Drache, Ingrid van Bergen, Benno Sterzenbach, Ina Duscha, Ludwig Linkmann

A maniac is loose in London, decapitating his victims and sending the heads to Scotland Yard.

CrimeHorror
4
The Terrible People poster

The Terrible People

19601h 32m4.2
Director: Harald Reinl
Cast: Joachim Fuchsberger, Karin Dor, Elisabeth Flickenschildt, Karl-Georg Saebisch, Eddi Arent

The ghost of a hanged man returns to fulfill his promise. All of his accusers must die!

CrimeThriller
5
The Green Archer poster

The Green Archer

19611h 29m3.4
Director: Jürgen Roland
Cast: Klausjürgen Wussow, Karin Dor, Gert Fröbe, Wolfgang Völz, Eddi Arent

The country estate of American emigre Abel Bellamy is haunted by the ghost of the Green Archer, a 14th century Robin Hood type figure who terrorised the former lords of the manor. Now, with the gangster coming home on vaguely defined business and his niece Valerie arriving with her adoptive father to take up residence in the adjacent mansion, much to Bellamy's annoyance, the archer has returned. Who is he and what does he want?

6
Dead Eyes of London poster

Dead Eyes of London

19611h 38m3.3
Director: Alfred Vohrer
Cast: Joachim Fuchsberger, Karin Baal, Eddi Arent, Wolfgang Lukschy, Dieter Borsche

A disfigured killer with glazed-over white eyes is doing the dirty work so that an insurance agent-doctor can get the victims' insurance money.

CrimeThrillerDrama
7
The Devil's Daffodil poster

The Devil's Daffodil

19611h 34m2.9
Director: Ákos Ráthonyi
Cast: Joachim Fuchsberger, Sabine Sesselmann, Klaus Kinski, Ingrid van Bergen, Christopher Lee

A Chinese detective breaks up a drug smuggling ring and tries to find the "Daffodil Killer". The drug smugglers had devised the ingenious method of smuggling heroin from Hong Kong in the stems of daffodils.

MysteryCrime
8
The Forger of London poster

The Forger of London

19611h 33m2.6
Director: Harald Reinl
Cast: Karin Dor, Hellmut Lange, Siegfried Lowitz, Mady Rahl, Walter Rilla

A ring of counterfeiters is flooding the country with phony money, and suspicion falls upon a wealthy playboy who may--or may not--have amnesia.

9
The Strange Countess poster

The Strange Countess

19611h 35m3.4
Director: Josef von Báky
Cast: Joachim Fuchsberger, Brigitte Grothum, Marianne Hoppe, Rudolf Fernau, Richard Häussler

Strange fortune hunters are behind a girl's murder in this Edgar Wallace tale.

10
Secret of the Red Orchid poster

Secret of the Red Orchid

19621h 24m2.9
Director: Helmut Ashley
Cast: Christopher Lee, Adrian Hoven, Marisa Mell, Pinkas Braun, Christiane Nielsen

Rival gangsters from Chicago move to London and attempt to extort money from rich Britons.

CrimeThrillerMystery
11
The Door with Seven Locks poster

The Door with Seven Locks

19621h 36m3.6
Director: Alfred Vohrer
Cast: Heinz Drache, Eddi Arent, Sabine Sesselmann, Pinkas Braun, Hans Nielsen

A rich man bequeaths seven keys to seven of his friends, but only one will unlock the door to untold wealth.

CrimeMystery
12
The Inn on the River poster

The Inn on the River

19621h 32m3.6
Director: Alfred Vohrer
Cast: Joachim Fuchsberger, Brigitte Grothum, Elisabeth Flickenschildt, Klaus Kinski, Eddi Arent

A serial killer named The Shark is terrorizing London by killing his victims with a speargun and then, dressed in a scruba-diver's wetsuit, using the city's sewer tunnels to make his getaway.

CrimeDrama
13
The Curse of the Yellow Snake poster

The Curse of the Yellow Snake

19631h 40m3.1
Director: Franz Josef Gottlieb
Cast: Joachim Fuchsberger, Brigitte Grothum, Pinkas Braun, Doris Kirchner, Charles Regnier

A Chinese cult bent on taking over the world uses an idol called The Golden Reptile that they believe can give them the power to achieve their goal.

ThrillerCrime
14
The Squeaker poster

The Squeaker

19631h 29m3.5
Director: Alfred Vohrer
Cast: Heinz Drache, Barbara Rütting, Günter Pfitzmann, Agnes Windeck, Eddi Arent

Scotland Yard investigates a series of murders where the victims have died by snake venom poisoning.

CrimeMystery
15
The Black Abbot poster

The Black Abbot

19631h 29m3.2
Director: Franz Josef Gottlieb
Cast: Joachim Fuchsberger, Grit Boettcher, Dieter Borsche, Charles Regnier, Eva Ingeborg Scholz

Several employees on a nobleman's estate show up at a former abbey, reputed to be haunted, to search for a hidden treasure. Howver, a mysterious hooded figure begins killing off those who may have figured out where the treasure is hidden.

16
The Indian Scarf poster

The Indian Scarf

19631h 26m3.6
Director: Alfred Vohrer
Cast: Heinz Drache, Corny Collins, Klaus Kinski, Gisela Uhlen, Hans Nielsen

When a wealthy man dies, his avaricious relatives look forward to inheriting all his money. However, he leaves a provision in his will that they all must spend a week together in his castle before they will be able to inherit anything. At the castle (which is cut off from the outside world), the relatives soon begin to be killed off one by one, each strangled with an Indian scarf.

CrimeThriller
17
Death Drums Along the River poster

Death Drums Along the River

19631h 23m2.5
Director: Lawrence Huntington
Cast: Richard Todd, Marianne Koch, Albert Lieven, Walter Rilla, Jeremy Lloyd

A British colonial policeman in Africa investigates a murder in a hospital up river.

AdventureCrime
18
Room 13 poster

Room 13

19641h 29m3.3
Director: Harald Reinl
Cast: Joachim Fuchsberger, Karin Dor, Richard Häussler, Walter Rilla, Siegfried Schürenberg

A serial-killer is murdering the ladies of a night club. Detective Gray is seeking for the killer but can only find a lot of gangsters. And the killer is about to act again...

ThrillerCrime
19
The Curse of the Hidden Vault poster

The Curse of the Hidden Vault

19641h 30m3.2
Director: Franz Josef Gottlieb
Cast: Harald Leipnitz, Judith Dornys, Rudolf Forster, Werner Peters, Ernst Fritz Fürbringer

Mobsters conspire to loot another criminal's treasure secured in an enormous booby-trapped vault.

20
The Mysterious Magician poster

The Mysterious Magician

19641h 25m3.9
Director: Alfred Vohrer
Cast: Joachim Fuchsberger, Heinz Drache, Sophie Hardy, Siegfried Lowitz, Margot Trooger

The sister of a famous, but as yet uncaught, criminal named "The Hexer" is murdered. Inspector Higgins of Scotland Yard believes that "The Hexer" will surface to take his revenge on his sister's killers, and plans to set a trap to finally capture him. However, soon bodies start piling up, and it looks as if "The Hexer" may get away yet again.

CrimeThrillerComedy
21
Traitor's Gate poster

Traitor's Gate

19641h 27m3
Director: Freddie Francis
Cast: Albert Lieven, Gary Raymond, Margot Trooger, Catherine Schell, Eddi Arent

A businessman organises a caper to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.

22
Coast of Skeletons poster

Coast of Skeletons

19651h 30m3
Director: Robert Lynn
Cast: Richard Todd, Dale Robertson, Heinz Drache, Marianne Koch, Elga Andersen

A former district officer is assigned to work on a team of diamond prospectors, who are busy double crossing each other until they are blown up having found bullion.

DramaAdventure
23
Again the Ringer poster

Again the Ringer

19651h 35m3.3
Director: Alfred Vohrer
Cast: Heinz Drache, Barbara Rütting, Brigitte Horney, Siegfried Schürenberg, Eddi Arent

Arthur Milton aka Der Hexer (The Magician/Ringer) must return to London after his calling card was left at the scene of a murder he did not commit.

CrimeThriller
24
The Sinister Monk poster

The Sinister Monk

19651h 27m3.8
Director: Harald Reinl
Cast: Karin Dor, Siegfried Lowitz, Harald Leipnitz, Siegfried Schürenberg, Eddi Arent

A hooded serial killer finds a novel way to murder his victims--he lashes them to death with a whip. The police try to track him down before any more murders occur.

CrimeThrillerMystery