Saturday, April 28, 2012

DAS GEHEIMNIS DER SCHWARZEN WITWE - Martin Böttcher - Belina - "The Black Spider" (1963)

    "The Secret Of The Black Widow" is without a doubt a curious movie, and there's a whole lot going on, so let's get this show rolling!

Seems like there was a treasure hunt to Mexico, and one of the members of the expedition was killed mysteriously! The rest of the crew came back to Europe and went about there merry ways until somebody starts killing them all off, one by one!

The weapon of choice is a black plastic spider loaded with fast-acting poison, and apparently fired from an air pistol! Even though black widow spiders are very common in the United States, they must not be in Europe, as it's treated here the same as substances like curare or black asp's venom!

The so-called hero of the movie is an odd bird, O.W. Fischer as investigative journalist for the local rag, The London Sensation, a fellow by the name of Wellby! Although O.W. was supposedly the best paid actor in Germany of the 50's, his place in Hollywood history failed when he was given a shot, and during the filming of "My Man Godfrey," it's said that he lost his memory!

The extremely lovely Karin Dor has the role of Clarisse, the daughter of the explorer who never came back from Mexico! Karin is no stranger to murder and mystery, and was in some great flicks like "The Invisible Dr. Mabuse," "The Carpet Of Horror,' and yet another spider movie, "The White Spider," before this one! Karin was also Helga Brandt in "You Only Live Twice" and is in a film in production this year called "Triple WixXx!"

When questioned why he drinks so much, Wellby tells Clarisse that it gives him courage, enough so, that he's going to ask her out on a date, even though he was much more her senior, and in reality, he really was 23 years older than her!

Nobody looks more stunning than Karin Dor in cashmere and pearls!

And that brings us to the music, and a very interesting little tune sung by Madame Chanson, folksinger Belina, titled "Die Schwarze Witwe," with music that was written by the genius Martin Böttcher, and lyrics by Ute Just and F.J. Gottlieb! Martin Böttcher is also responsible for the rest of the brilliant soundtrack too!

Wellby has brought Clarisse to this dubious nightclub, so that she can hear "Die Schwarze Witwe", a song he thinks will get some sort of reaction out of her, and a song that he believes is the basis for all the spider murdering that's been going down!

To read a full biography on Belina, head on over to This Site! The amazing Belina passed away in 2006 at the age of 81!!

One of the expedition members runs a cool arcade that has bowling, foosball, and vintage pinball machines!

Wellby is an interesting cat, and  when he drinks the magic elixir he carries around in his hip flask, he obtains almost Popeyesque powers in his ability to kick ass! He's a pretty tough olde bird! In this shot, he's taking a shot after getting knocked down, and before he gets back up!

In this car chase scene Clarisse is in charge of the flask!

After this fight scene, Wellby takes a drink, and Clarisse asks him why, and he tells her it's because he didn't have enough time to get a drink before the fight!

After the battle, Wellby strikes a suave and debonair pose!! You might have noticed that at the beginning of the film, he had a beard, but he shaved it off in an effort to look younger, and impress Clarisse!

This movie is filled with shots like this of Wellby stepping in on his boss and her wife, Mr. and Mrs. Shor! To thicken the plot some, besides being Wellby's boss, Mr. Shor was also one of the original expedition members who is now fearing for his life! Mr. Shor is Werner Peters, another staple in films of this ilk, and Mrs. Shor is Doris (When The Mad Aunts Are Coming) Kirchner!

Clarisse isn't exactly the sweet and innocent little angel she appears to be, and can be quite hardhearted and callous when necessary!

The killer strikes again!! This time it's Clarrise's boss who takes the hit!

Mrs. Shor isn't exactly so innocent herself.........

.........Nor is her hapless victim of a husband!

The only one who really know what's going on, is the forever creepy, and Dungeon Hall Of Famer Klaus Kinski, in a rare role as a good guy, Inspector Boyd of Scotland Yard!! Even in this role, he slinks around mysteriously acting like a weirdo, and the viewer doesn't know who he is for most of the movie!!

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