"Der grüne Bogenschütze" or "The Green Archer" is a German movie from 1961, so it is already 55 years old. It is another addition to the Edgar Wallace crime movie series that was produced in great quantity at this period. But not great quality sadly and this one here is another example. it is one of the earlier installments and still in black-and-white. It runs for slightly under 90 minutes as they usually do and the main antagonist in here is once again mentioned in the title. In terms of the general plot, it is very generic and basically the same like the other films. A police detective is investigating and occasionally we see some more policemen. There are so many suspects and in the center of it all is a woman who seems very closely connected to the crime, but is never a suspect. The cast includes more names than usual here: Wussow, Dor, Aren't, Völz and maybe others that you may know and I don't. But the biggest name for me here is definitely Gert Froebe, who was very prominent in crime films during that era, also in the newer Mabuse films. He was great as usual, but I personally found the crime story and everything around it so weak that not even Froebe's quality acting as usual could not save this film from becoming a disappointment. I give it a thumbs down. Don't watch.

This is an adaptation of one of Edgar Wallace's most famous stories. The plot has Valerie Howett and her family moving into a mansion somewhere in England. The estate next door belongs to Abel Bellamy (Gert Frobe),an American of questionable background. Bellamy would prefer that no one live near by, especially the Howetts. In typical Edgar Wallace fashion there are multiple seemingly parallel story lines, Scotland Yard investigating Bellamy, Valerie trying to find out what happened to her long lost mother, and the mysterious and legendary Green Archer of the title, who appears to get vengeance on enemies of his family; which all converge in the final act. The while the plot is needlessly convoluted, it keeps things interesting for its 90 minute running time (it also prevents a simple explanation of the story).

Well acted by the entire cast this is one of the better Wallace adaptations to come out of the German Wallace cycle. Gert Frobe, best known as Goldfinger, is listed last in the credits, but is probably the one character on screen the most. He gives a performance that makes you wonder why we didn't see more of him in other films. The movie moves along at a good clip with some wonderful set pieces on a ship and in a flooding basement that keeps things moving along. If there are any real complaints about the film, its the attempts at humor, especially by the television reporter that acts as a sort of Greek chorus bookend to the film. Simply put its just not funny.

If you have a desire to see a good mystery this is worth a shot. Its probably the best introduction to the Edgar Wallace series that ran in Germany all through the 1960's.

Not bad early 60's black-and-white West German-made, English-dubbed Edgar Wallace thriller/mystery. A rather convoluted story which I won't go into because, though I finally understood it, it's rather too involved to go into. Needless to say the bad guys ultimately lose and the good guys win. The Sinister Cinema DVD-R is very good quality, probably the best that will ever be available. Recommended for Edgar Wallace