The Phantom of Soho (1964)

Interesting facts

The Phantom of Soho is a 1964 West German crime film directed by Franz Josef Gottlieb and starring Dieter Borsche, Barbara Rütting and Hans Söhnker. It was shot at the Spandau Studios and on location in West Berlin. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Hans Jürgen Kiebach and Ernst Schomer.

Production history

Following the success of the Rialto Film Edgar Wallace series, distributed by Constantin Film starting in 1959, numerous other crime films following a similar formula were produced in the 1960s. In 1960, film producer Artur Brauner launched his own crime film series featuring the character Dr. Mabuse. Starting in 1962, his company, CCC Film, also released films based on material by Bryan Edgar Wallace, the son of the famous author.

In 1963, Brauner announced the Bryan Edgar Wallace film The Man with the Glass Eye (German: Der Mann mit dem Glasauge) in the trade publication Filmecho/Filmwoche. It is highly likely that The Phantom of Soho evolved from this initial project. Its screenplay was written by Ladislas Fodor. According to promotional materials and the opening credits, the film was based "on a novel by Bryan Edgar Wallace".

It is possible that the treatment or original screenplay by Ladislas Fodor was later sold to Rialto Film, where it bore the working title The Cruel Doll (Die grausame Puppe). There, it may have been revised by Paul Hengge to serve as the basis for the 1969 Edgar Wallace film The Man with the Glass Eye.

Filming for the black-and-white movie, produced in Ultrascope and featuring a colour title sequence, took place in West Berlin between 18 November 1963 and 6 January 1964. The airport scenes were shot at Berlin Tempelhof Airport, while the studio sequences were filmed at the CCC Film Studios in Haselhorst, Spandau. Hans Jürgen Kiebach and Ernst Schomer were the production designers.

The film score was composed by Martin Böttcher. The song "Soho" (lyrics by Doris Kirchner), featuring off-screen vocals by Tanja Berg, was originally released as a single on the Telefunken label. This version, which plays at the end of the film, was reissued on CD in 2006. Eight additional tracks, including the version of "Soho" used in the opening credits, are included on the 1996 CD Kriminalfilmmusik von Martin Böttcher:

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