Ahem. Yes. I am the author of the much-loved, hated, and dreaded ENCYCLOPEDIA OF KRIMI! MOVIE, and I thought I had them all. That none got away. Over 150 German Krimi movies. And then the book is out, and this one comes along: EHEINSTITUT AURORA/MARRIAGE BUREAU AURORA (1961). Who could have known?. I mean, just look at the poster:
"The big film about society," it says there. And the director is none other than the former Nazi-Film-cutter of Jud Süss! Yes, he did make DER ROTE RAUSCH with Klaus Kinski a bit later (a dreadful, fully self-indulgent Kinski-vehicle that is both inept and ridiculous), but a real KRIMI? Come on.
But then you get Elisabeth Flickenschildt of the Edgar Wallace Rialto movies and our beloved Eva Bartok whom we all know from SEI DONNE. But then, that's it. And that is no real hint, as both women were also cast in big melodramatic movies. So please forgive me skipping this one. But then, let's have a look at the Italian poster:
Yep. That's exactly the same movie. The Italians obviously did not care about society problems in 1961. All they wanted to see is a good old assassin murdering his way through - well - marriage-hungry women.
Indeed this is a "marriage", but in other ways than you might think: As you see, producers tried to find out the right "formula" for the beginning Krimi-boom in 1961 and so we get all kinds of Krimis: Edgar Wallace Krimis, Mabuse Krimis, Musical Krimis (and some might say Giallo-Krimis), Krimi-Comedies and well a Krimi about marriage boureaus.
In this one, called "Aurora", Elisabeth Flickenschildt employs a Casanova to lure the rich woman and get the most out of them. Said casanova is suspected by Eva Bartok to be the killer of her husband, a crime committed some years ago and for which she had to serve her term in prison. As soon as she gets out of prison, she becomes a "rich" customer for "Aurora" and our casanova. Turns out, it wasn't him, and she falls in love in him and he falls in love with Eva Bartok (and honestly, who would not??) and helps her find the real killer.
Eh. What a turd. Look, I have patience. I have sat through 150+ Krimifilms of all kinds, but this is up there on the boredomometer, sharing the no. 1 spot with HOTEL DER TOTEN GÄSTE. It's just talk, talk, talk. Flickenschildt thinks that she is in some kind of feisty stage play and overacts ridiculously; Casanova is so annoying that I did not bother to find out his name, and Eva Bartok is completely wasted in this movie.
Producer Kurt Ullrich actually had a hit with his own Edgar Wallace DER RÄCHER/THE AVENGER, which was much more faithful to the spirit of Wallace than the Rialto franchise, but this one here was a waste of money and talent. Not for the director, as he had none.
If you really want to waste yourr life, the movie is out there in decent form on YouTube, but do not expect any thrills or sensationalist set-pieces. It is not that kind of movie.
Please, skip it.
