Die weiße Spinne

Of the four film adaptations of Louis Weinert-Wilton's novels, "The White Spider" is probably the most convoluted, owing mainly to the multiple identities of the main perpetrator (in the book he takes three forms, while in the film he takes twice as many), which in the film seemed (un)intentionally comic at times. Reinl's film is very influenced by Ian Fleming's Bond stories novels and the school of hard-boiled school detectives popular at the time. It's a bit of a shame that that took away from the original content of the book, which featured, for example, a "cunning monkey sidekick" and a remote castle as one of the plot points. Anyway, for today’s audiences, the ravages of time have noticeably taken their toll on The White Spider, but Joachim Fuchsberger and Karin Dor in the lead roles add some plus points, as does the main (multi-faceted) villain in his own way. Last but not least, I must mention the humorous role of Chris Howland as Gideon. (03/09/2021)