THE STRANGE COUNTESS (1961)

Margaret (Brigitte Grothum) works as a messenger for a law firm run by Mr. Shaddle, but she is about to begin a new job as private secretary to the Countess Leonora. She's leaving an apartment she shares with a roommate named Lizzy to move into the Countess' mansion. In her last days with Lizzy, she begins to get anonymous phone calls from an apparent stalker (Klaus Kinski) who warns her she is spending her last "quiet nights on Earth." Her last task for Shaddle is to deliver some paperwork for the freeing of a prisoner named Mary Pinder, a murderer who was saved from execution many years ago because she was pregnant. One morning as she leaves her home, she is saved from a falling piece of concrete by the quick thinking of handsome Michael Dorn (Joachim Fuchsberger, pictured) who was apparently watching out for her. Later, when her car blows up, he's also there to help. Settling in with the Countess, she makes a number of new acquaintances: Selwyn is the Countess' whimsical son who fantasizes about being an actor; the distinguished Chesney is the family financial advisor; Addams is the scarred thuggish butler; Dr. Tappatt is the family physician who is also the supervisor of a nearby asylum. We soon discover that the stalker is an inmate at the asylum who makes frequent escapes. Other things we discover: Michael Dorn is a Scotland Yard man assigned to protect Margaret, and Margaret herself has some tie to the newly released Mary Pinder, who is coming to work for the Countess. Margaret may have gotten away from her stalker, but the Countess' mansion soon proves to be a very dangerous place.

This is an example of the German "krimi" genre, crime thrillers often based on the works of the prolific author Edgar Wallace, as this one is. The movie plays out a bit like an "old dark house" thriller though it's mostly brightly lit. It has clear gothic elements in its use of the main female character in a strange house, surrounded by, and perhaps menaced by, several shady people. The plot gets overly complicated but the central throughline remains easy to follow. Grothum is serviceable as the heroine and Kinski, whose role is relatively small, comes off a bit like Renfield in the Lugosi Dracula. The very handsome Fuchsberger played the hero in several of these films; he's quite good though perhaps a little less dashing than a "damsel in distress" hero should be. Eddi Arnet, who provides comic relief as Selwyn, was a popular German comedian and also a krimi regular. Lil Dagover (the Countess) is best known as the heroine of the original Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Atmospheric fun for gothic mystery buffs. [Prime Video]