Death Drums Along the River
Encyclopedia
Death Drums Along the River or Sanders is a 1963 German/English international co-production
using the same characters as Edgar Wallace
's Sanders of the River
. Filmed on location in South Africa
, it features Richard Todd
and Marianne Koch
leading a cast of British, German and South African actors. It was the first of the German films based on Edgar Wallace works
to be shot outside of Germany in colour and filmed in wide screen Techniscope
.
sight a bag of nuts dropped by stevedore
s. As the bag breaks the workers discover a pouch that was in the bag of nuts that is quickly grabbed by a man who escapes after killing one of the policemen. Police Commissioner
Sanders (Todd) questions Pearson (Bill Brewer), a suspected criminal, but finds no information.
At the same time, a Dr. Jung (Koch) arrives at the airport and is met by Todd's assistant Inspector
Hamilton (Jeremy Lloyd
). Dr. Jung is going to a clinic up country near the Senegal
ese Border run by Dr. Weiss (Albert Lieven
), Dr. Schneider (Walter Rilla
) and Nurse Marlene (Vivi Bach
). Also on the plane with Dr. Jung is an American journalist (Robert Arden
) who wishes to visit the clinic to do a story.
Commissioner Sanders begins to suspect the clinic as a location for smuggled diamonds from across the border.
was active in South Africa producing several films with West German
financing from Constantin Film
and a cast of West German actors. The film has very little to do with Edgar Wallace's Sanders of the River except the name of Sanders (now a Police Commissioner
), the boat Zaire (that is now a small craft rather than a steamer) and Simon Sabela playing Bosambo in a very small role. The film was marketed in Germany as one of the then popular Edgar Wallace
series of films.
Richard Todd had been in Africa filming The Hellions and was attempting to produce a film of Ian Fleming
's The Diamond Smugglers
.
The intertribal warfare of Edgar Wallace's work and the 1935 British film
has been replaced by a standard detective story involving murder and diamond smuggling. The fictional nation is not given a name, but in the spirit of the times Dr Jung asks Sanders what he'll do when the nation is granted independence. Sanders replies he'll stay on "if they'll have me".
, Durban North
, Zululand
and Lake St. Lucia.
International co-production
An international co-production is a production where two or more different production companies are working together, for example in a film production...
using the same characters as Edgar Wallace
Edgar Wallace
Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was an English crime writer, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright, who wrote 175 novels, 24 plays, and numerous articles in newspapers and journals....
's Sanders of the River
Sanders of the River
Sanders of the River is a 1935 film directed by Zoltán Korda, based on the stories of Edgar Wallace. It was later spoofed in the 1938 Will Hay film Old Bones of the River, which also featured the characters of Commissioner Sanders, Captain Hamilton and Bosambo seen in this film, but played by...
. Filmed on location in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, it features Richard Todd
Richard Todd
Richard Todd OBE was an Irish-born British stage and film actor and soldier.-Early life:Richard Todd was born as Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd in Dublin, Ireland. His father, Andrew William Palethorpe Todd, was an Irish physician and an international Irish rugby player who gained three caps for...
and Marianne Koch
Marianne Koch
Marianne Koch is a retired German actress of the 1950s and 1960s, best known for her appearances in spaghetti westerns and adventure films of the 1960s. She later worked as a television host and as a physician....
leading a cast of British, German and South African actors. It was the first of the German films based on Edgar Wallace works
Films based on Edgar Wallace works
The Edgar Wallace movies are motion pictures based on the works of British novelist and playwright Edgar Wallace.Even though there are countless film adaptations of Edgar Wallace novels worldwide, the crime films produced by the German company Rialto Film between 1959 and 1972 are the best-known of...
to be shot outside of Germany in colour and filmed in wide screen Techniscope
Techniscope
Techniscope or 2-Perf is a 35mm motion picture camera film format introduced by Technicolor Italia in 1963. The Techniscope format uses a two film-perforation negative pulldown per frame, instead of the standard four-perforation frame usually exposed in 35mm film photography...
.
Plot
In The Gambia (during British colonial rule), two policemen patrolling a wharfWharf
A wharf or quay is a structure on the shore of a harbor where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers.Such a structure includes one or more berths , and may also include piers, warehouses, or other facilities necessary for handling the ships.A wharf commonly comprises a fixed...
sight a bag of nuts dropped by stevedore
Stevedore
Stevedore, dockworker, docker, dock labourer, wharfie and longshoreman can have various waterfront-related meanings concerning loading and unloading ships, according to place and country....
s. As the bag breaks the workers discover a pouch that was in the bag of nuts that is quickly grabbed by a man who escapes after killing one of the policemen. Police Commissioner
Police commissioner
Commissioner is a senior rank used in many police forces and may be rendered Police Commissioner or Commissioner of Police. In some organizations, the commissioner is a political appointee, and may or may not actually be a professional police officer. In these circumstances, there is often a...
Sanders (Todd) questions Pearson (Bill Brewer), a suspected criminal, but finds no information.
At the same time, a Dr. Jung (Koch) arrives at the airport and is met by Todd's assistant Inspector
Inspector
Inspector is both a police rank and an administrative position, both used in a number of contexts. However, it is not an equivalent rank in each police force.- Australia :...
Hamilton (Jeremy Lloyd
Jeremy Lloyd
Jeremy Lloyd is an English writer, screenwriter, author and actor, best known as co-author and writer of several successful British sitcoms.-Career:...
). Dr. Jung is going to a clinic up country near the Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
ese Border run by Dr. Weiss (Albert Lieven
Albert Lieven
Albert Lieven was a German actor. He was born Albert Fritz Liévin in Hohenstein, East Prussia. He died in London, England. He was married four times, including to the actresses Susan Shaw and Valerie White....
), Dr. Schneider (Walter Rilla
Walter Rilla
Walter Rilla was a German film actor. He appeared in over 130 films between 1922 and 1977. He was born in Neunkirchen, Germany and died in Rosenheim, Germany.-Selected filmography:...
) and Nurse Marlene (Vivi Bach
Vivi Bach
Vivi Bach is a Danish film actress. She appeared in 48 films between 1958 and 1974.She was born in Copenhagen, Denmark.-Selected filmography:* Krudt og klunker * Pigen og vandpytten...
). Also on the plane with Dr. Jung is an American journalist (Robert Arden
Robert Arden
Robert Arden was an English-born film, television and radio actor who worked and lived mostly in the United States....
) who wishes to visit the clinic to do a story.
Commissioner Sanders begins to suspect the clinic as a location for smuggled diamonds from across the border.
Cast
- Richard ToddRichard ToddRichard Todd OBE was an Irish-born British stage and film actor and soldier.-Early life:Richard Todd was born as Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd in Dublin, Ireland. His father, Andrew William Palethorpe Todd, was an Irish physician and an international Irish rugby player who gained three caps for...
as Inspector Harry Sanders - Marianne KochMarianne KochMarianne Koch is a retired German actress of the 1950s and 1960s, best known for her appearances in spaghetti westerns and adventure films of the 1960s. She later worked as a television host and as a physician....
as Dr. Inge Jung - Albert LievenAlbert LievenAlbert Lieven was a German actor. He was born Albert Fritz Liévin in Hohenstein, East Prussia. He died in London, England. He was married four times, including to the actresses Susan Shaw and Valerie White....
as Dr. Weiss - Walter RillaWalter RillaWalter Rilla was a German film actor. He appeared in over 130 films between 1922 and 1977. He was born in Neunkirchen, Germany and died in Rosenheim, Germany.-Selected filmography:...
as Dr. Schneider - Jeremy LloydJeremy LloydJeremy Lloyd is an English writer, screenwriter, author and actor, best known as co-author and writer of several successful British sitcoms.-Career:...
as Hamilton - Robert ArdenRobert ArdenRobert Arden was an English-born film, television and radio actor who worked and lived mostly in the United States....
as Hunter - Vivi BachVivi BachVivi Bach is a Danish film actress. She appeared in 48 films between 1958 and 1974.She was born in Copenhagen, Denmark.-Selected filmography:* Krudt og klunker * Pigen og vandpytten...
as Marlene - Bill Brewer as Pearson
- Simon Sabela as Bosambo
Production
Harry Alan TowersHarry Alan Towers
Harry Alan Towers was a British-born radio and film producer and screenwriter, regularly using the pseudonym Peter Welbeck. He produced over a hundred feature films and continued to write and produce well into his eighties...
was active in South Africa producing several films with West German
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
financing from Constantin Film
Constantin Film
- History :Constantin Film Distribution GmbH was founded by Waldfried Barthel and Preben Philipsen on April 1, 1950 in Frankfurt, Germany. On December 21, 1964, the name of the company was changed to Constantin Film GmbH....
and a cast of West German actors. The film has very little to do with Edgar Wallace's Sanders of the River except the name of Sanders (now a Police Commissioner
Police commissioner
Commissioner is a senior rank used in many police forces and may be rendered Police Commissioner or Commissioner of Police. In some organizations, the commissioner is a political appointee, and may or may not actually be a professional police officer. In these circumstances, there is often a...
), the boat Zaire (that is now a small craft rather than a steamer) and Simon Sabela playing Bosambo in a very small role. The film was marketed in Germany as one of the then popular Edgar Wallace
Edgar Wallace
Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was an English crime writer, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright, who wrote 175 novels, 24 plays, and numerous articles in newspapers and journals....
series of films.
Richard Todd had been in Africa filming The Hellions and was attempting to produce a film of Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
's The Diamond Smugglers
The Diamond Smugglers
The Diamond Smugglers is a non-fiction work by Ian Fleming that was first published in 1957 in the United Kingdom and in 1958 in the United States....
.
The intertribal warfare of Edgar Wallace's work and the 1935 British film
Sanders of the River
Sanders of the River is a 1935 film directed by Zoltán Korda, based on the stories of Edgar Wallace. It was later spoofed in the 1938 Will Hay film Old Bones of the River, which also featured the characters of Commissioner Sanders, Captain Hamilton and Bosambo seen in this film, but played by...
has been replaced by a standard detective story involving murder and diamond smuggling. The fictional nation is not given a name, but in the spirit of the times Dr Jung asks Sanders what he'll do when the nation is granted independence. Sanders replies he'll stay on "if they'll have me".
Locations
The film was shot in DurbanDurban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
, Durban North
Durban North
Durban North is a suburb located north of Durban, on the eastern side of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. Durban North is on the north side of the Umgeni River. It is part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, created in 2000, which includes the greater Durban area.A beach known to locals as...
, Zululand
Natal Province
Natal, meaning "Christmas" in Portuguese, was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994. Its capital was Pietermaritzburg. The Natal Province included the bantustan of KwaZulu...
and Lake St. Lucia.