A film gem by Michael Pfleghar

Anyone who only knows Heidelinde Weis and Klausjürgen Wussow from the "SCHWARZWALDKLINIK / Black Forest Clinic" has missed something crucial. In the ZDF hit series from the 1980s, the two starred as former lovers Dr. Elena Bach and Prof. Dr. Klaus Brinkmann is already a bit leisurely and boring. When the sophisticated Elena was sent racing to her dramatic serial death in episode 7, the professor's path to the even more boring sister Christa (Gaby Dohm) was finally clear. Now the local film tearjerker revival a la Glottertal could really begin. The fact that the great Heidelinde Weis and the very quick Klausjürgen Wussow promised a phenomenal future for German cinema 20 years earlier can be seen with amazement and enthusiasm in the cinematic gem "DIE TOTE VON BEVERLY HILLS / The Dead Woman from Beverly Hills".

This film is really a big surprise. Michael Pfleghar (1933-1991, known for "Klimbim" and the legendary Saturday evening show "Wünsch Dir was"), who worked primarily as a TV director, worked in the hills of Los Angeles for 1.2 million DEUTSCHmarks without permission made an experimental film with a star cast that deservedly made it into the competition at Cannes in 1964. Based on a template by Curt Goetz, a crime film with satirical undertones was created, which switches from black and white to color shots and impresses with beautiful images. The spectacle was produced by Hansjürgen Pohland and modern art film GmbH.

17-year-old Lu Sostlov (Heidelinde Weis) has a lot going on. Although she is married to a much older professor (Ernst Fritz Fürbringer), she cannot avoid meeting men. And men like Lu. So it happens that the beautiful Lu finds herself swarmed by many men (Klausjürgen Wussow as C. G., Horst Frank as Dr. Steininger, Peter Schütte as Swendka, Bruno Dietrich as Peter de Lom), but she is not at all opposed to them. This wild life began in her early youth, when she was in the care of a priest (Herbert Weissbach). Back in Beverly Hills, the unbelievable happens: the beautiful and busy Lu is found murdered. Who is the perpetrator? The detective Ben (Wolfgang Neuss) already smells a lead when he meets Lu's ex-lover C. G. (Klausjürgen Wussow) at the crime scene. But isn't that too simplistic? What role do the enchanting TiddySisters (Alice and Ellen Kessler) play in Las Vegas with their muscular and strong-armed performance partner Cesare Giovanni (Richard Allan)? And what about all the other lovers of the beautiful Lu, who often didn't even know that they still had numerous rivals? Questions upon questions that are not so easy to answer...

When researching Lu's past life, we as viewers witness numerous hair-raising situations that will remain unforgettable. You have to see this film! Mainly because it's hard to believe that such a crazy masterpiece was even possible as a West German production.

About the actors: Heidelinde Weis, born in 1940, was not really able to build on this outstanding performance despite a foray into international film ("...und Scotland Yard schweigt / ...and Scotland Yard is silent" (1966)). Klausjürgen Wussow (1929-2007) was a great hope for German genre films at the time. He also appeared alongside Karin Dor in the Edgar Wallace horror thriller "Der grüne Bogenschütze / The Green Archer" (1961) and as an action star trainee alongside muscle man Brad Harris in the adventure film "Heißer Hafen Hong Kong / Hot Harbor Hong Kong" (1962). Horst Frank (1929-1999) - similar to his colleague Brad Harris - appeared in many of Wolf C. Hartwig's Rapid-Film adventure films and later appeared in many ItaloCinema films. The cabaret artist Wolfgang Neuss is best known from "Wirtshaus im Spessart" (1958) with GOLDEN GLOBE nominee Lilo Pulver. In addition to the always charming Kessler twins, you can see the American actor and dancer Richard Allan (1923-1999). This talented and very good-looking actor had a small but brilliant appearance in Hollywood as Marilyn Monroe's lover in "Niagara" (1952). In West German cinema he was present as a dancer alongside Caterina Valente in "Das einfache Mädchen / The Simple Girl" and in "...und abends in die Scala / ...and in the evening at the Scala".

A very original West German film that you should see!

In 1964, this was the first cinema movie of Michael Pfleghar who is mostly known as a director of TV series such as 'Klimbim'. It is a rather anarchic movie, shot partly at Hollywood without any official permits, I presume, because there are passers-by staring into the camera, wondering what that foreign film crew is doing in the middle of the street.

The 'Dead Woman of Beverly Hills' is Lu Sostlov (Heidelinde Weis) whose body is found at the beginning of the movie. Many flashbacks to the past (which are in colour, opposed to the black & white scenes in the present) reveal step by step how Lu caused chaos in the feelings of several men she fell in love with. One of them probably killed her in jealousy, but who? The excellent cast includes Horst Frank, Klausjürgen Wussow, Alice & Ellen Kessler and Ernst Fritz Fürbringer. It's a comedy not without tragical ingredients, rather weird and not a movie for everyone.