Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned)   CLICK HERE to buy from Box set: Derrick - episodes 16-30 German language only   CLICK HERE to buy from V.O.D. Derrick - episodes 16-30 German language only Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!

Witte (Horst Sachtleben) calls bank director Veicht (Ulrich Haupt) and announces his bank to be robbed - but asks for money for further details. Veicht agrees to pay up, but before the two can meet, Witte is shot dead, right in front of Veicht's bank. Investigating inspector Derrick (Horst Tappert) comes across Witte's girlfriend Simke (Christine Schuberth), who just happens to be a gogo girl in a discotheque right across the street from Witte's bank. The owner of this discotheque, Gerke (Horst Buchholz), acts more than forthcoming answering Derrick's questions, but ultimately cannot help much - or at least pretends he can't as actually he has a few guys down in the basement who dig a tunnle to the bank, and Witte was one of them, as is Witte's friend Krummbach (Gottfried John). Derrick of course soon comes across Krummbach as well, and learns about a link between him and Veicht's brother Victor (Gerhard Garbers) - and slowly Derrick pieces the puzzle together, it must have been Veicht who has given Gerke the blueprints for the bank, and he also has had an affair with Simke, which is why Witte wanted to snitch on them to Veicht, but Victor shot him dead virtually the last moment. Of course, by the time Derrick has figured this out, it's already too late, Gerke and his men, with the help of a short person (Fritz Hakl) who actually fitted throught the ventilation duct they were using to enter the bank's vault, emptied the bank. Derrick decides to search Gerge's discotheque top to bottom, and finds an unexpected allie in Gerke himself, who just wanted to commit an ingenious crime, not necessarily get away with it. He freely presents all the evidence to Derrick and even presents him with Victor, the murderer of the piece, before he goes completely off the rockers ...

Of course, by 1976 the idea of robbing a bank by digging a tunnle to its vault wasn't exactly new, but one has to give this episode some credit for really thinking the story through from beginning to end, and also wrapping the whole thing into a rather complex murder mystery shows at least ambition. Unfortunately the outcome doesn't necessarily meet the story's demands, for one the whole thing soon becomes over-convoluted, for the other when towards the end Gerke just goes insane, it's getting unintentionally funny, only augmented by Horst Buchholz' exaggerated madman performance. Also Herbert Reinecker's trademark stiltedd dialogue doesn't help all that much when it comes to keeping things grounded. But that said, still one of the better episodes of Derrick - even if that's not saying much.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned)

The links below will take you just there!!!

Find Derrick - Das Superding at the amazons ...   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.de Looking for imports? Find Derrick - Das Superding here ...   eThaiCD.com Your shop for all things Thai Something naughty? (Must be over 18 to go there!)   find Derrick - Das Superding at adultvideouniverse.com

Thanks for watching !!!