End of the Game

End of the Game
End of the Game
Directed by	Maximilian Schell
Screenplay by	Maximilian Schell; Roberto De Leonardis
Produced by	Maximilian Schell; Arlene Sellers
Starring	Jon Voight; Jacqueline Bisset; Martin Ritt; Robert Shaw
Cinematography	Roberto Gerardi; Ennio Guarnieri; Klaus König
Edited by	Dagmar Hirtz
Music by	Ennio Morricone
Production; companies	MFG-Film; T.R.A.C.
Distributed by	National Broadcasting Company
Release date	May 12, 1975; (USA)
Running time	106 minutes
Country	Germany
Language	English

End of the Game (German: Der Richter und sein Henker) is a 1975 DeLuxe Color German political thriller drama film directed by Maximilian Schell and starring Jon Voight, Jacqueline Bisset, Martin Ritt and Robert Shaw. Co-written by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, the film is an adaptation of his 1950 crime novella The Judge and His Hangman (German: Der Richter und sein Henker). Dürrenmatt also appeared in the film, and Donald Sutherland played the role of the corpse of Ulrich Schmied. German silent film actress Lil Dagover made her last screen appearance before retirement in the film.

Plot summary

Walter Tschantz (Jon Voight) gets on a case when Lt. Robert Schmied (Donald Sutherland) is found dead while investigating Richard Gastmann (Robert Shaw), who inspector Hans Barlach (Martin Ritt) suspects of killing his girlfriend (Rita Calderoni) 30 years ago.

Cast

Jon Voight as Herr Walter Tschanz
Jacqueline Bisset as Frau Anna Crawley
Martin Ritt as Kommisar Hans Baerlach
Robert Shaw as Herr Richard Gastmann
Helmut Qualtinger as Herr von Schwedi
Gabriele Ferzetti as Doctor Lucius Lutz
Rita Calderoni as Nadine
Norbert Schiller as Dr. Hungertobel
Lil Dagover as Gastmann's mother
Friedrich Dürrenmatt as Friedrich the writer

Crazy credit

Donald Sutherland as Corpse of Lt. Robert Schmied

Soundtrack

Most of Ennio Morricone's original compositions for this film were replaced for the international film version, using music the composer had written for older projects. Only five tracks of Morricone's score had been later released on a vinyl album. In 2010 the Italian record company Beat Records released the score as originally composed by Morricone as a limited CD edition containing 31 tracks with a total time of 76:20 minutes.^[1]

Release

Alternate English-language titles under which this same film has released include Getting Away With Murder, Murder on the Bridge and Deception.^[2] The original 105 minute film version has not been released on the home video market. For unknown reasons, in 2011 only a much shorter 91 minute international version has been restored and released on a German Blu-ray edition.

Reception

The film won two awards at the German Film Awards: For Best Editing (Dagmar Hirtz), and Outstanding Feature Film. Maximilian Schell also nominated for Best Direction and won the Silver Seashell at the San Sebastián International Film Festival.

References

External links

Der Richter und sein Henker aka Deception (1975) Trailer VHS Rip on YouTube, 2:08 min.
End of the Game at IMDb
Der Richter und sein Henker at AllMovie
End of the Game at the TCM Movie Database

[1] Il giudice e il suo boia | Beat Records | CDCR90

[2] Der Richter und sein Henker (1975) at IMDb

[1]

[2]

v t e Works by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Drama	Romulus the Great The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi The Visit The Physicists Play Strindberg
Prose	The Judge and His Hangman Suspicion "The Tunnel" Once a Greek A Dangerous Game The Pledge The Execution of Justice The Assignment
Screenplay	It Happened in Broad Daylight