The Strange Countess

{{Short description|1961 film directed by Josef von Báky}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Infobox film | name = The Strange Countess | image = Film_poster_Die_seltsame_Gräfin.jpg | caption = German film poster | director = {{ubl|Josef von Báky|Jürgen Roland}} | producer = Horst Wendlandt | writer = {{plainlist| * {{Interlanguage link multi|Curt Hanno Gutbrod|de}} * Robert A. Stemmle }} | based_on = {{based on|''The Strange Countess'' |Edgar Wallace}} | starring = Lil Dagover <br> Joachim Fuchsberger <br> Marianne Hoppe | music = Peter Thomas | cinematography = Richard Angst | editing = Hermann Ludwig | studio = Rialto Film | distributor = Constantin Film | released = {{film date|1961|11|8|df=yes}} | runtime = 94 minutes | country = West Germany | language = German }}

'''''The Strange Countess''''' ({{langx|de|'''Die seltsame Gräfin'''}}) is a 1961 West German crime film directed by Josef von Báky and starring Lil Dagover, Joachim Fuchsberger and Marianne Hoppe.<ref name="NY Times">{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/47181/Die-Seltsame-Gr/overview |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130130162341/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/47181/Die-Seltsame-Gr/overview |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 January 2013 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |author=Sandra Brennan |title=New York Times: The Strange Countess |access-date=19 October 2008}}</ref> It is based on Edgar Wallace's 1925 novel of the same title, and is part of a long-running series of Wallace adaptations produced by Rialto Film. It was shot at the Tempelhof Studios in Berlin. Location shooting took place at the Schloss Ahrensburg. The film's sets were designed by the art director Helmut Nentwig.

==Cast== * Lil Dagover as Lady Leonora Moron (title role) * Joachim Fuchsberger as inspector Michael 'Mike' Dorn * Brigitte Grothum as Margaret Lois Reedle * Marianne Hoppe as Mary Pinder * Rudolf Fernau as Dr. Tappatt * Richard Häussler as Chesney Praye * Edith Hancke as Lizzy Smith * Eddi Arent as Lord Selwyn 'Selly' Moron * Fritz Rasp as solicitor Shaddle * Reinhard Kolldehoff as Oliver Frank aka John Addams * Alexander Engel as patient * Klaus Kinski as Bresset * Albert Bessler as prison warden Duffon (uncredited)

==Release== The FSK gave the film a rating of 16 years and older, not suitable for public holidays.<ref name="Filmportal">{{cite web|url=http://www.filmportal.de/en/movie/die-seltsame-graefin_ea43d4a6f9805006e03053d50b37753d|title=Filmportal: Die seltsame Gräfin|access-date=26 June 2014}}</ref> The film premiered on 8 November 1961 at the Capitol in Trier.<ref name="Filmportal"/>

==References== {{reflist}}

==Bibliography== * Bergfelder, Tim. ''International Adventures: German Popular Cinema and European Co-Productions in the 1960s''. Berghahn Books, 2005.

==External links== *{{IMDb title|id=0055429|title=The Strange Countess}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strange Countess, The}} Category:1961 films Category:1960s mystery films Category:1960s crime thriller films Category:German mystery films Category:German crime thriller films Category:West German films Category:1961 German-language films Category:West German black-and-white films Category:Films directed by Josef von Báky Category:Films based on British novels Category:Films based on works by Edgar Wallace Category:Films set in psychiatric hospitals Category:Films produced by Horst Wendlandt Category:Films set in England Category:Constantin Film films Category:Films shot at Tempelhof Studios Category:1961 German films Category:Films scored by Peter Thomas (composer)