''End of the Game'' (German: ''Der Richter und sein Henker'') is a 1975

DeLuxe Color DeLuxe Color or Deluxe color or Color by DeLuxe is Deluxe Laboratories brand of color process for motion pictures. DeLuxe Color is Eastmancolor-based, with certain adaptations for improved compositing for printing (similar to Technicolor's "sel ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by Maximilian Schell and starring

Jon Voight Jonathan Vincent Voight (; born December 29, 1938) is an American actor. He came to prominence in the late 1960s with his Academy Award–nominated performance as Joe Buck, a would-be gigolo, in ''Midnight Cowboy'' (1969). During the 1970s, h ...

Jacqueline Bisset Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset ( ; born 13 September 1944) is a British actress. She began her film career in 1965 and first came to prominence in 1968 with roles in '' The Detective'', ''Bullitt'', and ''The Sweet Ride'', for which she rec ...

Martin Ritt Martin Ritt (March 2, 1914 – December 8, 1990) was an American director and actor who worked in both film and theater, noted for his socially conscious films. Some of the films he directed include '' The Long, Hot Summer'' (1958), '' The Black ...

and Robert Shaw. Co-written by

Friedrich Dürrenmatt Friedrich Dürrenmatt (; 5 January 1921 – 14 December 1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant-g ...

, 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 Donald McNichol Sutherland (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films '' Citizen X'' (1995) a ...

played the role of the corpse of Schmied.

Plot summary

In 1948 Istanbul, a young Hans Bärlach accepts a bet from his associate Richard Gastmann that Gastmann can commit a crime in front of him Bärlach cannot prove. Shortly after, he witnesses the woman he loves ( Rita Calderoni) fall from a bridge into the bay. Convinced Gastmann had pushed her but indeed unable to prove it, Bärlach leaps into the water too late to save her as Gastmann disappears. Thirty years later, Bärlach (

) has become a Swiss police commissioner and is facing death in less than a year from stomach cancer, for which an uncertain operation is planned. In the countryside his assistant Lt. Robert Schmied (

) is found shot dead in his car by the side of the road and Bärlach takes pains to remove a red folder from Schmied's files. The case is assigned to the young, aggressive detective Walter Tschanz (

); Tschanz appears well-informed about the case, but is stymied by Commissioner Bärlach's revelation that two bullets were found at the scene, unaware that the Commissioner himself had planted the second one. After a disastrous funeral for the late Lieutenant, Tschanz strikes up a stormy romance with Schmied's girlfriend Anna (

). He finds a cryptic letter G regularly occurs in Schmied's datebook, leading him to Gastmann ( Robert Shaw), who has become a wealthy industrialist with an expansive remote estate. Spying on Gastmann's dinner party from a window, Tschanz is shocked to see Anna in attendance. The stakeout is exposed when the Commissioner, who had accompanied him, is attacked by Gastmann's watchdog and Tschanz is forced to kill it. After harsh words with Gastmann's attorney von Schwedi (

Helmut Qualtinger Helmut Qualtinger (; 8 October 1928 – 29 September 1986; alt. sp.: ''Helmuth Qualtinger''; birthname: ''Helmut Gustav Friedrich Qualtinger'') was an actor, writer, reciter and cabaret performer. Biography He was born Helmut Gustav Friedrich Qu ...

), Tschanz hears screaming from an upstairs window and, peering in again, is greeted by Gastmann himself and a disembodied woman's head. During the incident, the dog's body disappears. Gastmann's bodyguards force Tschanz off the property and he drives the Commissioner home, who quietly puts away a pistol and a leather bite guard from his arm that the dog had supposedly mauled. Von Schwedi makes a formal complaint the next day to Lutz (

Gabriele Ferzetti Gabriele Ferzetti (born Pasquale Ferzetti; 17 March 1925 – 2 December 2015) was an Italian actor with more than 160 credits across film, television, and stage. His career was at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s. Ferzetti's first leading role ...

), the chief of police, and alleges that Schmied's undercover attendance at Gastmann's parties was a spy attempt by a foreign power. As if in confirmation, the Minister of Justice instructs Lutz to stop the investigation of Gastmann, citing his importance to the national economy. Tschanz is frustrated by the dead end and perplexed by the Commissioner's behaviour, who lives in an unkempt apartment and whose illness appears to be worsening. On Bärlach's suggestion he speaks with writer Friedrich (original author

, in a cameo), who reveals Gastmann and Bärlach's fateful bet and that the Commissioner had pursued Gastmann for his numerous crimes since Istanbul. Unbeknownst to Tschanz, the Commissioner returns to Gastmann's estate and Anna, there as a long-term guest, explains her history with Gastmann and that her dalliance with Schmied was only in the hopes he would rescue her. Gastmann later visits Bärlach's apartment and taunts the Commissioner for sending Schmied to observe him, claiming he will commit yet another crime the Commissioner can't prove and takes Schmied's red folder as he departs. At the airport, the crime is revealed as the ineffective von Schwedi's murder, whose bloodied corpse falls from the baggage carousel. Tschanz confronts Anna over her association with Gastmann, who lets slip that the Commissioner had been at Gastmann's; an unknown assailant then tries to murder the Commissioner in his apartment that evening. Tschanz asserts Gastmann is responsible for the attack and for Schmied's murder and therefore must be brought to justice, but the Commissioner demurs. Gastmann kills the Commissioner's driver and hijacks his car to have him killed as well, but is intrigued when Bärlach says if he cannot make him pay for the crimes he has committed, he will make him pay for one he hasn't. Gastmann instead drives Bärlach to the train station and the Commissioner warns Gastmann that he has "sentenced" him. As Bärlach promised, the next day Tschanz shoots Gastmann and his bodyguards and places the gun used to kill Schmied in one of the guards' hands. Tschanz is startled to find Bärlach already aware of Gastmann's death and celebrating with rich food and ample wine in apparent exceptional health. He gives Tschanz a gift: the bullet Tschanz used to kill the watchdog, the corpse of which the Commissioner had quietly removed, which matches the gun used to kill Schmied. The Commissioner explains he knew that Tschanz murdered Schmied because he was jealous of his success on the job and with Anna, and to extract Bärlach's revenge on Tschanz, manipulated him into framing and murdering Gastmann. With Gastmann dead, Tschanz, the unknown assailant, now has no one to frame for another attack on Bärlach and departs in disgrace with Anna. He tells her he did it for her and after abandoning her by the side of the road, drives off a bridge. The Commissioner decides not to have surgery, as the anaesthetist had been hired by Gastmann to kill him, and thus robs Gastmann of his last, posthumous crime. In the epilogue, he reasons to Anna he will still have a year to live regardless.

Cast

as Herr Walter Tschanz *

as Frau Anna Crawley *

as Kommisar Hans Baerlach * Robert Shaw as Herr Richard Gastmann *

as Herr von Schwedi *

as Doctor Lucius Lutz * Rita Calderoni as Nadine * Norbert Schiller as Dr. Hungertobel * Lil Dagover as Gastmann's mother *

as Friedrich the writer

Crazy credit

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 Beat Records was an independent record label started by California night club promoter Stephen Zepeda (a.k.a. Steve Zepeda). Beat Records had record releases by Gary Valentine (of Blondie), The Furys, and The Plimsouls (featuring Peter Case). ...

released the score as originally composed by Morricone as a limited CD edition containing 31 tracks with a total time of 76:20 minutes.Il giudice e il suo boia , Beat Records , CDCR90
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Release

The original 106-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 German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

: For Best Editing (Dagmar Hirtz), and Outstanding Feature Film. Maximilian Schell was also nominated for Best Direction and won the Silver Seashell at the

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; es, Festival Internacional de San Sebastián, eu, Donostia Zinemaldia) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in ...

References

External links

* , 2:08 min. * * * * {{Friedrich Dürrenmatt 1975 films 1975 crime drama films 1970s mystery thriller films 1970s political thriller films 1970s psychological thriller films 1970s thriller drama films German crime thriller films German thriller drama films Italian crime thriller films Italian thriller drama films English-language German films English-language Italian films Films scored by Ennio Morricone Films about suicide Films based on crime novels Films based on Swiss novels Films based on works by Friedrich Dürrenmatt Films directed by Maximilian Schell Films set in Switzerland Films set in the 1940s Films set in the 1970s Films shot in Switzerland Police detective films Political drama films German political thriller films West German films Films shot in Zürich Constantin Film films 20th Century Fox films 1975 drama films 1970s English-language films 1970s Italian films 1970s German films