''He Can't Stop Doing It'' (German: ''Er kann's nicht lassen'') is a 1962 West German

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means ...

directed by

Axel von Ambesser Axel Eugen Alexander von Oesterreich (22 June 1910 – 6 September 1988), better known as Axel von Ambesser, was a German playwright, actor and film director. Ambesser's father was Alexander Constantin von Oesterreich. Ambesser was born in Hambur ...

and starring

Heinz Rühmann Heinrich Wilhelm "Heinz" Rühmann (; 7 March 1902 – 3 October 1994) was a German film actor who appeared in over 100 films between 1926 and 1993. He is one of the most famous and popular German actors of the 20th century, and is considered a Ge ...

Rudolf Forster Rudolf Forster (30 October 1884 – 25 October 1968) was an Austrian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1914 and 1968. His autobiography ''Das Spiel, mein Leben'' was published by Propyläen Verlag in 1967. He was born in Gr ...

and

Grit Boettcher Grit Boettcher (; born 10 August 1938) is a German actress. Early life In 1938, Boettcher was born in Berlin, Germany. Career Boettcher is an actress in various films on German TV and in stage productions. Boettcher is sometimes credited ...

.
BFI.org
/ref> It was loosely based on the ''

Father Brown Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective who is featured in 53 short stories published between 1910 and 1936 written by English author G. K. Chesterton. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intuiti ...

'' stories by G. K. Chesterton, Rühmann reprising his role from the 1960 film ''

The Black Sheep Black sheep is an idiom used to describe an odd or disreputable member of a group, especially within a family. Black sheep may also refer to: Film * ''The Black Sheep'' (1920 film), British silent film directed by Sidney Morgan * ''Black Sheep ...

''. It is part in the post-war tradition of German

krimi Edgar Wallace (1875–1932) was a British novelist and playwright and screenwriter whose works have been adapted for the screen on many occasions. British adaptations His works were adapted for the silent screen as early as 1916, and continued ...

films, similar to the ongoing series of

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...

adaptations. The film's sets were designed by the art directors

Rolf Zehetbauer Rolf Zehetbauer (13 February 1929 – 23 January 2022) was a German production designer, art director and set decorator. Zehetbauer won an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film '' Cabaret''. He died on 23 January 2022, ...

and

Herbert Strabel Herbert Strabel (14 October 1927 – 21 October 2017) was a German production designer, art director and set decorator. He won an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film ''Cabaret''. He died a week after his 90th birt ...

. It was shot at the

Bavaria Studios Bavaria Studios are film production studios located in Munich, the capital of the region of Bavaria in Germany, and a subsidiary of Bavaria Film. History The studios were constructed in the suburb of Geiselgasteig in 1919 shortly after the Fi ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

and on location at Anif Palace near

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

, doubling for Darroway Castle in the film. Other filming took place in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

itself.

Cast

as Pater Brown * Peter Parten as Bruce Payne *

as Berenice * Ruth-Maria Kubitschek as Mrs. Holland * Siegfried Wischnewski as Inspektor O'Connally * Lina Carstens as Mrs. Smith * Horst Tappert as Simpson * Peter Ehrlich as O'Leary * Rainer Penkert as Lord Gilbert Darroway * Emmerich Schrenk as Joshua *

Otto Schmöle Otto Schmöle (1890–1968) was a German actor. Filmography Bibliography * Kulik, Karol. ''Alexander Korda: The Man Who Could Work Miracles''. Virgin Books, 1990. External links * 1890 births 1968 deaths German male film actors Actors fr ...

as Lord Bannister * E.O. Fuhrmann as Malone *

Uli Steigberg Uli may refer to: * Uli, Iran, a village * Uli, Anambra, a town in Nigeria *Uli I of Mali *Uli (design), by the Igbo people of Nigeria *Uli figure, from New Ireland, Papua New Guinea *Uli (food), a rice-based food * ISO 639 code for the Ulithian la ...

as Oliver Lynn * Hans-Dieter Jendreyko as Sam * Paul Glawion as Kellner * Rosl Mayr as Kundin *

as Bischof

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.

External links

* 1962 films 1960s mystery films Adaptations of works by G. K. Chesterton Films about Catholic priests Films based on short fiction Films directed by Axel von Ambesser Films set in Ireland 1960s German-language films German mystery films German sequel films West German films Bavaria Film films Films shot at Bavaria Studios 1960s German films {{mystery-film-stub