#die bruce partington pläne

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Erich Schellow as Sherlock Holmes and Paul Edwin Roth as Dr. John H. Watson in "Die Bruce Partington Pläne”

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Erich Schellow as Sherlock Holmes and Paul Edwin Roth as Dr. John H. Watson in “Die Bruce Partington Pläne” (1968)

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Paul Edwin Roth as Dr. Watson in "Die Bruce-Partington-Pläne" ("The Bruce-Partington Plans")

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Erich Schellow as Sherlock Holmes and Paul Edwin Roth as Dr. John H. Watson in “Die Bruce Partington Pläne” (1968)

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Erich Schellow as Sherlock Holmes and Paul Edwin Roth as Dr. John H. Watson in “Die Bruce Partington Pläne” (1968)

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Erich Schellow as Sherlock Holmes and Paul Edwin Roth as Dr. John H. Watson in "Die Bruce Partington Pläne”

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Erich Schellow as Sherlock Holmes and Paul Edwin Roth as Dr. John H. Watson in “Die Bruce Partington Pläne”

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Let's play train!

Sherlock Holmes (Erich Schellow) and Dr. John H. Watson (Paul Edwin Roth) reconstruct the case of the mysterious death of Cadogan West in “Die Bruce Partington Pläne” ("The Bruce-Partington Plans")

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Erich Schellow as Sherlock Holmes and  Paul Edwin Roth as Dr. John H. Watson in “Die Bruce Partington Pläne” (“The Bruce Partington Plans”)

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Playful

Erich Schellow as Sherlock Holmes and  Paul Edwin Roth as Dr. John H. Watson in “Die Bruce Partington Pläne” (“The Bruce Partington Plans”)

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At kindly request of @acdhw

“Die Bruce Partington Pläne” (“The Bruce Partington Plans”)

Erich Schellow: Sherlock Holmes Paul Edwin Roth: Dr. John H. Watson Hans Cossy: Mycroft Holmes Hans Schellbach: Inspector Lestrade

Sherlock Holmes: “Ausgezeichnet, Inspektor. Der Fall ist gelöst.” Mycroft Holmes: “Was?” Watson: “Fabelhaft. Darf ich Ihnen meine Hochachtung aussprechen, Inspektor. Mr. Holmes hat sich wegen der Fahrkarte bereits ähnlich geäußert.” Mycroft Holmes: “Wieso mischen Sie sich eigentlich dauernd in unser Gespräch? Ich denke, Sie sind Arzt. “ Watson: “Entschuldigen Sie, Sir. Auch als Arzt bin ich an dem glücklichen Ausgang unserer Kriege interessiert.” Sherlock Holmes: “Der Verräter ist also tot. Die Pläne sind schon längst auf dem Kontinent. Was sollen wir da noch tun?” Mycroft Holmes: “Sherlock! Gehe jedem Hinweis nach. Untersuche alle Schauplätze des Verbrechens. Lass nichts unversucht.” Watson: “Darf ich Ihnen ein Beruhigungsmittel verschreiben, Sir?” Mycroft Holmes; “Ja.” Sherlock Holmes: “Die Theorie von Inspektor Lestrade überzeugt dich also nicht?” Mycroft Holmes: “Nein. Alle meine Instinkte sträuben sich dagegen.” Sherlock Holmes: “Wären Sie dann vielleicht so freundlich und uns noch ein oder zwei Stunden zur Verfügung zu stehen?” Lestrade: “Natürlich, ich bin ja im Dienst.” Watson: “Bitte schön, das Rezept.” Mycroft Holmes: “Ach, lassen Sie mich in Frieden!” Sherlock Holmes: “Wir werden eine Vergnügungsfahrt mit der Untergrundbahn unternehmen.” Mycroft Holmes: “Die Kosten trägt der Staat.” Sherlock Holmes; “Großartig! Kommen Sie, meine Herren, dann fahren wir erster Klasse.”

Sherlock Holmes: “Excellent, inspector. The case is solved." Mycroft Holmes: "What?" Watson: “Fabulous. May I express my highest respect, inspector. Mr. Holmes has already made a similar remark about the ticket. " Mycroft Holmes: “Why do you keep interfering in our conversation? I think you are a doctor." Watson: “'I'm sorry, sir. Also as a doctor, I'm interested in the happy ending of our wars. " Sherlock Holmes: “So the traitor is dead. The plans have long been on the continent. What else should we do? " Mycroft Holmes: “Sherlock! Iinvestigate every indication. Examine all scenes of the crime. Leave no stone unturned. " Watson: "May I prescribe you a sedative, sir?" Mycroft Holmes: "Yes." Sherlock Holmes: “So, Inspector Lestrade's theory doesn't convince you?” Mycroft Holmes: “No. All of my instincts resist it. " Sherlock Holmes: "Would you be so kind as still to be at our disposal for an hour or two?" Lestrade: "Of course, I'm on duty." Watson: "Here you are, the recipe." Mycroft Holmes: "Oh, leave me alone!" Sherlock Holmes: "We're going to take a pleasure ride on the subway." Mycroft Holmes: “The costs are borne by the state.” Sherlock Holmes; "Great! Come on, gentlemen, we'll travel first class then. "

The actor of Mycroft Holmes, Hans Cossy (1911 - 1972), often played authoritarians and other unsympathetic roles for instance Marshal Kublai Krim in the hugely popular German science fiction series “Raumpatrouille” and the gangster Patrick Kinsey (based on Ronald „Buster“ Edwards) in “Die Gentlemen bitten zur Kasse” (an equally sucessful three-part miniseries about the famous British train robbery from 1963)

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Caring, unflappable, witty and hard-drinking

The magnificent Mrs. Hudson (Manja Kafka) in “Die Bruce Partington Pläne” (”The Bruce-Partington Plans”) 

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Erich Schellow as Sherlock Holmes and Paul Edwin Roth as Dr. John H. Watson in “Die Bruce Partington Pläne” (”The Bruce Partington Plans”)

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Erich Schellow as Sherlock Holmes in “Die Bruce Partington Pläne” (”The Bruce Partington Plans”)

Because of his brilliant portrait of the master detective, Erich Schellow was made an honorary member of the German Sherlock Holmes Society in 1991.

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“Die Bruce Partington Pläne” (“The Bruce Partington Plans”)

Erich Schellow: Sherlock Holmes Paul Edwin Roth: Dr. John H. Watson Hans Schellbach: Inspector Lestrade

Lestrade: “The house search was unlawful. If you carry on like this you’ll be in trouble one day, Mr. Holmes.” Holmes: “It’s hardly possible due my connections to Scotland Yard. Surely you are not interested in a newspaper headline like “Sherlock Holmes behind bars since a year: Therefore 51 percent of serious crime cases are unsolved.” This is the proportion between me and the Yard I calculated so far. Forgive me my candour.”

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Paul Edwin Roth - a versatile character actor and Germany’s Dr. Watson

Paul Edwin Roth was born into a family of doctors in Hamburg on October 22, 1918 and grew up in the Hanseatic city. After graduating from high school at the "Johanneum" in Hamburg, he actually had other career plans and wanted to become a doctor like his father. Only at the urging of his mother did he attend the drama school of the "Deutsches Schauspielhaus" from 1937 until 1939. Roth made his stage debut in 1939 at the "Stadttheater Heilbronn" as Gustave de Grignon in the comedy "What the Ladies Like" by Eugène Scribes, followed by engagements in Karlsruhe, Heidelberg, Darmstadt and Wiesbaden.

At the end of the Second World War he was  severely wounded and probarbly traumatised by his horrible experiences he was released as a prisoner of war from the Russians.

In 1948 Roth played the leading part of Beckman in the stage play "Draußen vor der Tür" ("The Man Outside") by Wolfgang Borchert at the “Hebbel Theater” in Berlin. It was a huge success and Roth was regarded as one of Germanys most important character actors since then.

His other outstanding stage roles in the late 1940s included his interpretation of Moritz Stiefel in the drama "Frühlings Erwachen" ("Spring Awakening") by Frank Wedekind as well as the title role in Friedrich Schiller's play "Don Carlos".

Paul Edwin Roth gave his film debut in 1947 in “Und über uns der Himmel” (“And above as the Sky”) in which he played the former soldier Werner Richter, who lost his eyesight during the war but regaines it later. In 1949 he played in “Unser täglich Brot” (“Our Daily Bread”) the young blackmarketeer Harry Webers who commits suicide in the end. In his film carreer which spanned more than forty years he mostly played distinctive supporting roles.

Paul Edwin Roth's main field of activity had become television since the late 1950s. He made numerous television movies and appeared in many telesvision series. His role as lawyer Patterson in the second season of the television series “Gestatten mein Name ist Cox” (“May I introduce myself - my name is Cox”) (1965) was a big success. It was probably his excellent teamwork with the leading actor Günter Pfitzmann (Roth was some kind of his sidekick) that resulted in his most famous role two years later.

In 1967/68 the first West German TV channel ARD broadcast the only German television series about Sherlock Holmes. The series consists of six episodes originally written by BBC authors based on stories by Arthur Conan Doyle: “Das Gefleckte Band” (“The Speckled Band”), “Sechsmal Napoleon” (“The Six Napoleons”), “ Die Liga der Rothaarigen” (“The Red-Headed League”), “Die Bruce-Partington-Pläne” (“The Bruce-Partington Plans”), “Das Beryll-Diadem “ (“The Beryl Coronet”) and “Das Haus bei den Blutbuchen “ (“The Adventure of the Copper Beeches”) Strangely the credits don’t mention Sherlock Holmes but only Arthur Conan Doyle.

Erich Schellow (1915 - 1995) played the master dectective while Paul Edwin Roth  portrayed Dr. John H. Watson. They had a great chemistry (Schellow called his fellow actor Roth - whose two first names Paul and Edwin were drawn together as “Pled” as a nickname - “a clever guy”) and played the relationship between Holmes and Watson as warm but also as very ironic. The fact that the two of them are using the informal “you” (“Du” in German instead of “Sie”) particularly illustrates their loving relationship.

Erich Schellow plays Sherlock Holmes in an aristocratic manner with great dignity and much esprit. The actor wanted to add a touch of depravity to his portrayal (including the use of cocaine) but director Paul May disapproved of it and insisted on an irreproachable Sherlock Holmes.

Paul Edwin Roth (the mustache is false by the way) plays Dr. Watson not as a buffon like Nigel Bruce did but nevertheless he often provides funny moments. Watson’s constant use of his umbrella as a vessel for alcoholic beverages is the  running gag of the series. Altough he is a physician he does not appose at the least against intensive use of tobacco and alcohol. He is a very clever man who is proud of remembering every single name and address that is ever given to him. He is also a brave man who doesn’t hesitate to use his army revolver and in “Das Beryll Diadem” he even knocks down the criminal with a stick. Even if he doesn't know what’s going on he remains cool and makes some witty remarks. The dry sense of humour is an outstanding characteristic of the series.

Inexplicably, the series was not a great success. It was only repeated once in 1991. Luckily this gem was released on DVD in 2012 and re-released in 2021.

In addition to his extensive work for film and television, Paul Edwin Roth was also a renowned voice actor. Inter alia he regularly dubbed Montgomery Clift and Michel Bouquet but also Dirk Bogarde in "Accident" and Alan Bates in "Zorba the Greek" and Jason Robards in "By Love Possessed".

Paul Edwin Roth succumbed to cancer on October 27, 1985 in his home town Hamburg - a few days after his 67th birthday.