Review: Der Arzt von St. Pauli/Females for Hire 1968 Rolf Olsen returns big time

 Rolf Olsen, who gave us the impressive "In Frankfurt sind die Nächte heiß" proto-Giallo, proved to be an effective and capable director of local vice-krimis. The most successful of this small series of movies was "Wenn es Nacht wird auf der Reeperbahn"/When Night Falls Over the Reeperbahn with 1.5 million paying visitors. Constantin, the big German distributor, saw the possibility for a potential hit. If there was one place in Germany that was synonymous with crime and vice, it was St. Paul(i), a former free and lawless (Große Freiheit = Great Freedom) area outside of Hamburg where goods of all kinds could be traded and services of all kinds could be provided. It took the Nazis to incorporate that renegade area into Hamburg properly in 1937, which led to all kinds of frictions. Until today, that part of the city retains its old renegade spirit and flavor, expressed mostly in the soccer/football club of FC St. Pauli with its underdog, anarchic mentality. And it spawned a long-lasting history of movies made about this area starting with 1926 silent "Geheimnis von St. Pauli" and then 1932s "Razzia in St. Pauli" that was immediately confiscated and destroyed by the Nazis when they came to power in 1933.

Krimi-distributor Constantin Filmverleih gambled big: They knew there was a possible audience of around 4 million out there, and so they supplied big names. Curd Jürgens and Dieter Borsche were internationally known, with Jürgens crowning his Krimi career by becoming a James Bond villain in "The Spy Who Loved Me." Olsen's own Krimi elite is there: Heinz Reincke, fresh from his Jerry Cotton success, and Christiane Rücker, a proven eye-catcher, had just finished Rathonyi's "Zieh Dich aus, Puppe"/Take your clothes off, Doll and had starred in "In Frankfurt sind die Nächte heiß"/Frankfurt's Nights are Hot, the previous Olsen local vice krimi. We get Fritz Wepper, who would become very famous as Derrick's (Horst Tappert's) sidekick in the long-running TV-Krimi series. 

So what to expect. A competently made, colorful, local, sleazy AF Krimi with very good actors. And this is exactly what Olsen delivered. 

The Story:

Pennydoctor Jürgens works for free as a gynecologist for prostitutes in St. Paul. (Well, THAT is a suspicious job choice if I ever saw one....). His fiend/brother does the same, but for upper-class women in fancy (evil) Hamburg. Doctor Jürgens is an institution in the Kiez (the Scene), occasionally teaming up with the local mob (he keeps their properties clean... for free!!!... so they do like him) to beat up drunken American sailors that do not behave well. 

His brother is part of a blackmail racket where prosperous wives are lured and drugged into intimate (group-orgy) situations with photos being taken secretly. Occasionally, he does abortions that—occasionally—do not end well, which brings in the police. Meanwhile, the blackmail photographer and his girlfriend go try to do business of their own, which leads to her being killed (accidentally) by Dr. Brother. 

That girlfriend, though, had a former boyfriend—an honest and hard-working sailor—who goes looking for her and asks Dr. Jürgerns for help.

Olsen knows exactly what Constantin wanted: big money for cheap movies. And he knew exactly what the audience wanted: cheap thrills for their hard-earned money. And he knew exactly how far he could legally go here (and that was pretty far). And he knew exactly how to please Curd Jürgens by giving him a far-too-long, far-too-explicit, and far-too-uncomfortable-to-watch examination of a 9-year-old girl. But what did Vince McMahon say? Different Times, Different Values. 

Impossible to make today and icky to watch...

This is a wet dream come true for everyone into depravity. Don't forget: It is very well made but absolutely bottom-less. Everything I wrote about is presented shamelessly in beautifully shot sequences by camera operator Franz X. Lederle (you will be familiar with that name, I am sure), and when I pulled out the Blu-ray, I was in disbelief that this movie was cert. 12 (years without PG).

"Money does not smell." This movie does. Big time. But hey, it is very entertaining and very well made. 

Needless to say, it was a smash hit at the box office. The right formula at the right time, a top-ten performance film in 1968, easily outselling the Rialto-Edgar Wallace movies of that year. (Basically earning more money than both of them together). 

Of course Olsen/Constantin cashed in on that franchise with three more Curd Jürgens/St. Pauli vehicles: Das Stundenhotel von St. Pauli/The Whorehotel of St. Pauli, Der Pfarrer von St. Pauli/The Priest of St. Paul, and Käpt'n Raubein von St. Pauli/Capt. Rawbone of St. Pauli, where Jürgens is presented in different roles and settings. (If you count the 1969 Remake of "Auf  der Reeperbahn Nachts um halb-eins" by Olsen and with Jürgens you get 5 of these "irritating" movies...).

Rolf Olsen went on to produce and direct every kind of cheap thrill movie that you can think of, including "Blutiger Freitag"/Bloody Friday and "Shocking Asia"!!!!—a"truly depraved late-cycle mondo movie (if you are not familiar with that... just kidding).

As they used to say. "That's Entertainment"...

The 3-disc Blu Ray set including "Doctor", "Priest" and "Captain", has flawless 4K scans from the original camnegs and is called "St. Pauli Filmklassiker" by UCM.one. No extras except fot the cinematic trailers, no subs, German only. All films are available as single BD's but contens is the same.