MovieChat Forums > The Serpent's Egg (1978) Discussion > Inspector Lohmann

Inspector Lohmann

posted 18 years ago by lurm
5 replies | jump to latest

I just watched The Serpent's Egg (in my ongoing pursuit to slowly absorb Bergman's catalog). The movie was not great, but certainly interesting (and not nearly as disturbing as some reviews lead to believe - although in 1977 it must have held more potency).

I was curious about a throwaway line in the middle of the film (44 min. in). Inspector Bauer (Frobe) says that he is going to write a letter to Inspector Lohmann, "who is working on another case that also seems insane." I can't help wondering if that is a reference to the reappearing character in several of Fritz Langs' films (notably M and the great The Testament of Dr. Mabuse). Being that this was a German production and taking place in Germany in roughly the same time period, it makes some sense. Anyway just a thought...

[–] rsclark-1 18 years ago

I was thinking the same thing. This film is obviously heavily influenced by Lang's noir works and I suspect that it was put in there as homage.

[–] Haddoque 17 years ago

In "M" and in the 1933 original of"Das Testament des Dr Mabuse" the figure of Inspector Lohmann was played by Otto Wernicke, and in the 1962 remake of "Dr Mabuse" it was Fröbe who played Lohmann. That might answer every question, if the cases weren't so insane...

[–] CounterPaul 16 years ago

Aww, c'mon! It was an obvious reference to the Lang films!

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[–] Gloede_The_Saint 16 years ago

I was going to ask about this myself and I doubt it could have been a accident, Bergman was probably well aware of Lang and M and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse are incredibly famous films, probably more famous back then.

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[–] 16 years ago

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