This version of Dürrenmatt’s Der Richter und sein Henker, released in 1975, features Jon Voigt and Jacqueline Bisset. The original language is English, but the German dubbing is logical for the setting. The main character has a heavy Swiss accent, but it is reasonably understandable for all. There is a 1957 version in German, though released then as a TV movie and I have not yet run across it.
The best feature of this film may be that Friedrich Dürrenmatt actually joins the cast himself, playing the bit role of Friedrich. This is one of only two films that he took part in. Der Richter und sein Henker was originally an eight-piece release in the early 1950s, which together is among the popular reading selections for many German courses today.
Another German-speaking actor also had an important role. Norbert Schiller, perhaps best known from Hogan’s Heroes, was an Austrian-born actor. His early days included several uncredited roles, though his first filmed appearance – the silent film Meriota, die Tänzerin, was indeed credited.
Another interesting addition to the cast is another Austrian – Margarete Schell Noé. She was the mother of screenplay writer and director Maximilian Schell. This was the last of her few film appearances.
This film does not need to be entirely lost to history or nudged aside simply because it wasn’t originally filmed in German. It’s a little slow and, as stated below, does include a scene of nudity, so care should be taken to choose the best scenes for the class or edit as/if necessary.
Officially, the U.S. rating for this film is PG. However, there is a scene with the main characters where they are nude. It begins approximately 20 minutes in and lasts for several minutes – if you are using the same version of this film as I am. Another interesting (and quite honestly bewildering) fact about this film is that it was meant to be about 20 minutes longer than the version I have, but the full length seems to have never been released for home video in any language. Some of the cuts are odd and can lead to confusion. A list of the pieces clipped from the home version can be found at IMDB.