.....and it was while I was deployed with my unit in February of that year. In the cantonement area, we had our twelve-man tents, shower tent, recreational tent with video games that included one where meteors were zapped, dining tent, and a movie tent. Yes, movie tent, where when we had some free time we watched 16-millimeter films on a projector and there was a portable movie screen. A lot of those movies were of the type that would have been shown at the drive-in, and once in a while we would get some real obscurity. One of them was an English-dubbed German espionage thriller called THE CAESAR CODE which was filmed in 1971 and later made it to the United States, probably in the late 1970s. It was based on the international bestselling novel by Austrian-born author Johannes Mario
Simmel (1924-2009). I'm going to quote from the back of the paperback novel issued by Popular Library in 1976 and by Warner Books in 1986: The Caesar Code was created by a Nazi scientific genius during Adolf Hitler's nightmare reign of terror. It is the key to a devastating super weapon that could bring on global domination, and it's the object of a deadly international hunt that unites top American and Russian operatives on the same implacable team. Investigating the mysterious death of an Argentine chemist is his son Manuel Aranda. He uncovers an unbelievable web of lust and treachery that stretches from the Second World War to the perilous present (the early 1970s, that is). I was a mere lad in my early twenties when I saw the movie and found it a complete bore fest. If ever I see it again, it might make a better impression. The intriguing fish-eyed lens cinematography was accomplished by Charly Steinberger. Maybe the movie will be streamed from somewhere. Hopefully. I'd like to give THE CAESAR CODE another chance. This movie was directed by Alfred Vohrer, whose other credits include THE DEAD EYES OF LONDON (1961), THE DOOR WITH SEVEN LOCKS (1962), THE INDIAN SCARF (1963), THE HUNCHBACK OF SOHO (1966), CREATURE WITH THE BLUE HAND (1967), THE COLLEGE GIRL MURDERS (1967), THE HORROR OF BLACKWOOD CASTLE (1968), and THE APE CREATURE (1968). Vohrer continued directing feature films and television episodes until he called it quits in 1985, and passed away in 1986. Johannes Mario Simmel is probably forgotten today, but many of his novels were translated into English and issued by Popular Library and by Warner Books during the 1970s and 1980s. They were issued under the titles THE AFFAIR OF NINA B., THE BERLIN CONNECTION, THE CAIN CONSPIRACY, THE CAESAR CODE, DOUBLE AGENT-TRIPLE CROSS, I CONFESS, LOVE IS JUST A WORD, THE MONTE CRISTO COVER-UP, THE SYBIL CIPHER, THE TRAITOR BLITZ, THE WIND AND THE RAIN, and WHY AM I SO HAPPY? One of the cast members, Konrad Georg, plays a character named Martin Landau! I sure would want to see this film again, dubbed in English. Can somebody make it happen?