For Hans Albers the part of the retiring police superintendant is a repeat of the same part he played in the first version in 1930 (!). It seems to me that in this 2nd version Albers is better cast, though I never saw the 1930 version. Albers easily dominates the film and plays his part with a lot of joy and irony. The makers gave him the chance to render a song from his standard repertoire in at the same time the best scene in the film: during the underworld part Albers sings "Beim ersten Mal da tut's noch Weh", the song he sang for the first time in Helmut Käutner's "Grosse Freiheit Nr 7" of 1943. This is also the last film in which Hans Albers had a really good part. After this film came the only passable "Der Mann im Strom" (q.v.) and two others with Albers I would not care to mention.
Though the film can be considered a Hans Albers vehicle in retrospect, York surely did not aim for it. His aim was to make a psychological thriller. As such it is good entertainment, but the psychological element (the women killer who loves his mother too much) is on the simple side to say the least and is also taken to seriously, that is: a bit more tongue-in-cheek would have helped to make it acceptable. There are some big problems with the continuity of the script: at at least two occasions the action jumps without any logic. Watch how the film jumps from the bar to the arrest of Albers; someone forgot to bridge the two scenes.
Though the film can be considered a Hans Albers vehicle in retrospect, York surely did not aim for it. His aim was to make a psychological thriller. As such it is good entertainment, but the psychological element (the women killer who loves his mother too much) is on the simple side to say the least and is also taken to seriously, that is: a bit more tongue-in-cheek would have helped to make it acceptable. There are some big problems with the continuity of the script: at at least two occasions the action jumps without any logic. Watch how the film jumps from the bar to the arrest of Albers; someone forgot to bridge the two scenes.