April 2011:
After a family friend kindly allowed me to borrow a DVD of the Dario Argento film The Bird with the Crystal Plumage,I began to talk to him about other titles in the Giallo movie sub-genre.With also having recently heard of another movie sub- genre called Italian Crime,I was thrilled to hear that there was a movie which combined both sub- genres,which had had trouble in the UK,with the BBFC never allowing for an uncut version to come out,due to there being a scene involving a psycho holding a razor blade near a baby.
2011-2012:
With discovering that the movie has not been brought out on DVD,I was disappointed to find that the only 2 bits of material that were around for the movie,was a leaflet about the Italian Crime sub-genre that was named after the movie,and a heavily cut,pre-cert UK Video,that was selling on some sites for outrageous amounts .
Late 2013:
Since having given up almost a year ago on ever seeing the film,I decided to search around late one night for any info related to the title.Originally expecting nothing more than some stills to appear,I was instead happily caught by surprise,when I stumbled upon an uncut DVD of the movie,which led to me excitingly getting ready to find out how blazing this magnum really is.
The plot:
Prepairing to go on a night out with his wife,Dr George Tracer's plans are interrupted,when his secret girlfriend Louise Saitta phones him up,and ask if he can rush over to her student hall to revive a student who has mysteriously fainted.
Changing his plans at the last minute,George rushes to the hall,gets Louise a drink to help calm her nerves,and then begins to attempting to revive the student.Catching everyone by surprise,the "ill" student suddenly jumps up,and reveals that she was just playing some fun and games.As Tracer tries to make sense of what is taking place,Saitta suddenly becomes extremely ill and falls to the ground,dead.
Ringing up the cops,George is greeted by the sight of Sgt Ned Matthew,and Louise's brother,Capt.Tony Saitta.Finding Louise to have been poisoned,Tony & Ned push Tracer around to find out why he would want to poison her.Relising that George is as shaken up by Louise death as he is,Tony vows to take what ever steps necessary to uncover the less than innocent world that his beloved sister lived in.
View on the film:
Being one of the few Italian movies from the period to feature an original soundtrack, (until the late 80s,most Italian titles were filmed silent,with the audio dubbed on in post-production)the screenplay by Vincenzo Mannino and Gianfranco Clerici has an eerie Giallo edge which acts as the perfect complement to the more bombastic Italian Crime side of the film,with the writer's using a character's blindness to create a real sense of menace,and to also reveal that the blind character is the only person who's "seen" the real life of Tony Saitta's sister.
Jumping off from a cliff right from the start,the writers make the Italian Crime side of the movie as delightfully deranged as possible,with Tony's attempts at tracking down his sister,being interrupted by a wonderfully vicious fight against a gang of transvestites,and a wild car chase,which leads to him getting the bare ,minimu of evidence!
Kicking down doors right from the start,Stuart Whitman gives a great gruff performance as Tony Saitta,with Whitman making Tony's relationship with Louise (played by the pretty Carole Laure) feel more dad/daughter,than the brother/sister one that its made out to be.Along with showing a gruffness in the hunt for his sisters killer,Whitman shows a real glee in his eyes,as he jumps into each of the overly exaggerated action scenes with a real relish.Giving the movie some sense of calm,Martin Landau gives a softly spoken,quiet performance as George Tracer,with Landau creating a real sense of intimacy between Tracer and Louise.
Showing no fear in not just taking on 1,but 2 sub-genre's,director Alberto De Martino packs every corner of the film with a number of stunning set-pieces,as Martino goes from smashing every piece of glass in Tony's battle with a gang of deadly transvestites,to placing a brilliantly animated 10 minute (!) long car chase scene at the centre,as Martino reveals that he is going to send this film out,all guns blazing.
After a family friend kindly allowed me to borrow a DVD of the Dario Argento film The Bird with the Crystal Plumage,I began to talk to him about other titles in the Giallo movie sub-genre.With also having recently heard of another movie sub- genre called Italian Crime,I was thrilled to hear that there was a movie which combined both sub- genres,which had had trouble in the UK,with the BBFC never allowing for an uncut version to come out,due to there being a scene involving a psycho holding a razor blade near a baby.
2011-2012:
With discovering that the movie has not been brought out on DVD,I was disappointed to find that the only 2 bits of material that were around for the movie,was a leaflet about the Italian Crime sub-genre that was named after the movie,and a heavily cut,pre-cert UK Video,that was selling on some sites for outrageous amounts .
Late 2013:
Since having given up almost a year ago on ever seeing the film,I decided to search around late one night for any info related to the title.Originally expecting nothing more than some stills to appear,I was instead happily caught by surprise,when I stumbled upon an uncut DVD of the movie,which led to me excitingly getting ready to find out how blazing this magnum really is.
The plot:
Prepairing to go on a night out with his wife,Dr George Tracer's plans are interrupted,when his secret girlfriend Louise Saitta phones him up,and ask if he can rush over to her student hall to revive a student who has mysteriously fainted.
Changing his plans at the last minute,George rushes to the hall,gets Louise a drink to help calm her nerves,and then begins to attempting to revive the student.Catching everyone by surprise,the "ill" student suddenly jumps up,and reveals that she was just playing some fun and games.As Tracer tries to make sense of what is taking place,Saitta suddenly becomes extremely ill and falls to the ground,dead.
Ringing up the cops,George is greeted by the sight of Sgt Ned Matthew,and Louise's brother,Capt.Tony Saitta.Finding Louise to have been poisoned,Tony & Ned push Tracer around to find out why he would want to poison her.Relising that George is as shaken up by Louise death as he is,Tony vows to take what ever steps necessary to uncover the less than innocent world that his beloved sister lived in.
View on the film:
Being one of the few Italian movies from the period to feature an original soundtrack, (until the late 80s,most Italian titles were filmed silent,with the audio dubbed on in post-production)the screenplay by Vincenzo Mannino and Gianfranco Clerici has an eerie Giallo edge which acts as the perfect complement to the more bombastic Italian Crime side of the film,with the writer's using a character's blindness to create a real sense of menace,and to also reveal that the blind character is the only person who's "seen" the real life of Tony Saitta's sister.
Jumping off from a cliff right from the start,the writers make the Italian Crime side of the movie as delightfully deranged as possible,with Tony's attempts at tracking down his sister,being interrupted by a wonderfully vicious fight against a gang of transvestites,and a wild car chase,which leads to him getting the bare ,minimu of evidence!
Kicking down doors right from the start,Stuart Whitman gives a great gruff performance as Tony Saitta,with Whitman making Tony's relationship with Louise (played by the pretty Carole Laure) feel more dad/daughter,than the brother/sister one that its made out to be.Along with showing a gruffness in the hunt for his sisters killer,Whitman shows a real glee in his eyes,as he jumps into each of the overly exaggerated action scenes with a real relish.Giving the movie some sense of calm,Martin Landau gives a softly spoken,quiet performance as George Tracer,with Landau creating a real sense of intimacy between Tracer and Louise.
Showing no fear in not just taking on 1,but 2 sub-genre's,director Alberto De Martino packs every corner of the film with a number of stunning set-pieces,as Martino goes from smashing every piece of glass in Tony's battle with a gang of deadly transvestites,to placing a brilliantly animated 10 minute (!) long car chase scene at the centre,as Martino reveals that he is going to send this film out,all guns blazing.