Il dolce corpo di Deborah (1968)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Romolo Guerrieri

Writers:

Ernesto Gastaldi (screenplay)
Ernesto Gastaldi (story)

Release Date:

20 March 1968 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Riddle, riddle, Debbie in the middle. Surprise, surprise, guess who dies?

Plot:

Deborah, a wealthy American, and her Italian husband, Marcel, are honeymooning in Geneva when they meet Marcel's friend Philip...

Plot Keywords:

Couple | Phone Call | Falling In Love | Desire | Female Frontal Nudity

Cast

Carroll Baker	...	Deborah
Jean Sorel	...	Marcel
Ida Galli	...	Suzanne Boileau (as Evelyn Stewart)
Luigi Pistilli	...	Philip
Michel Bardinet	...	Police Commissioner
Valentino Macchi	...	Garagista
Mirella Pamphili	...	Telephone Clerk (as Mirella Panfili)
Domenico Ravenna	...	Doctor
Giuseppe Ravenna	...	Maitre d'
Renato Montalbano	...	Telephone Man
George Hilton	...	Robert

Also Known As:

L'adorable corps de Deborah (France)
The Body
The Sweet Body of Deborah (USA)

Runtime:

95 min | Germany:91 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 | West Germany:18 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Company:

Compagnie Cinématographique de France

La Baker does it again

IL DOLCE CORPO DI DEBORAH bears a strange resemblance with Umberto Lenzi's COSI DOLCE...COSI PERVERSA. Same lead actress (Carroll Baker), same plot, same twist ending. Made the same year...who is the copycat? Not important after all, the Lenzi's flick being far more superior in suspense & quality.

For about an hour or so, we follow newlywed Carroll Baker and husband Jean Sorel thru the Swiss Alps, Geneva, the swiss countryside... guess the Swiss authorities paid a lot to make their country have a sufficient screening time to get noticed. No plot at all, just beautiful shots of the mountains & the city. Then some hot sex scenes between Baker & Sorel. Then back to some über-chic club. Then some more hot sex. And, oh, there's Luigi Pistilli accusing Sorel of driving his ex Susan to suicide. That's the beginning of the plot. then they're getting scared by strange phone calls. Oh, er!

La Baker is viewed under any possible shot (no frontal nudity, though :these are the 60's), she can scream all right. But she really doesn't know what she's doing. Obviously, the screenplay either, as it doesn't know how to handle such screen presence. The editing doesn't help, as it jumps from flashy 60's shots of a nightclub atmsophere (flashy camera angles, too) to loooong face to face dialogues between the two leads. No rythm is given, which leads to some boredom after the first half hour.

The last 30 minutes are a bit more satisfying, as the suspense grows thicker, the rythm accelerates and the story really begins. Too bad it comes too late.

Romolo Guerrieri is not a great director here. He's just a man following Luciano Martino and Mino Loy's orders : show more Carroll Baker and to the hell with the story (who cares anyway). No special talent, no great use of the anamorphic screen (Cromoscope here). No specific direction of actors. Just plain average.

But it's not bad (in a Mattei way), it's always fun if you're into some 60's/70's sexploitation mood. (S)Exploitative indeed : the black stripper as an arty-sex show is ridiculously long and may seem infuriatingly mysoginistic today. Mizar's strip in Giuliano Carmineo's PERCHE QUELLE STARNE GOCCE SUL CORPO DI JENNIFER? avoids this trap by eing a victory over machismo. This is pure pre-giallo routine.

But you can't help looking at screen wondering how come someone like Carroll Baker made this in 1968 after HOW THE WEST WAS WON, CHEYENN AUTUMN or HARLOW.

Better stick to the Lenzi territory for some sexy-giallo stuff. COSI DOLCE...COSI PERVERSA is a really better choice.

Superwonderscope says : 5