The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (original title)

Director:

Dario Argento

Writer:

Dario Argento
(more)

Release Date:

12 June 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

A stunning portrait in psycho-terror!

Plot:

A writer is stalked by a serial killer after witnessing a murder attempt on one woman's life.

Plot Keywords:

Serial Killer | Killer | Writer | Murder | Police

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Tony Musante	...	Sam Dalmas
Suzy Kendall	...	Julia
Enrico Maria Salerno	...	Inspector Morosini
Eva Renzi	...	Monica Ranieri
Umberto Raho	...	Alberto Ranieri
Renato Romano	...	Professor Carlo Dover (as Raf Valenti)
Giuseppe Castellano	...	Monti
Mario Adorf	...	Berto Consalvi
Pino Patti	...	Faiena
Gildo Di Marco	...	Garullo
Rosita Torosh	...	4th Victim (as Rosa Toros)
Omar Bonaro	...	Police Detective
Fulvio Mingozzi	...	Police Detective
Werner Peters	...	Antique Dealer
Karen Valenti	...	Tina, 5th Victim
Carla Mancini	...	Girl watching TV
Bruno Erba	...	Police Detective
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dario Argento	...	Murderer's Hands (uncredited)
Giovanni Di Benedetto	...	Professor Rinaldi (uncredited)
Silvio Klein	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Reggie Nalder	...	Needles, Yellow Jacket Assassin (uncredited)
Annamaria Spogli	...	Sandra Roversi, 3rd Victim (uncredited)
Maria Tedeschi	...	Old Lady in Fog (uncredited)

Directed by
Dario Argento

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Dario Argento
Fredric Brown		novel "The Screaming Mimi" (uncredited)

Produced by
Salvatore Argento	....	producer
Artur Brauner	....	executive producer: CCC Filmkunst (uncredited)

Original Music by
Ennio Morricone

Cinematography by
Vittorio Storaro

Film Editing by
Franco Fraticelli

Production Design by
Dario Micheli

Costume Design by
Dario Micheli

Makeup Department
Giuseppe Ferranti	....	makeup artist (as Pino Ferrante)
Lidia Puglia	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Rudolf Hertzog	....	production manager (as Rudolph Hertzog Jr.)
Umberto Sambuco	....	production supervisor
Camillo Teti	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Roberto Pariante	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Luciano Anzellotti	....	sound effects
Massimo Anzellotti	....	sound effects editor
Alberto Bartolomei	....	sound mixer
Carlo Diotavelli	....	sound
Eugenio Fiori	....	boom operator

Camera and Electrical Department
Muova Dial	....	still photographer
Enrico Umetelli	....	camera operator
Arturo Zavattini	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Cesarina Casini	....	first assistant editor
Sergio Fraticelli	....	second assistant editor
Neri Nazzareno	....	final colorist (uncredited)

Music Department
Bruno Nicolai	....	conductor

Other crew
Lida Chitarrini	....	script girl
Roberto Pietti	....	dialogue director
Robert Rietty	....	dialogue director
Angelo Tavazzi	....	administrator
Luciano Vittori	....	title designer
Anna Eugeni	....	voice dubbing: Suzy Kendall (uncredited)
Adriano Micantoni	....	voice dubbing: Mario Adriano (uncredited)
Gigi Pirarba	....	voice dubbing: Tony Musante (uncredited)
Silvano Tranquilli	....	voice dubbing: Raf Valenti (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Central Cinema Company Film (CCC)
• Glazier
• Seda Spettacoli

Distributors

• Constantin Film (1970) (West Germany) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Universal Marion Corporation (UMC) (1970) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• United Artists (1971) (France) (theatrical) (as Les Artistes Associés S. A. )
• Suomi-Filmi (1972) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1977) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• 21st Century Film Corporation (1982) (USA) (theatrical) (retitled re-release)
• Spectrum (1984) (Belgium) (video)
• VCI Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• DMEG (2004) (Sweden) (video)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Blue Underground (2005) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Future Film (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (DVD)
• Blue Underground (2008) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Artic Video (1980s) (Finland) (VHS)
• Front Row Filmed Entertainment (2004) (United Arab Emirates) (all media) (Middle East)
• Poletel (Brazil) (VHS)
• United Video (VHS)
• VCI Entertainment (2010) (USA) (all media)
• VCI Home Video (video)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (2002) (2004) (2005) (Finland) (TV)

Also Known As:

"L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo" - Italy (original title)
"Point of Terror" - USA (alternative title)
"The Phantom of Terror" - USA (reissue title)

Runtime:

98 min | Argentina:105 min | Germany:101 min | Netherlands:92 min | USA:96 min | Finland:97 min (1972) | Belgium:108 min (VHS version)

Country:

Italy | West Germany

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Italy:VM14 | Norway:16 (1971) | Sweden:15 (cut) | UK:15 (video re-rating) (2005) | UK:18 (video rating) (1983) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG | West Germany:16 | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 | Australia:MA | USA:Not Rated (DVD rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Singapore:PG | New Zealand:R16 | Hong Kong:IIB

Filming Locations:

Agnano, Naples, Campania, Italy

Company:

Central Cinema Company Film (CCC)

Trivia:

Shot in just six weeks.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): At one point when being questioned by the police, Sam proclaims that he would like to speak to his consulate. However, as the story takes place in Rome, which is Italy's capital city, it would be more correct to say that he would like to speak to someone from his embassy.

Quotes:

Inspector Morosini:Bring out the perverts!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sergio Martino: The Genesis of the Giallo (2011) (V)

Good mystery

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage was Dario Argento's first film and it made him a hot property. Having had very little experience with actual filmmaking, he showed incredible potential with his debut and he took full advantage of it in years to come. Here he explored a lot of the scenarios that would later charectarize his films.

With this film, and particularly his next, Dario showed he had been influenced quite a bit by the great Alfred Hitchcock. The theme here; an american in a foreign country becomes a witness to a heinous crime and starts investigating himself; bears more than a little resemblance to many of Hitchcock's films. An innocent man finds his morbid curiosity getting the better of him and as he progresses in his investigations he puts himself in grave danger. The story unfolds in a similar way to Hitchcock's films, clues are gathered periodically and there's a surprise in the end which is hard to guess, but not impossible.

Argento gradually builds up the suspense and creates a genuinely intriguing mystery. The film never slows down too much and it never fails to be interesting. It's also got a surprising amount of laughs. But in comparing Argento to Hitchcock, Argento manages to create a style of his own, which he would perfect in Profondo Rosso aka Deep Red a few years later. That's of course the visual style. Here he has the assistance of one Vittorio Storaro and the visual aspect of this film is one of it's greatest assets. The film is wonderfully lit every single time and Argento switches effortlessly between dark and dreary visuals to shiny happy images. Argento's visual style is one of his greatest trademarks and it bears some influence from the likes of Mario Bava. I don't want to name any particular scenes, they all flow well together.

Another terrific Argento trademark is the music. Ennio Morricone's score is nothing short of fantastic, ranges from cathcy repetetive melodies to haunting sounds of fear. I think the impact from Argento's films would lessen considerably would it not be for those terrific scores he gets every time.

However, Argento is not perfect. He seems to lessen his standards when it comes to the acting department. Here, the characters are a bit wooden and he doesn't give them all that good lines to deliver. The dialogue in many of his films seem a little childish. And it doesn't look like he gives them many instructions, the acting here (and in most of his films) is shaky and not very consistent. It has been said about Argento that he basically thinks of actors as human props, what's most important is where they are positioned and how they move. Also, it's very annoying how he dubs every film, even the american actors have to do voice overs on themselves.

That said, Argento has more pro's than con's. His films are always interesting and wonderful to look at. The Bird with the Crystal Plumage is in my opinion one of his best. 9 out of 10.