The Lickerish Quartet (1970)

A jaded, wealthy couple watch a blue movie in their castle home along with her adult son. The son is testy, so they go into town and watch a circus-like thrill ride. The daredevil woman in ... See full summary »

Director:

Radley Metzger

Writers:

Michael DeForrest (screenplay), Michael DeForrest (story)

Stars:

Silvana Venturelli, Frank Wolff, Erika Remberg

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Silvana Venturelli	...	The visitor
Frank Wolff	...	Father
Erika Remberg	...	Mother
Paolo Turco	...	Son

Storyline

A jaded, wealthy couple watch a blue movie in their castle home along with her adult son. The son is testy, so they go into town and watch a circus-like thrill ride. The daredevil woman in the show looks exactly like one of the women in the movie, so the man invites her to join them for a nightcap. Tensions among the family seem to rise. She stays overnight, and during her 24 hours in the castle, each of its three residents involves her in a fantasy. She, in turn, keeps asking, "Who has the gun?" Will there be violence before it's over?

---

Plot Keywords:

female pubic hair | female full frontal nudity | voyeur | voyeurism | woman washing vagina on bidet | 

---

Taglines:

An erotic duet for four players.

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael DeForrest purchased the mirror that's prominently featured in the film.

---

Goofs

In the library scene, the castle owner throws the same set of books on the floor twice. After he does it the first time, the books are clearly back on the shelf, next to the statues, with none on the floor before he throws them down the second time.

---

Connections

Featured in Drive-In Follies (1989)

User Reviews

Poised uneasily, but surprisingly successfully, between art and porn

It's a pretty adventurous movie, poised rather uneasily between constant arty inventiveness and a distinctly stilted coating of baroque overemphasis that, of course, makes due space for the porno calculations. From the very first scene of the family watching the dirty movies, heard initially as disembodied heads in darkness, there's an obvious hankering after seriousness, and the astonishment is that this ambition never becomes utterly foolish. It's quite a provocative film, and would likely not seem so dated with warmer, more nuanced actors, a less obviously titillating style, and without the unfortunate montages of running through the fields and suchlike to the accompaniment of gooey sixties music. There's ultimately no real revelation though, despite the constant return to doubling and echoing and evocation of the odd relationship between art and life, but it gives the feeling of having been intuitively (more than intellectually) shaped and prodded into something quite coherent. The highly designed library sex scene hardly fits but is memorable in its own right.

Details

Country:

Italy West Germany USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hide and Seek

Filming Locations:

Castello Piccolomini, Via Pianillo, 2, 67052 Balsorano, AQ, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carstein, Cinemar, Peter Carsten Produktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1