The Fourth Victim (1971)

A wealthy Englishman finds his third wife dead. After the police discover that his first two wives had also died suddenly, an investigation is launched. Meanwhile, a new neighbour moves in and she seems to become very interested in Arthur.

Director:

Eugenio Martín

Writers:

Sabatino Ciuffini, Vicente Coello

Stars:

Carroll Baker, Michael Craig, Miranda Campa

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Carroll Baker	...	Julie Spencer / Lillian Martin
Michael Craig	...	Arthur Anderson
Miranda Campa	...	Felicity Downing
José Luis López Vázquez	...	Inspector Dunphy
Enzo Garinei	...	The Priest
Phillip Ross
Alberto Fernández
Manuel Gallardo	...	Dr. Shepherd
Alberto Gonzales Espinosa
Marina Malfatti	...	Julie Spencer
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lone Fleming	...	Mrs. Wood (as Lone Ferck)

Storyline

A wealthy Englishman finds his third wife dead. After the police discover that his first two wives had also died suddenly, an investigation is launched. Meanwhile, a new neighbour moves in and she seems to become very interested in Arthur.

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Plot Keywords:

suspicion | under suspicion | husband suspected of killing his wife | husband suspected of murdering his wife | cult film | 

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Genres:

Mystery | Romance | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Spain Italy

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

14 April 1971 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Death at the Deep End of the Swimming Pool

Company Credits

Production Co:

Estudios Cinematográficos Roma,Filmayer,Tritone Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in The 4th Man (1983)

User Reviews

Carroll Baker plus Big Mansion equals The Usual

Rich type Arthur Anderson returns home to find that his third wife has drowned in his swimming pool and of course is immediately arrested due to the fact that his previous two wives have also met premature ends. *Reference to Michael Barrymore removed following legal advice*. The local police inspector is certain that Arthur has been bumping off his wives for money, but is it true?

One court case later and Arthur is a free man once again, which annoys the inspector so much that he takes to following him around everywhere, even bringing along his nagging wife while doing so! Worse still, Arthur is awoken one night to find someone swimming in his pool – Carroll Baker. Carroll seems to be very interested in Arthur and starts putting the moves on him almost right away, but is this love or is Carroll up to something?

It seems that Arthur himself is rather suspicious and is continually fighting the voice in his head that's telling him she's up to something and the voice in his trousers that's telling him to get on with it and get her into bed. For most of the duration of the plot Arthur keeps catching Carroll in places she shouldn't be (like the attic, about ten seconds after he told her not to go up there), plus he's still go that Welsh police inspector following him to make sure Carroll doesn't end up like the other Mrs Andersons…

For the first hour this film drags along, as it's one of those old school Gialli where people are up to something but we don't quite know why, what, where, or who. It's not too boring as Carroll Baker is always entertaining but the whole genre had moved on from this kind of stuff. However, director Eugenio Martin (who would shortly give us the awesome Horror Express) seems to realise this and takes the plot in a more welcome absurd direction for the remainder of the film. I won't spoil it here, but it gives the plot a bit more tension, even if it doesn't make much sense.

It probably shouldn't be too high on your list of must-see gialli, however.