The Bloodstained Butterfly (1971)

When a girl is murdered in a park, a television presenter is accused of killing the girl, who happens to be his daughter's best friend.

Director:

Duccio Tessari

Writers:

Gianfranco Clerici (story), Gianfranco Clerici

Stars:

Helmut Berger, Giancarlo Sbragia, Evelyn Stewart

Cast

Cast overview:
Helmut Berger	...	Giorgio
Giancarlo Sbragia	...	Alessandro Marchi
Evelyn Stewart	...	Maria Marchi
Silvano Tranquilli	...	Inspector Berardi
Wendy D'Olive	...	Sarah Marchi (as Wendi D'Olive)
Günther Stoll	...	Attorney Giulio Cordaro
Wolfgang Preiss	...	The Prosecutor
Lorella De Luca	...	Marta Clerici
Peter Shepherd	...	The Inspector's Assistant
Gabriella D'Olive	...	Gabriella Giusti (as Gabriella Venditti)
Stefano Oppedisano
Anna Zinnemann	...	Anna Bellini
Dana Ghia	...	Giorgio's mother
Federica Tessari	...	Federica Sartesi
Carole André	...	Françoise Pigaut

Storyline

When a girl is murdered in a park, a television presenter is accused of killing the girl, who happens to be his daughter's best friend.

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Plot Keywords:

j&b scotch | murder of a girl | watching tv | falling downhill | poliziottesco | 

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

7 July 1972 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

The Bloodstained Butterfly

Filming Locations:

Piazza San Babila, Milan, Lombardia, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmes Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Inspector Berardi: Because, in the way I see it, the killer could only be one of two types. Either a person who was seized by a sudden impulse and in all probability has no police record, or else, a sex maniac.

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Connections

Featured in Mad Dog Helmut (2016)

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Soundtracks

Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra
By Tschaikowsky

User Reviews

Good, but not great

I love that in the seventies, you could pull up to a petrol station get out next to the pumps, try and light up a cigarette, find out the packet is empty, throw the empty packet on the ground, then go and pick up a hooker.

This seems to be a blend of the old school gialli (rich, soulless socialites double crossing each other) and the new gialli (gloved killer, stabbing) that has a middle part that centres around a murder prosecution. You might need a little patience.

After we're introduced to our characters with their names appearing onscreen beside them, we see a girl's corpse tumbling down a hill in a park and being found by two kids. Several witnesses spot a person in a mac stumbling through the park, with one lady claiming that the killer is a well known television personality whose daughter coincidentally it the murdered girl's best friend. However, a dazed Helmet Berger is seen staggering around the place too, so we know that things are going to get convoluted pretty quickly.

Cop Silvio Tranquilli is brought in to...well, not break these case as they get a suspect pretty quickly, but he does complain about coffee a lot. Plus, this whole sequence gives director Duccio Tessari a chance to give us all sorts of freaky camera angles while the police use scientific methods that seems to quickly lead to a healthy case to send down the TV presenter.

However, the suspect also has a pretty good lawyer who may very well get him off the hook. Well, nearly. After the presenter's wife (Ida Galli) accidentally gets the guy sent down, things get very giallo like as true motives are revealed, the double crosses begin, and the murders seemingly continue, even though the killer is in jail.

To give you an idea of the pace of this film, the police are still standing over the first victim's body eighteen minutes into the film. Then you get the courtroom drama and the mystery of what Helmet Berger has to do with it all. Duccio Tessari is no fool, however. His eye for good visuals shines through and we get a change of scenery as the film is set in Bologna, not a place that turns up frequently in these films.

It does drag, but the ending is worth waiting for. I'd been after this one for ages and although it's good, I don't think I'd ever watch it again.