The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963 film)

The Girl Who Knew Too Much

Italian film poster
Directed by Mario Bava
Screenplay by
Story by
  • Sergio Corbucci
  • Ennio de Concini
  • Eliana de Sabata
Starring
Music by Roberto Nicolosi
Cinematography Mario Bava[1]
Edited by Mario Serandrei[1]
Production
companies
  • Galatea
  • Coronet[2]
Release dates
  • 10 February 1963 (1963-02-10)
Running time
 86 minutes
Country Italy[2]

The Girl Who Knew Too Much (Italian: La ragazza che sapeva troppo) is a 1963 Italian giallo film. Directed by Italian filmmaker Mario Bava, the film stars John Saxon as Dr. Marcello Bassi and Letícia Román as Nora Davis. The plot revolves around a young woman named Nora, who travels to Rome and witnesses a murder. The police and Dr. Bassi don't believe her since a corpse can't be found. Several more murders follow, tied to a decade-long string of killings of victims chosen in alphabetical order.

The Girl Who Knew Too Much is considered to be the first giallo film, a film genre with a mixture of thriller, sexploitation and horror conventions.[3] The film was re-cut on its American release by American International Pictures where it received a new score, trimmed scenes, and the new title Evil Eye.

Plot

On vacation, Nora Davis (Letícia Román) arrives by plane in Rome to visit her elderly ailing aunt. Nora's aunt is being treated by Dr. Marcello Bassi (John Saxon). Nora's aunt passes away on the first night of Nora's visit and she walks to the nearby hospital to notify Dr. Bassi. On the way, she is mugged and knocked out in Piazza di Spagna. When she wakes up, she sees the body of dead woman, lying on the ground near her; a bearded man pulls a knife out of the woman's back. Nora reports this to the police in the hospital, who don't believe her when they find no evidence and think she's hallucinating.

Later, at a cemetery, Nora meets a close friend of her aunt's, Laura Torrani (Valentina Cortese), who lives in the Piazza di Spagna. Laura plans to vacation soon and allows Nora to stay in her house for the remaining time of the vacation. Nora later explores Laura's closet and drawers and comes across newspaper clippings of articles on a serial killer dubbed the "Alphabet Killer" due to his having alphabetically killed people according to their surnames. The killer has already murdered victims whose last names begin with "A," "B," and "C," respectively. Nora also finds that the last victim Laura's sister, whom Nora had seen in a vision. According to the reports in the paper, this murder took place ten years ago. Nora then receives a telephone call, in which an anonymous voice tells her that "'D' is for death," and informs her that she will be the killer's next victim. Nora receives help from Dr. Marcello, who takes her on a trip to various Roman tourist sites to calm her down as they become more romantically interested in each other. When they return to the Craven house, she receives a call from a person who orders her to go to a particular address. Nora goes there, and she is guided to a vacant room. With Dr. Marcello, she discovers that the voice that guided her to this spot is tape recorded, and the voice warns Nora to leave Rome before it is too late. Nora and Marcello discover that the room is leased to Landini. After several unsuccessful attempts to locate Landini, Nora and Marcello go to the beach to relax. Upon their return to the Craven house, they find Landini, who has been informed that they were inquiring about him. Investigative reporter Landini (Dante DiPaolo) has secretly been following them since he spotted Nora in the square.

The reporter wrote about the murder story when it first broke, but he believes that the police would catch the wrong person if he reported the details of the crime. Landini's refusal to publish a report of the murder has put him in financial need. Nora decides to help Landini, but, as they tour Rome, they find no clues. Nora visits Landini's apartment the next day, finding clues that lead her to think that he is the murderer that and she is his next intended victim, but Landini appears to have committed suicide. The same day, Laura returns to Rome from her vacation while Nora and Marcello plan to go to America the following morning. From reading the newspaper, Nora learns that the body of a young woman was found, and she recognizes it as the murdered woman she saw on the night of her arrival in Italy. After identifying the victim's corpse at the morgue, Nora believes that she has witnessed the murder. Alone in the house that night, Nora notices that the study door is open. On entering, she sees a man rising uncomfortably from his chair. Nora recognizes him as the man who had stood over the dead body of the woman whose corpse she had seen after awakening from having been knocked unconscious upon her arrival in Italy. The man walks towards Nora but collapses to the floor, a knife in his back. Nora is then confronted by Laura who, enraged, confesses to the killings and explains that she stabbed her husband because of his attempts to turn her over to the police. Laura reveals that her desire to steal her sister's money compelled her to murder. Laura attempts to attack Nora, but Laura is suddenly shot dead by her husband. Nora finds that the bearded man she had seen in a daze actually was disposing of the body for his murdering wife. Nora then leaves Italy, happily reunited with Marcello.

Cast

Letícia Román in 1961. The Girl Who Knew Too Much was Román's first leading role in her career.

Production

Prior to working on The Girl Who Knew Too Much, Bava had taken a six-month break after filming the last of the special effects shots for his previous film Erik the Conqueror.[4] Bava spent this extended period reading mystery and horror magazines.[4] Bava pondered retiring from directing and thought he might only return to work on special effects for film.[5] Bava was convinced to return to directing by Samuel Arkoff and Jim Nicholson who had began co-producing Italian films for release in the United States.[6] The Girl Who Knew Too Much was the first film in this venture for Arkoff and Nicholson's company American International Pictures.[5] The opening credits of The Girl Who Knew Too Much credit Enzo Corbucci, Ennio de Concini and Eliana de Sabata and the writers of the film while crediting Mario Bava, Mino Guerrini and Franco Prosperi as collaborators.[1] Sergio Corbucci is credited as Enzo Corbucci in this film.[7] Italian screenwriter Luigi Cozzi has said that the original script was more of a romantic comedy but the film became more of a thriller as it went into production.[8]

John Saxon and Letícia Román both knew each other prior to the production of The Girl Who Knew Too Much.[9] The Girl Who Knew Too Much was Letícia Román's first leading role in her career.[10] Saxon has stated that he was invited by Roman to work on the film by asking if he would be interested in an art film in Rome.[9] Saxon agreed, but on receiving the script he found that he misunderstood her as she said horror film instead.[9][11][12] Dante DiPaolo stated that Bava initially thought DiPaolo was too young for his role in the film, but after seeing his screen test he felt DiPaolo understood his part well and cast him in this film and later again in Blood and Black Lace.[13]

The Girl Who Knew Too Much began shooting on May 2, 1962.[14] Director Mario Bava thought the plot of The Girl Who Knew Too Much was silly and focused more on the technical aspects of the film.[15] This was Bava's last film shot in black-and-white.[16] Bava had made earlier films in color, but films in the horror and thriller genre made in Italy were made in black-and-white for a few more years.[17] Location shooting in Rome took place at various locations including the Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport and the Trinità dei Monti.[18][19] Some set pieces were borrowed from other Italian films, such as the painting in Nora's aunts house which is from Divorce Italian Style.[20] Saxon stated that he had initially got along with Bava.[21] Later Saxon would be practicing Judo on the beach which would upset Bava who felt reacted as if Saon was showing off.[22] Saxon stated that later in a conversation with a producer for the film, that the producer stated that Román convinced Saxon to enter the film as she said Saxon was in love with her.[23] Saxon felt that Bava was perhaps initially annoyed at him as he felt his action might have interpreted from Bava as trying to usurp attention from Román.[23] Filming finished in July 1962.[14] Bava biographer Tim Lucas stated that there were some re-shoots apparently done towards the end of 1962.[14]

The theme song of the film is sung by Adriano Celentano.[24] The films score was by Roberto Nicolosi.[1] Nicolosi had previously worked with Bava on Black Sunday (1960) and Erik the Conqueror (1961).[25][26]

Release

The Girl Who Knew Too Much was first released on February 10, 1963.[27] The film grossed less than $27,000 on its opening and only weekend and failed to cover its own production cost.[28] The film was the least commercially successful picture in Bava's directorial career.[28] The giallo films were not popular among the Italian film audiences on its initial theatrical release as the genre never gained popularity in its home country until the releases of Dario Argento's The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) and The Cat o' Nine Tails (1971).[29]

The Girl Who Knew Too Much was distributed by American International Pictures in the United States in May 1964.[30] They re-titled the film as Evil Eye cutting large amounts of the film and re-scoring the entire film.[31] Changes include removing all references to marijuana, adding more comedic scenes, and replacing the jazz score with one performed by Les Baxter.[16]

Reception

In a contemporary review, The Monthly Film Bulletin described the film as "a tolerably silly but quite enjoyable thriller". The review praised the camerawork and acting by Valentina Cortese who he compared to Joan Crawford.[32] The review noted the plot stating that "Bava, always a better cameraman than director hasn't Riccardo Freda's ability to make a merit of cliches, and often seems rather unhappy with his complicated plot, which is packed to the brim with red herrings, lurking shadows and sinister happenings known to thrillerdom"[32]

Director Mario Bava didn't look back positively on the film, claiming that he "thought [the film] was too preposterous. Perhaps it could have worked with James Stewart and Kim Novak, whereas I had...oh, well, I can't even remember their names."[33] Of the five critics who have reviewed the film at Rotten Tomatoes the film has received slightly above average reviews noting the stylish look to the film, but negatively pointing out its story.[34] Sight & Sound stated that "Although certainly pioneering, The Girl Who Knew Too Much is a low-key, modest film. It would be Bava's subsequent production, the violent, striking Blood and Black Lace, that would announce the genre's arrival in bold primary colours."[35]

References

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 The Girl Who Knew Too Much (booklet). Arrow Films. 2014. p. 3. FCD1023.
  2. 1 2 Paul 2005, p. 106.
  3. ↑ Gelder 2000, p. 330.
  4. 1 2 Lucas, Tim. Commentary by Tim Lucas (Blu ray (Disc 1)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 0:49:45. FCD1023.
  5. 1 2 Lucas, Tim (2014). Commentary by Tim Lucas (Blu ray (Disc 1)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 0:50:05. FCD1023.
  6. ↑ Lucas, Tim (2014). Commentary by Tim Lucas (Blu ray (Disc 1)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 0:50:18. FCD1023.
  7. ↑ Howard 2014, p. 47.
  8. ↑ Cozzi, Luigi. All About the girl (Blu ray (Disc 1)) (in Italian). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 0:00:50. FCD1023.
  9. 1 2 3 Lucas, Tim (2014). Commentary by Tim Lucas (Blu ray (Disc 1)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 0:06:20. FCD1023.
  10. ↑ Lucas, Tim (2014). Commentary by Tim Lucas (Blu ray (Disc 1)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 0:34:56. FCD1023.
  11. ↑ John Saxon Interview (Blu ray (Disc 1)). Arrow Films. 2014. Event occurs at 0:01:30. FCD1023.
  12. ↑ John Saxon Interview (Blu ray (Disc 1)). Arrow Films. 2014. Event occurs at 0:02:01. FCD1023.
  13. ↑ Lucas, Tim (2014). Commentary by Tim Lucas (Blu ray (Disc 1)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 0:59:10. FCD1023.
  14. 1 2 3 Lucas, Tim (2014). Commentary by Tim Lucas (Blu ray (Disc 1)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 0:26:58. FCD1023.
  15. ↑ Shipka, 2011. p. 106
  16. 1 2 J. R. Jones. "The Girl Who Knew Too Much". chicagoreader.com. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  17. ↑ Lucas, Tim (2014). Commentary by Tim Lucas (Blu ray (Disc 1)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 0:47:02. FCD1023.
  18. ↑ Lucas, Tim (2014). Commentary by Tim Lucas (Blu ray (Disc 1)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 0:02:45. FCD1023.
  19. ↑ Lucas, Tim (2014). Commentary by Tim Lucas (Blu ray (Disc 1)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 0:09:05. FCD1023.
  20. ↑ Lucas, Tim (2014). Commentary by Tim Lucas (Blu ray (Disc 1)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 0:08:00. FCD1023.
  21. ↑ John Saxon Interview (Blu ray (Disc 1)). Arrow Films. 2014. Event occurs at 0:04:30. FCD1023.
  22. ↑ John Saxon Interview (Blu ray (Disc 1)). Arrow Films. 2014. Event occurs at 0:04:59. FCD1023.
  23. 1 2 John Saxon Interview (Blu ray (Disc 1)). Arrow Films. 2014. Event occurs at 0:05:15. FCD1023.
  24. ↑ Lucas, Tim (2014). Commentary by Tim Lucas (Blu ray (Disc 1)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 0:00:45. FCD1023.
  25. ↑ "Roberto Nicolosi". AllMovie. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  26. ↑ "Mario Bava filmography". AllMovie. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  27. ↑ Lucas, Tim (2014). Commentary by Tim Lucas (Blu ray (Disc 1)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 0:00:21. FCD1023.
  28. 1 2 Lucas, Tim (2014). Commentary by Tim Lucas (Blu ray (Disc 1)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 0:18:22. FCD1023.
  29. ↑ Brizio-Skov 2011, p. 64.
  30. ↑ "Evil Eye". American Film Institute. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
  31. ↑ Boyd & Palmer 2006, p. 200.
  32. 1 2 "Ragazza che sapeva troppo, La". Monthly Film Bulletin. London. 32 (372): 58. 1965. ISSN 0027-0407.
  33. ↑ Boyd & Palmer 2006, p. 201.
  34. ↑ "La Ragazza che sapeva troppo (The Girl Who Knew Too Much) (The Evil Eye) (1962)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  35. ↑ Blackford, James (February 2015). "The Girl Who Knew Too Much". Sight & Sound. Vol. 25 no. 2.

Sources

  • Boyd, David; Palmer, R. Barton (2006). After Hitchcock: Influence, Imitation, and Intertextuality. University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-71338-X. 
  • Brizio-Skov, Flavia (2011). Popular Italian Cinema: Culture and Politics in a Postwar Society. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 1848855729. 
  • Gelder, Ken (2000). The Horror Reader. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-21356-8. 
  • Howard, Troy (2014). The Haunted World of Mario Bava. Midnight Marquee Press, Inc. ISBN 978-1-936168-45-3. 
  • Paul, Louis (2005). Italian Horror Film Directors. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-8749-3. 
  • Shipka, Danny (2011). Perverse Titillation: The Exploitation Cinema of Italy, Spain and France, 1960-1980. McFarland. ISBN 0786448881. 
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