The Sweet Body of Deborah

The Sweet Body of Deborah
Original Italian poster art
Directed by Romolo Guerrieri
Produced by
Screenplay by Ernesto Gastaldi
Story by
  • Ernesto Gastaldi
  • Luciano Martino
Starring
Music by Nora Orlandi
Cinematography Marcello Masciocchi
Edited by Eugenio Alabiso
Production
company
  • Zenith Cinematografica
  • Flora Film
Distributed by
Release date
  • 20 March 1968 (1968-03-20) (Italy)
  • 25 April 1969 (1969-04-25) (US)
Running time
 95 minutes
Country Italy
France
Language Italian
Box office $1.6 million (Italy)[1]

The Sweet Body of Deborah (Italian: Il dolce corpo di Deborah), also known as The Body and Married to Kill (in West Germany)[2] is a 1968 Italian giallo film directed by Romolo Guerrieri and starring Carroll Baker and Jean Sorel. Set in Geneva, the film follows a recently-married American woman who finds herself in danger after a stranger begins to target her husband and accuse him of murdering his ex-wife.

Released in the United States by Warner Bros.-Seven Arts,[3] the film marked the beginning of actress Carroll Baker's career in Europe starring in giallo and horror films.[4]

Plot

Deborah (Carroll Baker) and Marcel (Jean Sorel) return to Geneva from their honeymoon in Europe. Marcel learns of his former fiancee Susan's suicide, and is confronted by a man named Philip (Luigi Pistilli) who accuses him of murdering her. Marcel begins to receive threats from someone who holds him responsible for Susan's death. His new bride Deborah also becomes the target of these threats, and a weird neighbor named Robert with voyeuristic tendencies (George Hilton) begins fixating on her as well.[2]

Cast

  • Carroll Baker as Deborah
  • Jean Sorel as Marcel
  • George Hilton as Robert (the voyeur)
  • Evelyn Stewart as Susan/Suzanne Boileau
  • Luigi Pistilli as Philip
  • Michel Bardinet as The Inspector
  • Mirella Pamphili as Telephone Clerk
  • Valentino Macchi as Garagista
  • Domenico Ravenna as Doctor
  • Giuseppe Ravenna as Maitre d'Hotel
  • Renato Montalbano as Telephone Man

Reception

The film was a box office hit in Italy, inspiring a number of similar thrillers starring Carroll Baker. It did not do very well in the UK and US however. It was theatrically released in the United States in 1969.[1]

The New York Times gave the film a middling review, with critic Vincent Canby noting the film's "disembodied narrative—[it is] a movie without any real national identity that seems to have sprung into existence not because of any artistic urgency but because somebody could make a deal."[5]

The Saturday Review gave the film a positive review, noting that: "the film's unstinting effort to entertain at all costs is both welcome and refreshing."[6] The film was considered very sexy for its time, showing brief glimpses of Carroll Baker's nudity and Ida Galli's fetishistic clothing.[2] Upon the film's release, The New Yorker republished a snippet of a review by John Mahoney of The Hollywood Reporter, which contained an extensive and detailed description of Baker's nude body as it appeared in the film.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 What Ever Happened to Baby Doll?: An American in Rome What Ever Happened to Baby Doll? By ALFRED FRIENDLY Jr.ROME.. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 29 June 1969: D11.
  2. 1 2 3 Luther-Smith 1999, p. 116.
  3. ↑ "Sweet Body of Deborah". Motion Picture Herald. Quigley Publishing Company. 239: 88.
  4. ↑ Weldon 1996, p. 70.
  5. ↑ Canby, Vincent (26 April 1969). "'Sweet Deborah'". The New York Times.
  6. ↑ "The Sweet Body of Deborah". Saturday Review. 52 (18–26): 176. 1969.
  7. ↑ "A Constellation of Moles". The New Yorker: 45. 12 May 1969.

Works cited

  • Luther-Smith, Adrian (1999). Blood and Black Lace: The Definitive Guide to Italian Sex and Horror Movies. Stray Cat Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-953-32611-2.
  • Weldon, Michael (1996). The Psychotronic Video Guide To Film. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-312-13149-4.
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