Another impeccably visualized, violent and sexy thriller by Italy’s late Mario Bava. THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (LA RAGAZZA CHE SAPEVA TROPPO; 1963), Bava’s last film to be shot in black and white, remains one of the great man’s major achievements—although it was, ironically enough, his least commercially successful venture.
The film, scripted in part by Spaghetti western legend Sergio Corbucci and Mondo movie pioneer Franco Prosperi, is generally credited as cinema’s first true giallo, a quintessentially Italian format typified by gory thrillers from Bava (BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, BARON BLOOD), Dario Argento (THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, CAT ‘O NINE TAILS et al) and others. It exists in two separate, and quite different, versions: the Italian language original and an English dubbed cut entitled THE EVIL EYE. The latter is high spirited and jokey, while the former, which runs several minutes shorter, is brooding and ominous. For better or worse, it’s the Italian version that’s currently more readily available.
Nora Davis (Leticia Roman) is a young American traveling to Rome to stay with her elderly aunt. Trouble begins before Nora has even stepped off her plane, with an overly solicitous guy giving her marijuana and nearly getting her detained by Italian customs agents. Nora’s problems increase when her aunt has a heart attack later that night; Nora runs for help but is knocked senseless by a mugger in the shadow of the Roman Cathedral. Lying on the ground in an incoherent state, she sees a woman stabbed to death by a shadowy man.
Nora awakens in a hospital, where everyone present goes out of their way to convince her that what she saw was a hallucination. She argues otherwise but can’t get anyone to believe her. One seemingly good thing happens: she moves into the home of the (apparently) kindly Laura (Valentina Cortese). But on her first night there Nora receives a creepy phone call inquiring if her last name begins with a D; she affirms this and the caller abruptly hangs up.
It seems there’s an alphabet killer on the loose who’s already killed women whose last names begin with A, B and C. All three victims apparently received creepy phone calls like Nora did, indicating she’s the intended next victim. The trick for Nora and the dashing Marcello (John Saxon), a detective with the hots for her, is finding out who the murderer is. It could be a rogue cop under suspicion for the crimes, Laura’s creepy husband, or perhaps even Marcello himself.
This being a self-photographed Mario Bava production, you can be assured that it’s an uncommonly good-looking film. Some of Bava’s best-ever photography is on display in sequences like the nighttime murder set piece at the Roman Cathedral and a mid-film walk down a hall lit by dangling lightbulbs. The beautiful Leticia Roman also makes for quite an arresting sight in the lead role (Bava reportedly had a crush on the actress, and made sure to showcase her in various modes of undress).
There are, or course, drawbacks. The details of the plot are less than credible, including the supernatural-tinged idea that the heroine is able to witness a crime that happened years earlier (no explanation is ever given for this occurrence, which is forgotten, in any event, by the time the film ends). There’s also the annoying narration by an all-knowing male voice (not present in the English version but very much so in the original dub). Apparently the idea was to replicate the purple prose of the giallo texts that inspired this film (and the genre as a whole), but the narration never feels anything less than completely superfluous, especially in light of visuals that more than speak for themselves.
Vital Statistics
THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (LA RAGAZZA CHE SAPEVA TROPPO; THE EVIL EYE)
Galatea Film/Coronet s.r.l.
Director: Mario Bava
Screenplay: Ennio de’ Concini, “Enzo Corbucci” Sergio Corbucci), Eliana De Sabata, Mino Guerrini, Franco Prosperi, Mario Bava
Cinematography: Mario Bava
Editing: Mario Serandrei
Cast: John Saxon, Leticia Roman, Valentina Cortese, Titti Tomaino, Luigi Bonos, Milo Quesada, “Robert Buchanan” (Walter Williams), Marta Melocco, Gustavo De Nardo, Lucia Modugno, Giovanni Do Benedetto, Franco Moruzzi, Virginia Doro, Dante DiPaolo, Mario Bava