#Eva Renzi

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Death Occurred Last Night (1970)

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The bird with the crystal plumage 1970

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Eva Renzi in L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)

AKA The Bird with the Crystal Plumage

[hellyeahgeorgekennedy]

George Kennedy, James Garner, and Eva Renzi on a Belgian movie poster for The Pink Jungle (1968)

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lab apparatus in l'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970) dir. dario argento

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Eva Renzi & Paul Hubschmid, c.1968

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The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo) (1970)

June 29th 2024

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La morte risale a ieri sera (1970)

Death occurred last night a (slightly flawed) police procedural with a collection of fantastic performances. There are some unique ideas, adult themes and fun moments throughout.

[spryfilm]

Blu-ray review: “Funeral in Berlin” (1966)

“Funeral in Berlin” (1966) Drama Running Time: 102 minutes Written by: Evan Jones Directed by: Guy Hamilton Featuring: Michael Caine, Paul Hubschmid, Oskar Homolka, Eva Renzi, Guy Doleman and Hugh Burden Samantha Steel: “My name is Samantha Steel. Some people call me Sam.” Harry Palmer: “Edmund Dorf. Some people call me Edna.” Critical Commentary “Funeral in Berlin” is a 1966 British spy…

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[theersatzcowboy]

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage / L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)

Maestro Dario Argento makes his (incredibly self-assured) debut with this stylish giallo classic, an art world-based thriller starring the dishy Tony Musante, turtlenecked Scream King.

Director: Dario Argento

Cinematographer: Vittorio Storaro

Starring: Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Enrico Maria Salerno, Eva Renzi

[hellyeahgeorgekennedy]

George Kennedy dancing with Eva Renzi in The Pink Jungle (1968)

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Eva Renzi (1944-2005)

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THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE (1970) – Episode 190 – Decades Of Horror 1970s

“Right! Bring in the perverts” They always make for a good police lineup. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they get their Giallo on with Dario Argento’s first shot at directing, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970).

Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 190 – The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

An American expatriate in Rome attempts to unmask a serial killer he witnessed in the act of attempted murder – and is now hunting him and his girlfriend.

  Director: Dario Argento

Writers: Dario Argento; Fredric Brown (novel, The Screaming Mimi, 1949) (uncredited)

Produced by: Salvatore Argento (producer); Artur Brauner (executive producer: CCC Filmkunst) (uncredited)

Music by: Ennio Morricone

Cinematography by: Vittorio Storaro (director of photography)

Film Editing by: Franco Fraticelli

Selected Cast:

Tony Musante as Sam Dalmas

Suzy Kendall as Julia

Enrico Maria Salerno as Inspector Morosini

Eva Renzi as Monica Ranieri

Umberto Raho as Alberto Ranieri

Renato Romano as Professor Carlo Dover (credited as Raf Valenti)

Giuseppe Castellano as Monti

Mario Adorf as Berto Consalvi

Pino Patti as Faiena

Gildo Di Marco as Garullo

Rosita Torosh as 4th Victim (as Rosa Toros)

Omar Bonaro as Police Detective

Fulvio Mingozzi as Police Detective

Werner Peters as Antique Dealer

Karen Valenti as Tina, 5th Victim

Carla Mancini as Girl watching TV

Bruno Erba as Police Detective

Reggie Nalder as Needles, Yellow Jacket Assassin (uncredited)

With his first feature directorial effort, modern horror master Dario Argento immediately showed off his skill, precision, and artistry. Often looked upon as the rise in popularity for Giallo films, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) would set the bar for all the pre-slasher killer mystery thrillers for over a decade even giving the father of the subgenre, Mario Bava (The Girl Who Too Much, 1963; Blood and Black Lace, 1964), a run for his money. While Argento adapts many influences into his first of a series of films known as the “Animal Trilogy,” along with The Cat o’ Nine Tails (1971) and Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971), his film would in turn influence many films for decades to come. Some of those films would be directed by his peers such as Bava and Lucio Fulci. Others who would pay homage would be the likes of Carpenter and de Palma. Jeff, Doc, Bill, and Chad gather to discuss the film, its creators, and its mark on the genre.  

At the time of this writing, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage is available to stream on a multitude of streaming and PPV services including Kanopy, Tubi, Prime Video, and Screambox to name a few.  The film is also available as a Blu-ray and as a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray from Arrow Video.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, the next episode, chosen by Chad, will be The Dunwich Horror (1970). Yog-Sothoth, anyone?

We want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1970s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com. 

Check out this episode!

[okibossfan]

Eva Renzi

[sloshed-cinema]

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage [L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo] (1970)

Dubbing is an unfortunate commonality of Italian cinema of this era.  But it’s rare that a movie play it fast and loose not only with the spoken word but with animal species themselves.  The titular creature is claimed to be from farthest Siberia, and yet its on-screen stand-in is a grey-crowned crane from Africa.  While I’m sure this has enraged whoever is the Neil DeGrasse Tyson of ornithology beyond reason, the rest of us can chuckle and let it slide.  Hey, at least the dubbing is better than usual.  We have that much to go off.

When any movie would be lucky to have even just one of the sequences that makes this film a standout, it’s shocking that this masterclass in slick tension-building was Dario Argento’s directorial debut.  His choices simply ooze confidence, and he knows how to control the audience experience through camera movement and shot selection.  Tension is generated eloquently through the most basic of ideas: what is seen and unseen, what is bathed in light or cast into shadow.  While he later goes full-tilt with rich jewel tones and neons, here he uses simpler palettes to great effect.  Tina’s murder sequence is exquisitely shot, the light ominously flicking off as the victim begins to climb the spiral staircase of her apartment building.  She lights a match, a halo of light surrounding her innocent face as the rest of the frame is plunged into inky dark uncertainty.  The question Argento always seems to be asking himself is, “How can I depict these actions in the most unexpected way possible?”  When that killer comes for amateur sleuth Sam Dalmas’ girlfriend Julia, before the lights are cut she knocks over a lamp.  It’s a happenstance gesture, and yet the end result is a far more interesting lighting of the character from below, harsh shadows heightening the fear of Julia’s attempts at escape.  Extreme closeups of eyes glancing around mirror the audience’s desire to know what’s around the next corner, where the killer might be lurking.  And there’s a slyness to the camera which lightens up this dark narrative.  Pursuing his would-be hitman, Sam thinks he spies the assassin’s distinctive yellow jacket through a door, but upon opening it finds himself to be in a space occupied by nothing but people with that exact jacket, a meeting of ex-prizefighters.  There’s a Hitchcockian wink to this twist which makes it all the more rewarding.

Speaking of Hitchcock, this falls under the Psycho rule that if your movie is good enough, you can get away with a lame final scene where a psychologist explains the root of the madness behind all of this.  The attempted murder which kicks off the action of the film is strange and barren, the viewer and key witness deprived of sound and the victim behaving strangely, an oddness to the events which falls into place upon the final reveal.  In subverting the notion of a male killer assaulting and victimizing women, Argento allows for the wonderfully unhinged performance by Eva Renzi as Monica Ranieri, a woman seemingly under the thumb of her husband but rather instead playing out her dark fantasies with women the city over.  Her final confrontation with Sam is exquisitely unhinged, terrifying as the woman plays with her knife, toying with her ensnared prey.  Argento threads the needle of off-kilter in his high points as a director.

THE RULES

SIP

Black gloves appear onscreen.

Someone takes a photograph.

Closeup of eyes.

BIG DRINK

The score goes “la la la laaaa la la” etc etc

The hitman misses a shot.