The Young, the Evil and the Savage
| The Young, the Evil and the Savage | |
|---|---|
 Italian film poster | |
| Directed by | Antonio Margheriti |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Fausto Zuccoli[3] |
| Edited by | Otello Colangeli[3] |
| Music by | Carlo Savina[3] |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | D.I.F.N.E.[4] |
Release date |
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| Country | Italy[1] |
The Young, the Evil and the Savage (Italian: Nude... si muore, lit. 'Naked... you die') is a 1968 Italian giallo film directed by Antonio Margheriti.[5][1]
Plot
A woman is drowned in a bathtub and then placed in a trunk that lands in a pickup truck that goes to St. Hilda College. Among the teachers is a newcomer, Mrs. Clay, a science teacher. In addition there is a young teacher, Richard Barrett, a diving instructor, and the college gardener La Foret. At the institute there are only seven girls, as the others are on vacation. Arrived at the destination, the trunk is brought to the basement.
Soon one of the girls, Betty Ann, who had gone to the basement, is strangled and taken away. The search for the missing girl begins. Jill claims she died and was killed by the gardener. All girls are told not to leave the rooms, but one, Lucille, has an appointment with her teacher Richard, with whom she has an affair. Nevertheless, Lucille decides to go out and goes to a small house on a hill, where she discovers Betty Ann's body and runs away. She meets Richard and tells him everything. When they return, Betty Ann's body is gone. Lucille is desperate to leave school and so Richard advises her to pack three in the pool and wait for him.
Lucille returns to boarding school, and while she takes a shower, the gardener spies on her from a tree. She notices strange movements on the plant and returns to the frightened room. Another girl, Cynthia, takes a shower and is killed in front of the gardener. But this time Jill finds the body and the police are called. Shortly after the agents arrive, the gardener is killed. Lucille wants to escape because she believes Cynthia was accidentally killed in her place. Meanwhile, he entrusts himself to his girlfriend Denise and tells her about the date with Richard at the pool. As she has to be questioned by the police, she asks her friend to go to her place. Denise accepts and is attacked by the killer, but Jill, who has followed her, manages to let him run away. The police dogs finally find the body of Betty Ann. In the end, the girl finds him, but when he wants to go up, the man is pushed down the stairs. The killer reveals himself: it's Pierre, Lucille's cousin, who disguised himself as Mrs. Clay to capture the legacy and blame it on the real Mrs. Clay hiding in the trunk, and then stage her suicide.
Pierre wounds Richard, but is killed by Inspector Durand. So tranquility returns to college and Lucille and Richard end up together.
Cast
- Mark Damon as Richard Barrett
- Eleonora Brown as Lucille Moffat
- Sally Smith as Jill
- Michael Rennie as Inspector Durand
- Patrizia Valturri as Denise
- Ludmilla Lvova as Miss Clay/Peter Moffat
- Luciano Pigozzi as La Foret
- Franco De Rosa as Detective Gabon
- Malisa Longo as Cynthia
- Silvia Dionisio as Margaret
Production
The Young, the Evil and the Savage was originally developed as a project for Mario Bava.[5] Bava was contacted by producer Lawrence Woolner, one half of the Woolner Brothers team that distributed his films Hercules in the Haunted World and Blood and Black Lace in the United States.[6] Woolner had relocated to Rome to set up a new independent production company with Giuseppe De Blasio.[6] Woolner approached Bava with a story idea about a killer stalking a school for young debutantes.[4] Bava accepted the offer to direct the film which at the time had the title Cry Nightmare.[4] In either late May or early June, he began working with the English writers Tudor Gates and Brian Degas.[4] The film's screenplay was completed in July.[7] According to Mario Bava's son, Lamberto Bava, "Just a short time before the filming was to begin, [Mario] had an argument with the producers and he abandoned the film."[7]
The films director, Antonio Margheriti, stated he became involved with the Woolner Brothers initially as they had distributed his film Castle of Blood.[7] Margheriti stated he didn't recall how Bava didn't complete the film, stating that "I think Mario was busy at that time, working on Diabolik or something", and then they gave the production came to him and his production company.[7] According to Bava's biographer Tim Lucas, Margheriti must have taken over production shortly as locations had been scouted for and secured, cast and crew had been hired and a theme song had been written and recorded for the film.[8]
The film was shot on location in Rome and on the French Riviera under a new title Sette vergini per il diavolo (transl. Seven Virgins for the Devil).[8]
Release
The Young, the Evil and the Savage was submitted to the Italian censors on December 22, 1967, but the film as not released for another two months with the title Nude...si muore on February 20, 1968.[4] [8] The films credits do not credit Mario Bava, Gates or Degas.[8] The film credits Margheriti and Franco Bottar with a story credited to Giovanni Simonelli.[8] Lucas stated that the film follow the original script by Bava, Gates and Degas "almost 100% faithfully."[8]
The film was released in the United States by American International Pictures as The Young, the Evil and the Savage, where it opened in New York as on August 14, 1968 on a double bill with Witchfinder General (1968).[9][1][10]
Margheriti looked back on the film, describing the film as a "nice little giallo" noting he was ahead of his time as the giallo did not gain high popularity in Italy until the release of Dario Argento's The Bird with the Crystal Plumage.[9]
Reception
In a contemporary review, David McGillivray found the film to be a "succession of tame and predictable murders [...] investigated with understandable indifference by Michael Rennie" and concluded that the film "will come as a grave disappointment to those who recall "Anthony Dawson's" flari for atmospherics in his earlier horror films."[11]
References
- ^ a b c "The Young, the Evil and the Savage". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on April 3, 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
- ^ "Nude... si muore (1968)". Retrieved February 19, 2019.
- ^ a b c d "Nude... si muore (1967)" (in Italian). Archviodelcinemaitaliano.it. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e Lucas 2013, p. 712.
- ^ a b Curti 2015, p. 195.
- ^ a b Lucas 2013, p. 711.
- ^ a b c d Lucas 2013, p. 715.
- ^ a b c d e f Lucas 2013, p. 716.
- ^ a b Lucas 2013, p. 719.
- ^ Stafford, Jeff. "The Conqueror Worm". TCM. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
- ^ McGillivray 1971, p. 145.
Sources
- Curti, Roberto (2015). Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1957–1969. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-1989-7.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Lucas, Tim (2013). Mario Bava - All the Colors of the Dark. ISBN 0-9633756-1-X.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - McGillivray, David (July 1971). "Nude . . . Si Muore (The Young, the Evil and the Savage)". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 38, no. 450. British Film Institute.
{{cite magazine}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help)