Das Geheimnis der jungen Witwe (1968)

Das Geheimnis der jungen Witwe: Directed by Massimo Dallamano. With John Mills, Luciana Paluzzi, Robert Hoffmann, Renate Kasché. When a possessive narcotics detective strongly suspects that his young beautiful wife is cheating on him, he hires a professional hitman to bump her off. All the while trying to solve a string of strange murders.

“So few Euro directors have done more to exile themselves from the arthouse pantheon than Massimo Dallamano. His work is slick, trashy and stylish in the manner of a fashion supplement in one of the cheaper Sunday newspapers. Yet at least three of his films are compelling studies in morbid sexuality and erotic obsession. A Black Veil for Lisa is nowhere near as famous as Venus in Furs or Dorian Gray, but itu0026#39;s still an intriguing brew. Imagine a giallo version of Proustu0026#39;s La Prisonniere with sex, drugs and serial killings thrown into the mix.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLike the other two films, it has a protagonist whose physical beauty and sexual magnetism leave her immune to the qualms of everyday good behaviour. Lisa is played by Luciana Paluzzi – a voluptuous, flame-haired tigress whou0026#39;s best remembered as the bad girl in Thunderball. Like almost every Bond girl since Ursula Andress, she somehow failed to become a great star. Bitterly unjust, as Paluzzi in this film is a femme fatale to rival Rita Hayworth in Gilda. We can well understand the anxieties of her drab and dreary husband (John Mills) who obsessively polices her every move.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe mystery, of course, is why Lisa married this old dolt in the first place. Suspecting his wife of sleeping around, Mills commits a grave breach of professional ethics (heu0026#39;s a police inspector, no less) and blackmails a hunky hitman (Robert Hoffmann) to kill her. Naturally, Lisa and said hitman fall in love…and there are plenty more twists where that came from. A Black Veil for Lisa could never be mistaken for Art. Still, itu0026#39;s a potent reminder that Trash is often more fun!”