La ragazza che sapeva troppo

Plot synopsis:
Nora Davis (Leticia Roman) is a young, sexually frustrated American woman who journeys to Rome, Italy to visit her elderly Aunt Edith. On the flight from New York to Rome, Nora is befriended by a young man sitting next to her on the plane who offers her a cigarette, and she accepts. He gives her his pack as a token of appreciation. Upon arrival at the airport, the man is arrested for smuggling drugs by custom officials who recognize him as a infamous drug smuggler.Upon arrival later that afternoon at her aunt's apartment, Nora is greeted by Dr. Marcello Bassi (John Saxon). Marcello tells Nora that her aunt is very ill and that she needs absolute quite and rest. After giving her instructions in case of an emergency, the doctor leaves. Nora is obviously smitten with him.Later that same night, as a violent thunderstorm rages, Nora checks on her aunt who suddenly dies of a heart attack. After trying to phone Marcello at his house in which there is no answer, Nora flees from her aunt's apartment. On the street, Nora is attacked by a sailor-dressed purse snatcher. In the ensuing struggle with the thief, Nora is knocked unconscious. A few hours later, she is awakened by a woman's scream. To her horror, Nora looks up to see a young woman collapsing to the ground a few yards from her with a knife in her back. She also sees a strange man crouching over the dead woman's body. Nora then faints.The next morning, the soaked and unconscious Nora is discovered by a passing stranger, who attempts to awaken her by giving her some whisky. Noticing a policeman approaching, the stranger flees. The policeman notices the unconscious Nora and successfully revives her. But upon smelling liquor on her breath, the policeman immediately thinks that she's a drunk sleeping off a binge. Ranting a raving about seeing a woman killed, Nora is shocked when she sees that there is no body anywhere. With no identification on her, Nora is locked away in a hospital's lunatic asylum where she is diagnosed by a doctor an intern residents as suffering from "delirium tremors". Nora is soon rescued by Marcello, who happens to notice her while on his rounds.After she is released from the hospital, Nora tries to tell Marcello about what she saw. But he is skeptical, thinking that it was an hallucination brought on by double shock of her aunt's death and the subsequent attack by the purse snatcher. Convinced that she witnessed a murder, Nora plots not to give up and find the murder victim and the killer.At her aunt's funeral, Nora meets with Laura Craven-Torrani (Valentina Cortese) who introduces herself as a friend of her aunt's and she takes Nora to her house for some coffee. As she is going out of the country to visit her husband for a few days, Laura asks Nora to stay and look after her house. Nora is initially reluctant, but accepts the offer.During her first night at the house, Nora discovers a collection of old newspaper clippings. Among the articles is a story about Laura's sister, who had been brutally killed. The murder took place in the same area where she herself was attacked. The article also states that the crime was the latest in a string of so-called 'Alphabet Killings' (the first victim's last name began with the letter 'A', and then the letter 'B', and so on). Nora meets with Marcello the next day to tell him of her find and comes to two theories: first since no body was found, Nora thinks that she had a psychic vision of the killing. She might not have seen an actual killing, but the killing of Laura's sister in her mind's eyes. Second: since the last victim was named Craven, she realizes that the next victim will be somebody whose last name starts with the letter 'D', and her surname is Davis. Marcello again skeptically assures Nora that shes fretting over nothing.Meanwhile, Nora begins to receive crank phone calls. Afraid that her life is in danger, she rigs a crude burglar alarm by setting up a web of strings all along the entrance to the house. That night a policeman, who has been asked by Laura to stop by to see if everything is all right, enters and is attacked by Marcello who has been standing guard outside. The ensuing scuffle ends with the love-struck doctor falling on the burglar trap and breaking his left forefinger.Seeking to distract her from her worries, Marcello takes Nora on a trip to the various tourist sites in Rome. At the end of their day, they return to the Craven house where Nora gets another phone call. The anonymous caller tells her to go to a particular address. That evening, Nora goes to the address, which is a run-down boarding house, and is guided to a vacant room by the sound of a voice. Without realizing it, Nora has been followed by Marcello, and when he suddenly reveals himself, she hurts him once again by scratches his face, thinking him to be the killer. Together, they discover the voice to be emanating from a tape recorder. It warns Nora to leave Rome before she meets the same fate as Laura's sister. Nora and Marcello investigate and discover that the room is leased to a man named Andrea Landini (Dante Di Paolo), whom Nora recognizes as the author of the newspaper article regarding the Alphabet Killer.After several unsuccessful attempts to locate Landini, Marcello and Nora go to the beach for relaxation. Marcello's desires finally erupt and he practically forces himself on Nora. But Nora stops him by telling him that although she is interested in him too, she encourages him to wait for a more appropriate time to consummate their relationship. Upon their arrival back at the Craven house, they are shocked to discover a stranger sitting in the living room. It is Andrea Landini, who had been informed that they were inquiring about him. Landini explains that he became obsessed with finding the Alphabet Killer, and that he collaborated with the police while writing a series of articles about the killings. When the police arrested and convicted a man whom Landini knew to be innocent, he kept on writing articles, using them as a opportunity to criticize the police for jumping to the wrong conclusions. He soon lost his job at the newspaper, but he continued to investigate the matter. Landini also explains that he was the one who tried to revived with her whisky, and he believes her to be the mostly likely target for the killer. Because of this, he has been following her ever since. Though Marcello is distrustful of him, Nora agrees to collaborate with Landini. Nora's teaming with Landini finds them venturing across Rome inquiring about the first two alphabet victims and of their connection to one another. But the results only lead to dead ends.The following day, Nora goes to meet with Landini at his apartment. She is perplexed to find that the apparent sounds of typing are actually emanating from Landinis tape recorder. When she finds a photo of herself labeled 'Fourth Victim', she becomes convinced that he is the killer. However, the matter seems to resolve itself when she finds Landinis body, an apparent suicide, with a note of confession by his side.That same day, Laura returns to Rome from her trip abroad. Nora and Marcello plan to go to America the following morning, and she agrees to spend one more night in the Craven house. Then Nora reads the daily newspaper where the body of a young woman was found, and she recognizes it as the murdered woman she saw that night. After identifying it at the morgue, Nora begins to realize that she may have indeed witnessed the killing after all.That night, when Laura is apparently out, Nora notices that the study door is open. Especially since Laura had earlier remarked on her husband instance that the room be locked at all times. Nora cannot resist the temptation to enter the room. In the study, Nora notices an adjoining door, and s sliver of light shining thought the bottom. Upon opening the door, she sees a man rising uncomfortably from his chair. Nora recognizes him as the same man standing over the dead body of the woman from that night. He then walks towards Nora, and collapses to the floor with a knife in his back. Nora attempts to flee, but is prevented by Laura. No longer acting like the good-natured woman as previously seen, the crazed and wild-eyed Laura confesses to the killings and explains that she just stabbed her husband because of his attempts to turn her over to the police. Laura reveals that the alphabet system is all a hoax meant to cover up the real motivation: the desire to steal her sister's money compelled her to murder. The trill of killing has apparently warped her mind, and Laura is now completely deranged. Before she can kill Nora, Laura is suddenly shot dead by her husband through the study door.In the final comic scene, Nora is happily reunited with Marcello. Marcello asks Nora for a cigarette, but after she gives him one, she is reminded of an important incident. The pack of cigarettes that Nora accepted on the plane to Italy in the opening scene were laced with a marijuana and cocaine combination. On the night of her aunt's death, Nora smoked a few of these cigarettes, and consequently she had interpreted the situation incorrectly. Though she witnessed an actual killing, her blurred memory confused the facts. The man she saw at the scene was Laura's husband, but he was not the killer. He was merely disposing of the body of the woman that Laura stabbed. When Nora comes to realize this, she takes the lighted cigarette away from Marcello and crushes it, saying that it's about time they both gave up smoking. She takes the pack of cigarettes and pitched it over the balcony where they are. The tainted pack of cigarettes are picked up by a passing priest who takes one out to light it up.

Tags: insanity, murder

Review:
THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (Mario Bava - Italy 1962).I finally got to watch this in the way of the relatively cheap French DVD-release LA FILLE QUI EN SAVANT TROP, which includes Bava's original Italian cut as well as the American cut (titled THE EVIL EYE), which has a completely different ending and excludes some references to marijuana, as well as a stronger emphasis on the romantic plot line between the two leads John Saxon and Letícia Román, reputedly to make the film more marketable for children(!), which I find impossible to comprehend, but apparently this was what U.S. distributors had in mind.
Nora Davis is seen reading a Giallo novel on the airplane; the foreigner as vulnerable outsider in Italy; an obsession with travel and tourism, the first murder takes place before the Spanish Steps, but the film shows countless tourist hotspots throughout Rome, and the fascination with fashion and style or the jet-set in general.
Wide-eyed Letícia Román is the kind of innocent looking girl with just the right combination of sexiness and innocence to pass as a very likable heroine, perhaps a touch too innocent and certainly worlds away from the sexually liberated female in later Giallos.Early sixties' fashions and habits abound, such as Nora Davis' exuberant snake leather jacket.
Perhaps Bava's way of saying the Italian police is always on top of these issues and malicious elements from abroad are dealt with in proper fashion.Masterfully shot in black-and-white, the film doesn't contain the outrageous imagery of THE BODY AND THE WHIP (1963) and BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, both sumptuously shot in colour, and certainly is much lighter in tone with the sadistic bloodletting so typical of that other pivotal entry in the development of the Giallo, BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, largely lacking.
Originally, it was conceived as a romantic comedy and - hence the title - as a light parody on Hitchcock's work, but Bava decided to put a larger emphasis on the more horrific elements of the story, but doesn't lose sight of the plot development, which I always found a major demerit of BLOOD AND BLACK LACE.
The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963) is director Mario Bava's gleeful homage to Hitchcock; and one of the earliest examples of the Italian Giallo sub-genre of horror/suspense cinema that would go on to inspire an entire generation of horror filmmakers throughout the subsequent two decades.
If you're at all familiar with the work of director Dario Argento for example, then you can see the roots of films like The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970), Deep Red (1975) and Tenebrae (1982) already being established by the skillful blending of low-key thrills, character development and good old fashioned murder mystery, as captured by Bava in this excellent, slow-burning suspense piece.
Although it may take some viewers a while to settle into the overall tone of the film - with those first few scenes presenting us with a veritable bombardment of information, both narrative and thematic, before the first murder has even taken place - the eventual unravelling of the plot, and Bava's excellent direction eventually draw us deeper into a story that is here punctuated by a charmingly romantic subplot, a miniature travelogue around the tourist traps of Rome, some subtle moments of almost slapstick humour, and the director's always inventive use of visual experimentation.The usual Gialli trademarks are already beginning to take shape here, with the film focusing on a foreigner - in this case, twenty-year old American student Nora Davis - who travels to Rome to visit her ailing aunt and inadvertently witnesses a murder.
Bava's film is also given a neat touch of self-referential sub-text; opening with a shot of the central character herself reading a Giallo murder mystery, casting some doubt as to whether or not the film plays out in the literal sense, or whether it is a merely a constructed reality, taking place in her own mind as she reads the book to herself.
This is a thread of interpretation that is examined throughout by the filmmaker, with the title of the book itself, "The Knife", having an importance on the plot that perhaps surreptitiously suggest some element of imagined fantasy.Once we get through those hectic opening sequences, which introduce the characters and a number of potential sub-plots that are essentially window-dressing to throw us off the trail, the film settles into the murder mystery aspect and the burgeoning relationship between Nora and her young doctor friend, Marcello Bassi.
Although the actual effect - which replicates the look of ripples on a pond - might lead a more contemporary audience to giggle or cringe, it does tie in with the continual use of water-symbolism in Bava's work, from the final story in The Three Faces of Fear/Black Sabbath (1963), and A Bay of Blood (1971) most famously, as well as a somewhat cheap gag about marijuana cigarettes that will pay off in the film's closing moments.Again, the use of humour taps into the spirit of Hitchcock, with intrigue, voyeurism, suspense and murder being reduced to mere complications in the continual romantic wooing of Nora by the charming Dr. Bassi.
Nonetheless, Bava also succeeds in throwing us into this enigmatic mystery; undermining our own perspective of the story by showing us important information early on, allowing us to feel superior to Nora with our benefit of a forewarning, only to then cast further doubt in our mind as the gallery of suspects mount up.Though still something of a minor work for Bava, The Girl Who Knew Too Much is undoubtedly great; enlivened by the fine performances from the two leads, John Saxon (a cult actor with an impeccable list of credits) and the delightful Leticia Roman (I'm honestly quite smitten), and absolutely brimming with style and energy.
Of course one year later the director would practically define the style with Blood and Black Lace, introducing other genre staples like the black-gloved killer, the garish colours and the gore but that doesn't detract from the ifluential status of this proto-giallo.As the title imples, The Girl Who Knew Too Much is with one foot firmly set in Hitchcock territory, but whereas Hitch films had a tendency of trying to be too many things at once (little bits of comedy, romance etc) something I always considered distracting, Bava allows nothing to come between him and his goal: a suspenseful horror thriller.The chiaroscuro photography is simply beautiful to look at, light and shadow play off each other in expressive ways, not unlike film-noir.
His black and white work is as good as his colour films.Minor quibbles I had with the film include that many scares turn out to be false, the first person narration (another film-noir influence) and the implied possibilities in the ending *was it all a dream?* Leticia Roman and John Saxon hit it off with great chemistry, the DP work is fantabulous, the opening 15-20 minutes leading up to the first murder are among the best 20 minutes in 60's horror and this an all around accomplished horror film that deserves every fan's attention..
but witnesses a second crime,the murder of a helpless young woman.In hospital,Nora is dismayed when everyone discounts her murder story-even her new acquaintance,a charming but rather clumsy young doctor,Marcello Bassi(John Saxon).But a strange man in a hat seems to be stalking her.And when she moves into a nearby flat adjacent to the ill-fated steps,she finds newspaper clippings about a string of killings called The Alphabet Murders.With potential murderers hovering all about,even the attentive Marcello begins to look suspicious."The Girl Who Knew Too Much" is a glorious Mario Bava's mystery with some giallo elements.The film is fast-paced and Bava's intensely dramatic lighting is used effectively.The overall tone of the film is light,even sometimes comedic.Bava's inimitable close-ups,favoring unusually wide,white eyes,are arresting just by themselves-there's a basic visual link from this film to "Blood and Black Lace",with its emphasis on glamorous,but often dead and glassy,eyes.Give this charming and unpredictable thriller a look.10 out of 10..
This Bava film (whose title is clearly a nod to Alfred Hitchcock), credited with being the first giallo, was also one I could have watched earlier – having long considered picking up the now-OOP Image DVD, not to mention via a DivX copy I've owned for some time – but thought it best to wait for this definitive edition (complete with a Tim Lucas Audio Commentary).Anyway, I don't know whether it's because I preceded it with Riccardo Freda's delirious and luridly-colored THE GHOST (1963) or the fact that the film retains an incongruous light touch (and leisurely pace) throughout – including the heroine's ruse to ensnare her stalker by the unlikely methods adopted in the pulp thrillers she avidly reads – but, while I enjoyed it a good deal, it felt to me like an altogether minor work from the maestro!
Still, Bava's consistent virtues – as a director – for creating tremendous suspense and the fantastic lighting and crisp cinematography that come with his intimate knowledge of the camera are well in evidence.The first half-hour is pretty busy plot-wise, as all sorts of things happen to the charming leading lady (the striking-looking Leticia Roman, daughter of Oscar-winning costume designer Vittorio Nino Novarese): first she gets involved with a drug-dealer, then the old woman she was to live with dies on her, after which she roams outside in a frenzied state to be held up by a small-time crook and witness a knife-murder across Rome's famous Piazza di Spagna!
Interestingly, since there was no yardstick for the genre as yet, Bava relied on such familiar film noir trappings as first-person narration to push the story forward.The film also features a young John Saxon in his first of many "Euro-Cult" outings as Roman's boyfriend and Valentina Cortese as her wealthy, eccentric landlady; the script provides plenty of suspects, but the final revelation comes as a surprise (though, in hindsight, it seems pretty obvious) – and this is followed by a lengthy explanation of the motive behind the killings, which became a standard 'curtain' for this type of thriller.
Surprisingly, Lucas also mentions that some of Bava's camera moves are more elaborate and graceful as seen in THE EVIL EYE (which makes me want to see it even more!) – but, then, important dialogue stretches heard in the Italian original involving the creepily asexual voice of the killer were bafflingly left out of the American version!!.
Mario Bava's "The Girl Who Knew Too Much" (1963) is considered the first 'Giallo' film.
With The Girl Who Knew Too Much, director Mario Bava planted the seed that would evolve into the sub-genre known as the giallo.
But it does introduce some of the motives that would go on to form an important part of giallo cinema such as the convoluted mystery, the bizarre reasoning for murder and the importance of optical subjectivity as well as the focus on style over substance.The Girl Who Knew Too Much is a film that should be seen by fans of Mario Bava as well as dedicated students of all things giallo.
Nora Davis (Letícia Román) is an American tourist in Rome who witnesses the brutal murder of a woman on her first night in the city, however circumstances prevail that no body is found and the police and pretty much every one else believe she is a little crazy, except that is for a young Dr. Marcello Bassi (John Saxon)that she has befriended who plays along and helps her investigate.
.Its Mario Bava of course it was..Filmed in stunning black & white the film boasts some fine performances from the leads, it is also regarded as the film that started the ball rolling for the giallo on film.The Girl who knew too much also gives a very firm nod to the work of Hitchcock whose "Man who knew too much" the title is borrowed from.The film is full of suspense with some very nice scenes and keeps you guessing until the end,as all fine Gialli should..it is quite low on the bloodletting though, a trait the Giallo would ignore more and more as it entered the 1970's, but this is still an excellent film and well worth checking out.if you can find a copy that doesn't mean breaking the bank.
The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963)Well, this is a classic worth watching for film buffs interested in the first giallo movie ever made (if we ignore the Hitchcock precedents).
Nora accepts the invitation and decides to investigate the murder; she believes that the serial-killer of the so called Alphabet Murders is chasing her and she will be the next victim."The Girl Who Knew too Much" is an overrated melodramatic thriller of Mario Bava visibly inspired in Alfred Hitchcock.
The title of the film is an obvious homage to Hitchcock, but Bava's real inspiration for the movie is, obviously, the pulp Italian mystery books ('Giallo').
The only thing that doesn't work out is some of the comedy, although it is funny that Saxon ends up with various injuries as the film carries on.My favourite scene is when Nora visits someone else investigating the murders, and from outside the apartment hears the hammering of a typewriter.
The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963)*** (out of 4)American Nora Davis (Leticia Roman) travels to Italy to see her aunt but right from the start things go bad.
THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH is created as being the first giallo and it's a mighty impressive one.I think the best thing working for the film are the performances as well as Bava's style.
Bava's style and the performances really make this film stand out, although the end result isn't as ground-breaking as the director's next giallo BLOOD AND BLACK LACE..
This review pertains to my viewing of "The Girl Who Knew Too Much."I would describe the film as a suspenseful murder mystery, one of the first Italian Giallos.
The two leads are a young female American tourist named Nora Davis (Leticia Roman) and a youthful Italian doctor named Dr. Bassi (John Saxon).
A tourist (Letícia Román) witnesses a murder and finds herself caught up in a series of bloody killings.Not only was this Mario Bava's final film before switching to color, but it is widely considered a seminal work in the giallo subgenre.
All of Bava's Movies are Visually Stunning, Creative, and Fun. His use of the Medium as an Artist's Playground was Immensely Influential for other Practitioners and Directors.The Story can be Befuddling to Follow, especially in the American Version, but it Matters Not. The Agatha Christie Mystery Formula is there as are the Twists and Turns, Red Herrings, and when all's Said and Done the Movie is Fun, Great Looking, and an Example of Mario Bava's Style (Eye) that made His Movies Magnificent Mini-Masterpieces in the B-Movie Market.Bava's Groundbreaking way of Making Movies has Gained and Maintained a Legacy of Legendary Status and is Commented Upon Repeatedly to this Day by Film-Makers and Fans..
During their search, Nora and Marcello encounter a broken, pitiful former newspaper reporter, Andrea Landini(Dante DiPaolo)who followed the Alphabet Murders case and felt responsible for putting the wrong man behind bars for the crimes.Bava's visual eye shows wonderful things as he shoots this film in B&W displaying a type of Rome both beautiful and, at the same time spooky, equipping the surroundings with the right pinch of dread and danger.
Sweet American tourist and murder mystery novel fan Nora Davis (a wonderfully charming and vibrant performance by the lovely Letica Roman) witnesses a serial killer's latest slaying in a park in Rome, Italy.
View on the film:Whilst MGM have sadly kept the American cut of the film (titled:The Evil Eye) in storage,with no sign of it ever having come out on Video/DVD (Luckally,the fantastic commentary by Tim Lucas on the Italian cut, goes into a lot of detail about the "missing scenes")After having a very catchy Roberto Nicolosi song play over the opening,Mario Bava starts brilliantly entering the viewer into Noras gradually fearful,paranoid- fulled world.From the moment in the film where Noras passenger "friend" is taking by the police,Bava (who also wrote the stunning screenplay,along with four other people)begins to show that Nora really wishes that this was a bad dream,due to her only experience with violence being from pulp novels.One thing that really struck me during my viewing of the film,were the very clever nods to Carol Reeds classic 1949 British Noir film The Third Man,with Noras constant attempts to get any of the townsfolk to open there mouths or believe her about seeing the murder,which most of them,including Bassi begin to think that it is an event which never took place.Bava also shows the huge impact this film would have on the Giallo genre,with Noras troubles of not knowing whats real or fake,and the activates of the killer,being something which clearly influenced Dario Argento and other similar film makers.for his directing,Bava gives the film a fantastic,almost haunted appearance ,with the scenes of Nora in the guest house,terrified of the killers sudden appearance,being filled with a huge amount of tensions,thanks to a very clever suspense building building appearance,and a fantastic performance from the beautiful Leticia Roman as Nora Davis.
However, the real inspiration obviously came from the aforementioned Italian Murder Mystery books.Nora Davis (Laetitia Roman), a beautiful young American woman, comes to Rome in order to visit her aunt.
Some Giallo fans may feel that the comedy content is simply too much, and that the body count is too minimal, but the director does tell a decent story (he was also one of the credited screenwriters) that wraps up within a reasonable amount of time.Leticia Roman stars as Nora Davis, an attractive young American woman vacationing in Rome.
"The Girl Who Knew Too Much" marks two moments in Bava's career in filmmaking: it is both his last film in black and white and first film that will further refine the giallo genre.It is easy story about American girl (Nora) visiting old family friend Edith who lives in Rome, Italy.