The Sweet Body of Deborah
The Sweet Body of Deborah () is a 1968 "giallo" film directed by Romolo Girolami and starring Carroll Baker and Jean Sorel. It was written by Ernesto Gastaldi based on a story by Gastaldi and producer Luciano Martino. Set in Geneva, the film follows a recently married American woman who finds herself in danger after a stranger begins to target her husband and accuse him of murdering an ex-fiance named Susan. Plot. Deborah and Marcel return to Geneva from their honeymoon. Marcel learns of his former fiancée Susan's suicide, and is confronted by a  man named Philip who accuses him of murdering her. Marcel begins to receive threats from someone who holds him responsible for Susan's death. His new bride Deborah also becomes the target of these threats, and a weird neighbor named Robert with voyeuristic tendencies begins fixating on her as well. Release. "The Sweet Body of Deborah" was released in Italy in 1968 as "Il dolce corpo di Deborah". The film later opened in Paris in February 1969 as "L'adorable corps de Deborah". In the United States, where the film was distributed by Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, it opened in Detroit on  March 12, 1969. The film was a box office hit in Italy, inspiring a number of similar thrillers starring Carroll Baker, but was not as successful in the United Kingdom and United States, and marked the beginning of actress Carroll Baker's career in Europe starring in "giallo" and horror films. Reception. "The New York Times" gave the film a middling review, with critic Vincent Canby noting the film's "disembodied narrative—[it is] a movie without any real national identity that seems to have sprung into existence not because of any artistic urgency but because somebody could make a deal ." In "Variety", "Murf." noted "contrived direction and photography, lifeless dubbing and careless production mark this Italo-French co-production, which Warner Bros.-Severn Arts can ride to okay first playoff." The "Saturday Review" gave the film a positive review, noting that: "the film's unstinting effort to entertain at all costs is both welcome and refreshing." The film was considered very sexy for its time, showing brief glimpses of Carroll Baker's nudity and Ida Galli's fetishistic clothing. Upon the film's release, "New York" magazine republished a snippet of a review by John Mahoney of "The Hollywood Reporter", which  contained an extensive and detailed description of Baker's nude body as it appeared in the film.