Lively, entertaining reviews of, and essays on, old and newer films and everything relating to them, written by professional author William Schoell.

Thursday, December 7, 2017

SHORT NIGHT OF GLASS DOLLS

Barbara Bach and Jean Sorel
SHORT NIGHT OF GLASS DOLLS (aka La corta notte delle bambole di vetro/1971). Director: Aldo Lado.

In Prague  journalist Gregory Moore (Jean Sorel) discovers that his fiancee, Mira (Barbara Bach of The Spy Who Loved Me), has gone missing. He enlists the aid of his boss, Jessica (Ingrid Thulin), who also has a yen for the handsome reporter. The police seem to think Mira has simply gone off on her own despite the fact that her clothing and possessions are still in her apartment. Most of the story is told in flashback from the bizarre pov of Moore, who is supposedly found dead and put in a morgue, where we can hear his thoughts but he is unable to communicate that he is still alive. (This is reminiscent of a famous Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode with Joseph Cotten.) That is really the only interesting element of this dull and confusing movie that features an inexplicable scene when Moore's friends come to witness his ... well, that would be telling. Sorel [Sandra] and Thulin [Cries and Whispers] both deserved much better assignments than crap like this. Ennio Morricone's eerie musical score is much better than the picture deserves. You have to see the orgy of elderly nudists to believe it! This could have used some gruesome murder scenes. An Italian-West German-Yugoslavian co-production, which tells you something.

Verdict: A real stink bomb. *1/2.

2 comments:

angelman66 said...

Oh, no, Bill, this looks so horrible but now I must see it, it’s the combination of Barbara Bach, still Mrs. Ringo Starr, I believe, and the elderly nudists...is it worse than the Castevets naked coven in Rosemary’s Baby?
I promise, Bill, I do love good films, but I love a lot of bad ones just as much!!
- Chris

William said...

I'm glad to hear it, Chris! Bad movies can still be a lot of fun. However, I can't say this one is much fun, and the scene with the elderly nudists is much, much worse than the naked coven in "Rosemary's Baby." At least Jean Sorel is in it -- a handsome guy who got saddled with some of the worst film assignments in the history of cinema.