L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)

Director:

Dario Argento

Writer:

Dario Argento (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

12 June 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

A stunning portrait in psycho-terror!

Plot:

A writer is stalked by a serial killer after witnessing a murder attempt on one woman's life.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Killer | Serial Killer | Writer | Murder Attempt

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Tony Musante	...	Sam Dalmas
Suzy Kendall	...	Julia
Enrico Maria Salerno	...	Inspector Morosini
Eva Renzi	...	Monica Ranieri
Umberto Raho	...	Alberto Ranieri
Renato Romano	...	Professor Carlo Dover (as Raf Valenti)
Giuseppe Castellano	...	Monti
Mario Adorf	...	Berto Consalvi
Pino Patti	...	Faiena
Gildo Di Marco	...	Garullo
Rosita Torosh	...	4th Victim (as Rosa Toros)
Omar Bonaro	...	Police Detective
Fulvio Mingozzi	...	Police Detective
Werner Peters	...	Antique Dealer
Karen Valenti	...	Tina, 5th Victim
Carla Mancini	...	Girl watching TV
Bruno Erba	...	Police Detective
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dario Argento	...	Murderer's Hands (uncredited)
Giovanni Di Benedetto	...	Professor Rinaldi (uncredited)
Reggie Nalder	...	Needles, Yellow Jacket Assassin (uncredited)
Annamaria Spogli	...	Sandra Roversi, 3rd Victim (uncredited)
Maria Tedeschi	...	Old Lady in Fog (uncredited)

Directed by
Dario Argento

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Dario Argento		writer
Fredric Brown		novel "The Screaming Mimi" (uncredited)

Produced by
Salvatore Argento	....	producer
Artur Brauner	....	executive producer: CCC Filmkunst (uncredited)

Original Music by
Ennio Morricone

Cinematography by
Vittorio Storaro

Film Editing by
Franco Fraticelli

Production Design by
Dario Micheli

Costume Design by
Dario Micheli

Makeup Department
Giuseppe Ferranti	....	makeup artist (as Pino Ferrante)
Lidia Puglia	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Rudolf Hertzog	....	production manager (as Rudolph Hertzog Jr.)
Umberto Sambuco	....	production supervisor
Camillo Teti	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Roberto Pariante	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Luciano Anzellotti	....	sound effects
Alberto Bartolomei	....	sound mixer
Carlo Diotavelli	....	sound
Eugenio Fiori	....	boom operator

Camera and Electrical Department
Muova Dial	....	still photographer
Enrico Umetelli	....	camera operator
Arturo Zavattini	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Cesarina Casini	....	first assistant editor
Sergio Fraticelli	....	second assistant editor
Neri Nazzareno	....	final colorist (uncredited)

Music Department
Bruno Nicolai	....	conductor

Other crew
Lida Chitarrini	....	script girl
Roberto Pietti	....	dialogue director
Robert Rietty	....	dialogue director
Angelo Tavazzi	....	administrator
Luciano Vittori	....	title designer
Anna Eugeni	....	voice dubbing: Suzy Kendall (uncredited)
Adriano Micantoni	....	voice dubbing: Mario Adriano (uncredited)
Gigi Pirarba	....	voice dubbing: Tony Musante (uncredited)
Silvano Tranquilli	....	voice dubbing: Raf Valenti (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Central Cinema Company Film (CCC)
• Glazier
• Seda Spettacoli

Distributors

• Universal Marion Corporation (UMC) (1970) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Constantin Film (1970) (West Germany) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Suomi-Filmi (1972) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1977) (USA) (TV)
• Spectrum (1984) (Belgium) (video)
• VCI Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• DMEG (2004) (Sweden) (video)
• Blue Underground (2005) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Future Film (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (DVD)
• Blue Underground (2008) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• United Artists (1971) (France) (theatrical) (as Les Artistes Associés S. A. )
• Poletel (Brazil) (VHS)
• United Video (VHS)
• VCI Home Video (video)

Also Known As:

Bird with the Glass Feathers
Das Geheimnis der schwarzen Handschuhe (West Germany)
Phantom of Terror
Point of Terror (USA) (alternative title)
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (USA)
The Gallery Murders

Runtime:

98 min | Argentina:105 min | Germany:101 min | Netherlands:92 min | USA:96 min | Finland:97 min (1972) | Belgium:108 min (VHS version)

Country:

Italy | West Germany

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Australia:MA | USA:Not Rated (DVD rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Singapore:PG | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Italy:VM14 | Norway:16 (1971) | Sweden:15 (cut) | UK:15 (video re-rating) (2005) | UK:18 (video rating) (1983) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG | West Germany:16 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Agnano, Naples, Campania, Italy

Company:

Central Cinema Company Film (CCC)

Trivia:

Director trademark: [Dario Argento] Character recalls clues from memory.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: At Wilkinson foundation near the beginning of the movie, the silhouette of a cameraman can be seen in the displays glass.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Taxi für eine Leiche (2002)

Argento's first film is his first Giallo, and one that is sharply crafted, amusing, chilling, and even eerily jazzy

Dario Argento's first dip into the directorial pool is a pot-boiler somewhere in the realm between Hitchcock and Jack the Ripper, classic noir and the "modern" cat-and-mouse serial killer picture. Argento's method's may still be in a slightly embryonic state (i.e. his intense stylistic flourishes, which by the 80s would seem totally ridiculous in comparison to Crystal Plumage), but already on his first film as director- not on writer, however, as he penned all odds and sorts of spaghetti westerns and thrillers- he assumes control like it's second nature. Suspense sequences involving the coolly suited knife-wielding killer, with Argento trademark black gloves, and a long trench-coat and black hat, come off without a hitch, and not without the kind of excess gore that he and other Italian Giallo directors got branded with throughout the 70s and 80s. Damned if I'll say this, it's probably the one film by the director you can show unashamedly to your grandmother.

Tony Musante, an actor I've never come across, impresses (as far as a protagonist in an Argento film can such as this) as an American with his girlfriend who are in Italy for some reason or another (a writer it would seem, as we only are told in one or two scenes, which is just as well). He witnesses an attack on a woman inside an art gallery, the only witness in a string of what has already been vicious murders by butcher knife, all women, all unconnected. He just wants to leave, but he has to stick around to give more details. And then, lo and behold, he grows more and more intrigued and involved in the case till, of course, he and his girlfriend become a target by this sadistic killer! All of this is handled by Argento as if they're not the conventions that we all know in this kind of thriller; he approaches all of them with a fresh take, and adds in doses of unexpected humor to keep things interesting (the painter behind the possible clue-painting with the killer in a field and his cats is incredibly funny).

But it would be just one thing if Argento kept at making near-golden Hitchcockian ideals and the pulpy juices of a genre piece moving along. Argento is out to depict a sense of paranoia, growing and growing upon an aesthetic that is not quite the Master of Suspense, and not quite your common Dirty Harry thriller (though Ennio Morricone's score sounds like a mix of his quintessential touch and some Lalo Schifrin thrown in for good measure). In a sense Vittorio Storaro's cinematography throws one off guard; it's at times not so shot like your common thriller, but as something more ambitious, something that drills away through its premise to dig up any pure cinematic threat to the characters. This might sound a little pretentious, but just watch certain sequences, like when Sam is being trailed by the man in the yellow jacket, or when the second female victim is seen, point of view changing without a beat misses on either end. Thanks to Argento's backup of Storaro and Morricone, he has here a twisting tale of a psycho killer with an artistic edge. It's clear to see, even with the ending that yells out as bad Psycho exposition rip-off, that he was on his way to a solid career. 9.5/10