Salon Kitty (1976)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Tinto Brass

Writers:

Tinto Brass (screenplay)
Antonio Colantuoni (story)
(more)

Release Date:

21 January 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Depraved. Decadent. Damned.

Plot:

Kitty runs a brothel in Nazi Germany where the soldiers come to "relax". Recording devices have been...

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Brothel | Recording Device | Nudity | Dominatrix

Cast

Helmut Berger	...	Helmut Wallenberg
Ingrid Thulin	...	Kitty Kellermann
Teresa Ann Savoy	...	Margherita
John Steiner	...	Biondo
Sara Sperati	...	Helga, the dominatrix
Maria Michi	...	Hilde
Rosemarie Lindt	...	Susan
Paola Senatore	...	Marika
John Ireland	...	Cliff
Tina Aumont	...	Herta Wallenberg
Alexandra Bogojevic	...	Gloria
Dan van Husen	...	Rauss
Ullrich Haupt
Stefano Satta Flores	...	Dino
Bekim Fehmiu	...	Hans Reiter
Giancarlo Badessi	...	Officer with Projector
Luciano Rossi	...	Dr. Schwab
Gianfranco Bullo	...	Wolff
Gigi Ballista	...	General
Margherita Horowitz	...	Margherita's Mother
Alain Naya	...	Showering German Officer (as Alain Corot)
Clara Colosimo	...	Dinner Guest
Maria Rosaria Riuzzi		(as Mary Kristall)
Malisa Longo	...	New Kitty Girl
Paola Maiolini
Alena Penz
Loretta Persichetti
Margherita Petrucca
Michele Starck		(as Michelle Starck)
Alison Swaisland
Tamara Triffez
Patrizia Webley
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Annie Ross	...	Kitty Kellermann (singing voice)
Salvatore Baccaro	...	Neanderthal Prisoner (uncredited)
John Bartha	...	Gestapo Agent (uncredited)
Geoffrey Copleston	...	Dinner Guest (uncredited)
Tom Felleghy	...	Gestapo Agent (uncredited)
Tito LeDuc	...	Frankie (uncredited)
Osiride Pevarello	...	Man with Indian costume in Salon (uncredited)
Pietro Torrisi	...	Tattooed Gypsy (uncredited)
Aldo Valletti	...	Dart Throwing Client (uncredited)

Directed by
Tinto Brass

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Tinto Brass		screenplay
Antonio Colantuoni		story
Ennio De Concini		screenplay
Ennio De Concini		story
Maria Pia Fusco		screenplay
Maria Pia Fusco		story
Peter Norden		novel
Louise Vincent		English dialogue

Produced by
Ermanno Donati	....	producer
Giulio Sbarigia	....	producer

Original Music by
Fiorenzo Carpi
José Padilla

Cinematography by
Silvano Ippoliti

Film Editing by
Tinto Brass

Production Design by
Ken Adam

Art Direction by
Enrico Fiorentini

Costume Design by
Jost Jakob
Ugo Pericoli

Makeup Department
Maria Teresa Corridoni	....	hair stylist
Aldo Signoretti	....	hair stylist
Otello Sisi	....	makeup artist
Stefano Trani	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Carla Cipriani	....	production supervisor
Roberto Sbarigia	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Patrick Bureau	....	second assistant director
Giovanni Michelagnoli	....	second assistant director (as Gianni Michelagnoli)
Stefano Sbarigia	....	second assistant director
Giuseppe Scavuzzo	....	assistant director (as Peppe Scavuzzo)
Werner Pochath	....	assistant director: Germany (uncredited)

Art Department
Giovanni Checchi	....	set dresser
Nitto Costa	....	antique props
Will Kley	....	assistant art director: Germany
Enrico Sanchini	....	upholsterer
Jan Schlubach	....	art director: Germany

Sound Department
Elsa Armanni	....	sound editor
Venanzio Biraschi	....	sound mixer (as Birachi)
Romano Checcacci	....	sound mixer (as Checcacci)
Roberto Edwin Forrest	....	boom operator (as Roberto Forrest)
Maurice Martin	....	sound editor
Mario Messina	....	sound
Jean Rouat	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Marcello Cardarelli	....	electrician
Ettore Corso	....	second camera operator
Renato Doria	....	camera operator
Quirino Fantauzzi	....	head grip
Angelo Samperi	....	still photographer
Enrico Sasso	....	camera operator
Sergio Spila	....	gaffer
Orlando Zaccari	....	grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Mario Carlini	....	assistant wardrobe
Maria Fanetti	....	dress maker
Irms Pauli	....	assistant wardrobe: German
Tirelli	....	costumes

Editorial Department
Raffaele Cirioni	....	second assistant editor
Luciana Di Russo	....	assistant editor
Claudio Maimone	....	second assistant editor
Fiorenza Muller	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Bruno Nicolai	....	musical director

Other crew
Beatrice Banfi	....	continuity
Cimino	....	furniture
Vittorio Fornasiero	....	production secretary
Rudolf Gürlich	....	location manager: German
Aureliano Lalli-Persiani	....	administrator (as Aureliano Lalli Persiani)
Tito LeDuc	....	choreographer
Lucia Nolano	....	production secretary
Maria Ruhle	....	unit publicist

Production Companies

• Coralta Cinematografica
• Cinema Seven Film (co-production)
• Les Productions Fox Europa (co-production)

Distributors

• Argent Films (2005) (UK) (all media)
• 20th Century Fox (197?) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Blue Underground (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Blue Underground (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Mondadori Video (????) (Italy) (VHS)
• Screen Life (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Siren Visual Entertainment (2003) (Australia) (DVD)
• Trans American Films (1977) (USA) (dubbed)
• VCL Communications
• Video Vamp (???) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Doppelspiel (West Germany)
Madam Kitty (USA)
Madame Kitty (France)
Salon Kitty (France)

Runtime:

Germany:110 min (heavily cut) (unrated version) | USA:110 min (heavily cut) | 133 min (director's cut) | Argentina:125 min (cut)

Country:

Italy | West Germany | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:Not Rated (heavily cut) | Italy:VM18 | Spain:18 | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | New Zealand:R18 | Sweden:15 | USA:Not Rated (re-rating) | USA:X (original rating) | UK:18 | Norway:(Banned) (1977-2003) (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

Dear Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Coralta Cinematografica

Trivia:

The dinner-jacketed client throwing the penile-shaped darts at the girl in the brothel is an uncredited Aldo Valletti, who is best remembered for his role as the debauched President in Pasolini's Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (1975).

Goofs:

Continuity: When the general orders the prostitute to put on his boots, she slips them on after taking off only one of her shoes. The shoe she is unfastening also changes from one foot to the other between shots.

Quotes:

Helmut Wallenberg: What frightens you, what you see or what you don't?

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Grindhouse (2007)

Surprisingly good

After viewing SALON KITTY, I was surprised by how good it was. Maybe it's because my expectations were very low. I expected something like an ILSA, SHE-WOLF OF THE SS type of exploitation film directed by Tinto Brass, the man behind the wretched and almost unwatchable CALIGULA. SALON KITTY is way better than CALIGULA. SALON KITTY will probably disappoint guys looking for cheap thrills. The film looks more like a glossy 1970s magazine spread (of beautiful people or architecture) than your typical titillating exploitation fare. The sets by Ken Adams are excellent and give the movie an appropriately operatic and posh feel to the whole sordid setting.

SALON KITTY has its share of problems though. It's way too long for its own good. At 120 minutes, it's a good 10 to 15 minutes too long. The story concentrates only a couple of characters, mainly those played by Helmet Berger, Ingrid Thulin and Teresa Ann Savoy. In fact, the whole love story between Savoy and her lover needlessly took too much of the film's time. For a moment I thought I was watching LOVE STORY, NAZI STYLE. The screenplay is full of holes (how does Savoy get away with shooting the man when the rooms are bugged?!?!) And the cinematography was at times erratic and murky. But this is probably because the SALON KITTY video cassette I rented was very old and the print was fuzzy, had tons of scratches and hairs and such. It was barely watchable. But even with all those things going against it, SALON KITTY still held my attention up to the very end. The film is very decadent looking and paced like a millionaire shopping for caviar. Tinto Brass' direction is knowing and melodramatic. Thulin's acting is very over-the-top. I thought she was possessed by a drag queen. And Berger makes for a fascinating Nazi officer. My only real complaint about SK is the scenes where they actually kill real pigs. That was excessive. But those scenes were very popular in "shocking movies" made in the 1970s (Cannibal Holocaust, Apocalypse Now, etc).

If SALON KITTY ever comes out on DVD, with a clean and sharp transfer, I will purchase it