Bloodline (1979)

User Rating:

4.2/10   

Director:

Terence Young

Writers:

Laird Koenig (writer)
Sidney Sheldon (novel)

Release Date:

29 June 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

The line between love and death is the bloodline.

Plot:

When her father is murdered, a cosmetics heiress becomes the next target of an unknown killer amid the international jet set.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Snuff Film | Heiress | Female Nudity | Nude Woman Murdered

Cast

Audrey Hepburn	...	Elizabeth Roffe
Ben Gazzara	...	Rhys Williams
James Mason	...	Sir Alec Nichols
Claudia Mori	...	Donatella
Irene Papas	...	Simonetta Palazzi
Michelle Phillips	...	Vivian Nichols
Maurice Ronet	...	Charles Martin
Romy Schneider	...	Hélène Roffe-Martin
Omar Sharif	...	Ivo Palazzi
Beatrice Straight	...	Kate Erling
Gert Fröbe	...	Inspector Max Hornung
Wolfgang Preiss	...	Julius Prager
Marcel Bozzuffi	...	Man in Black
Pinkas Braun	...	Dr. Wal
Wulf Kessler	...	Young Sam Roffe

Also Known As:

Blutspur (West Germany)
Sidney Sheldon's Bloodline

Runtime:

USA:116 min | West Germany:117 min

Country:

USA | West Germany

Language:

English | Italian | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18 (video rating) | West Germany:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | USA:R | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

NF Geria III-Produktion München

Trivia:

The part of Elizabeth Roffe was turned down by Candice Bergen, Jacqueline Bisset and Diane Keaton before Audrey Hepburn accepted, and the character's age was changed from 23 to 35.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Elizabeth Roffe and Rhys Williams are in the hotel room, she left the bathroom in a nightgown after a night of love, but he is in jacket-and-tie with a overcoat in the arm.

Quotes:

Elizabeth Roffe: [to Rhys as she flees Maxim's] You really and truly are a perfect bastard!

Audrey Hepburn, Ben Gazzara and a stellar cast!!!

I enjoyed this movie! Any time Audrey Hepburn graced the screen was an occasion and for her to be paired with Ben Gazzara made this movie extra special for me. The story is interesting; the scenery is beautiful; a delightful romance develops; and who could forget Omar Shariff's shenanigans with his wife, his daughters and his mistresses? I do not wish that every single copy would disappear - I wish that they would put it on DVD. In fact, I have an excellent copy on VHS that I taped from TV. I have tried to copy it on my DVD recorder but they marked it so that it cannot be copied. I don't understand this practice but that has nothing to do with this movie! Sidney Sheldon is an excellent storyteller - and this one is no exception. As pointed out by another reviewer here, there may be cinematic flaws and shortcuts in this film - I did not notice them. I was much too engrossed in the story.