The Girl Who Knew Too Much
by Mario Bava
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DVD details
Actor: John Saxon, Let?cia Rom?n, Luigi Bonos, Titti Tomaino, Valentina CorteseDirector: Mario Bava
Writer: Mario Bava
Producer: Massimo De Rita
Writer: Eliana De Sabata
Writer: Ennio De Concini
Writer: Enzo Corbucci
Writer: Franco Prosperi
Writer: Mino Guerrini
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Subtitled); Italian (Dubbed)
Format: Black & White, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 86 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-09-26
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Image Entertainment
DVD Reviews of The Girl Who Knew Too Much
DVD Review: BECAUSE WE'VE SEEN TOO MUCH
Summary: 3 Stars
This movie may seem funny and naive nowdays but just because we've seen too much since 1964.
This is a perfect example of giallo genre, more to it - this film was made on the dawn of giallo genre. There are many things that would be imitated later on in many other popular movies, not only in Italy but all over the world. The story is rather simple as in all giallo films and I would say even plain. Acting is a little hyperbolic as it was usually 40 years ago - theater-like. But the first impression you get after watching is that it reminds of early Hitchcock works. I think we can easily call Mario Bava an "Italian Hitchcock".
If you're looking for a thrill or a scare - you won't find it here 'cos I repeat the movie is rather naive. I think it looked good in 1964 but for our times it's too unsophisticated. But if you like old giallo pieces, if you like Mario Bava - don't hesitate and grab it. You'll get a lot of pleasure watching it. I did. 3 stars only because it's a little out of date.
DVD Review: A brilliant giallo
Summary: 5 Stars
Italian director Mario Bava (1914-1980) made many types of films, "Four Times That Night" and "Hercules in the Haunted World" come to mind, but he made his most lasting imprint on the horror film genre. His pictures, no matter what the plot, always promised great style, lush cinematography, and beautiful scenery. Bava's big break came with his 1960 black and white nightmare classic "Black Sunday," a movie influenced by classic horror films and one that introduced horror fans to Barbara Steele. This was only the beginning, as Bava churned out a series of gruesome shockers over the next seventeen years. Perhaps his biggest contribution to the horror field was the influential 1972 picture "Twitch of the Death Nerve," sometimes called "Bay of Blood." Why? Because Sean Cunningham cribbed shamelessly from this film when he put "Friday the 13th" on celluloid. The director's inventiveness went far beyond hacking up a few unfortunate souls, however, as "The Girl Who Knew Too Much" shows. This is a relatively bloodless movie that falls squarely into the wonderful category of the Italian giallo. Mario Bava is no longer with us, regretfully, but the Bava legacy continues through his son Lamberto, one of the guiding lights behind the gory cult classics "Demons" and "Macabro."
"The Girl Who Knew Too Much" tells the story of American Nora Davis (Leticia Roman), a woman heading to Rome in order to take care of an ailing family friend. Problems emerge before the plane lands, as a nice young man offers Nora a package of cigarettes. Unfortunately, the police pick up this chap at the airport for smuggling marijuana. Davis, troubled by the fact that she smoked one of these tainted cigarettes, heads over to the house of Ethel Widnall to assume her nursing duties. Despite the assurances of Doctor Marcello Brassi (John Saxon) that Ethel is in acceptable shape as long as she takes her heart medication, Davis witnesses the elderly woman perish that very night. She also sees something else outside, a woman with a knife protruding from her back and a mysterious looking man dragging the body away, before passing out on the wet cobblestones. The next day Nora insists on investigating the weird incident in spite of Brassi's insistence that nothing strange happened. In the process of reenacting what she saw to Brassi, Nora runs into a woman named Laura Torrani (Valentina Cortese). This woman, quite sympathetic to Davis's situation concerning Ethel, promises to let the young American live in her home while she leaves town to meet her businessman husband. That the home sits near the scene of the crime, along with a glimpse of a photograph sitting on the piano of Laura's husband, convinces us Davis is stepping right into the center of the mystery.
Davis stays at the house but continues to ask questions about the murder she saw. She is soon convinced that someone is following her, and may in fact have entered the house while she was out. She also finds a box full of newspaper clippings about a string of murders that took place in the area ten years before. According to these reports, the press dubbed the slayings the alphabet murders since the three victims' last names began with an 'a', a 'b', and a 'c' respectively. As Nora soon discovers from the reporter involved in the case, Andrea Landini (Dante DiPaolo), the crimes stopped after Laura's husband led the journalist to a likely suspect. After the conviction of this poor bloke, the crimes stopped and life returned to normal. But Landini couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong about the whole thing, and when he pressed to reopen the case Laura's husband turned on him. The reporter has since spent the passing years trying to establish the identity of the real culprit. A few frightening incidents involving the killer and Nora convince Brassi and Landini that the nightmare of a decade ago has reemerged. And guess what? Our heroine's last name begins with a 'd'. Oh dear.
I am not able to find a single flaw with "The Girl Who Knew Too Much." The movie as a whole is so good that even the lack of gore didn't bother me in the least. The performances, especially a young John Saxon as the accident prone doctor, are quite good (Was Saxon ever this young? Apparently so.). Bava injects the proceedings with a significant element of humor, which acts as a perfect counterbalance to the scares. But it's the masterful use of the black and white medium that really makes this giallo something special. No one can argue that Mario Bava doesn't have an amazing knowledge of how cinematography works; his use of shadow and light are breathtaking to behold. Check out those wet cobblestones, or the interior shots that shoot beams of light across the characters' faces. This is brilliant, brilliant camera and lighting work, arguably as good as if not better than "The Third Man." It looks like Bava carefully crafted each and every frame of this film for maximum emotional impact, and it works magnificently. I amazed myself by figuring out the mystery well in advance of the denouement, probably because I've seen so many gialli at this point, but that didn't diminish the film in any way.
Extras on the DVD include a Bava biography and filmography, a John Saxon filmography, poster and film stills, and a trailer for the film. I've seen a few films in the Mario Bava Collection DVD series that absolutely reek in terms of picture quality ("Hatchet for the Honeymoon") and audio ("Twitch of the Death Nerve"), but "The Girl Who Knew Too Much" looks nice despite noticeable scratches in a few places. If you're interested in exploring the wonderful world of Mario Bava, I suggest you start here. This film will get you excited about watching more of his pictures.
DVD Review: Stylish, athmospheric and suspenseful
Summary: 4 Stars
This early giallo is high on style and athmosphere and one can easily see how Bava influenced Dario Argento. I myself am much more of an Argento fan then Bava but this little thriller is actually one of Bava's better outings. The story is good and keeps you guessing until the very end and the finale is quite suspenseful.
DVD Review: SO-SO GIALLO THRILLER.....
Summary: 3 Stars
This is not a horror film even though it was once shown in America as "The Evil Eye". Instead, it's a very tame little mystery with Bava's giallo atmosphere and little else. An "American" girl (Italian actress Leticia Roman) comes to Rome to visit an old family friend who up and dies on her. She then witnesses a murder but there's no body to back her up to the police. So she starts her own investigation ala Nancy Drew style. A bland John Saxon plays a doctor who believes her and provides clues to the mystery. Lots of creepy set-ups but no action keep this one from being as good as it could have been. Not bad as long as you don't expect too much but it was way too dull for me.DVD Review: Smart, Funny Thriller with a Smart, Brave Heroine--Nice
Summary: 4 Stars
Many fans of director Mario Bava seem to underrate this film because it isn't as violent or cynical as his later film BLOOD AND BLACK LACE. Personally, I find that to be one of the things that reccomends the film to me; that the film isn't a bloodbath full of loathsome people where the only interest is in seeing how spectacularly unpleasant their demises will be. Although there are holes and improbablilites in the plot, this is generally a suspenseful, humorous film, solidly anchored by the appealing performance of Leticia Roman as the heroine, Nora Davis, an American tourist visiting an old family friend and falling into the middle of a terrifying mystery involving a serial killer who has been attacking women on or near Rome's famous Spanish Steps for almost a decade. Nora witnesses what may have been the latest murder shortly after being attacked by a mugger, so people suspect that she may have imagined the whole thing, but she knows otherwise, and with the help of a friendly doctor (played very nicely by John Saxon), she sets out to prove it.The result is a stylish, entertaining thriller, full of moody atmosphere and eerie set-pieces, such as Nora's rondevous with someone who can help her solve the mystery in an empty but brightly-lit apartment and the harrowing sequence that begins with the death of the family friend, continues with the attack by the mugger on Nora, and ends with her coming to to witness the murder in the Plaza d'Espana, full of rain-slicked streets and moody shadows. Here, Bava proves himself as stylish as anything in Hitchcock, and maybe more so. There is another shot that Hitch would have loved, with a group of nuns in elaborate habits hovering over Nora in a hospital bed, moving away to reveal her face; from overhead, it resembles the blooming of a big, goofy flower. This one of several subtle touches of humor that lighten the proceedings without ever disturbing the forward movement of the plot or lessening the tension. Indeed the film is top-notch in pretty much every area; stylish art direction, excellent costumes by Tania Grani, and a great score by Roberto Nicolosi. One should also say an extra word for the leading ladia, Leticia Roman; she bears a faint resemblance to Natalie Wood, and like that actress, she brings a quiet intelligence and intensity to her performance. Hitchcock would probably have liked her blonde beauty and appreciated her talent as well. But Bava got there first and got a first-rate performance out of her.
It's nice to see a smart, sympathetic woman at the center of a thriller, a heroine as opposed to simply a victim . . .
Description of The Girl Who Knew Too Much
Nora Davis (Leticia Roman) jets away to Rome to vacation with Edith, an old friend of her family. Unfortunately, her trip is anything but relaxing On the first night, Edith dies--and as Nora runs into the night for help, she becomes an eyewitness to murder as she sees a woman stabbed to death on the Piazza di Spagna! Being a young woman with an insatiable appetite for murder mysteries, Nora can't get anyone to believe her story, but with the help of the attentive Dr. Marcello Bassi (John Saxon), she learns that a murder did occur on that very spot--10 years earlier--when Emily Craven fell victim to the "Alphabet Murderer"! What did Nora Davis really see, and who is stalking her through Rome? Could it be the Alphabet Killer, looking for Victim D? Mario Bava's "The Girl Who Knew Too Much" is a stylish homage to the "Americans Abroad" thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock. Originally released in America (in greatly revised form) as "Evil Eye," Bava's innovative thriller is presented here--for the first time--in its original director's cut.General DVDs
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