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Aka Le Chateau Des Amants Perdus (Fr), Ein zarten Hals den Henker (WG)
1956
Italy / France
Electra Compagnia Cinematografica
Director: Riccardo Freda
Script: Remy, Filippo Sanjust
Cinematography: Gabor Pogany (Cinemascope)
Music: Franco Mannino
Editors: Riccardo Freda, Giuliana Taucer
Set designer: Arrigo Equini
Release details: Italy (registered 25.06.56, first shown 06.09.56); France (03.04.57); West Germany (05.03.59, 85 mins)
Cast: Micheline Presle (
Lucrezia Cenci), Gino Cervi (
Francesco Cenci), Fausto Tozzi (
Calvetti), Frank Villard, Claudine Dupuis, Antonio De Teffè (
Giacomo Cenci), Mireille Granelli (
Beatrice), Emilio Petacci (
Gasparro, the servant), Guido Barbarisi, Vittorio Vaser, Carlo Mazzoni
A girl, Beatrice Cenci (Mireille Granelli ), runs through the darkness in a state of some agitation. Exhausted, she collapses besides a river. Luckily a passer-by, Calvetti (Fausto Tozzi ) comes across her and is able to take her to the opulent castle where her family lives. It turns out that her father, Francesco (Gino Cervi ) is something of a tyrant, determined to have his way over the household – which also includes his haughty wife Lucrezia (Micheline Presle , who has that unmistakably smug, eyelash-wielding look of a peplum villainess) and son Giacomo (Antonio De Teffè ).
Against Francesco’s wishes, Beatrice and Calvetti start developing a relationship; sneaking into each others rooms and stealing kisses whilst out on country walks (when she isn’t too busy whining, that is). When he discovers the depth of their feelings he is extremely unhappy – maybe due to the fact that he seems rather too fond of massaging her shoulders and asking her to change into new dresses whilst he watches. Calvetti is forced to leave, and Francesco himself administers a good whipping to his errant daughter.
In the meantime, Lucrezia and Giacomo are also having their own little incestuous fling, a situation that is threatened by the overbearing patriarch’s decision to send his mummy’s boy (literally) of a son to join the army and toughen him up. Unhappy with this idea, they plot to poison him at a big feast – a scheme that is, for some reason, unsuccessful. However, they don’t have to wait long. Calvetti returns to see his beloved and Francesco, trying to shoot the irritating fellow, dies when the veranda he is standing on collapses.
Despite this being a pretty good deal for everyone, things never end that happily. An investigator arrives to try and unravel the tawdry truth behind events, but is misled into believing that Beatrice was wholly responsible. She is taken to the courts where she is tortured, prosecuted and sentenced to death…
A very stagey film, Beatrice Cenci oozes melodrama from it’s every pore, a fact not helped by the hugely overbearing soundtrack that strives to be epic but only manages to be rather distracting. At times it feels like a 1920’s silent movie, with all the rampant gesticulating and overly mannered acting you’d expect from a film of that time. On the other hand, it obviously had a decent budget and it looks good – with some great sets and banquet scenes.
Matt B
