As far as I can tell, there have been at least 10 films utilizing the character named "Bluebeard!" The original story is a French folktale titled "La Barbe Bleue" that dates back to the 1600's about a violent wealthy nobleman who has a bad habit of murdering his wives, and the attempt by the last of them to avoid what happened to her predecessors! I love the fact that he actually has a blue beard!
This version of "Bluebeard" was released in 1972, and stars the elegant actor Richard Burton in the title role!
I don't believe "Bluebeard" was meant to be a comedy by any means, but with characters like this, it tends to have an overwhelming "Bedazzled" feel to it despite being a grisly horror film!
"Bluebeard" also tackles some very serious social issues! The
music in "Bluebeard" was composed once again by the always amazing maestro Ennio Morricone!!
Bluebeard's last wife is an American dancer and singer named Anne played by the always lovely Joey Heatherton! In the 1960's you would see Joey frequently on TV shows like "The Hollywood Palace," and "The Dean Martin Show," performing as herself!
Bluebeard needs to go away for a bit, and leaves Anne home alone in the mansion, and he tells her that whatever she does, don't open the lock that the little gold key is for, so of course, what does she do but go around trying to find out what it fits! Behind a hidden locked door, she finds a large painting of Bluebeard, and when she pushes the three dimensional ring in the painting, a door opens and...........
.............Anne quickly finds out why she wasn't supposed to use the key, and all the literal frozen ghosts in Bluebeard's closet, or refrigerator, as it were!
When Bluebeard returns home, and finds out that Anne knows, because he had hidden cameras, he tells her that he really loves her, but that now he is going to have to kill her, but before that happens, he will explain the reason why his previous seven wives had to go!
Bluebeard's wives were a bevy of beauties, and each and every one of them have some kind of special quirk! Virna Lisi as "The Singer" is especially obnoxious as she sings all her lines. Oddly enough, Virna was also in "How To Murder Your Wife" with Jack Lemmon in 1965! Appropriately enough, her character is beheaded with a guillotine! It's the only way he could shut her up!
Next up is Nathalie Delon as Erika! Nathalie was in the killer movie, "Le Samouraï" with her husband at the time Alain Delon! Her character here is one of an insecure liar! Bluebeard convinces her to be herself, and then he can't stand her any more!
Sybil (Naughty Nymphs) Danning has the role of the whore who teaches Erika how to love before Bluebeard disposes of both of them!
Next up is Raquel Welch as "The Nun!" Raquel only has about 8 minutes of screentime in the movie, but got top billing with Richard Burton just for her name! Always taken with their beauty first, Bluebeard talks her into quitting the monastery and marrying him, and then he finds out she became a nun to make up for all her past transgressions as a slut, and she goes on forever telling him about all her sexual escapades until it drives him to the edge once again!
Next we have sword and sandal queen Marilù Tolo as the politico Brigitt! Unlike the other wives, Brigitt is hard-drinking, rough and tough, but her fate remains the same!
The last wife before Anne is Agostina (Holocaust 2000) Belli as the sweet, free spirited, and almost hippiesque Caroline! She is not destined to fare better than any of the rest of them!
One odd little bit of trivia, despite killing all these ladies in this movie, every one of those actresses are still alive today! I guess that says something about the correlation between being good looking and sexy, and longevity!
In the opening scenes, Bluebeard shoots this wife named Greta in a supposed hunting accident! Then her story is retold in the end! Greta was played by Karin (Voodoo Sexy) Schubert who 13 years later, in 1985, became an adult film star!
"Bluebeard" is a great movie, and Richard Burton is fantastic from start to finish! Like I said, it might not be a comedy, but it sure is pretty funny! One of Bluebeard's big problems is that he's got a bad case of can'tgetitupitis! Rated R, because almost all of the wives except Racquel Welch are seen topless, you can get it on disc from Netflix! It's a no brainer!
3 comments:
I've never read so many nice things about this movie. But I like most of it too.
Great review. I've always loved this film. If Ursula Sndress had been in it, it would be perfect. Cheesy, fun, overblown, a great charmer.
Thanx for digging through the archives. This is a fun flick for sure!
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