Four Flies on Grey Velvet [4 mosche di velluto grigio] *** (1971, Michael Brandon, Mimsy Farmer, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Francine Racette, Bud Spencer) – Classic Movie Review 8152

‘When the flies start to crawl, so will your flesh…’ Writer-director Dario Argento’s 1971 Italian giallo horror thriller Four Flies on Grey Velvet [4 mosche di velluto grigio] is the third in director Argento’s Animal Trilogy, following The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) and The Cat o’ Nine Tails (1971).

The screenplay is based on a story by Argento, Mario Foglietti and Luigi Cozzi, who is also assistant director.

Michael Brandon stars as Roberto Tobias, a drummer in a rock band, who is stalked by an unknown killer blackmailing him for the accidental killing of another stalker. He gets an envelope with photos of himself killing the stalker, and now someone unknown is killing his friends and trying to frame him.

Also in the cast are Mimsy Farmer as Nina Tobias, Jean-Pierre Marielle as Gianni Arrosio, Bud Spencer as Diomede/ Godfrey, Aldo Bufi Landi as Pathologist, Calisto Calisti as Carlo Marosi, Marisa Fabbri as Amelia the Maid, Oreste Lionello as The Professor, Fabrizio Moroni as Mirko, Corrado Olmi as Porter, Stefano Satta Flores as Andrea, Laura Troschel (as Costanza Spada) as Maria and Francine Racette as Dalia.

Four Flies on Grey Velvet [4 mosche di velluto grigio] is directed by Dario Argento, runs 104 minutes, is made by Seda Spettacoli and Universal Productions France, is released by Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1971) (Italy) and Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1973) (UK), is written by Dario Argento, is shot in Technicolor by Franco Di Giacomo, is produced by Salvatore Argento and scored by Ennio Morricone.

MYA Communication released a Region 1 DVD on 24 February 2009 with an uncut, remastered print of this once thought to be lost film. To celebrate the film’s 40th anniversary, Shameless Screen Entertainment released it on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK on 30 January 2012.

Argento planned it as his farewell to the giallo genre but that changed after The Five Days [Le cinque giornate] (1973) did poorly at the box office.

The composer Morricone, who had worked on Argento’s The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, fell out with Argento over some tracks Argento did not want in the film and the two did not work together again until 1996 with The Stendhal Syndrome.

Roger Ebert complained about the ‘badly dubbed and incoherent murder thriller’ in the version that was shown in America.

Canadian actress Francine Racette (born 23 September 1947), best known for Au revoir les enfants, Lumière and The Disappearance, is married to Donald Sutherland.

RIP Bud Spencer, aka Carlo Pedersoli (31 October 1929 – 27 June 2016).

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8152

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