''Dark Purpose'' is a 1964 film directed by
George Marshall
George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the US Army under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry ...
and starring
Shirley Jones
Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as '' Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel'' (1956), and ''The M ...
,
Rossano Brazzi
Rossano Brazzi (18 September 1916 – 24 December 1994) was an Italian actor.
Biography
Brazzi was born in Bologna, Italy, the son of Maria Ghedini and Adelmo Brazzi, an employee of the Rizzoli shoe factory. He was named after Rossano Vene ...
,
and
George Sanders
George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth, bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous chara ...
.
Plot
American secretary Karen Williams travels to Italy with her employer, art appraiser Raymond Fountaine, to assess the valuable collection of Count Paolo Barbarelli at his villa overlooking the sea.
The count lives there with Cora, a young woman suffering from memory loss, whom he claims to have taken in like a daughter after her skiing accident. Karen falls in love with the count, but Cora wants her gone. She later confides to Karen that she is not Paolo's daughter but his wife. He is slowly poisoning her so he ultimately can inherit her family's money, Cora says, but Karen isn't sure whether to believe her story.
Cora is found dead. The police believe it to be a suicide, but evidence at the scene leads Karen to believe that Paolo was indeed responsible for the young woman's death. It leads to a confrontation and violent struggle. A vicious watchdog tries to protect his master, but instead knocks Paolo into a fountain, where he drowns.
Cast
*
Shirley Jones
Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as '' Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel'' (1956), and ''The M ...
as Karen Williams
*
Rossano Brazzi
Rossano Brazzi (18 September 1916 – 24 December 1994) was an Italian actor.
Biography
Brazzi was born in Bologna, Italy, the son of Maria Ghedini and Adelmo Brazzi, an employee of the Rizzoli shoe factory. He was named after Rossano Vene ...
as Count Paolo Barbarelli
*
George Sanders
George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth, bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous chara ...
as Raymond Fountaine
*
Giorgia Moll
Giorgia Moll (born 14 January 1938) is an Italian film actress. She was sometimes credited as Georgia Moll and Georgia Mool.
Background
Moll was born in Prata di Pordenone to a German father and an Italian mother. At a young age, she began a br ...
as Cora Barbarelli
*
Micheline Presle
Micheline Presle (; born Micheline Nicole Julia Émilienne Chassagne; 22 August 1922) is a French actress. She was sometimes billed as Micheline Prelle. Starting in 1939, she starred in over 50 French and English language films that were made in H ...
as Monique Bouvier
*
Emma Baron
Emma Baron (19 October 1904 – 7 March 1986https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0056228/ Imdb ) was an Italian stage and film actress.
Life and career
Born Emma Bardon in Treviso, after getting an arts degree she began her career on stage in the 1920s, ...
as Gregoria
* Mathilda Calnan as Mrs. Thompson
*
Fanfulla
Luigi Visconti, better known by his stage name Fanfulla, (26 February 1913 – 5 January 1971) was an Italian actor and comedian.
Life and career
Born in Rome, Visconti debuted at very young age on stage alongside his mother, the actress Merc ...
as The Florist
*
Charles Fawcett as Martin
References
External links
*
{{George Marshall
1964 films
1960s thriller films
Films directed by George Marshall
Films scored by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino
Films set in Italy
American thriller films
Universal Pictures films
1960s English-language films
1960s American films