''Double Face'' ( it, A doppia faccia, german: Das Gesicht im Dunkeln/ translation: ''The Face in the Dark'') is a 1969

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Riccardo Freda Riccardo Freda (24 February 1909 – 20 December 1999) was an Italian film director. He worked in a variety of genres, including sword-and-sandal, horror, ''giallo'' and spy films. Freda began directing '' I Vampiri'' in 1956. The film became ...

and starring

Klaus Kinski Klaus Kinski (, born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski 18 October 1926 – 23 November 1991) was a German actor, equally renowned for his intense performance style and notorious for his volatile personality. He appeared in over 130 film roles in a c ...

Christiane Krüger Christiane Krüger (born 8 September 1945 in Hamburg, Germany) is a German actress. She is the daughter of actor Hardy Krüger. Selected filmography Cinema * '' Forty Eight Hours to Acapulco'' (1967) * ''The Man with the Glass Eye'' (1969) *'' ...

and Annabella Incontrera. It is part of the series of Edgar Wallace adaptations made by

Rialto Film Rialto Film is a German motion-picture production company headquartered in Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make ...

Plot

A businessman named John Alexander learns that his wealthy wife Helen has died in a car accident. After mourning, he runs afoul of some shady characters who lead him to believe that his wife is still alive.

Cast

Cast information from the book ''Riccardo Freda: The Life and Works of a Born Filmmaker''. *

as John Alexander *

as Christine *

Günther Stoll Günther Stoll (Duisburg, 18 August 1924 – Gelsenkirchen, 10 January 1977) was a German actor. Partial filmography * ''Liebe, wie die Frau sie wünscht'' (1957) .... Toni * ''Epitafios gia ehthrous kai filous'' (1965) .... Captain Ivanov * ' ...

as Inspector Stevens * Annabella Incontrera as Liz *

Sydney Chaplin Sydney John Chaplin (; 16 March 1885 – 16 April 1965) was an English actor. Chaplin was the elder half-brother of actor and director Charlie Chaplin and served as his business manager in later life. Through their mother Hannah, they were o ...

as Mr. Brown * Barbara Nelli as Alice * Margaret Lee as Helen Alexander * Carlo Marcolino as Butler * Luciano Spadoni as Inspector Gordon *

Ignazio Dolce Ignazio Dolce (born 26 March 1933) is an Italian director and actor. Life and career Born in Palermo, Sicily, Dolce graduated at Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, and starting from the late 1950s he began a career as a character actor. ...

The following cast went uncredited. * Bedy Moratti * Fulvio Pellegrino as a Policeman *

Domenico Ravenna Domenico Ravenna (1584 – 1637) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Nicastro (1635–1637). ''(in Latin)'' Biography Domenico Ravenna was born in Rome in 1584 and ordained a priest in November 1634. On 12 February 1635, he wa ...

as Man at a horse race

Production

During the later part of director

's career, the director began attempting commercially viable genres. Freda met with Italian producer Oreste Coltellacci who set up a deal with the German company

Rialto The Rialto is a central area of Venice, Italy, in the ''sestiere'' of San Polo. It is, and has been for many centuries, the financial and commercial heart of the city. Rialto is known for its prominent markets as well as for the monumental Rialto ...

who created several work in the German subgenre called the ''

krimi Edgar Wallace (1875–1932) was a British novelist and playwright and screenwriter whose works have been adapted for the screen on many occasions. British adaptations His works were adapted for the silent screen as early as 1916, and continued ...

''. The ''krimis'' were inspired by the works of

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...

and had been popular since

Harald Reinl Harald Reinl (8 July 1908 in Bad Ischl, Austria – 9 October 1986 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) was an Austrian film director. He is known for the films he made based on Edgar Wallace and Karl May books (see Karl May movies and Edgar Walla ...

's film ''

Der Frosch mit der Maske ''Der Frosch mit der Maske'' (translation: ''The Frog with the Mask''), aka ''Face of the Frog'', is a 1959 West German-Danish black-and-white crime film directed by Harald Reinl and starring Siegfried Lowitz and Joachim Fuchsberger. It was the ...

'' (1959) In Germany, the film was promoted as being based on '' Das Gesicht im Dunkeln'' by Edgar Wallace. This was done for commercial reasons as the script had nothing to do with the book. The original story for the film was developed by

Lucio Fulci Lucio Fulci (; 17 June 1927 – 13 March 1996) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Although he worked in a wide array of genres through a career spanning nearly five decades, including comedies and Spaghetti Westerns, he garn ...

, Romano Migliorini and Gianbattista Mussetto. The film's screenplay is credited to Freda and Austrian-born Paul Hengge. According to Giusti, Fulci wrote the first treatment. Fulci would claim in an interview in 1994 that he wrote the film for Freda. He disliked the film, stating that Freda had "completely crushed it down to a pulp; at that time, he just didn't care anymore." When casting the film, Freda met with

in Rome where Kinski initially refused to be in the film not wanting to play another psychopathic character. Freda convinced him to take the role after learning he would play the part of a victim instead. ''Double Face'' was shot between 20 January and 15 March 1969 at the

Cinecittà Studios Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City Studios), is a large film studio in Rome, Italy. With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is the largest film studio in Europe, and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. The studios wer ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and on location in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. Freda and Kinski did not get along on set, with Freda referring to him as "the Crown Prince of Assholes" and eventually proceeding to shoot the film with a Kinski double he found on the set of a

Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most i ...

film. When Kinski found out about this, he put aside his differences and continued working on the film.

Release

''Double Face'' was released in West Germany on 4 July 1969 under the title of ''Das Gesicht im Dunkeln'' ( The Face in the Dark) with an 80 minute runtime. It was distributed in West Germany by Constantin Film GmbH. It was released theatrically in Italy as ''A doppia faccia'' on 26 July 1969 where it was distributed by Panta with a 90 minute runtime. The film grossed 175,626,000

Italian lire The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...

domestically in Italy. It was released later in France as ''Liz et Helen'' () and also with added adult scenes involving actress

Alice Arno Alice Arno, (born June 29, 1946) is a French actress, nudist and model, best known for her roles in European sexploitation and horror film genre. Movie career Arno (who was raised in a family of nudists) worked as a nude model (posing for ''Pop ...

as ''Chaleur et Jouissance'' ().Lucas, Tim. ''Blood and Black Lace'' DVD,

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 340 ...

, 2005. ASIN: B000BB1926 It was released in the United States as ''Puzzle of Horrors''.

Reception

Film critic Marco Giusti writes that Kinski "is mad, hysterical, but dominates the film", remembers the nice intrigue around Kinski's character, and praises the lesbian scenes.

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Double Face 1969 films 1969 thriller films West German films 1960s Italian-language films Films directed by Riccardo Freda German thriller films Italian thriller films Films produced by Horst Wendlandt Films based on works by Edgar Wallace Reboot films Films set in London Films shot in London Constantin Film films Films shot at Cinecittà Studios Films scored by Nora Orlandi 1960s Italian films 1960s German films