''The House of 1,000 Dolls'' is a 1967

Harry Alan Towers Harry Alan Towers (19 October 1920 – 31 July 2009) was a British radio and independent film producer and screenwriter. He wrote numerous screenplays for the films he produced, often under the pseudonym Peter Welbeck. He produced over 80 ...

German-Spanish

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companies ...

white slavery White slavery (also white slave trade or white slave trafficking) refers to the slavery of Europeans, whether by non-Europeans (such as West Asians and North Africa, North Africans), or by other Europeans (for example naval galley slaves or th ...

thriller starring

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

. It has been described as "quite possibly the sleaziest movie AIP ever made". The film is set in

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the cap ...

. Released initially in Spain under the Spanish title ''La casa de las mil muñecas'', it was not released in the United States until November 1967.

Plot

Stephen Armstrong (George Nader), vacationing with his wife Marie in Tangiers, runs into an old friend and learns he is searching for his missing girlfriend who was kidnapped by an international gang of white slavers. The kidnappers are nightclub magician Manderville (Vincent Price) and his mentalist partner Rebecca (Martha Hyer). Under the guise of their nightclub act, they hypnotize and kidnap young women for the white slavers, and spirit them away to an exclusive

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

called "The House of 1000 Dolls." Stephen continues the investigation when his friend is murdered.

Cast

as Felix Manderville *

Martha Hyer Martha Hyer (August 10, 1924 – May 31, 2014) was an American actress who played Gwen French in ''Some Came Running'' (1958), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her autobiography, ''Finding My Way ...

as Rebecca *

George Nader George Garfield Nader, Jr. (October 19, 1921 – February 4, 2002) was an American actor and writer. He appeared in a variety of films from 1950 to 1974, including ''Sins of Jezebel'' (1953), ''Congo Crossing'' (1956), and ''The Female Animal'' ...

as Stephen Armstrong *

Ann Smyrner Ann Smyrner (3 November 1934 – 29 August 2016) was a Danish actress who was active in the 1960s in Italy, the United States, Austria and West Germany. She played in adventure, comedy, science fiction, crime, and horror movies, among which are ...

as Marie Armstrong *

Wolfgang Kieling Wolfgang Kieling (16 March 1924 – 7 October 1985) was a German actor. Biography In films since childhood in his native Germany, Kieling appeared in a few American films, notably in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Torn Curtain'' (1966), where he played ...

as Inspector Emil *

Sancho Gracia Félix Ángel Sancho Gracia (27 September 1936 – 8 August 2012) was a Spanish motion picture and television actor. Biography Gracia was born and died in Madrid. He started his acting career in Montevideo, Uruguay, where he lived from 1947 u ...

as Fernando *

Maria Rohm Maria Rohm (13 August 1945 – 18 June 2018) was an Austrian actress and producer. Born Helga Grohmann in Vienna, she started her acting career at the very young age, working at the famous Viennese Burgtheatre as a child actor from ages 4 throug ...

as Diane *Luis Rivera as Paul *

José Jaspe José Jaspe ( gl, Xosé Jaspe Rivas) (10 August 1906 – 5 June 1974) was a Spanish film actor. He played Konev the conductor in ''Horror Express'' (1972), Ahmed in '' House of 1,000 Dolls'' (1967), Henneker in ''The Man Called Noon'' (1973), the ...

as Ahmed *Juan Olaguivel as Salim *

Herbert Fux Herbert Fux (25 March 1927 – 13 March 2007) was an Austrian film actor and politician. He appeared in more than 140 films between 1960 and 2007. Life Fux was born in Hallein, at the age of five he moved with his family to the city of Salz ...

as Abdu *

Yelena Samarina Yelena Samarina (16 December 1927 – 4 May 2011) was a Russian-born actress who settled in Spain. She was originally selected to play the lead in Wim Wenders' historical ''The Scarlet Letter'' (1973), but the film's financial backers insisted on t ...

as Madame Viera *

Diane Bond Diane Loretta Bond (born September 25, 1945, in Los Angeles) is an American former actress and feminist artist and writer, best known for her minor roles in movies during the 1960s. She appeared in films like ''In Like Flint'' (1967), '' House o ...

as Liza *Andrea Lascelles as Doll *Ursula Janis as Doll

Production

The film originated with

, who shot the movie in Madrid and got

Samuel Arkoff Samuel Zachary Arkoff (June 12, 1918 – September 16, 2001) was an American producer of B movies. Life and career Arkoff was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, to Russian Jewish parents. He was the son of Helen (Lurie) and Louis Arkoff, who ran his ...

at AIP to contribute financing. At one stage

Terence Fisher Terence Fisher (23 February 1904 – 18 June 1980) was a British film director best known for his work for Hammer Films. He was the first to bring gothic horror alive in full colour, and the sexual overtones and explicit horror in his films, ...

was announced as director.

Vic Damone Vic Damone (born Vito Rocco Farinola; June 12, 1928 – February 11, 2018) was an American traditional pop and big band singer and actor. He was best known for his performances of songs such as the number one hit " You're Breaking My Heart", an ...

was mentioned as going to support Vincent Price and Martha Hyer, but he ended up being replaced by George Nader. Filming began in November 1966. Knowing that local censors would prohibit filming, Towers gave them a copy of '' Abe Lincoln in Illinois'' and hired an actor to walk around the set dressed like

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

in case the censors dropped by. According to Price in a 1984 interview, he had been signed on to the project without full knowledge of what the film would be about. After his scenes were shot, "

and I were led off ... so we went to visit on the set and we found that they were remaking all of the scenes we'd been in, but a

pornographic Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of Human sexual activity, sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

version of it." He added, "I never got to see it."

Reception

The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' called the film "not even bad enough to be good... bargain basement backfire that is strictly discount Price." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' described the film as containing "routine sleuthing, double-crossing and chasing."

References

External links