''The Killer Is on the Phone'' ( it, L'assassino... è al telefono) is a 1972
''giallo'' film directed by
Alberto De Martino
Alberto De Martino (12 June 1929 – 2 June 2015) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Born in Rome, De Martino started as a child actor and later returned to the cinema where worked as a screenwriter, director and dubbing supervis ...
. It was released in the U.S. in July, 1975.
The film is set in
Bruges
Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...
, Belgium, and stars
Telly Savalas
Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas (January 21, 1922 – January 22, 1994) was an American actor and singer whose career spanned four decades. Noted for his bald head and deep, resonant voice, he is perhaps best known for portraying Lt. Theo Kojak on th ...
and
Anne Heywood
Anne Heywood (born 11 December 1931) is a British retired film actress, who is best known for her Golden Globe-nominated performance in ''The Fox''.
Early life and career
Born as Violet Joan Pretty in 1931 to Harold and Edna E. ( Lowndes) Pre ...
. The story follows an attractive actress who suffers from amnesia and paranoia triggered by a chance encounter with a professional assassin, who in turn begins to follow her with his knife.
Plot
Ranko, a professional killer, is to assassinate Dillon, the emissary sent by the United Nations to help reach an understanding between England, Arab oil suppliers, and the
Seven Sisters.
When actress Eleonor Loraine arrives back in Belgium by ferry after a week’s stay in London, Ranko spots her. As soon as she sees him, she loses consciousness. From this moment on, Eleonor suffers from amnesia, which reaches back five years to the death of Peter Vervoort, her lover- supposedly in a car accident. Because she recognised him, Ranko, Peter’s killer (as is revealed near the end), abandons his assignment and keeps following her, waiting for an opportunity to kill her.
Eleonor, home in
Bruges
Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...
, is surprised to find that her house was razed a few years ago. She calls the Flamingo Theater in Bruges to speak to Peter, and her sister Dorothy reminds her that they visited his grave together. Eleonor visits the crypt of Eleonor and Peter Vervoort at the cemetery. (Peter’s mother was also called Eleonor, revealed later.) Dorothy comes to take her to her current home, where Doctor Chandler and George- a theatre critic to whom she has been married for three years- await her, neither of whom she recognises. In a paranoid fit, she believes everybody is acting to drive her mad. Chandler sedates her.
Her actor colleague Thomas Braun- a former secret lover of hers- visits her at the hospital, where Chandler administers a truth serum to cure her. In a slow-motion dream-like vision, she sees herself kissing Peter while Ranko approaches, touching her with his knife and exposing her breasts.
Eleonor goes to the theatre to rehearse the leading role in ''
Lady Godiva
Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. Today, she is mainly reme ...
'', which is to premiere the same week. Ranko awaits her in the lobby but does not strike, irritated that she does not recognise him. On stage, Eleonor erroneously recites the monologue of Lady Macbeth, which was on five years ago.
Walking through Bruges, Eleonor meets a
jester
A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and ...
who triggers memories. After having sex with Thomas, Eleonor tells him of her first time when she was 13. He calls her a whore, then clings to her legs, saying he cannot live without her. It was a flashback. Coming home at night, Eleonor finds a pistol in the drawer and confronts her husband. When Ranko calls, George picks up; Ranko remains silent. Eleonor sees how George puts something in her drink and runs away.
She remembers telling Thomas to kill Peter. Later, Ranko follows her to Thomas' door, where he stabs her in the stomach. She asks Thomas if she still loves her; he affirms, and she shoots him, then dies of her wound. It is revealed that she relived the end of a play in a flashback and now believes that her current fear of being murdered stems from acting in these plays. Eleonor and Thomas have sex again, through which Eleonor proves to herself that they were never lovers.
In the meantime, Ranko keeps postponing his flight to London. His clients approach him, worrying about the success of Dillon's assassination, for which Ranko was hired.
Margaret Vervoort, Peter’s sister and owner of the theatre, wants Dorothy to take Eleonor's part. Ranko enters Eleonor's dressing room and, from behind, mistakes Dorothy, who is in the nude, for Eleonor. He kisses her violently while stabbing her beneath her left breast.
Margaret tells George that Eleonor owns a small castle near the
Sint-Andries
Sint-Andries () is a suburb of Bruges in the province of West Flanders in Belgium.
The Jan Breydel Stadium, where the football teams Club Brugge and Cercle Brugge
Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional footba ...
dreef, which she used as a love nest with Peter. George and Eleonor drive to the castle, where she remembers Peter threatening Ranko with a gun and Ranko stabbing him, then driving off with his body in the trunk. She "returns" from her vision only to witness Ranko stab George and escapes by car, hiding in the deserted theatre. Eleonor drops parts of the stage on Ranko, making a piano fall on his legs, which pins him. She then activates the
safety curtain
A safety curtain (or fire curtain in America) is a fire safety precaution used in large proscenium Theater (structure), theatres. It is usually a heavy fibreglass or iron curtain located immediately behind the proscenium arch. Asbestos-based m ...
, which slowly comes down and crushes his abdomen.
Finally, Eleonor goes to the Vervoort estate to confront Margaret, a gun in her purse. Margaret claims she truly wanted George to save Eleonor from her trauma and did not order Ranko to kill Peter, only to scare him away; she confesses doing it because she wanted Eleonor for herself. Eleonor drops her gun, kisses her, then announces that she will make life hell for her as long as she lives. Eleonor walks away in the sunlight. When she hears a shot from inside, she stops briefly, then continues walking.
Cast
*
Telly Savalas
Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas (January 21, 1922 – January 22, 1994) was an American actor and singer whose career spanned four decades. Noted for his bald head and deep, resonant voice, he is perhaps best known for portraying Lt. Theo Kojak on th ...
: Ranko Drasovic
*
Anne Heywood
Anne Heywood (born 11 December 1931) is a British retired film actress, who is best known for her Golden Globe-nominated performance in ''The Fox''.
Early life and career
Born as Violet Joan Pretty in 1931 to Harold and Edna E. ( Lowndes) Pre ...
: Eleanor Loraine
*
Osvaldo Ruggeri: Thomas Brown
*
Giorgio Piazza: George
*
Willeke van Ammelrooy
Willy Geertje van Ammelrooij (born 5 April 1944), known as Willeke van Ammelrooy, is a Dutch actress and director.
Life and career
Willeke van Ammelrooy was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands. She attended drama school in Amsterdam.
Van Ammel ...
: Dorothy
*
Rossella Falk
Rossella Falk (10 November 1926 – 5 May 2013) was an Italian actress. She had a long career and is possibly best known for appearing in ''8½'' by Federico Fellini in 1963.
Life and career
Born in Rome as Rosa Antonia Falzacappa, Falk grad ...
: Margaret Vervoort
*
Antonio Guidi
Antonio Guidi (28 October 1927 – 17 October 2013) was an Italian actor and voice actor.
Biography
Born in Ferrara, Guidi began a career of acting in the 1950s. He originally wanted to become an architect but he did not pursue that vocation. He ...
: Dr. Chandler
*
Roger Van Hool: Peter Vervoort
*
Ada Pometti
Ada Pometti (born 13 May 1955) is an Italian film, television and stage actress.
Life and career
Born Nunzia Agata Pometti in Catania, Sicily, she graduated from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome, and she worked at the Teatro ...
: Nurse
Release
''The Killer is on the Phone'' was released in 1972 and grossed a total of 238 million
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.
The film was released on home video in the United Kingdom as ''Scenes From a Murder'' and ''The Final Curtain''. Author Adrian Luther Smith noted that ''The Final Curtain'' release had a particularly "poor quality dark transfer."
Reception
In a contemporary review, Scott Meek of the ''
Monthly Film Bulletin
''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...
'' stated that the film "will surely disappoint even the most ardent
elly Savalasfans as his contribution consists of scarcely a dozen lines and a series of identical non-expressions presumably intended to appear menacing." and "the greatest mystery of all is the title, which (in this version, at least) bears no relation whatsoever to the plot."
In his overview of ''gialli'' film, Troy Howarth described the film as "fairly typical of Alberto De Martino's output: blandly efficient" with "pedestrian direction", and that
Aristide Massaccesi
Aristide Massaccesi (15 December 1936 – 23 January 1999), known professionally as Joe D'Amato, was an Italian film director, producer, cinematographer, and screenwriter who worked in many genres (westerns, decamerotici, peplum, war films, ...
's cinematography was "decent but lack
dthe poetic touch that he brought to ''
What Have You Done to Solange?
''What Have You Done to Solange?'' ( it, Cosa avete fatto a Solange?) is a 1972 '' giallo'' film directed by Massimo Dallamano and starring Fabio Testi, Karin Baal, Joachim Fuchsberger, Cristina Galbó, and Camille Keaton. The plot follows a ser ...
''". Adrian Luther Smith in his book on Italian sex and horror films described the feature as "a fairly routine outing" with
Stelvio Cipriani
Stelvio Cipriani (20 August 1937 – 1 October 2018), also known as Viostel, was an Italian composer, mostly of motion picture soundtracks.
Biography
Though not raised with a strong musical upbringing, as a child Cipriani was fascinated by his ...
conrtibuting "a middling, but unmemorable score in keeping with the rest of the production."
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Killer is on the Phone, The
1972 films
1972 crime films
Giallo films
Films directed by Alberto De Martino
Films scored by Stelvio Cipriani
Films shot in Belgium
Films set in Bruges
Films shot in Bruges
Films set in Flanders
English-language Italian films
1970s Italian-language films
1970s Italian films