''Who Saw Her Die?'' ( it, Chi l'ha vista morire?) is an Italian ''

giallo In Italian cinema, ''Giallo'' (; plural ''gialli'', from ''giallo'', Italian for yellow) is a genre of mystery fiction and thrillers that often contains slasher, crime fiction, psychological thriller, psychological horror, sexploitation, and, ...

'' film directed by

Aldo Lado Aldo Lado (born 5 December 1934) is an Italian film director, screenwriter and writer. Lado was born in Fiume, Italy (today Rijeka, Croatia). Lado wrote the screenplays for 21 films between 1968 and 2004 and directed 14 films between 1971 and 1 ...

and Vittorio De Sisti, starring

Anita Strindberg Anita Strindberg (born 19 June 1937) is a Swedish former actress who appeared in numerous Italian ''giallo'' films in the 1970s. Strindberg appeared as Anita Edberg in two Swedish films in the late 1950s. She started her career in gialli with Luc ...

and

George Lazenby George Robert Lazenby (; born 5 September 1939) is an Australian actor. He was the second actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service' ...

. Lazenby and Strindberg play the parents of a murdered girl, who pursue her black-veiled killer throughout Venice. ''Who Saw Her Die?'' features music by Ennio Morricone, and has seen positive reviews for Lazenby's performance.

Plot

In a French ski resort, a young girl wanders off from her carer and is murdered by a killer in a black veil, who buries her body in the snow. Years later, another young girl, Roberta Serpieri, is found drowned in Venice after being abducted by the same killer. Her divorced parents, sculptor Franco and Elizabeth, attempt to discover what has happened to their daughter.

Cast

as Franco Serpieri *

as Elizabeth Serpieri *

Adolfo Celi Adolfo Celi (; 27 July 1922 – 19 February 1986) was an Italian film actor and director. Born in Curcuraci, Messina, Sicily, Celi appeared in nearly 100 films, specialising in international villains. Although a prominent actor in Italian ...

as Serafian *

Dominique Boschero Dominique Boschero (born 27 April 1937) is a French-Italian actress. Life and career Born in Paris by Italian parents, Boschero spent her childhood in Frassino, Italy with her grandparents until the age of 15, when she returned to Paris.Mauri ...

as Ginevra Storelli * Peter Chatel as Philip Vernon *

Piero Vida Piero Vida (5 August 1938 – 1987) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 52 films between 1959 and 1987. He was born in Venice, Italy and died in Rome, Italy. Partial filmography * ''Il raccomandato di ferro'' (1959) * '' Katarsis'' ...

as Journalist * Jose Quaglio as Bonaluti * Alessandro Haber as Father James *

Nicoletta Elmi Nicoletta Elmi (born 13 February 1964) is an Italian film actress. She appeared in many films in the 1970s as a child actress, but also appeared in several roles in adulthood in the 1980s. Career She is best known for (but was not limited to) a s ...

as Roberta Serpieri *

Rosemarie Lindt Rosemarie Lindt is a German actress and ballet dancer who was known to the wider audience for her appearances in '' Frau Wirtin'' series in the late 1960s and in Italian exploitation cinema of the 1970s. Ballet career Lindt studied at Folkwang U ...

as Gabriella * Giovanni Forti Rosselli as Francois Roussel * Sandro Grinfan as Inspector De Donati

Production

''Who Saw Her Die?'' was written by Massimo D'Avack,

Francesco Barilli Francesco Barilli (born 4 February 1943 in Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a popula ...

and Rüdiger von Spiehs; it was directed by Lado and Vittorio De Sisti. The film's music was composed by Ennio Morricone, whose score was released separately in 1972. The film was shot on location in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

; one of the film's chase scenes was filmed at the Molino Stucky flour mill, a run-down building which was later renovated as a

Hilton hotel Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton. The original company was founded by Conrad Hilton. As ...

in 2008. In both the Italian and English versions, Lazenby's voice is dubbed by other actors. Italian films were rarely shot with usable sound and dubbed in post-production. For the English version, Lazenby was dubbed by American actor Michael Forest.

Release and reception

''Who Saw Her Die?'' was also distributed under the title of ''The Child''. In his book ''Italian Horror Film Directors'', Louis Paul has described Lazenby's performance as one of the actor's best, although he regretted that some dubs of the film did not use Lazenby's voice. Danny Shipka, author of ''Perverse Titillation'', compared the film stylistically to

Nicolas Roeg Nicolas Jack Roeg (; 15 August 1928 – 23 November 2018) was an English film director and cinematographer, best known for directing ''Performance'' (1970), '' Walkabout'' (1971), ''Don't Look Now'' (1973), '' The Man Who Fell to Earth'' (1976 ...

's later film ''

Don't Look Now ''Don't Look Now'' ( it, A Venezia... un Dicembre rosso shocking, lit=In Venice... a shocking red December) is a 1973 English-language film in the thriller genre directed by Nicolas Roeg, adapted from the 1971 short story by Daphne du Mauri ...

'', which shares a Venetian setting. Shipka noted that Lado avoided the explicit gore and sexual elements usually present in a giallo film, instead focussing on "an aura of uneasiness". Buzz McClain of AllMovie awarded ''Who Saw Her Die?'' three-and-a-half stars out of five, highlighting Lazenby's performance and Morricone's score; McClain felt that the film's plot was unnecessarily complicated, but that this was compensated for by its setting and cinematography.

Footnotes

References

* * *

External links

* {{portalbar, Film, Italy 1970s thriller films Italian thriller films German thriller films West German films 1970s Italian-language films Films set in Venice Giallo films Films directed by Aldo Lado Films shot in Venice Films shot in France Films scored by Ennio Morricone 1970s serial killer films 1970s Italian films 1970s German films