Blind crossword creator Franco "Cookie" Arno (Karl Malden) is walking home with his adopted niece Lori when he overhears a conversation taking place in a car as they walk home, a blackmail attempt being made. He tells Lori to describe who is talking and they continue on. That night the man in the car breaks into a medical research lab and takes something.
Investigating the break in is reporter Carlo Giordani (James Franciscus). At the police station is Franco who overhears Carlo's questioning a detective about the break in. He introduces himself and the pair hit it off, enough so that they begin sharing information in the hopes of solving the case and Carlo getting a scoop out of it.
As the movie carries on the motivations for the break in, the blackmail scheme overheard by Franco and the investigation conducted by Carlo all tie in together. As each piece of evidence is collected or investigated, suspects are murdered or disappear. Those who seem innocent might not be how they appear to be. And eventually the lives of Franco, Lori and Carlo are on the line as the guilty party does everything he can to prevent them from finding out his identity.
The movie is not the best that Argento ever made but it does offer a glimpse into the development of his style, his use of camera and color and his way of depicting the acts committed by his protagonists. In watching his films I noticed that this film tried to take a different approach, focusing less on the murders and more on the original crime involved. From those I've watched it was a direction Argento abandoned, instead going back to the murders instead.
This film also felt more talkie than Argento's previous film, THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, or his subsequent films. As a sophomore outing though he does show that he was developing as a director and the potential was there. Thank goodness it came out with each movie he made.
Some have hailed Argento as the next big thing to come out of Italy when discussing directors and rightfully so to my mind. He was at the forefront of a new wave of Italian directors who focused nearly all of their films in either crime or horror, who made films with little funds and who made use of their limitations to become more artistic and stylistic than many who came before. Without Argento and his substantial success in other countries directors like Fulci might never have been discovered or their films shown in other countries.
Fans of Argento will want to add this to their collection. It's not the first time the film has been released on disc but it is the best edition you will find for the film. That's because Arrow has once again gone out of their way to make this the best edition of the film possible.
To begin with they're offering this film in a 4k restoration from the original camera negative. The extras on hand are also above and beyond what we've had in the past. There is a new audio commentary track by critics Alan Jones and Kim Newman, new interviews with Argento, co-writer Dardana Sacchetti, actress Cinzia De Carolis and production manager Angelo Iacono, script pages for the lost original ending translated into English for the first time, the original Italian and international trailers, a reversible sleeve with new artwork by Candice Tripp, a double sided fold-out poster, 4 lobby card reproductions and a limited edition booklet with illustrations by Matt Griffin that includes an essay on the film by Argento as well as new writings by Barry Forshaw, Troy Howarth and Howard Hughes. Whew! That's a lot of bang for your buck!
If you've never seen the movie I highly recommend it. Not only is it a way to become acquainted with Argento it is a solid film all unto itself. It is entertaining and will keep you guessing as to the identity of the killer. But what else would one expect with a Dario Argento film?
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