Casanova '70 - Rare color behind the scene pictures

Postcard from Rome!

The Eyes of Marisa Mell!

There are not many behind the scene photo's of Marisa Mell while working on one of her many movies. These photo's do exist but are not floating around at the moment on the net and are mostly archieved at press or photo agencies for future use. Since her death 20 years ago, Marisa Mell is not much en vogue anymore and has no status like Audrey Hepburn or Marilyn Monroe so the chance that these pictures will surface soon is very slim or even non existent at the moment. So it always nice to see a very beautiful picture of Marisa Mell that has not been seen for almost 40 years and is even a behind the scene picture of her doing her make up on the set of the 1965 movie "Casanova 70". This movie was her first break into global stardom in Italy playing opposite Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni. Trivia: Notice the wedding band she is wearing while doing her make up for the movie! This is problably a movie prop for her character in the movie.

"Stiletto"

Everyone working in the movie business can confirm that movie making is a very tricky business! It is often a wonder that movies finally do reach the silver screen after all the hassle the producers went through to make them in the end! So much depends on intern and extern factors in the movie making process. In every actor or actress filmography there are dozens of movies which are linked to a certain star where in the end he or she did not appear in because the movie never got made, fee negotations fell through or was replaced in the end by another often more bankable star. That is a law of movie making that every star in the end has to face  if they like it or not! So has Marisa Mell in her career. Everybody following the career of Marisa Mell knows that she replaced the French actress Catherine Deneuve in the movie "Danger: Diabolik!" as Lady Eva Kant the loyal partner of Diabolik during the early shooting process of the movie. Catherine Deneuve and John Phillip Law as Diabolik did not had any chemistery as a couple on and off screen when their characters interacted. According to insiders it was dull beyond belief and would not have worked on screen. Out went Miss Deneuve, enter Marisa Mell. She and John Phillip Law hit it off from the beginning, sparks were flying and sex appeal was oozing of the silver screen the moment they met. Who doesn't remember now the cult famous revolving dollar bed scene in the movie where Diabolik and Eva are making love! But it did not always turn out that well for Marisa Mell. She also had to endure some projects that never got made, was recast in the end or were made at a later time when she was not available anymore for several reasons. One of those project that she was linked to is a movie called "Stiletto".

The movie "Stiletto" was based on the 1960 novel written by author Harold Robbins, famous in the 60's for his beststeller books among many others  "The Carpetbeggars" and "The Adventurers". Many of those books were in later years turned into more or less successful movies. In "Stiletto" the story centers around an amoral young Italian aristocrat with a penchant for violence who owes his extravagant lifestyle to the favors of a mafia Kingpin. When asked to silence four witnesses due to testify against the Kingpin, the aristocrat is more than happy to comply in a most brutal manner. Only he did not figure on a special agent, one who helped build a mountain of evidence against the Kingpin, entering the scene into a lethal game of cat and mouse with him where loyalty, honor or debt are not any of the aristocrats motives but only the pleasure of killing.

In 1966 the movie based on this Robbins book was to be produced by Embassy Pictures Corporation, a production and distribution company owned by movie mogul Joseph E. Levine. The previous Harold Robbins production in 1964 "The Carpetbaggers" was a genuine box office hit in that year ending on the top spot earning 13.000.000 dollars in revenue. So maybe this movie could repeat the success of this movie! The movie was to be made in Rome, Italy at Cinecitta. Marisa Mell, fresh from her appearence next to Marcello Mastroianni, in the movie "Casanova 70", was cast as Illeana, a role later to be recast by Swedish born actress Britt Ekland. Production went full steam ahead and a lot of money was poured into it! Marisa Mell's wardrobe was made by the most famous fashion house in Italy: The Fontana Sisters! They were the most respected fashion designers at that time working with almost all the famous American and international movie stars starting with Elisabeth Taylor and ending with Princess Grace of Monaco. Their style shaped the fashion industry of that time so dressing up Marisa Mell for this movie as seen on the photo above was a big deal for her. It showed that she was on the right track slowly moving to the top the movie business in Europe and in the end Hollywood would not be far off! The movie stills of this movie were going to be taken by another film legend the photographer Emilio Lari. At that time he was a young photographer breaking into the movie business becoming famous in the same year photographing the movie stills for Barbarella with Jane Fonda! The movie was going to be directed by American director John Berry. John Berry is hardly recognized this day as a name in the movie business but during the 50's-60's he was very famous not for his directed movies but for being linked to the Communist Party witch hunt in America. John Berry could not stand it anymore and left America to live in France! For reasons unknown at the moment to me the production of the movie halted and came to a complete stop in the same year. In the end the movie was to made several years later in 1969 with a complete different cast and production crew. Marisa Mell was already at the top of her fame and was not connected any more to this movie! She was to expensive to be hired.

Sir! Please be kind to my movies!

It is always nice to hear from other Marisa fans in the world. It is even better to read their opinions about the movies that she made during her most active years in Eurocult cinema during the 60's and 70's. Jim West is one of those fans who has undertaken the task to write several critical reviews about the Marisa Mell movies that he has seen in recent past and will see in future months. Jim West is not a beginner in this field and has a great and very interesting site called "Common Sense Movie Review" (www.commensensemoviereview.com) where he has published dozens of interesting movie reviews ranging from James Bond, Hammer Movies, Twilight Zone to actor and actresses like Russell Crowe and another Eurocult star Barbara Bouchet! I wonder what movies that he will review next on his "Marisa Mell Marathon"?

"Mata Hari"-Dress Rehearsal (World Exclusive!)

Since the inception of the Marisa Mell Blog several entries have been dedicated to the musical "Mata Hari" from producer David Merrick, directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Marisa Mell and "Bonaza"-star Pernell Roberts. Fresh from the success in movies like "Le Dolci Signore" or "Danger: Diabolik!" in the second half of the 60's the powers that be found it time to transfer Euro-beauty Marisa Mell from Italy to the USA in the wake of other Italian sirens like Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Claudia Cardinale, Virna Lisi.... The fact that she was not Italian but Austrian did not matter. Her appearence was all Italian-like with thick auburn hair, big emerald green eyes and lush voluptious lips. What could you ask for more??? After several appearences in magazines like Vogue and McCall's introducing her to the American audience it was time to throw her into the deep end of the showbizz waters, ready or not! And ready she was not! Being trained as a theatre and movie actress she had no idea what it required to be a musical actress. Although there is a lot in common between the two disciplines its major requirement is that, next to being a stage presence, you need to be trained as a musical singer. Not a common singer of pop songs or classical pieces but in the specific technique of using your singing voice on stage while acting. So you need to master two disciplines. And Marisa Mell was no singer. That was a talent she had not! She could dance, sword fight, ride a horse,... but singing she could not! Compare the 1995 re-recording of the musical sung by professional musical singers with the 1967 bootleg recording then you know what I mean. So the whole adventure in the USA turned into a disaster for her. After a try-out in Washington, D.C., the whole show was canceled and never got to Broadway much to dispair of Marisa Mell. She had high hopes that this production of "Mata Hari" would be her ticket to the USA and showbizz. It did not! She came back one year later very disappointed and desperate. People close to her mention that in fact she never recovered from it and was scarred for life! Others clame that this gave her carreer a whole other direction and was the beginning of her downfall as an A-list actress, once starring opposite Marcello Mastroianni in "Casanova 70".
"Mata Hara" is only a footnote in the musical dictionaries mentioning the musical flop that it was. So there is not much material available on the memorabelia market. Luckily there is the bootleg recording of the production with the voices of the entire cast, including Marisa Mell, speaking her role as Mata Hari with a singing pitch! We are still waiting for original film footage of the production to appear. And now there are these pictures. In my knowledge they have never been published before in any magazine in the world since the days of the production. They show Marisa Mell during a dress rehearsel of the musical on stage. From today's point of view and even from the 60's point of view they are horrible. Marisa Mell had a very sexy slime figure in those days but by the looks of it the producers did everything to cover and distract from it. They are big, dark, depressive and formless cloths. Maybe they should have reflected the poverty of the character or the dispair from World War I. Even Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady", starting out as Eliza Doolittle, the poor flower girl in Victorian London, had more beaufitul cloths than this. If these pictures give some kind of impression of the production quality than it is no wonder that, with everything else we know at the moment, this production was a faillure from the beginning. What is even more a mystery is that these cloths were drawn and made by Irene Sharaff, a 5-time Academy Award winner for productions like West Side Story, The King and I and... Cleopatra with Elisabeth Taylor. Maybe she had a headache the morning when she drew these cloths after a long night of partying and boozing in town? Who knows!

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The pictures come from the personal archieve of Marisa Mell thanks to Guido from Italy!

Komödien, so bitter wie das Leben! Mario Monicelli (1915-2010)

Casanova '70

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Virtuose der Revolution: Mario Monicelli, einer der großen Regisseure der italienischen Nachkriegszeit, ist im Alter von 95 Jahren verstorben. Von schwerer Krankheit gezeichnet, beging er Selbstmord in einem Krankenhaus in Rom. Eine Handvoll kleiner Diebe und Herumtreiber will ein Pfandleihhaus in Rom überfallen. Um in den Raum mit dem Safe zu gelangen, verschaffen sie sich Zutritt zur angrenzenden Wohnung zweier alter Damen, deren venezianische Hausangestellte mit Peppe (Vittorio Gassman), dem Herzensbrecher der Gruppe, ein Techtelmechtel hat. Doch der Coup, zum dem Tiberio (Marcello Mastroianni) mit eingegipstem Arm erscheint, geht schief. Statt durch die Mauer zum Safezimmer brechen die Gauner nur durch die Zwischenwand zur Küche, in der das Hausmädchen einen Topf mit Kichererbsenpasta vorbereitet hat. Statt an den Reichtümern des Leihhauses laben sie sich an der Pasta, bevor der Morgen graut und das Idyll beendet. Ein Wecker, die einzig greifbare Beute des Raubzugs, schrillt ausgerechnet in dem Moment los, als Peppe und sein Kumpel Capannelle von zwei misstrauischen Carabinieri ins Auge gefasst werden. „I soliti ignoti“, der Film, der diese Geschichte erzählt - auf Deutsch hieß er „Diebe haben's schwer“ - war der Überraschungserfolg des Jahres 1958 und ein Wendepunkt des italienischen Kinos. Er bewies, dass man die soziale Wirklichkeit der Nachkriegszeit auch mit komödiantischen Mitteln zeigen konnte - und dass Filmkomödien keine lebensfernen Schwänke sein mussten, sondern der erschlaffenden Bewegung des Neorealismus neuen ästhetischen Schwung geben konnten. Er verhalf seinen bis dahin nur mäßig bekannten Hauptdarstellern Vittorio Gassman und Marcello Mastroianni zu internationalem Ruhm. Und er sicherte seinem Regisseur, der zuvor hauptsächlich als routinierter Handwerker von Farcen und Melodramen hervorgetreten war, einen Platz unter den Meistern des italienischen Kinos: Mario Monicelli. Sophia Loren und Luigi Proietti in Monicellis „Mortadella” von 1971

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Für Monicelli, 1915 als Sohn eines Theaterkritikers im toskanischen Viareggio geboren, war die Commedia all'italiana ein Geschenk des Schicksals und eine Last zugleich. Sie entsprach seinem zwiespältigen, aus Sarkasmus und Resignation gemischten Verhältnis zur Gegenwart seines Landes, aber sie setzte seinen künstlerischen Ambitionen auch enge Grenzen. In „La grande guerra“ („Man nannte es den großen Krieg“), seinem nächsten Projekt nach den „Soliti ignoti“, trieb er das Wechselspiel aus Komik und Tragik so weit, dass es die Form fast sprengte; auch deshalb ist die Geschichte zweier Überlebenskünstler (gespielt von Alberto Sordi und Vittorio Gassman) auf den Schlachtfeldern des Ersten Weltkriegs vermutlich sein bester Film.

Claudia Cardinale in der Episode: „Gespielin Armenia oder: Zimmer frei mit Musikbox” von 1966

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Monicellis Versuch, mit „I compagni“ („Die Peitsche im Genick“) eine politische Parabel über Solidarität und Klassenkampf zu erzählen, wurde dagegen vom Publikum abgelehnt. Mit „L'armata Brancaleone“ und „La ragazzo con la pistola“ kehrte er deshalb Ende der sechziger Jahre zu den Stoffen zurück, die man von ihm erwartete: lebenspralle, mit Sprachwitz gesättigte Alltagsgrotesken, die aus den Versatzstücken anderer Kinogenres - hier der Mittelalter-, dort der Mafiafilm - szenische Funken schlugen.

Marisa Mell und Marcello Mastroianni in Casanova '70 von 1965
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Sein zweiter großer Kinoerfolg gelang Monicelli dann 1975 mit „Amici miei“ („Ein irres Klassentreffen“), einem sarkastischen Gruppen- und Generationenporträt, das erkennbar an den berühmten Vorgänger von 1975 angelehnt war. Als er die Geschichte sieben Jahre später weitererzählte, war die hohe Zeit der italienischen Filmkomödien schon wieder vorbei; „Amici miei atto II“ („Meine Freunde“) wirkte wie ein Abgesang. Sein Land, hat Monicelli in einem seiner letzten Interviews gesagt, brauche eine Revolution, nur so könne es zu sich selbst zurückfinden. Als Regisseur ist er dieser Revolution auf virtuose Weise aus dem Weg gegangen. Am Montag hat sich Mario Monicelli, der wegen Prostatakrebs in einem römischen Krankenhaus behandelt wurde, aus einem Fenster in den Tod gestürzt. Er wurde fünfundneunzig Jahre alt. (c) FAZ-Andreas Kilb

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Thanks to André Schneider for sending me this information!

The Films of Suso Cecchi D’Amico

On July 31st 2010, one of Italy's greatest screenwriters Suso Cecchi D’Amico died at the age of 96! To fans of Marisa Mell, she is best known as the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of the 1965 Mario Moncelli directed movie "Casanova '70" with Marcello Mastroianni as leading man Andrea Rossi-Colombotti and Marisa Mell as Thelma. In honor of this great lady of Italian movie making the Film Society of Lincoln Centre in New York is showing this week from November 26th untill December 1st 2010 several of her majestic movies like among others "Rocco and his brothers" with a superb Alain Delon, "White Nights" with the always reliable Maria Schell and Jean Marais or "Conversation Piece" with Marisa Mell friend Helmut Berger, all movies directed by Lucino Visconti.

Richard Peña, director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, talked to David Savage of Cinema Retro about this talented screenwriter:

Cinema Retro: A tribute organized around a screenwriter is fairly rare. Why did you choose this specific screenwriter for a tribute?

Richard Pena: Perhaps, but Suso was an extraordinarily special screenwriter. Having recently done a lot of work on Italian cinema, I was startled to see how often her name figured in the credits of so many masterworks. She was an extraordinary talent, and her passing is a loss for all who love film.

CR: Do you think her career was overshadowed by her collaboration with such auteurist names in Italian cinema, such as Visconti, Monicelli, et al? It seems as though a woman would have a hard time holding her own against such huge egos?

RP: My sense is that this had as much to do with the contemporary lionization of film directors as it did plain old sexism. From what I've heard about her, she held her own with the boys.

CR: Can you identify a common thread or characteristic style that belongs to Cecchi d’Amico’s dialogue or characterizations?

RP: With over 100 screenplays to her credit, that becomes difficult; moreover, I've seen at best 50% of them. I think she often likes to focus on a character who takes a decisive action and then study the consequences of that action on those around him/her.

CR: Do you consider her an innovator in screenwriting?

RP: I'm not the best person to answer that question. I think she had a good sense of when to let the action play out on its own rhythms--to under-script, as opposed to an overly determined writing style.

CR: Can you trace any effect she had on any one American screenwriter in particular?

RP: A certain group of American filmmakers have tried to capture the spirit or even adapt "Big Deal on Madonna Street. Whit Stillman would be someone who I'm sure really admires Suso's work.

CR: Do you know how much control she exerted over her own screenplays in terms of the liberties the directors were allowed to take, i.e., was she territorial about her dialogue?

RP: I'm frankly not sure about that, but why hire Suso Cecchi D'Amico if you don't want her work?

CR: Aspiring screenwriters will come to this program, hopefully. What are you hoping they take away?

RP: I hope they sense how carefully structured her screenplays were. There's always a good sense of architecture to her screenplays, even when they leave lots of space for the director.

CR: If you had to choose one film in the line-up that is a definite don’t miss, what would your choice be? Why?

RP: I would say Violent Summer, as it's really an amazingly great film and not that well known. A chance for people to discover not only Suso's work, but that of Valerio Zurlini, a wonderful yet little-known filmmaker as well.

"Le Cinema Bis" dans le "Cinema de Quartier"

Since relocating to Rome (Italy) during the mid sixties, Marisa Mell had a steady stream of work in mostly Italian movies. Unfortunately, the movies she appeared in were not A-list movies like her last one "Casanova 70" with Marcello Mastroianni but movies that the European audience called "Cinema Bis" movies. Movies that copied one way or the other successful A-list movies from Europe or America in the hope to jump in on the band wagon of success with little investment and huge earnings. "Una Sull'Altra" from 1969 directed by Lucio Fulci was one of those cinema bis movies and is regarded by many fans of Marisa Mell as one of her best. This movie has an intriguing plot about some kind of ménage à trois with Marisa Mell at the centre and her co-stars Jean Sorel and Elsa Martinelli as her partners in crime and bed. The movie was released in France on August 21st, 1970. The title was changed into "Perversion Story", to make it more sleazy and kinky. During the 60's untill the rise of the video cassette and multiplex cinema's, every neighbourhood in Paris had one or more local cinema's (Le Cinema de Quartier). One of the most prominent cinema de quartier "Le Moulin Rouge Cinema", situated next to the world famous night and revue club "Le Moulin Rouge", had this movie on its billboard in the summer of 1970.The Moulin Rouge was built in 1888. It burned down in 1915 and was not rebuilt until 1925. The new building included a winter garden, cabaret, and an Art Deco auditorium where Mistinguet, a famous French cabaret star, did her now famous shows. In 1929 the theatre was converted to a cinema, and until around 1940 also sometimes had live shows as well. Around 1950 a major refurbishing of the entire building created a cinema with 1500 seats and a huge screen, a new cabaret named Locomotive, and under the movie theatre, a new cabaret Moulin Rouge with a seperate entrance (the actual floor show place). In 1970 the Locomotive became a 600 stadium seating-style cinema called the Paramount Montmartre, which was triplexed in the 80's. The 1500 seat auditorium after a period of showing first run movies became difficult to run in the 80's, the beginning of the multiplex era in Paris. After a new policy showing 70mm prints on its huge screen, it closed around 1990. It is now a place to rent for fashion shows, movies, tv programs, and rehearsals.The three others screens also closed around 1990 and became a night club named once again Locomotive. The famous cabaret Moulin Rouge uses the most important space in the building.

Since the sixties the term "Cinema Bis" has become a household name. Many European film fanatics love these films from that era and remember with fondness how they as a youth often sneaked into the local movie theaters to see all those forbidden fruits. So it is wonderfull to notice that the history of the Cinema Bis is not forgotten by French author Laurent Aknin. He has written two phantastic books about cinema bis in French called "50 Ans de Cinema de Quartier"(350 pages) and "Les Classiques du Cinema Bis" (550 pages). The first retelling the 50 year history of those cinema's, the second giving an overview of the most famous, notorious and scandalous cinema bis movies. They are also great jumping on points as a cinema bis movie index. So both books should be part of every cinema bis lover's personal library! The books are not cheap to buy but have a great production value with a lot of vintage photo's, lobby cards, press books...etc. Highly recommended.

Stunning photo of Marisa Mell (6)

This photo is taken from Marisa Mell's first Italian movie "Casanova '70" in the mid sixties! Did you know that the director Mario Monicelli, co-writer with Tonino Guerra, was nominated for the Academy Award for writing the best original screenplay in 1965? The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the award for the best script not based upon previously published material. He did not win. The Oscar went that year to Frederic Raphael for his movie script "Darling". Monicelli did win later that year the award as best director at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain together with Marcello Mastroianni as best actor.

Thanks to André Schneider for providing this beautiful picture!

A "Dr." between two fronts! (SPOILER ALERT)

In the very cold winter of 1961-1962, during the height of the Cold War between the USA, under president JFK, and the USSR, under secretary-general Nikita Kroetjov, Marisa Mell accepted an essential part in a movie called “Dr”. Nothing extraordinary except that the movie was shot in “Yugoslavia”, ruled by marshall Josip Tito. After World War II, Yugoslavia was the only country in Eastern Europe outside direct Soviet control. The liberation from the German Nazis had been achieved, not by the Soviet Red Army, but by a local communist partisan movement, whose members subsequently occupied major military and police posts. The head of the partisan movement, Josip Tito, had been trained in Moscow. Though a Russian-trained communist, he refused to be a Soviet puppet. In 1947-1948, Tito made it clear to the Soviet Union that Yugoslavia would not subordinate her economy to that of the Soviet Union. The Soviets immediately ordered her satellites in Eastern Europe to stop their trade with Yugoslavia. Next they tried to create conflicts among the Yugoslav Communist Party leaders. When all these failed, then Soviet leader secretary-general Stalin expelled Yugoslavia from the Cominform. The “Communist Information Bureau” had as task, not only to spread communist propaganda to all European countries, but also to co-ordinate the activities of the member communist parties in their struggle against “Anglo-American imperialism”. The conflict between Yugoslavia and Russia led to a great fear among the western nations that in the near future, Russia would use force to “unseat” the government of Yugoslavia and if that was successful, Russia would even order the Red Army to advance into western Europe. Fortunately that did never happen! One of the reasons was that Yugoslav development was assisted by Western aid from the United States and the World Bank. In 1954, Yugoslavia even igned a Balkan Pact for mutual self-defense with Greece and Turkey, both by then members of NATO. Marshalll Tito kept his independence by maintaining ties with both the West and a de-Stalinized Russia. Beginning in the middle 1950s Tito used his so-called "Policy of Nonalignment" to find support outside either Cold War camp. The expansion of trade among the nonaligned states added economic support to political mutual aid. The result was a Yugoslav state that had a Communist regime but was not a Soviet satellite; a socialist economy but not a command economy and a distinctive but influential foreign policy of neutrality, in which the Cold War itself rather than either Super-Power was defined as the enemy. It was in this atmosphere during the winter of 1961-1962 that the young still aspiring Austrian actress accepted the role of “Klara”. During the production of this movie, Marisa Mell was living in the Austrian capital of Vienna. Just like Yugoslavia, Austria was a neutral country but it had a lot to endure of the Cold War being situated on the border of two philosphies: capitalism versus communism. Vienna was therefor a hot spot for spy activities between western and eastern spies and playground for fortune hunters, adventurers, prostitutes... all best portrayed in the classic Orson Welles movie "The Third Man" from a novel by Graham Green. So it was not strange that the producers of "Dr" choose Marisa Mell to play a major central part in their movie! She was from an neutral country Austria in the Cold War conflict. She spoke German as the role required and had also affinity with the Yugoslav culture as a neighbouring country of Austria. Country borders are artifical and family relations do not stop at them so there was a great interaction between citizens of both countries. Last but not least, she had played the role of "Alka" in 1960 in the German movie "Am Galgen hängt die Liebe". In this drama set in 1944 on a Greek mountainside, Greek partisans are fighting German troops when an elderly couple agrees to give a desperate partisan refuge. When the shoe is on the other foot and two German soldiers seek asylum with the same couple, they also shelter them. Marisa Mell played the daughter of the elderly couple in this story and makes quite an impression with her performance! Due to its subject of German soldiers and partisans in connection to their own partisan history, this movie must have been well known at the time in Yugoslavia and the name Marisa Mell had to ring some bells when the producers were casting the part of Klara. The movie was made by the Yugoslavian production and film distribution company Avala Film with seat in Beograd. Under state control they produced about 400 movies from 1947 untill 2000, sometimes in coproduction with European or American companies resulting in films like the 1989 horror film "Beyond the Door III" or the 1997 Brad Pitt starrer "The Dark Side of the Sun". The film was shot in black and white while the main cast spoke Serbo-Croatian, Marisa Mell spoke only German with the exception of a few words in Serbo-Croatian. The film runs for 87 minutes and was directed by a then 40 year old female director Soja Jovanovic. She was the first female director in Yugoslavia and this was her fourth film. After this movie, she made a couple more and but eventually became a full-time director of television series and movies in her home country untill her death in 2002 at the age of 80. As mentioned the cast was mainly constituted of actors of Serbo-Croatian origin except for another German speaking actor Hans Nielsen. Hans Nielsen has a filmography of more than 135 films, among them two Edgar Wallace movies "Die Tür mit dem 7 Schlössern" and "Das Indische Tuch". In this movie he played a German professor of philosophy from Heidelberg and his part is nothing more than a glorified cameo role, probably casted to attract a possible German distribution deal! He died at the age of 54 in 1965 from bone cancer. Another star became after this production famous in Europe and the US namely the actress Beba Loncar. She played the role of the young daughter of the house "Slavka Cvijovic". After this film, Beba Loncar was picked up by German and Italian film producers and relocated to Italy, just like Marisa Mell did in 1965. Together they made in that same year another movie "Casanova 70" with Marcello Mastorianni. Her career lasted more than 40 years untill 1982 with more than 50 movies on her resumé. When the Italian movie industry collapsed around that period due to the rise of commercial television and very bad movie productions she found it was time to retire and devote her life more to her family. Since then she has not disappeared from the public eye but leads a normal low profile life, is very proud of her career and is often interviewed for television and newspapers in Italy and her country Yugoslavia. Looking at the cast today, it strikes one that, from all the cast members playing a major part in the movie, there are only two actors still alive today 47 years after its production! They are Beba Loncar and her film brother "Dr. Milorad Cvijovic" played by Velimir Zivojinovic. He is now 76 years old and had after this movie a rather stellar career, what very few American actors can top, with more than 270 roles behind his name. And even today at his age, he still is working in the industry with two films in production for 2009. "Dr" is based on a comedy theater play written by Branislav Nusic, a Serbian novelist, playwright, satirist, essayist and founder of modern rhetoric in Serbia. Watching this movie you called easily detect its theater origin. The story is build around several acts, not the classic American story structure, but it comes quite close and the set of the movie is almost an identical adaptation of the theater setting. As a viewer you get several times the impression that you as an audience are following a theater play instead of a genuine story written for a movie! (For pictures see my previous "Dr"-entry). The story: It is the harsh cold winter of 1961-1962 in the suburbs of Beograd. All the streets are snowed under except around the mansion of the industrialist Zivota Cvijovic who lives with his wife, son, daughter and a sexy dressed maid who tries to do the housekeeping. The movie opens during the dark early morning hours when the son comes back home from a night out in town and has bought some pretzels for breakfast. He arrives at the villa with his oldtimer during the first hours of the morning when the sun is coming up. Upon entering the house he meets his younger sister who is already active in the library reading a book on the top of a library ladder showing more than the book to the audience. From this scene we know that this is not a typical Eastern Europe communist family or story! The entire movie is rather strange in its build up for a regular family living in Eastern Europe during the Cold War. The son drives an American oldtimer, lives with his parents and sister in an American looking mansion, has a scarcely dressed maid who is trying to seduce him, his father is a very wealthy industrialist (for example he opens several times during the story his wallet filled with big notes to give them to other characters; he donates a roast piglet in the middle of winter to an elderly women...), drinks expensive European and American alcohol, has books by Shakespeare in his library as a cover up for the bar hidden behind the books, his parents and friends are dressed like America in the 30's and dance the Foxtrot and Charleston when giving a party! It is as if their world and the whole story as such is placed in a bubble out of the hard day to day reality, which it probably is remembering the hardship that the common people had to endure under a (semi) communism regime if you didn't belong to the party elite! The first half of the movie is a build up for the central plot which really starts when Marisa Mell (as Klara) shows up on the door step with a little boy. Then the confusion starts. Klara is looking for her husband Dr. Milorad Cvijovic to present him his son! She makes acquitance with the parents of the title character. When she finally meets the son, she is stunned to see that the man before her is not the man she married in Heidelberg, Germany during his studies to become a doctor of philosophy. How can that be? The next hour of the movie is a search for answers how this confusion got started. Klara is taken by Dr Milorad on a quest finding some of these answers! She goes to a conference with him, to a nightclub where a gypsy women is singing two traditional songs, to the house of a friend and finally back home where the parents are giving a party for the son and his future wife, the daughter of the minister of transport. After again a lot of running around and even a kidnapping of Klara by the mistress of the house, the confusion is solved. It seems that during his student time the son of the house did "not" study in Heidelberg but has sent his poor best friend to do the studies and exams for him in exchange for a good payment. So Klara fell in love and married the pauper student and not the son of a wealthy industrialist. At the height of the party, the pauper friend declares his love for Slavka, the daughter of the house, which enrages Klara. But in the end, all is well that end's well: Milorad falls in love with Klara and she with him although he is no doctor anymore but still the wealthy son of an industrialst. His sister Slavka gets to marry the man of her dreams although he is poor but has the title of doctor of philosophy. Conclusion: Love and an academic degree can not be bought, not even in a (semi) communist country like Yugoslavia! Watching this movie you see immediately the influence of German movies from that time like the Edgar Wallace, family or heimat films. All these movies have the same structure, build up and camera angles. They project a wholesome view of life where, although there may be some trouble or confusion, everything will come out fine in the end. In the beginning of the sixties, not many people had television or those who had could only receive a few networks! So an evening out meant always going to the movies and later diner or dancing. These kind of movies got made by the buck load and are all interchangeable and mostly nothing special. What makes this movie special is, as mentioned, that the movie got lost for more than 45 years and has a very young Marisa Mell in the cast. The appearance of Marisa Mell is also quite the opposite of the women you get to see a few years later when she started living in Italy. She is a very classic dressed German women! Later she would become more open, more a women of the world. So living in Rome does change one's appearance! The movie can be ordered from this distributor in Yugoslavia:

http://www.yu4you.com/items/en/dvd/item_484.html

The "Number One" couple!

Dear reader, this entry for now will be the last entry because I am going abroad for the month of February 09. I will probably be back at the end of that month! Therefore I have made a longer entry than normal so you have a little something to read during my absence! I'll send you all a postcard from Marrakech (Marocco)! Enjoy! Mirko di Wallenberg

Marisa Mell was a beautiful 26 year old young women in 1965 when the sixties were in full swing. She was enjoying her life very much. Things were finally coming together. Her career was in the lift after her latest movie “Masquerade” with international stars Cliff Robertson and Jack Hawkins. Dreams of being an international movie star, what she always wished for from the first day she entered drama school in Vienna, were becoming a reality. Important producers were taking notice of the Austrian actress with the chess nut brown long hair, the piercing emerald green eyes and voluptious lips. Austria and Germany, untill then her most important movie markets, were becoming to claustrophobic. Life had so much more to offer on each level and Marisa Mell longed to discover it all, one way or the other. She was ready for the next big step in her career and life! So when the offer came from producer Carlo Ponti, husband of actress Sophia Loren, to work in Rome (Italy) for the production of his next movie “Casanova 70” with Italian mega star Marcello Mastroianni she could not believe her luck. Although her part in the movie was a gloryfied one, with other Euro stars like Michèle Mercier of “Angelique” fame and future co-star Virna Lisi, in “Le Dolci Signore” (1968), it was definitely an A-movie so it could be a major boost for her career.

When arriving in Rome, Marisa Mell was not the only Austrian actor there at that moment. Among the incrowd was also her fellow country man Helmut Berger who had arrived in Rome in 1964 after having spend several years in swinging London. He also wanted more from life than his endeavors in London. Shortly after being in Italy, Helmut Berger had, on a fatefull day, an encounter that would change his life completely forever. Together with a friend he made a stop in Voltera, near Florence, on his way to Assisi, where he would study the architecture. During their lunch break, Luchino Visconti, a world famous Italian director, was filming his latest movie “Sandra” with Italian star Claudia Cardinale not far from the restaurant. Helmut Berger watched the filming during the entire day and at the end of that day, Visconti made acquantaince with the beautiful young man. Visconti, officially “Don Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Duc of Lonate Pozzolo”, was a member of one of the most important and wealthy aristocratic families in Italy. He fell in love with Helmut Berger within days after their chance meeting and they became lovers in a marriage like relationship untill his untimely death in 1976. Due to his liaison with Visconti, Helmut Berger had immediate access to money, wealth, jet-set and the aristocratic circles in Rome of the sixties. When looking back it is ironic to see on the Visconti weapon the dragon snake (symbol of the Visconti family since the 14th century) eating his enemy. After the death of Luchino Visconti, Helmut Berger was immediately dropped by the family and left in the cold with very little money due to the absence of a testament by his partner. The years following this tragedy Helmut Berger needed more than 10 years to recover from the loss of his partner. Alcohol and drugs were for a very long time his only home. Since that day his career went nowhere and even today he has never reached the heights again that it had as an actor when working with his lover. Their movies like "The Damned" and "Ludwig" are regarded today as true modern classics at the top of European cinema! So in the mid sixties two Austrian actors came to the Eternal City! You can imagine that for Marisa Mell coming from a mostly rainy dreary city like Vienna, Rome was the capital of sunshine and modern life. Freedom in every way! The best of it all was that she was getting payed for staying, working and partying. How much better could life become??? After work, it was party time in warm fashionable Rome! The Italians always knew how to party and enjoy life to the fullest. Being a beautiful women, even to Italian standards, the Italian jet-set composed of aristocracy, artists, playboys and playgirls, politics and gangers fell quickly in love with "La Mell" . They embraced her as one of their own and she became very quickly after her arrival the talk of the town. The invitations to exclusive gatherings, partys, clubs and night clubs came in by the buck load. So after her arrival she met her fellow country man Helmut Berger in those cirlces, befriended him and with his connections to a member of the Visconti family it opened many doors for her also. They were at that moment the most beautiful couple in town. Who could beat them??? It was only natural that they were attracted to each other! Beauty attracks beauty! But that was not enough! The best was yet to come for Marisa Mell when she met, probably thanks to Helmut Berger and his artistocratic circle, the most wanted playboy of all in Rome with the name "Pier Luigi Torri". He was a fixture in Roman society at that moment. He was a young, eligible bachelor from an aristocratic family, just like Luchino Visconti. As a young man he was involved in the production of several soft-porn Italian movies. Whenever his picture appeared in the Italian yellow press, he was listed as "Torri, the movie producer". In reality however, Torri was one of those people who were mostly famous for being famous. His background, style and propensity for trouble all made him an eminently reportable personality. As mentioned Pier Luigi Torri was known as a grand playboy and a jet-set figure. He seemed to spend his time in the most glittering and expensive casinos and nightclubs in Italy and Monte Carlo. He won and lost millions of Italian lira at the gambling tables. He owned several houses and villa's, his yacht was reported to be one of the largest and fanciest in the world. The story goes that one time he was approched by Prince Rainier of Monaco to buy the yacht! Torri refused and got the wrath of the Prince for the rest of his life. He drove Rolls-Royces and Ferraris. Another story from 1963 tells from an evening at a nightclub "Cabala" in Monte Carlo were Torri gratuitously insulted a woman who approached him in the club. When he didn't get the appropriate response to his insult, he escalated the abuse further until a gentleman in her group threw a punch at Torri. To escape the attack, Torri, who was more a lover like Casanova, not a fighter, fled by leaping over people and tables, as he went, all eyes in the club were upon him. Once across the room he climbed some stairs to a small door and lunged through it. The door however, was not an exit from the club but rather an access port to the building's chimney. Torri re-emerged covered in soot, dizzy from smoke and with singed hair. The clientele roared with laughter and applauded his comeuppance. The incident was reported in all the newspapers next day. From that day, Torri became the star of the Italian society press. Meeting this man was for Marisa Mell a revelation. Not only was he extremely wealthy but he was the man of her dreams. The beginning of a very turbulant relationship was eminent. Deep down they were what we now call soul mates and they were made for each other untill the very end! Torri and his business partner Bino Cicogna always had a dream of running their own nightclub. A club that would be truly unique. First they located an obsolete war ship and planned to place it fully-refurbished with all amenities in the harbour at Basilia. Their plan was to create an exclusive gambling casino for the European trash/cash set. Their idea gave a great deal of press coverage to Torri and Cicogna as they attempted to put the deal together. It didn't work out in the end ! One of the fancier clubs in Rome at the time was called "Number One" located on the now famous Via Veneto. This nightclub was the place to be during the height of the dolce vita. This is where Torri and Bino spent much of their time. The club was managed by another well known playboy called "Vassallo". Vassallo attended artfully to the whims and fancies of his want for nothing clientele. Years before Club 54 in New York, he pioneered the practice of roping off part of the club for the exclusive use of those who qualified as VIPs. Marisa Mell and Pier Luige Torri were on top of that list. So they had always free entrance. In the mid sixties, next to partying, another ugly beast begane to raise its head: The Big C. or Cocaine. A nightclub as "Number One" could not resist this temptation. The motto was: "What the costomer wanted, the customer got". Cocaine became the fancy drug. The jet-set believed that it enhanced love-making and the wide-open sexual practices. Orgies and every variation on love making was the centre piece of a lot of conversations and activities. People seated in the VIP lounge could signal their desire for some white powder by ordering certain code drinks. For example a gin fizz would bring the drink to the table but also a packet of coke costing an additional fiftythousand Italian lira (a lot of money at that time in regard to a normal monthly pay check). Bino Cicogna, Torri's partner, became totally involved in the 'coke' scene with an addiction so great that his nose and mouth began to show signs of collapse and disintegration. Bino was so far gone that he made a final desperate attempt to divorce himself from the drug and the entire scene that was destroying him. He fled to Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). Within a few weeks after his arrival in Brazil, he was found dead, with his head inside a plastic bag in an oven. After investigation, the conclusion was that he committed suicide in despair of his failure to cure himself. There was much speculation that Bino had been murdered because a clean, rehabilitated and sober Cicogna Bino would return to Italy to expose or denounce drug distribution at "Number One". Torri was devastated by the loss of his best friend and firmly believed he had been murdered. Not content to grieve alone, he went to the club one night and positioned himself in a prominent place. Calling for silence he announced to the assembled visitors that, Bino Cicogna was dead. "He was my greatest friend." He did not stop there. On and on he went with his rhapsody of grief accusing his listeners of being the cause of Bino's death. Finally, in a histrionic frenzy, he raged at the crowd, "I will destroy all of you!" The link between Bino Cicogna's supposed drug-related death and Torri's accusation at Number One solidified the rumors flying around Rome that drugs were being served in the club. It was the beginning of the end of the club. The police finally decided to act on the accusations. One night while Vassallo was away in Paris (France), the nightclub was raided. Cocaine was found on the premises. Many people in the club were arrested, many of them rich, influential and famous. A police investigation was commenced into all regular patrons of "Number One". The police anxiously awaited Vassallo's return to Rome. They staked out all the airports hoping to apprehend him. He arrived at Fiumicino Airport and the police followed him as he drove his yellow Volkswagen to his lawyer's office. When Vassallo went inside, the police removed his car and conducted a search. Under the car battery, they discovered a sizable quantity of cocaine. Subsequently, they claimed that the chemical composition of the drug in Vassallo's car was exactly the same as that found in the nightclub. He was immediately taken into custody for questioning. He had an exculpatory explanation for the drugs. He told the police and the media was, "I've been framed. Torri hates me. He planted the drugs in my car and at the club to make good on his threat to destroy me." The judicial system in Italy now had a big, big problem. On one side they had the arrest of all the customers in Number One for using drugs an a large scale in a public place because Number One was not a private club. On the other side they had the new allegations about Torri planting the cocaine.

So they needed to clarify the latter first if they would gone on with the first. Another problem was that among the 300+ arrested guests were a lot of very, very prominent Italian and Roman high society people from all sectors of life going from entertainment over government to politics and old aristocracy! It was media frenzy! The sharks smelled blood. Gossip galore in Rome, Italy and the world and Marisa Mell with her lover were in the middle of it! The public became into two camps: "Everyone is guilty or everyone is innocent." The latter group believed Torri was behind the frame-up of all these influential people. The conclusion by the authorities was then quickly made. Soon after the investigation against Torri began, it was determined that he should stand trial on the allegations that he planted the drugs. Then something strange happened with Pier Luigi Torri! He got a superiority fixation. Torri made himself hated wherever he went. He even enraged one of the judges by parking his Rolls-Royce in the judge's personal parking space. And the case went more stranger! One day, a young, beautiful woman arrived at the courthouse. She said she had evidence to give. She was led into the chambers to make her declaration but instead of talking, she produced a tape deck. She advised the court that her evidence was recorded on tape and she wished to play it for them. On the tape was a voice which everyone in the courtroom recognized immediately: "The chief judge/prosecutor of Rome". The court was hushed as all the assembled heard the voice say, "If you love me again one more time like this, very soon I'll let your boy out." That was too much of the case. The Italian papers had a field day, trumpeting the scandal upon scandal on this case. The prosecutor's office was in turmoil. The officials were very embarrassed and angry, not at the chief prosecutor, but rather, at the persons who would go to such lengths to bring the prosecutor's office into disrepute. It took little time for the prosecutor's office to announce their official response to the tape: a trap designed specifically to destroy the reputation of the chief judge. There was evidence that Torri had instigated the making of the tape and he was now charged with "defamation of a judge". In 1968, after a full year of trial on the original drug charge, Torri was acquitted. On the defamation charge however, he was convicted and a prison term was imposed. His lawyer Bombara immediately appealed the decision and Torri was allowed to remain free while the appeal was heard. Bombara called Torri into his office and told him he would fight like a tiger for him but he must be prepared for the worst as the politics of this case were clearly against him. On the day of the appeal Bombara went before the judges and argued the case with everything he had. During a break in the proceedings he telephoned Torri to update him on how things were going. It was to late Torri had left Italy. He could not face the prospect of jail. Bombara knew that unless the appeal was successful, Torri would probably remain a fugitive. The appellate court voted to uphold the conviction. Of the many prominent people awaiting trial on the drug charges arising from the Number One case, all had their trials stayed indefinitely once Torri's appeal was upheld and he had fled Italy. Torri was about the only friendly witness for the prosecution's case about drug activities at the club. With Torri's conviction he was now a criminal, and could not be a credible witness. And, with his absence, there was no chance of his testifying at all. It was a most convenient result for the beautiful people who had been under investigation. So after the whole story was over and done with for now where did this leave Marisa Mell in all of this? Glad you asked! As you can imagine, the whole story did not do her any good. Officially her relationship with Pier Luigi Torri ran from 1966 untill 1969. During this periode she made some of her best remembered movies like "New York Chiama Superdrago", "Les Dolci Signori", "Danger: Diabolik!" and of course "Una Sull'Altra". She was pretty busy and productive! She could set her mind on her work and not on the pending court case of her still beloved partner. Although I have never read anything about it but in the logical string of events Marisa Mell could have been arrested also together with the other guests of Number One. On the other hand she could have been very, very lucky and not be in the nightclub on the moment of the arrests because she was working abroad to do her movies or on the set somewhere in Italy away from Rome! I think the latter happened! Fact is she was devastated! Her world must have cumbled down and shattered. Altough Marisa Mell was known as a very loyal friend and partner there must have been a moment in the whole history that she got into a conflict of concience! Choose between her own life and safety or follow the man she still loved! Marisa Mell was inside still a women from Austria from simple background who became an international actress in Rome. The one thing she could never have imagined was that she would be thrown into a world of absolute wealth, politics, secret agenda's, power and corruption. It must have been way above her league. For Torri and his friends and partners, it was something that was a way of life they knew all their life! Glamour, top end jewels and couture fashion is one thing but be confronted with the pitts of hell of human behaviour is another thing. What was she going to do? At one point in 1971, Torri must have asked Marisa Mell to choose for him and their love, or for that what was still left! In case, "come with me abroad". In other words probably give up her movie career and passion and become a fugitive with him forever in another country that would not extradite them to Italy! Fortunately Marisa Mell did not choose that way of life and stayed in Italy while Torri ran to Monaco! But that was not all she had to endure. Something much more worst did happen during her relationship with Torri that affects every women in the profoundest way possible, into the heart of being a women: pregnancy and marriage! In hindsight, Marisa Mell never had any children, although in some stage of her life she would have loved being a mother. It never did happen but during the 1966-1969 periode, she got pregnant from Pier Luigi Torri! That is a known fact! What is not known is the way how that pregnancy ended either by miscarriage or by an abortion. Several theories go around. Some people state that Marisa Mell, around 1968/1969 at the height of the case, had a miscarriage due to the stress of the Torri Case. Others state that this was not the case but that she had an abortion under pressure of Torri who would not have a child at this moment in his life! Generally excepted is that she had a miscarriage! Abortion in a ultra catholic land like Italy and Rome as the seat the Catholic church was out of the question, and surely not by an internationally known famous actress. And if that wasn't enough mystery, there was the case of the marriage with Torri! A lot of people in the vicinity of Marisa Mell state that at one time during their relationship she was married in secret with Torri. Other say that this was her deepest wish but that it didn't happen. Whatever the case not much can be found about it. Marisa Mell has, to my knowledge, never confirmed it officially that she was married to Torri and the yellow press never had any article about an official divorce or annulment. Fact is that Marisa Mell and Pier Luige Torre made one movie together in 1970, a year before his escape, and during the procedures of the trail, called "Senza via d'uscida". Although this movie is regarded as one of her best movies, it was a flop commercially! After the escape, Marisa Mell tried to continue her life in Rome without her soul partner. It was a hard time but there was already another man appearing on the horizon who would also make a big impression on her, but that is another story. What did happen to Torri in Monaco. Well, remember, the conflict with Prince Rainier over the yacht of Torri. Prince Rainier finally found a way to pay Torri back by arresting him. After one of his outings on sea with his yacht, customs waited for him on shore and did very thorough sweep and found one hundred million undeclared liras in a safe. Torri was put behind bars. The trial was held in Nice (France). At the trial the lawyers were able to show that Torri had been denied the required statutory time limit to make a proper declaration. His yacht had entered the harbor at 1:00 am in the morning. The raid and seizure occurred in the early hours of the same day before he was legally required to complete his declaration. Torri was found not guilty. Torri left Monaco and went on living in London. Several years later, while living in London, Torri met Adnan Khassogi, a new but important player in the international social scene. Khassogi was reputed to be an arms dealer who had apparently accumulated a vast fortune. He heard about Torri's beautiful yacht and he asked Torri whether a friend of his, an Arabian Prince, could use his boat for a week's cruise out of Gibraltar. Khassogi was prepared to pay a very handsome sum to charter the vessel and so Torri agreed to the proposal. Unfortunately, a significant cultural gap existed about the proper activities that could occur on board his yacht. When it was returned to Torri, it had been desecrated. Mahogany cupboards and drawers had been ripped out to feed the open fires made on the teak deck to cook meals of goat and lamb. Several animals had been brought on board to be kept in a stateroom until they were slaughtered. Accoutrements such as the fine cutlery, dishes and glassware had been lost or broken. When Torri surveyed the damage he was appalled and outraged. Torri was a man given to extremes at the best of times. Doubtless the blowup between himself and Khassogi was a memorable one. Eventually he sued Khassogi for the cost of repairs to his vessel and was awarded damages. But Khassogi, despite his reputed wealth, simply refused to pay. The two men became bitter and openly hostile to one another. They developed a hatred toward each other that ran deep. Each would slight or insult the other whenever they accidentally crossed paths in London. Then in august 1977, at the height of his conflict with Khassogi, Torri got arrested again in the UK. Torri always told people around him that the political influence of Khassogi as an arms dealer was behind his arrest.

But Torri wouldn't be Torri. He escaped justice in Italia once so could he do it again in the UK? Yes. During his hearing he was able to escape with two other Italian inmates at the court of justice via the ventilation shaft in the men's toilets. After much trouble he got to New York. Relying on some loyal friends he could rebuild some kind of life again for himself in disguise. Unfortunately he could not long enjoy his new found freedom.

In March of 1979, two years later after his escape in the UK, the FBI got a tip! They quickly found his whereabouts. He was spectactulary arrested in New York around Central Park and Fifth Avenue. The media had a field day! Torri was extradited to Italy and was sentenced to seven years in prison for all his actions during the past years. After being released from jail, it seems as if Pier Luigi Torri has disappeared from the face the earth. Nothing has been heard from him ever since. Is he alive or dead nobody knows?