Bluebeard

A disappointing film version of the Bluebeard tale, with Richard Burton at his most colorless. The picture works neither as a straightforward horror flick (it has barely any suspense) nor as a tongue-in-cheek black comedy, although there hints of attempts at that direction, too (especially in the Raquel Welch segment). It's also quite long, and made somewhat indifferently. As for the women, I'd say that Nathalie Delon and Agostina Belli steal the show. (**)

I never thought I'd see a movie featuring the likes of Richard Burton and Virna Lisi be stolen by the likes of Joey Heatherton, but here it is. BLUEBEARD, directed by the venerable hack Edward Dmytryk, has some fun things in it, but Burton as the legendary wife killer is not one of them. Is he Welsh? German? French? Who knows? His wives appear to come from every corner of the world --- his latest being Heatherton, as a showgirl on a European tour. She uncovers his secret and is soon acting like Nancy Drew in a mini skirt even though the film is set shortly after WWI. Some of this is amusing, none of it is very good and Burton is very bad. With Raquel Welch as a nymphomaniac nun and Nathalie Delon, who names her breasts (it's that kind of movie).

It's almost impossible to find the words to describe exactly how bad this film is. Or to describe how much fun it was to watch. Bluebeard is the story of a German Baron (Richard Burton) who has a, well, blue beard. When Joey Heatherington finds out that he has killed a series of wives and hidden the bodies she realizes that she is next. In attempt to delay the inevitable she gets the Baron to tell his story. What follows is a primer in how not to pick a girl. The dialogue is phony, the accents are terrible but the women are all beautiful and (at least partially) disrobed. Maybe not the intent but this movie is a great example of a 1970's campy sex movie. Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

"Bluebeard" is neither a masterpiece nor a memorable movie. It is an outdated film... Nevertheless, more than thirty years later, it is still entertaining and funny. Why? Because this 1972 version of the "Bluebeard" story -a wealthy charming psychopathic who kills his wives- is full of sarcasm, with a light horror touch. In this movie Richard Burton, who plays an insane, is once again a great leading man, surrounded by a group of sexy actresses at the height of their beauty (Raquel Welch, Virna Lisi, Nathalie Delon, Agostina Belli, Marilù Tolo, ...). The film is deliberately and elegantly kitsch... Watch the production design, the colours, the hunt scenes and the killing scenes -everything is filmed in a cynical and sardonic way. The film has quite a luxurious package, it's like a psycho-erotic endless game. "Bluebeard" has no place in the movie history, I think it is an underrated film. But it has good points, even if it looks its age. To me it is a cult movie.