A businessman named John Alexander learns that his wealthy wife Helen has died in a car accident. After mourning, he runs afoul of some shady characters who lead him to believe that his wife is still alive.
Cast
Cast information from the book Riccardo Freda: The Life and Works of a Born Filmmaker.[1]
During the later part of director Riccardo Freda's career, the director began attempting commercially viable genres.[4] Freda met with Italian producer Oreste Coltellacci who set up a deal with the German company Rialto who created several work in the German subgenre called the krimi.[4] The krimis were inspired by the works of Edgar Wallace and had been popular since Harald Reinl's film Der Frosch mit der Maske (1959)[4] In Germany, the film was promoted as being based on Das Gesicht im Dunkeln by Edgar Wallace.[4] This was done for commercial reasons as the script had nothing to do with the book.[4] The original story for the film was developed by Lucio Fulci, Romano Migliorini and Gianbattista Mussetto.[4] The film's screenplay is credited to Freda and Austrian-born Paul Hengge.[4] According to Giusti, Fulci wrote the first treatment.[5] Fulci would claim in an interview in 1994 that he wrote the film for Freda.[4][6] He disliked the film, stating that Freda had "completely crushed it down to a pulp; at that time, he just didn't care anymore."[6][7] Fulci would revisit Double Face's central theme ― of a man learning that his wife has seemingly faked her death ― in his own film One on Top of the Other (1969).[8]
When casting the film, Freda met with Klaus Kinski in Rome where Kinski initially refused to be in the film not wanting to play another psychopathic character.[9] Freda convinced him to take the role after learning he would play the part of a victim instead.[9]
Double Face was shot between 20 January and 15 March 1969 at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome and on location in London and Liverpool.[1] Freda and Kinski did not get along on set, with Freda referring to him as "the Crown Prince of Assholes"[9] and eventually proceeding to shoot the film with a Kinski double he found on the set of a Federico Fellini film.[9] When Kinski found out about this, he put aside his differences and continued working on the film.[9]
Release
Double Face was released in West Germany on 4 July 1969 under the title of Das Gesicht im Dunkeln (lit. The Face in the Dark) with an 80 minute runtime.[2][1][10] It was distributed in West Germany by Constantin Film GmbH.[2] It was released theatrically in Italy as A doppia faccia on 26 July 1969 where it was distributed by Panta with a 90 minute runtime.[1][10] The film grossed 175,626,000 Italian lire domestically in Italy.[1][10]
It was released later in France as Liz et Helen (lit.'Liz and Helen') and also with added adult scenes involving actress Alice Arno as Chaleur et Jouissance (lit.'Heat and Pleasure').[11] It was released in the United States as Puzzle of Horrors.[10]
Reception
Film critic Marco Giusti writes that Kinski "is mad, hysterical, but dominates the film", remembers the nice intrigue around Kinski's character, and praises the lesbian scenes.[7]
Legacy
Novelist and film historian Tim Lucas has cited the scene in which John Alexander watches a stag film starring Christine and a woman he believes to be Helen due to a scar on the back of her neck as an inspiration for his 1994 novel Throat Sprockets.[12]
Notes
^Although "Double Face" is a literal translation of A doppia faccia, Tim Lucas has suggested that more precise interpretations of the Italian title include "Double-Sided" or "Duplicitous".[3]
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