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Short Night of Glass Dolls: Deluxe Limited Edition
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - 88 Films Review written by and copyright: Eric Cotenas (10th February 2025). |
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The Film
 The body of a young man is found in a public park in Prague, his eyes open and staring. He is pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital and moved to the morgue. The medical staff discover that the man is Gregory Moore (One on Top of the Other's Jean Sorel), an American reporter working for the foreign press. What they do not know, however, is that he is not dead… or, at least, he does not believe he is dead. Able to see the doctors but unable to speak or move, Moore tries to recall how he got there even as he is wheeled into cold storage. When he was alive and well, Moore was planning on transferring to London and using his diplomatic ties to help get lover Mira (Black Belly of the Tarantula's Barbara Bach) out of the country with him. After they attend an upscale party in which Mira attracts much attention – as well as the jealousy of Moore's colleague and ex-lover Jessica (The Damned's Ingrid Thulin) – Moore is called away from their bed by colleague Jacques (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage's Mario Adorf) to what turns out to be a false tip and returns to discover that Mira has vanished. While Jessica, Jacques, and Party official Valinski (Who Saw Her Die?'s José Quaglio) suggest that it is possible that she just ran off, even the fact that all of Mira's clothes, her purse, and her passport were left behind is not enough to convince Kommissar Kierkoff (Stagefright's Piero Vida) that foul play was involved. Although Moore is warned not to get involved by Kierkoff, he starts investigating and discovers a string of disappearances of young women who shared common interests with Mira that takes him to the mysterious Klubb 99 whose clientele have a passion for chamber music, butterflies, and something else. Back in the morgue, Moore cardiologist friend notes that Ivan (Relja Basic) notes that the corpse's body temperature has not dropped and consults a colleague (Fabijan Sovagovic) who has scientifically determined that all living organisms (even tomatoes) demonstrate sensitivity to pain stimuli. The directorial debut of Aldo Lado (Night Train Murders) – a much more auspicious one than Umberto Lenzi's The Man From Deep River which Lado penned and was slated to helm – Short Night of Glass Dolls eschews the giallo particulars of black gloved killers and an onscreen body count of pretty girls for the paranoia of surveillance and conspiracy of such thrillers as The Third Man. Whether they are responsible for Mira's disappearance and/or death, the monsters of the film are the wealthy and powerful in a world where the young cannot even imagine a future while the old try to blot out the past, where "the old bang the drum and the young go to battle" and the greatest threat to the order of things is the "awakening of conscience." Early in the film, Mira gifts Moore with framed butterflies, a particular species that possesses no instinct to fly. Ennio Morricone (The Stendhal Syndrome) provides some typically chilly dissonant strings and disembodied voices, while the more lyrical side of the score also seems to echo the Carol Reed film's zither theme more so than the giallo genre's lullaby themes. The photography of Gisueppe Ruzzolini (Teoroma) draws little attention to itself apart from scenes in Moore's apartment in which the now cliché use of shadows cast by Venetian blinds in front of a cool blue moonlight source seem to be channeling Vittorio Storaro's work on BBernardo Bertolucci's The Conformist on which Lado served as assistant director. While the supporting cast is largely Czech, Luciano Catenacci (Kill, Baby... Kill!) appears as a morgue attendant. 
Video
Unreleased theatrically in the United States, Short Night of Glass Dolls was released on panned-and-scanned videotape by Gorgon Video under the title "Paralyzed". Its first widescreen release was from Anchor Bay separately and as part of The Giallo Collection, and was subsequently reissued by Blue Underground. While this giallo arrived on DVD relatively early, it was long in coming to Blu-ray, with German company Camera Obscura rejecting an earlier HD master and delaying their release a number of times before putting out a two-disc special edition in 2015 that could not include the English dub track due to rights but featured English subtitles for the film, commentary tracks, and extras (a standard edition was issued in 2017). In 2016, 88 Films in the UK put out a Blu-ray which included the English track (in addition to Italian with subtitles) but was barebones. That transfer was different from the German one, revealing more picture information on the sides during the first reel and then more or less on almost a shot by shot basis next to the German edition and without the blue filter used in a few instances like th meeting in Gregory's apartment (it may indeed have been the earlier master Camera Obscura rejected). In the U.S., Twilight Time released a Blu-ray in 2018 from the same master but with an isolated score option and an exclusive commentary (although the stereo soundtrack CD would be a better choice). 88 Films' 2160p24 HEVC 2.35:1 Dolby Vision widescreen 4K UltraHD and 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen Blu-ray come from a new 4K scan of the original camera negative. Grading-wise, the new transfer looks more similar to the U.K./U.S. master although a tad brighter but without that heavy blue filter seen on the German master during the Venetian blind sequence; indeed, while red and greens are more saturated here, blues are generally lighter when it comes to gels and its appearance in the wardrobe and decor. Skin tones are more varied here without the yellow tinge of the SD master that made Thulin look sickly and Adorf spray-tanned; here, Thulin looks less ghostly than in the earleir HD master while Sorel's pallor during his morgue scenes seems to be more an effect of the lighting rahter than any make-up to make him look "dead." Blacks are satisfyingly deeper here than on the Blu-ray although there are limits due to the reduced size of the Techniscope negative – which utilizes spherical lenses and a two perf height frame rather than four creating a widescreen image without anamorphic lenses that would then be enlarged and anamorphically-squeezed to 4-perf from the interpositive onwards (although the ability to a raw scan of the two-perf negative does allow more latitude for cleanup and grading – and HDR viewing does give also give more of a sense of depth during the climax with its predominately stygian backgrounds in which there is a bit more delineation of color as lighted faces and bodies fall off into shadow. The protagonist being mesmerized by the glint of light off the crystal chandelier on his face is a much more effectively rendered here than in the earlier transfers. 
Audio
Audio options include English and Italian LPCM 2.0 mono tracks with their respective English SDH transcription and English subtitle translation. Dialogue is post-dubbed on both tracks and the sound design is occasionally creative but not overly ambitious with Morricone's score doing much of the work to underline the suspense; indeed, some of the music cues that were lower in the mix are more apparent here, aiding some of the more unsubtle dialogue in conveying that much of the film's events are recollected by the protagonist so some remarks stand out more than they may have at the time.
Extras
Unlike some boutique 4K/Blu-ray combos, both discs feature the full array of extras starting with an audio commentary by Italian cinema experts Troy Howarth, Nathaniel Thompson and Eugenio Ercolani who discuss the origins of the project, revealing that the original setting was Sardinia and, in debating whether it is really a giallo or not, echoed some of the paranoia and concerns over organized crime in Italy at the time, and that had it not been moved to Eastern Europe the result might have been more conventional. They also draw literary and cinematic parallels including Polanski's contemporary quasi-Satanic paranoia and conspiracy films and some of the gialli with subplots involving cults. Ercolani describes Lado's earlier screenwriting career as more of a script doctor and that he turned down several offers to produce Short Night of Glass Dolls because he wanted to direct it himself – including one by Carlo Ponti via Antonio Margheriti (Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye) – along with his experiences as an assistant director, particularly for Maurizio Lucidi who also wanted to do the film (Ercolani also debunks the rumor that Lado was the true director of Lucidi's The Designated Victim despite shared themes and visual style). He also provides background on the film's producer Enzo Doria who produced some left-wing films in the sixties before entering into a partnership with Ovidio G. Assonitis from Who Saw Her Die? onwards, as well as pondering whether credited editor Mario Morra (Cinema Paradiso) did indeed perform that function since the paperwork on the film cites Franco Arcalli (Death Laid an Egg) as the editor. Howarth astutely observes that the film is such an assured debut that it would have been easier to imagine that the more conventional Who Saw Her Die? had been the "playing it safe" debut and this film the more experimental follow-up. Thompson also notes the conceptual inspiration in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "Breakdown" and reveals that the 1985 remake of that episode seems to be more indebted to Lado's film including the darker ending.  "When Butterflies Turned to Glass" (26:19) is a new interview with director Lado (who died in 2023) in which he discusses his youth, arriving in Venice with his family after the war when their properties in Yugoslavia were seized, falling in love with cinema through the Italian-subtitled Hollywood musicals and Allied propaganda films he skipped classes to see (interestingly, he reveals that he met Ernest Hemingway at Harry's Bar which was also frequented by Tinto Brass who ended up marrying the proprietor's daughter Carla Cipriani who became his longest creative collaborator as well). He studied law but still wanted to go into film and ended up in France where he was initially a quota hire as an assistant director on the French/Italian co-production Five Miles to Midnight where he impressed director Anatole Litvak who promoted him to first assistant director and also kept him throughout the post-production phase. He recalls going from assisting Bertolucci to directing Short Night of Glass Dolls and then back to assisting Bertolucci on the pre-production of Last Tango in Paris before producer Enzo Doria told him that German producer Dieter Geissler wanted him to direct Who Saw Her Die? which was intended to be directed by its screenwriter Francesco Barilli – who would make his directorial debut two years later with The Perfume of the Lady in Black – and that his contribution to the film as director was stocking it with more authentically Venetian characters as well as striking locations unknown to visiting filmmakers. "Glass Doll Theories" (9:54) is a new video essay by film historian Pier Maria Bocchi who focuses on the Eastern European setting and its attraction to Italians via the more serious strain of spy films from farther west as opposed to the more scenic backdrops of the Bond films and the lighthearted Eurospy fare. Although Bocchi unfortunately misidentifies Sorel's protagonist as being played by Antonio Sabato (Seven Blood-Stained Orchids), he does highlight some of the other examples of Italian genre film set in the Eastern Bloc including The Church shot quite blatantly in Budapest but set in Germany and The Spider Labyrinth which also features a more overtly supernatural cult. "Lado's Trilogy of Terror" (17:23) is a somewhat facetious video essay by film historian Mike Foster convering Lado's first three genre films Short Night of Glass Dolls, Who Saw Her Die?, and Night Train Murders in which he too debates whether the film at hand is a giallo while noting that although the genre allowed for experimentation, his sophomore effort suffers by adhering to the trappings of the genre. With Lado's third genre film, however, the rape-revenge template allowed him to better explore class warfare and the continuing theme of the wealthy exploiting and manipulating the young and the poor (oddly, no one in the set covers Lado's later genre films Love Ritual, Dark Friday, or Circle of Fear). "Paralyzed by Fear" (23:10) is an interview with expert Stephen Thrower whose coverage of the film focuses more on the real life origins and the intended Sardinian setting as well as some much-needed context of the rest of Lado's filmography which moved back and forth between personal and frothy fare including a few sex comedies, Woman Buried Alive which is actually a swashbuckler rather than a horror film or thriller – despite Lado using the term to figuratively describe one of the real life personages who inspired Short Night of Glass Dolls – and The Humanoid, a poor science fiction effort intended to compete with American blockbusters on which Lado was fired early on.  Ported over from the German release are a quartet of substantial interviews starting with "The Need to Sing" (21:56) with singer Edda dell'Orso who discusses her music training and working with various pop and film music personalities including the "Cantori Moderni" of Alessandro Alessandroni – who provided choir and some solo voices and instruments for Morricone scores – and her husband orchestrator Giacomo dell'Orso, as well as her preference for the sort of wordless singing that she is known for in Italian genre scores. In "Cutting Glass Dolls" (23:54), editor Morra recalls finding his footing in editing through Sergio Montanari and working under Mario Sarandrei and Roberto Cinquini with whom he shared an affinity for cutting to music and through which he ended up working under Mondo Cane filmmakers Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi, landing solo editing jobs due to the workloads of those he was assisting, taking over jobs, and being recommended when Sarandrei died. Of Short Night of Glass Dolls, he recalls deploying experimental editing techniques that he had been developing on other lesser-seen films. Also ported over, and heavily-referenced by other participants on the disc in the absence of the late Lado, is "Czech Mate" (101:14), an extensive interview with Lado who goes into more detail about his inspirations for the film, the many producers who had offered to make the film and the reasons he turned them down before Doria approached him, and vetoing the casting of well-known Terence Hill who wanted the ending changed. He also recalls his frustration about not being able to arrange a Czech co-production deal but realizing that Zagreb had the same kind of "frozen" feeling as Prague and Venice in terms of its architecture but also getting to shoot two days in Prague under the guise of a documentary through the Yugoslavian producers and bribing the local Czech crew. He also discusses the casting, including Thulin who suffered an eye injury due to Ruzzolini's Venetian blind lighting of the apartment sequence, and working multiple times with Adorf as well as Morricone. He also touches upon how Who Saw Her Die? came about with German producer Geissler wanting to work with no one else but Lado. Sorel turns up just long enough to reveal that he has never seen the film because he was exasperated by the producer not paying him; however, he does recall shooting in Zagreb and Prague with Thulin and Adorf and has good memories of Lado. In "Einmal Italien und zurück [Once to Italy and Back]" (30:17), co-producer Geissler recalls getting into movies through acting, starring in and partially funding the feature 48 Stunden bis Acapulco, the festival play of which lead to him meeting Pim de la Parra and Martin Scorcese and both starring in and co-producing Obsessions, the Italian box office of which lead to him setting up production in Italy and turning down the lead in Lado's film but providing the German funding. He also provides a breakdown of the co-production contributions including sales and distribution. The disc closes with the English international trailer (3:06) and an Italian theatrical trailer (3:05). 
Packaging
The combo is presented in a rigid slipcase featuring new artwork by Graham Humphreys, a double-sided poster and a perfect-bound book (not supplied for review).
Overall
Aldo Lado's debut feature Short Night of Glass Dolls turned out to be his best work in an uneven career while also providing a template to the themes he would continue to explore using different genres and tones.
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