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Short Night of Glass Dolls: Four-Disc Blu-ray/4K Ultra HD Collector's Edition
[Blu-ray 4K]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Celluloid Dreams Review written by and copyright: Eric Cotenas (15th April 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). The film made its 4K debut in the U.K. from 88 Films. Presumably Celluloid Dreams' 2160p24 HEVC 2.35:1 widescreen HDR10 4K UltraHD and 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen Blu-ray discs might be derived from the same underlying raw scan from Italian rights owner Rewind but the presentations are noticeably different. Celluloid Dreams' 2.39:1 widescreen presentation loses slivers of information on the top and bottom of the frame compared to the 2.35:1 88 Films but also reveals more information on the left side of the frame at the expense of a sliver on on the right while 88 Films loses that sliver on the left but gains a sliver on the right. Neither seems to be the superior choice, and it may have been that there was some leeway in the framing at the extreme periphery of the image was not taken into account in framing given the 2-to-4-perf optical conversion in making prints. Celluloid Dreams' transfers are overall darker than 88's with a slight boost in saturation which does not effect the skin tones as much as it did on the DVD transfers where Adorf looked spray-tanned and Sorel only slightly less. The U.S. edition's grading seems more faithful to the Camera Obscura grading, and the German transfer may indeed have referenced the same lab print that Celluloid Dreams did – as mentioned in the booklet – which they have also included in a 1080p24 encode on the fourth disc in the set (note the darker, bluer look of the apartment meeting sequence which looks closer to the German transfer than the brighter Twilight Time and 88 Films UHD and earlier Blu-ray editions). The booklet states that Kodak laboratory aim density specifications were taken into account in regards to the dimmer look and recommends watching in a dark environment and the booklet does admit to taking minor liberties (in this respect, the HDR10 UHD fares better during the darkest shots than the Blu-ray). The darker look does suit the film with wall sconces during the early party scene actually illuminating the walls which are no longer as evenly lit as the rest of the image. While the 88 Films version looks brighter and a tad flatter due to the brightness, it does better draw attention for repeat viewers to some clever and macabre visual foreshadowing cited throughout the extras – foreshadowing which makes as much sense in terms of Lado's own ideas about destiny as it does to the film as a memory in which fleeting imagery and dialogue would take on a significance they did not possess before as well as possibly distorting themselves to the logic of the protagonist's nightmare – but Celluloid Dreams positions itself to be the more faithful reproduction (and some things might register as "off" in relation to the brighter transfers). 
Audio
Audio options include English and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 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 with its underlying heartbeat rhythm. As with the LPCM 2.0 tracks on the 88 Films release, 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. The film plays with English or Italian credits via branching depending on the audio option chosen.
Extras
Both the 4K disc and the first Blu-ray consist of the feature presentation, the isolated score (in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono), the virtually-identical English international trailer (3:07), Italian theatrical trailer (3:08), and unrestored Grindhouse theatrical trailer (3:07), as well as the unreleased "Catalepsis" English trailer (3:09), as well as a pair of commentary tracks. First up is the audio commentary by writer/director Aldo Lado, moderated by Federico Caddeo from the 2007 French DVD – in French with optional English subtitles – in which he discusses the political context of both his script and of Prague 1971 that made it difficult to get permission to shoot there, and the alternate choice of Zagreb which had similar architectural characteristics (he was able to get into Prague with a small unit and actors for a few location shots under the guise of a Yugoslavian documentary and bribed the local crew to help him get the shots he needed in a day while the production manager was handling permits which were expected to take a few days). Lado discusses the metaphor of being buried alive and in a coma, likening it to those who authoritarian governments find troublesome who they move to out of the way areas, as well as Prague society representing a sort of "ossified society" vampirically feeding off of the young. Caddeo asks questions about the research and logistics of the shoot but also points out visual cues and elements of character that contribute to Lado's themes. The second track is a new audio commentary by film critic Guido Henkel who covers some of the same information from the former commentary and the decades of information provided in the archival extras but also makes some corrections of his own – noting that the opening was not shot in a Prague park but a Yugoslavian one, pointing out the statue of a Bosnian bishop in the background – the debt of the story to the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "Breakdown" while also revealing that the original script concept was that of Ernesto Gastaldi (Torso) including the title "The Nights of Malastrana" but that Gastaldi has admitted that Lado's script had very little to do with his, Gastaldi's being a more conventional giallo without any political element (although it too was set in Prague). He also covers the film's themes, some of the more familiar production trivia like the casting of well-known Terence Hill who agreed just before he hit it big but then wanted the ending changed, some of the other familiar faces, Lado's earlier career, and his conflicts with cinematographer Ruzzolini. He also points out the "visual candy" throughout the film, and admires the ways in which first time feature director Lado was able to secure a top-tier cast as well as stuff his mise-en-scene with visual foreshadowing including a surrealist painting that anticipates the ending.  The second Blu-ray disc features over four hours of new and archival extras (sometimes with different titles) starting with the 2015 documentary "The Nights of Malastrana" (101:08) – titled "Czech Mate" on the German Blu-ray – consisting of a lengthy interview with Lado along with some brief interjections from Sorel. Lado 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 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 when producer Enzo Doria (Fist in the Pocket) told him that German producer Dieter Geissler (The Neverending Story) wanted 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. Also included is a 2018 interview with writer/director Aldo Lado (32:32) which is more of an overview as he discusses his early work as quota hire 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 also recalls a job as assistant director for Valerio Zurlini (Violent Summer) on "The Garden of the Finzi-Contini" only for Zurlini to take a holiday abandoning the production – the book would be filmed a few years later by Vittorio De Sica – as well as how he had schedule to go from working on Last Tango in Paris to La cosa buffa only for Marlon Brando to land The Godfather delaying production which was why he accepted Who Saw Her Die?. He briefly covers Night Train Murders but skips over some of his later credits in favor of discussing at length his final film: 2013's Il notturno di Chopin.  Also ported from the German disc is "The Most Beautiful Voice in the World" (21:44) – also known as "The Need to Sing" – an interview 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. Ported from the French Blu-ray is "The Quest for Money" (20:10), an interview with producer Doria who discusses his early work as an actor, switching to producer and funding films on promissory notes, his early producer credits, some of the production issues on Short Night of Glass Dolls – it was Doria who intervened when Lado and Ruzzolini butted heads – and his other collaborations with Lado, Geissler, and Morricone (including the one where they fell out because a film had already been edited using Bob Dylan songs which he expected Morricone to come up with equivalent cues that were not cost-prohibitive to license). "Cuts Like a Knife" (or "Cutting Glass Dolls") (23:48) from the German disc is an interview with film editor Mario Morra (Obsession: A Taste for Fear) 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 from the German disc is "To Italy and Back" (30:17) in which co-producer Dieter Geissler (The Neverending Story) 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 Man on the Bridge: Philosophy, Perception, and Imprisonment in Short Night of Glass Dolls" (23:08) is a video essay by Howard Berger who discusses the political context of Prague after the Soviet invasion, Lado's deeper borrowings from the works of Kafka and philosophy as the film explores the boundaries and limits of the self through "flawed organic perceptual equipment." Berger also discusses the influence of the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers on the film and the way it anticipates some of the thematic concerns of the seventies remake. The disc also includes an image gallery (2:28) and the German "Malastrana" opening credits and "ende" card (4:19) from the Video Toppic VHS release. A third Blu-ray disc in the set includes two more versions of the film. The Grindhouse Version (97:08) derived from a scan of a 35mm archival lab print which the booklet reveals was indeed one of the reference sources for the grading. The print is not very "grindhouse-y" the top of every next frame is visible at the bottom of the screen just above the lower matte in a few shots, and there are some scratches, and light fading. Although the print has Italian credits, audio options include both Italian and English Dolby Digital 2.0 audio and both English and SDH subtitles. The second version is the "Paralyzed" VHS pan&scan version (96:35) derived form the Gorgon Video/MPI cassette which is an interesting way to view a film that many of us would have first seen widescreen on DVD in contrast to some of the better-known, more widely seen gialli that we would have encountered in cropped and/or squeezed transfers. The credits are in English – with the original title replaced by "Paralyzed" in plain computer font – but they unfold on a black screen with music and effects like some other eighties video transfers where film materials for the credits. 
Packaging
The four discs come in a keepcase with a reversible cover housed in a rigid slipcasewith a 64-page booklet with a commemorative essay on Aldo Lado by Andy Marshall-Roberts as well as a two reviews from the time of the film that appears to be based less on viewings of the film than on the publicity which included some nude promotional shots of Thulin and suggests that she is naked throughout the film and takes part in the Black Mass which from the sound of the review is not a surprise but the film's entirety.
Overall
Celluloid Dreams' sophomore effort in a 4K presentation of a major giallo Short Night of Glass Dolls is a more than solid effort that is a must-have while whetting appetites for more to come.
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