Der schöne Körper der Deborah

IL DOLCE CORPO DI DEBORAH bears a strange resemblance with Umberto Lenzi's COSI DOLCE...COSI PERVERSA. Same lead actress (Carroll Baker), same plot, same twist ending. Made the same year...who is the copycat? Not important after all, the Lenzi's flick being far more superior in suspense & quality.

For about an hour or so, we follow newlywed Carroll Baker and husband Jean Sorel thru the Swiss Alps, Geneva, the swiss countryside... guess the Swiss authorities paid a lot to make their country have a sufficient screening time to get noticed. No plot at all, just beautiful shots of the mountains & the city. Then some hot sex scenes between Baker & Sorel. Then back to some über-chic club. Then some more hot sex. And, oh, there's Luigi Pistilli accusing Sorel of driving his ex Susan to suicide. That's the beginning of the plot. then they're getting scared by strange phone calls. Oh, er!

La Baker is viewed under any possible shot (no frontal nudity, though :these are the 60's), she can scream all right. But she really doesn't know what she's doing. Obviously, the screenplay either, as it doesn't know how to handle such screen presence. The editing doesn't help, as it jumps from flashy 60's shots of a nightclub atmsophere (flashy camera angles, too) to loooong face to face dialogues between the two leads. No rythm is given, which leads to some boredom after the first half hour.

The last 30 minutes are a bit more satisfying, as the suspense grows thicker, the rythm accelerates and the story really begins. Too bad it comes too late.

Romolo Guerrieri is not a great director here. He's just a man following Luciano Martino and Mino Loy's orders : show more Carroll Baker and to the hell with the story (who cares anyway). No special talent, no great use of the anamorphic screen (Cromoscope here). No specific direction of actors. Just plain average.

But it's not bad (in a Mattei way), it's always fun if you're into some 60's/70's sexploitation mood. (S)Exploitative indeed : the black stripper as an arty-sex show is ridiculously long and may seem infuriatingly mysoginistic today. Mizar's strip in Giuliano Carmineo's PERCHE QUELLE STARNE GOCCE SUL CORPO DI JENNIFER? avoids this trap by eing a victory over machismo. This is pure pre-giallo routine.

But you can't help looking at screen wondering how come someone like Carroll Baker made this in 1968 after HOW THE WEST WAS WON, CHEYENN AUTUMN or HARLOW.

Better stick to the Lenzi territory for some sexy-giallo stuff. COSI DOLCE...COSI PERVERSA is a really better choice.

Superwonderscope says : 5

Carroll Baker made several excursions to Italy throughout the late 1960s and 1970s, notably a series of erotic gialli; this was the first of them and, though a rather inauspicious beginning, several that followed (even those made by other hands, such as Sergio Martino – actually serving on the film under review as Production Manager!) can be seen to have adhered pretty closely to the formula unveiled here. Though contributing to the low rating was the atrocious sound quality – which not only seemed to have inherent hiccups (whereby lines get repeated every so often) but the English dialogue track featured a few unaccountable 'intrusions' of Italian and French! – the movie itself is a mainly listless affair which contrives to wake up only during the last 20 minutes (with the expected bevy of improbable twists and turns)!! To be fair, I was drawn to this principally by the notable cast – which also includes Jean Sorel (who followed his career highpoint, Luis Bunuel's BELLE DE JOUR [1967], with a number of gialli: for the record, he and director Guerrieri would subsequently collaborate on the infinitely more rewarding THE DOUBLE [1971]) and, likewise all genre stalwarts, George Hilton (who eventually rose to protagonist status under Martino's guidance), Luigi Pistilli and Evelyn Stewart. To go back to the erotic theme at the core of these type of films (perhaps to make up for the frankly tedious plots), this first entry may have seemed pretty risqué at the time but certainly feels tame when compared to later examples (not necessarily those made by the group of people already mentioned).

Gravy, baby! Or whatever it is that these annoying Summer of Love types say to each other while dancing to funky music in a rather awkward fashion. I guess my tolerance to these free living types strutting about underneath pop art and ridiculous clothing depends on the story. Luckily, the Sweet-Sweet-Sweetsweetsweet Body of Deborah is one of those Gialli that is all about confusing the viewer with people's motives, rather than racking up the body count.

Deborah (Baker) and Marcel (Sorel), are newlyweds heading back to Geneva from the USA to visit Marcel's home town, if they can stop shagging for two minutes in order to do so. There's trouble in paradise however as Philippe (Pistilli) appears and accuses Marcel of causing the death of his last lover, Susan, by abandoning her for some reason.

I liked how they managed to fit in the old Italian standard of the creepy mansion in this one as Deborah and Marcel visit Susan's house and Debs as she probably liked to be called gets death threats through a phone that doesn't work. Plus someone keeps playing a creepy theme tune in other rooms.

The couple scarper for a nice non-creepy villa in Nice, only to find neighbour Robert (Hilton) has his eyes on Deborah and is hilariously frank about his Peeping Tom fetish! The rest of the film is the usual viewer fooling barrage of twists right until the last second, but I don't mind films like that as I don't have a clue what it is going on and things are nicely tied up in the end.

Strangely, I'm finding that these non-formulaic gialli are more prevalent in the sixties than in the seventies - is it Dario Argento's fault. Also - check out the cheesy dance the couple do before having a game of Twister! This film has a nice jazz soundtrack too and plenty of style - I guess it's not so well known as the body count is real low (one!) and although you kind of see Baker naked, she don't float my boat.

Because she's blonde. Is that racist?

"The Sweet Body of Deborah" has a very slow start, but once it get's going, it's a decent mystery/crime movie which can entertain you during it's runtime. However, it should be noted that even though the movie has style and isn't amateurishly made or acted, it isn't anything special. There is also a scene where main characters play twister. That cringe has to be seen to be believed. All in all, I give the movie 6.5/10! It's an OK movie for genre fans, but isn't something everyone should see, unless you are largely attracted to Caroll Baker...

"The Sweet Body of Deborah" follows the American Deborah (Carroll Baker) who marries Marcel (Jean Sorel) in Europe. The two go to Geneva on their honeymoon, but find their marital bliss disrupted over accusations that Marcel caused his ex-girlfiend's suicide.

The first of many horror and giallo films that Carroll Baker made in the late 1960s–mid-1970s in Italy, "The Sweet Body of Deborah" is one of the more amusing ones—significantly melodramatic, and bolstered with atmospheric set-pieces and cinematography. The first half of the film feels fairly one-note, but it begins to gain steam at the midway point. Lush cinematography of the Geneva Alps contrasted with the sunny atmosphere of Nice leaves the film visually interesting.

The film was clearly dubbed in post-production (in English no less, the language it was shot in in the first place), so there is a disconnect between the filmed performances themselves and the vocal supply that leaves something to be desired. In any case, Baker seems to be enjoying herself here, playing the sensuous new bride who finds herself in grave danger. Jean Sorel is watchable as her hunky leading man.

Overall, "The Sweet Body of Deborah" is a decent giallo mystery with light tinges of horror. It's a treat for fans of Baker, but stands on its own as a solid early entry in the Italian thriller subgenre. Not a masterpiece by any means, but a surprisingly amusing, atmospheric romp. 6/10.