Das Geheimnis der jungen Witwe

Not the wildest of gialli, if indeed, it really does qualify as one, but a most competent and engaging mystery. John Mills is surprisingly good as the ageing husband to the flirty Bond girl, Luciana Paluzzi and although the bad boy seems far too glamorous for the role, Robert Hoffman does well. Decent script, which always helps and what starts simply enough becomes far more involved as we progress. Indeed we quickly learn who the killer is but not why or just how many are involved. That Mills plays as an Englishman gives this a certain slant that helps make the film different from others of the time and though the music is somewhat flat, seems fitting enough for the drab location. I don't know where this was shot but it doesn't look like Italy so is perhaps Germany or even Austria. No stunning set pieces and the flashes of nudity seem added and likely to not be Paluzzi.

I do readily concede that I know close to squat about Director Massimo Dallamano, having only watched his poliziotto entitled COLT 38 SPECIAL SQUAD, which made chases and gory action its main menu.

By comparison, A BLACK VEIL FOR LISA pays a shade more attention to character building. The ever reliable British actor John Mills plays Hamburg-based Interpol Inspector Franz Bulon who, in spite of his undeniable professionalism, prioritizes keeping an eye on his often absent from home wife, the stunningly dishy, fine-featured Luciana Paluzzi who had come to international notice three years earlier in THUNDERBALL, with Connery's James Bond handing her slippers to cover her nudity.

In BLACK VEIL FOR LISA, Paluzzi displays fabulous nudity and not just to cuckolded hubby Mills, who she also deceives by passing classified info to a Porsche-driving villain who deals in tulips and murder, in addition to bedding him and handsome hitman Max, smugly played by Robert Hoffmann.

Competent cinematography from Angelo Lotti, reasonably deft screenplay from Belli and Petrilli, with interesting nuances adding to Paluzzi's sensual survival instinct and sexiness, allowing her to completely steal the show.

The ending could and should have been more credibly done, difficult to believe that a police inspector and a habitual hitman should put up such innocuous personal defense.

As a footnote, a word of appreciation for the presence of great, very classy German car models of the 1960s: Mercedes Benz, Porsche, Opel, Volkswagen all there.

Enjoyable police thriller 8/10.

Inspector Franz Bulon (Sir John Mills) is a veteran Hamburg police detective in charge of a drugs investigation, but is finding it hard to break the case, his mind is elsewhere…on his beautiful young wife Lisa (Luciana Paluzzi) that is, a former criminal herself, though never convicted, a fact that Bulon's colleagues never let him forget, Bulon's problem is that he suspects Lisa of cheating on him a fact he can't quite prove, until one day he thinks he has caught her out and sets about hiring a local killer Max Lindt,(Robert Hoffman) the man behind the killings of witnesses in his drugs investigation, to kill his wife in return for him hiding the evidence building against him.

A Black Veil for Lisa deviates from normal giallo practice by telling us who the killer is, much like Luigi Cozzi's The Killer must kill again. The story is driven by the man (Bulov) who hires the killer to do his dirty work, as a result, Dallamano replaces the lack of mystery with some decent character development, Mills is excellent and portrays well Bulov's obsessiveness with his wife's cheating, which ultimately leads to his own self destruction.

A Black Veil for Lisa is one of the earlier films in the Giallo cycle, and has taken much of its influence from the film noir style of film-making. Directed by Massimo Dallamano, the man behind the unofficial 'Schoolgirls in Peril' trilogy, the film is often seen as trash; but personally, I couldn't disagree more. With this movie, Dallamano takes us on a roller-coaster of emotion and the director does an excellent job of setting out the characters, their situations and motives; which is a great benefit to a film that is very much character driven. The twisted plot emerges from the character's flaws, and follows the themes of jealousy, love and revenge. We follow Inspector Bulov; a man on the case of a murderer that is leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. He polices the streets and also his wife; the buxom and beautiful Lisa. Our leading man has a few years on his beautiful other half, and this combined with her character has lead him to relentlessly follow her every move, even to the point where it interferes with his work. And to say any more about the plot, would spoil the film!

A Black Veil for Lisa benefits from a trio of great central performances. John Mills gives it his all in the lead role, which sees him looking and acting the part of the jealous husband brilliantly. Mills also brings a distinct British style to the picture, which lends it a classy feel which is unlike other Giallo films. The title role is taken by former Bond girl Luciana Paluzzi, and while she isn't given too much time to shine acting wise; she looks the part and brilliantly offsets Mills' leading performance. Robert Hoffmann rounds off the central cast in the role of the murderer, and while he looks a bit too polished to viciously commit murder, his good looks serve him well after the first twist has been dealt out. This Giallo is unlike others in that there is no mystery surrounding the identity of the murderer; and the focus of the movie is always on the relationship between the central characters. The order of priority regarding this is shown brilliantly by the dubious way that the identity of the killer is revealed; it's not very realistic, but it does relate to the character - and this film is all about its characters. Overall, A Black Veil for Lisa is a great Giallo and one that I hope gets a decent DVD release soon so more people will be able to see it!

Regarded by some cult cineastes as a relatively unsung Giallo stylist maestro, Massimo 'What Have They Done to Solange' Dallamano ably directed one of the earlier entries in the soon-to-be-blooming Gialli cycle. 'A Black Veil for Lisa' aka 'La Morte Non Ha Sesso' remains a tremendously engrossing, twist-laden 60s terror treat. Exploiting the prototypically menacing Giallo motif of darkly glistering, black gloved killer, it eschews much of the gruesome hysteria, providing a more sombre examination of debilitating paranoia, sexual infidelity and the toxic jealousies it inevitably engenders.

''A Black Veil for Lisa' has a gripping, Krimi-like narrative, wherein a slick, shadowy hit-man (Robert Hoffman)is hired by vicious drug dealers to bump off all those who might expose their malign activities. His executions come to the attention of troubled, increasingly paranoid Inspector, Franz Bulon (John Mills). Bulon's valiant investigations fatefully propose a coolly logical, devastatingly immoral solution to his marital torment! John Mills is on compellingly terse form as the cuckolded inspector, and, Robert Hoffman is sinfully suave as the blue-eyed libidinous hitman. The preternaturally luscious, dazzlingly beautiful starlet, Luciana Paluzzi making for memorably luminous eye candy! Doing little more than sultrily slink about in a salacious serenade of risqué regalia, this tantalizing auburn-haired temptress does it with an eye-boggling élan!

Maestro, Dallamano directs his engaging 60s Giallo with real cinematic verve, and the garotte taut narrative wickedly wends its thrilling way to a genuinely desperate, nerve-flayingly dramatic conclusion! Evocatively shot in picturesque Hamburg, 'A Black Veil for Lisa' remains a rewardingly refined late-night entertainment. This visually stylish, stiletto cool, psychologically tweaked thriller has credible performances and is all together cinematic. A Black Veil for Lisa's somewhat incongruent obscurity belies an engrossing, beauteous-looking Martini-age Giallo classic!