La ragazza dal pigiama giallo

Ray Milland had a long career (1929-1985) and many roles, including his Oscar as Best Actor in Billy Wilder's Lost Weekend. He managed a couple of Italian films in the 70s, including this one.

It is not a typical giallo, as the body count is very low. However, it does have a certain charm as a police procedural as they try to discover who killed the girl in the yellow pyjamas.

Seeing Dalila Di Lazzaro certainly makes the film worthwhile, and you do see all of her as she romps with men and women (Vanessa Vitale, who was not bad herself.).

Red herrings and surprises abound in a film that was shot in Sydney, and really looked good there. In fact, it was based upon a true story in Austrailia in the 30s.

Good acting by Lazarro and Michele Placido, as well as a fine performance by Milland.

A detective searches for the identity and killer of a young woman found dead on the beach, wearing only a pair of yellow pajamas; meanwhile, a friend of the dead woman sets off on the road to avoid being the next victim. That's not all there is, but the central idea behind this film's construction is so brilliant I can't say any more. The end is such a surprise that you'll either be blown away or feel ripped off. It plays with story construction in a way I've never seen done before, one that's begging to be copied by some high-profile indie here in the US. Film school buffs will dig it and find a lot to argue about, others might be confused or annoyed. Ray Milland is good but kind of decrepit-looking, here in the evening of his career; the chief culprits in this film are the pop songs that they repeat endlessly (though catchy). I'd love to see reactions to this one; I recommend it highly.

A little girl in Australia finds a dead woman wearing yellow pajamas on a beach, whose head has been badly disfigured or burnt. The police have no idea who she is. Scenes alternate between the police investigation storyline, and scenes from the life of a woman who has a number of different men in her life. How the latter scenes fit in doesn't become clear (or didn't for me) until fairly far into the movie. In fact, I think the other user misunderstood who she was.

This is a fair giallo, but something that really hurt it for me was that there were so many characters who weren't really well identified. From scene to scene I often wasn't sure if I was meeting someone new, or someone from a previous scene.

It isn't without some interest. One memorable scene was when the police put the body into a glass case and put it on public display in an attempt to find someone who could identify her!

Perhaps it was just a flaw in my copy, but it seemed like some short scenes or shots were tinted different colors. There are other scenes where there are clearly intentional changes in colored lights, as when there is an advertising sign just outside a window.

Quite an oddity this and none the worse for that. So late into the seventies and set in Sydney, Australia, this was never going to be in any way a standard giallo and in truth it is more a romantic thriller with giallo overtones. This did not start well for me with the opening song and I never really appreciated the soundtrack throughout which I found to be rather grating. Things didn't get better with the appearance of a seemingly over acting Ray Milland but gradually it began to win me over until it seemed Milland was in some other film. Calming down again, helped by the constant on screen smouldering of Dalila Di Lazzaro, I allowed the film to wash over me and presto a most unusual film with most original structure reveals itself. It's not perfect but give this one a chance to surprise.

A quite curious case on display here - no pun intended. Then again, the "display" scene in the movie is based on an actual case! A case the movie is losely based on. As said million times before, Life is stranger than Fiction. This movie still tries to go as strange as possible.

Having said that, the two storylines evolving here are nicely cut and edited together. And while the main police character is quite funny, there are other characters too that hold the film. Our female main character for example, who does enjoy and play with her sexuality. Now some falsely may think or judge her for that. May even wish her bad things, which is never a good thing. A free spirited individual like that, cannot be contained. One should make peace with that, otherwise one may get hurt - which leads to more hurting of course.

A really stellar cast in a I guess strange Giallo as everyone seems to point out (I wouldn't call myself an expert but those who are say so). Still strange is not bad as I hope I made clear already ...