La corta notte delle bambole di vetro

A street sweeper finds a man, apparently dead, lying in a park. An ambulance is called. The camera shows the route followed by the ambulance: A grey city is revealed with old buildings and statues. A feeling of gloom and sadness permeates the screen, underlined still more by the hauntingly beautiful soundtrack of Ennio Morricone. Welcome to Prague, the city of Kafka.

At the hospital, the doctors, after examining the body, declare him to be dead. But he's not really dead! Even if he doesn't show signs of life, he's conscious and screams silently (he can't move or talk) for them to save his life. In fact, as his body doesn't show the rigor mortis or putrefaction signs usual in the dead, they think that maybe he's not really dead and decide to try to reanimate him.

On searching his effects, the hospital attendants discover that he is Gregory Moore (Jean Sorel), an American reporter. The film is divided in two parts - the remembrances of Gregory Moore and the attempts of the hospital staff to revive him.

After Gregory's girlfriend Mira (gorgeous Barbara Bach) mysteriously disappears, he decides to investigate on his own to discover what lies behind it. As his investigation progresses, the local police become gradually more hostile. Something horrible is happening. But the people that could shed some light on this story either refuse to speak or are "removed". Gregory is now on what could be his final journey. What happened to him? The atmosphere of mystery, fear and perplexity surrounding Gregory is excellently portrayed in "La Corta Notte delle Bambole di Vetro". If you want to know more, see the film. It's a very good giallo.

"La Corta Notte delle Bambole di Vetro"'s cast (Jean Sorel, Ingrid Thulin, Barbara Bach, Mario Adorf) adds still more charm to the film. It's interesting to say that Ingrid Thulin appeared in Bergman's "The Silence" (1963) that takes its place in a strange and mysterious city of eastern European appearance!

Highly recommended!

The reporter Gregory Moore (Jean Sorel) is found dead somewhere in Cold War Prague and brought to the morgue, but he is not really dead – his mind works, but he cannot move. Now he tries to figure out how he ended up in the morgue. Most of the movie is told through Moore's flashbacks from the morgue where an old friend of his is trying to revive him because he suspects something is wrong with the body since rigor mortis have not set in.

The next hour of the movie is very slow moving – through the flashbacks we learn that Moore had a girlfriend, Mira (played by the gorgeous Barbara Bach), who he loved very dearly. At a party she disappears without a trace and Moore starts his own investigation when the Prague police (almost dressed like the Gestapo) is of little help. His investigation leads him from place to place and he discovers that Mira is not the only missing girl in Prague. As he gets closer to the truth about the missing girls someone tries to stop him and the people who are willing to help him. It looks like a giant conspiracy… And the twist ending is magnificent and gruesome at the same time!

*****SPOILERS*****

The truth is that a satanic cult is behind it all. They sacrifice young people at giant orgies – we are so "lucky" to catch a glimpse at an orgy so we are treated to loads of old people having sex! Moore discovers the truth and is drugged. The effect of the drug is pretty gruesome since it is like being buried alive – he appears to be dead and cannot move, but his mind will be fully working! In the end the doctors at the morgue realizes that Moore must be dead and any attempt to revive him is abandoned. Instead they are going to perform an autopsy on him. Just before the autopsy is going to begin Moore gains a little control over his hand – sadly the doctor performing the autopsy is a member of the cult and he kills him! Pure evil!

*****END SPOILERS*****

Short Night of the Glass Dolls is a very unusual giallo mainly because of the pace. It is remarkably slow moving and lacks the stylish and vicious killings, which almost defines the giallo genre. The overall feeling of the movie reminds me a lot more of Roman Polanski's The Tenant (1976) and Rosemary's Baby (1968). The Anchor Bay DVD from The Giallo Collection is brilliant and the 11-minute interview with director Aldo Lado is very informative. Especially his views on how the movie reflects on how the political elite buries people alive (reassigning them for example) when they come too close to the truth about the elite (hey, he is from Italy!), and how the old generation (the elite) lives of the blood of the young generation (the young has to fight the wars the elite engages in). Aldo Lado also directed the giallo Who Saw Her Die? (1972), which is also part of the box set. Both movies have a brilliant score by Ennio Morricone, but they are used very differently – in Who Saw Her Die? it was almost vulgar and in Short Night of the Glass Dolls the score is used very subtle. This has to be my favorite giallo so far! Go see it!

My rating: 8/10

Outstanding Giallo where the Giallo tag barely applies, every shot looks like it was painted by an Italian maestro, and Ennio Morricone's soundtrack just adds to the eerie disorientation.

The films starts with the dead body of Jean Sorel being found in a park in Prague, although as we can hear his thoughts, he's not quite as dead as he seems. After his initial horror at his predicament, and his futile attempts to communicate, Jean tries to figure out why he ended up in this situation in the first place - while laying out on a mortuary slab.

Way back before he was a faux-corpse, it turns out Jean was a groovy US journalist based in Prague and just about to move home with his Czech girlfriend, Barbara Bach. Obviously this is back in the communist era, so he's having to do a bit of bribery in order to get her out of the country. He attends a party where most of the high-ranking politicians are present, and ends up leaving Barbara surrounded by cooing strangers while he fends of the advances of his co-worker and gets bogged down in a pointless conversation with his other co-worker, boozy Mario Adorf!

The next day Barbara has gone missing, which leads Jean and Mario on a city spanning hunt to find out where she's gone. The police aren't much help, and Jean uncovers a history of young woman going missing in Prague that leads to a truth far more sinister than a mere black hatted-killer going around knifing folk for kicks. Of course, everyone who could actually help Jean ends up dead, but this film isn't all about body count.

And that's just the flashback portion of the film, because in real time Jean's being rolled here and there, tested for responses, poked, probed, and all the while screaming in his head for help. The two plot strands come together nicely in an ending that'll have you thinking: "This is an Italian film."

Just stunning to look at it (that means when you look at the film, you fall over your coffee table or just fall off the couch), jaw-dropping (which means your mouth just falls open for no reason), mesmerizing (you starve to death looking at the film). Watch out for the nightmarish visuals and the old person orgy! Recommended.

The 'Creepy Eastern European City' plot would return in the Spider Labyrinth, probably the last genuinely creepy Italian film ever made/

Aldo Lado's first movie, "Short Night of Glass Dolls" is an effective and atmospheric giallo from the early '70s. Jean Sorel plays the cop who, it appears, "wakes up" dead. Paralysed in his body and unable to communicate with the outside world, we see the events leading up to this situation unfold in his memory as, in the present, an autopsy is started to be prepared for him.

The film contains a memorable cast. The delightfully beautiful Barbara Bach plays Sorel's missing love interest, Mira. The late Ingrid ("Salon Kitty") Thulin appears as work colleague and ex-lover, Jessica. Mario Adorf is excellent as the friend and fellow cop, Jacques.

The film is fast paced and the premise is gripping but I found the film less satisfying overall than many other giallo movies. Worthy of a viewing, without a doubt, but not in the same league as Argento's finest efforts.

With a score by Ennio Morricone and impressive cinematography by Giuseppe Ruzzolini, "Short Night" is a hauntingly beautiful and memorable film.

A strong 7 out of 10.

Aldo Lado's directorial debut known by its English title Short Night Of Glass Dolls is a unique, cerebral experience. For those in the United States that have been searching, in 2002 was first released on DVD by Anchor Bay -- I got mine as part of a four-disc "Giallo Collection" that also contains Lado's second feature Who Saw Her Die? Currently in 2018 it's on Blu-ray from Twilight Time and 88 Films.

Short Night Of Glass Dolls was originally titled Short Night Of The Butterfly (also a song in the film), but right before its release another film came out with with the word butterfly in its title, thus the retitling of this one. Malastrana is a title Lado was originally going to call this film but at the insistence of others involved, it was then on to Short Night Of The Butterfly. Too bad Short Night Of Glass Dolls was the main choice, as the Butterfly title would have made much more sense to the story.

Jean Sorel stars as an American reporter found allegedly dead, and yet we hear his thoughts as he is examined in a morgue. His memories take us back to the beginning where he tries to find out the reason for his girlfriend's disappearance (played by a very young Barbara Bach). What follows is not your typical giallo, but a very thought provoking mystical mystery. It evokes the tone of films like Suspiria and The Tenant, and was made years before those. It really does transcend the typical Italian giallo -- most are just murder mysteries with a cast of characters that all have skeletons in the closet and you have to sort through their hangups to see if they have relevance as to "who done it." Here, there is much more going on amidst political unrest and metaphors for "power being fed by the blood of the young." I usually yawn at heavy political stuff the likes of Lina Wertmuller, but Aldo Lado's take is a nicely blended comment as well as visually stunning storytelling.

I really enjoy films from that period of time, as the actors are not so "GQ" looking, nor are they too young for the parts they're playing. The moustached Jean Sorel is nicely cast and easy to sympathize with, you'll find yourself really hoping he solves the mystery and gets out alive. The locations are used well and extremely scenic (another reason I love giallos from the early 1970s). Add to that a really well-written story along with a wonderful Ennio Morricone score and it just couldn't get any better than that! Even the famous "group" scene is handled so well that it does not come across as gratuitous nor cheap.

Short Night Of Glass Dolls is very accomplished filmmaking, and now that it has been restored and looking better than ever on DVD, those with a hunger for something very unique will be quite satisfied.