A Quarta Vítima

Michael Craig stars as Arthur Anderson whose blonde wife is found suspiciously drowned in their swimming pool.Because he two previous wives also died strange deaths Anderson is charged with murder and only gets off because his motherly housekeeper lies to clear his name.Soon a pretty blonde woman(Carroll Baker)shows up and starts flirting with Anderson but it's clear from the get-go that she may not be who she seems to be.She quickly becomes the fourth Mrs. Anderson."The Fourth Victim" is very rare Spanish giallo with capable cast and nice score by Piero Umiliani.There is not much gore and the pace is slow,but last 20 minutes are quite twisted.6 out of 10.

A decent Giallo in which our starring becomes involved in a dangerous game of sex, lies, blackmail, treason, double-crossing and death by tacky 70s home decor. A wealthy Englishman (Michael Craig) finds his third wife dead. After the police discover that his first two wives had also died suddenly, an investigation run by an obstinete inspector (José Luís López Vazquez) is launched. Meanwhile, a new neighbor (Carroll Baker) moves in and becomes very interested in Arthur. Then Arthur Anderson finds out that his new wife just left the asylum where she was confined for years. Who could it be behind the murder?.

The fact that we know in advance what has happened does not diminish the intrigue of the story in any way. The viewer knew who the allegedly murderer was, and the plot revolved around the investigation of the colorful detective played by José Luís López Vazquez in a somewhat comical tone that does not fit the mystery of the film , and the "mistakes" that the suspect could make by giving himself away. Revolving around the supposedly guilty homicidal man and guess who the real murderer is until an incredible and surprising plot twist that is the best part of the movie. Stars the British handsome Michael Craig, along with the American star Carrol Baker, both have a long cinematic career. The latter Carroll Baker , had a small part in Easy to Love (1953), did TV commercials, and had a bit part on Broadway. She studied at the Actors Studio and was married to director Jack Garfein (one daughter, Blanche Baker). Warner Brothers, sensing a future Marilyn Monroe, cast her in Giant (1956), Baby Doll (1956) (Oscar nomination for her thumb-sucking role), The Carpetbaggers (1964) and Harlow (1965) (title role). Moving to Italy, she made films there and in England, Germany, Mexico and Spain .This American actress won a great triumph with Baby Doll (1956), after she did some Westerns. Being historically or aesthetically significant her performances : Giant (1956) and John Ford's How the West was won and Cheyenne Autumn . Signed a contract with Paramount Studios in 1963. She was given roles originally slated for Paramount starlet Stella Stevens - Harlow , The Carpetbaggers and Sylvia . The studio felt Baker was a more experienced dramatic actress and just as alluring. Then , Carroll was to Italy where she performed a lot of Giallos and softcore films , such as : "L'harem , The sweet body of Deborah , The flower with the deadly sting, Orgasm , Paranoia, The Devil with Seven Faces, Knife of Ice, Death at the Deep , End of the Swimming Pool , Il Corpo, The Private Lesson, The Virgin Wife" .Being a typical coproduction, the film is full of Spanish secondary actors: José Luis López Vázquez Alberto Fernández, Manuel Gallardo, Lone Flening (director's wife) and Italians as Marina Malfatti, Enzo Garinei .

The film stands out for its luxurious and atmospheric photography by cameraman Guglielmo Mancori shot on location in enjoyable English outdoors and in an evocative mansion where the 'Dracula' movies produced by Hammer Films were usually shot. As well as the attractive musical score by Piero Umiliani. The motion picture was professionally directed by Eugenio Martin. Craftsman Martin had the opportunity to direct films using international casts and crew which familiarized him with many different players in 1960s cinema, by many accounts among the most fertile and creative periods in film history. In his starts Martín made a series of well-regarded short films and documentaries before making his first feature film Despedida de soltero ("Farewell to the Single Life"), in 1957. In 1966 Martín directed The Bounty Killer (released as The Ugly Ones in the United States), the first of many Westerns he was to create, it remains among his better known works . Martín's next three films were domestic musicals, one of which starred crooner Julio Iglesias. He began frequently using Spain as an affordable site for location shooting, Martín took advantage of opportunities for collaboration and worked with a number of foreign directors, most notably Nicholas Ray. He was known for the low-middle budget genre films he made in the 1960s and 1970s, including Bad Man's River, The Bounty Killer, and Horror Express, the latter being particularly notable for its inclusion of the well-known English actors Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, famous for their work with Hammer Films. Though never remarkably successful either at the box office or among critics, Martín's films, particularly Horror Express, have achieved cult status. Eugenio Martin and won prizes conceded by Spanish Spectacle Syndicate. Martin is a horror-mystery movies expert ( Horror express, Hypnosis, A candle for the devil , The fourth Mrs Anderson ) and Spaghetti Western ( Requiem, for a gringo , Pancho Villa , The ugly ones , Bad man's river ). Martín made several musicals and giallo-type films in the 70's, solidifying his reputation as "an auteur in every genre", per the subtitle of a recent biography. Rating La última señora Anderson(1971) : 6/10.

Rich type Arthur Anderson returns home to find that his third wife has drowned in his swimming pool and of course is immediately arrested due to the fact that his previous two wives have also met premature ends. *Reference to Michael Barrymore removed following legal advice*. The local police inspector is certain that Arthur has been bumping off his wives for money, but is it true?

One court case later and Arthur is a free man once again, which annoys the inspector so much that he takes to following him around everywhere, even bringing along his nagging wife while doing so! Worse still, Arthur is awoken one night to find someone swimming in his pool – Carroll Baker. Carroll seems to be very interested in Arthur and starts putting the moves on him almost right away, but is this love or is Carroll up to something?

It seems that Arthur himself is rather suspicious and is continually fighting the voice in his head that's telling him she's up to something and the voice in his trousers that's telling him to get on with it and get her into bed. For most of the duration of the plot Arthur keeps catching Carroll in places she shouldn't be (like the attic, about ten seconds after he told her not to go up there), plus he's still go that Welsh police inspector following him to make sure Carroll doesn't end up like the other Mrs Andersons…

For the first hour this film drags along, as it's one of those old school Gialli where people are up to something but we don't quite know why, what, where, or who. It's not too boring as Carroll Baker is always entertaining but the whole genre had moved on from this kind of stuff. However, director Eugenio Martin (who would shortly give us the awesome Horror Express) seems to realise this and takes the plot in a more welcome absurd direction for the remainder of the film. I won't spoil it here, but it gives the plot a bit more tension, even if it doesn't make much sense.

It probably shouldn't be too high on your list of must-see gialli, however.

This international thriller with influences from America, England, Italy and Spain is sometimes called a giallo but I would say it's just a murder mystery thriller from the 70s. There's no serial killer sneaking around with black gloves, nudity is non-existent, gore is similarly off the table, and for the majority of the film it plays out like a British soap opera with a continental sense of style. Giallo-like twists do occur near the end.

I think this is one of the more coherent and easily watchable films from the era, even for people who are not completists nor super fans of gialli. The atmosphere isn't terribly creepy nor is it especially fashionable but it is rather lovely and has the requisite big houses with gold curtains.

The plot becomes too convoluted during the second half, but the first 30 minutes or so forms an excellent mystery focused on Mr. Anderson's unlucky marriages to 3 women all of whom died in 'accidents' within a year after their weddings.

One of the writers was Santiago Moncada, who wrote stories and scripts for some 60 Spanish/Italian productions including the excellent neo/post/whatever noir thriller 'Corruption of Chris Miller' from about the same time as 'Fourth Victim'.

The mood is set by one of the best opening sequences I've seen in a giallo-esque picture, accompanied by Piero Umiliani's languid, dreamy theme featuring those theremin-like female vocals common to Italian 70's thrillers, ooohhh-ing over a dreamy gentle but melancholy descending melody.

We see a handsome middle aged man looking through a large window on a sunny day at a beautiful blonde woman floating alone in the backyard pool, reclining on a clear plastic inflatable chair. She looks very relaxed, slumped to one side, maybe asleep under her sunglasses, a drained cocktail glass at poolside. The dreamy sad music continues.

Then we see that the cigarette in her limp hand has burned all the way down to her fingers, but she doesn't react to the burning ashes at all. Something is wrong with her.

The sad music sound fearful and menacing as it hits an ominous chord.

The burning cig has begun to melt the arm of the plastic chair, and it gradually sinks as the inert comatose woman slowly rolls over into the water and lies floating face down. The man watching her runs down some stairs through a big mansion and out to the pool, where the woman is obviously dead....

The movie should've continued with the 'dead wives' mystery, but it goes off on a silly tangent. Nevertheless, it has a unique flavor different from most giallos, which makes it recommended.