Historia de una traición

A giallo-esque mystery with a decent cast but a severely limited plot in which very little happens for the entire duration, except for some characters trying to trick and cheat other characters. Marisa Mell and Sylva Koscina get the brunt of the screen time as befitting their glamorous images, while Stephen Boyd, Fernando Rey and Massimo Serato are the men in their clutches. I found this a patience-tester of a film, with very little going on of note, just snippets of lesbianism and the usual nudity you find in Italian cinema.

The print I watched was chopped up with bad sound and color. Even if it was in perfect condition the cinematography is poor. The plot makes no sense and Boyd doesn't look healthy.

Inaccurately listed in some film books as a thriller, this movie is more accurately a melodramatic soap opera with occasional violence and a few memorable nude scenes from stars Marisa Mell and Sylva Koscina.

Carla walks along a high cliff overlooking the sea, contemplating suicide, when artist Anton (Stephen Boyd) drives by in his Jeep. His appearance dissuades Carla from jumping, and the two of them begin an affair.

In and around their dates and lovemaking, Carla thinks about her wealthy ex-lover, Luis (Fernando Rey), who was stolen from her by her sometimes-lesbian lover, Lola (Sylva Koscina). The film's flashback structure makes for occasionally fun watching, as both Marisa and Sylva get to be seen in a multitude of 1970s fashions, lots of heavy eye makeup, and strange hairdos. Sometimes, their wardrobe changes drastically from one minute to the next.

The movie's Spanish-language title, HISTORIA DE UNA TRAICÎON (or, HISTORY OF A BETRAYAL), is more appropriate, as Carla is turned out in the cold by Luis and later discovers Anton has been working her for a scam. In the end, Carla and Lola turn to murder to get even with the men that hurt them, and settle down to the good life (care of Luis' vast estate).

This was the second of two movies featuring Mell and Boyd, and directed by J. A. Nieves Conde. The first film, MARTA (1971), was an authentic Italian thriller and at least benefited from Boyd playing an insane killer. The director previously made a bizarre monster movie, SOUND OF HORROR (1964), which was about invisible dinosaurs.

This is somewhat of a lost gem in the eurotrash world, made in 1971, it remained unreleased in the US until after the 1974's THE STING ( which is mentioned on the US poster art for THE GREAT SWINDLE ). This is not a giallo with violent murder set pieces, but instead a well acted mystery with an ever twisting plot that even saves a revelation for the final seconds. The cast is above average here with the gorgeous Mell and Koscina in a lesbian relationship and providing plenty of nudity. Stephen Boyd and Fernado Rey are solid and while Boyd's character is central, the film is mostly about Mell's tortured Carla and her love life with men and women. This is top notch eurotrash, with sleazy characters, murder and mystery. This is a movie where no one is who they seem and motivations are suspect and then surprisingly reversed. I had no idea what to expect going in and and was pleasantly surprised with THE GREAT SWINDLE. The English language widescreen VHS on review here comes from Greece, and has burnt in Greek subtitles. The print featured is in tatters, with splices and missing frames, heavy scratching and general massive damage. The credits are missing and dialog is obliterated throughout. Still, I enjoyed it and would love to see a better looking copy. With a cast like this surely it could be considered for DVD?

The Great Swindle is something of a hidden cult item. It's criminally unavailable on DVD and seemingly can only be sourced currently on a scratchy and battered VHS transfer. The condition of the print renders the film a little incomprehensible in parts but it doesn't prevent it from being enjoyable. Its story revolves around several dishonest characters that appear to be playing dangerous games on each other. The film's undoubted trump card is its lead actress, the ridiculously gorgeous Marisa Mell (most famous for her memorable role in Mario Bava's Danger: Diabolik). She is accompanied by Sylvia Koscina (also recognisable from another Bava film Lisa and the Devil). In this film Mell seems to possibly be a very high class escort girl who ends up in the middle of a complicated set of relationships with several people including – oh yes – a lesbian affair with Koscina. Things basically get complex with characters playing off one and other.

This is certainly a very cool and chic thriller. It has beautiful women, shady guys and sun drenched locations. As is extremely typical in Euro flicks from the early 70's almost every character is at least little bit bad. So there is a fair bit of melodrama surrounding this rich and decadent jet set. It's not a film with a great deal of thrills; it's much more sexy and stylish. With Marisa Mell on board the erotica is very much of the high class kind as well. What adds to the overall feel is a very fun soundtrack from Carlo Savina consisting of various styles from lounge, Euro pop, female vocals of the 'la la la' variety and even some tense dramatic sounds towards the end.

This one is crying out for a proper DVD release. Any movie with Marisa Mell in a starring role is well worth seeing as a rule, as she is simply one of the very best cult Euro actresses. Not only that but this movie in general just needs to be available for more folks to appreciate as it's a very nice flick overall.