Liés par le sang

Audrey Hepburn returned to Hollywood in the late 1970s to much fanfare...but once her return movie, "Robin and Marian", was finished, Hollywood didn't know what to do with her. Throwing money her way to get the Audrey Hepburn name on a film product seemed to be the industry's answer, and Hepburn collected a $1,000,000 paycheck (plus profits, though I doubt there were any) for this adaptation of Sidney Sheldon's bestselling novel. It all must have looked good expense-wise, but one has to wonder if she even read the script. It's a pallid whodunit: pharmaceutical titan is killed in a mountain-climbing accident; his daughter, though left out of the industry-loop for most of her life, decides not to sell out and run the empire herself. This is disconcerting to her greedy relatives on the board of directors, who had hoped to reap profits in their boss's absence. After a police inspector deduces the billionaire was actually murdered, and the daughter's brakes go out on a winding mountain road, it becomes clear to her there's a fox in the henhouse. Boring mystery is 'spiced up' with a snuff-film subplot involving the killer, a bald, naked strangler and some unfortunate prostitutes (and which, like many of the story threads, is never resolved; this movie doesn't end, it just stops). Hepburn is lovingly lighted and, though she's rail-thin, is the sole bright spot in this catastrophe. Ben Gazzara, James Mason, Omar Sharif, Gert Fröbe, Romy Schneider, Irene Papas and Beatrice Straight are all wasted. Terence Young directed, bringing absolutely no personality to the job. Talented writer Laird Koenig did the adaptation, which is humorless and without a shred of suspense. The finale seems to be an homage to Hepburn's classic "Charade", but here the staging is so static and clumsy it doesn't come off. Rightfully regarded as one of the worst films of Hepburn's career. * from ****

One wonders what it is that attracts stars to a particular project. A well-written script certainly or the chance to work with a great director. At the risk of appearing cynical one can think of no earthly reason why any of these excellent actors would agree to do a film based upon a novel(I use the term loosely) by Sidney Sheldon and directed by the staggeringly undistinguished Terence Young except THE MONEY. The starry cast list would no doubt encourage bums on seats but anyone who bought a ticket to see one of their favourites in this rubbish must have felt more than somewhat deflated. Anything at all worth remembering? Romy Schneider's line whilst unbuttoning the shirt of Maurice Ronet: 'A woman's work is never done' and Omar Sharif's seldom seen comedic side. Having endured this tripe I call to mind a quote of Dolly Parton: 'It takes a lot of money to make something look this cheap'.

It was said that midway through shooting "Bloodline" Audrey Hepburn finally realized what a horrible and degrading movie this was going to be and desperately wanted to get out of it, but she was under contract and had no choice.

When you see this movie you will realize exactly why she felt so bad about making it. The absolute only reason to watch "Bloodline" is to see how Audrey Hepburn aged like fine wine.

I enjoyed this movie! Any time Audrey Hepburn graced the screen was an occasion and for her to be paired with Ben Gazzara made this movie extra special for me. The story is interesting; the scenery is beautiful; a delightful romance develops; and who could forget Omar Shariff's shenanigans with his wife, his daughters and his mistresses? I do not wish that every single copy would disappear - I wish that they would put it on DVD. In fact, I have an excellent copy on VHS that I taped from TV. I have tried to copy it on my DVD recorder but they marked it so that it cannot be copied. I don't understand this practice but that has nothing to do with this movie! Sidney Sheldon is an excellent storyteller - and this one is no exception. As pointed out by another reviewer here, there may be cinematic flaws and shortcuts in this film - I did not notice them. I was much too engrossed in the story.

Sam Roffe, president of a multi-national pharmaceutical corporation , is killed while mountain-climbing . When her dad is murdered, a rich heiress , Elizabeth (Audrey Hepburn) , becomes the next target of an unknown murderer amid the international jet set and submitted to a twisted conspiracy . It is first determined to be an accident , but Inspector Max Hormung (Gert Frobe) thanks to an old computer deduces that Roffe was murdered by a hired killer . Hoping to reveal the true guilty , the stubborn commissioner investigates here and there among the supposedly beneficiaries of the death , as the line between love and death is the bloodline . After that , Sam's daughter Elizabeth assumes control of the company , and subsequently traveling through Europe and running the pharmaceutical empire , as well . Suspicion falls on the Roffe cousins , all of whom want to go public with the company and sell their stock at a huge profit . Since this would be against her daddy's wishes , Elizabeth rejects their advice . As Inspector Hormung investigates the background of the cousins , as family secrets run deadly . Then more attempts are made on Elizabeth's life and there are several suspect people , all her relatives : James Mason as Sir Alec Nichols , Claudia Mori as Donatella , Irene Papas as Simonetta Palazzi , Michelle Phillips as Vivian Nichols , Maurice Ronet as Charles Martin , Romy Schneider as Hélène Roffe-Martin and Omar Sharif as Ivo Palazzi .

This intriguing and suspenseful film contains tense scenes , thriller, drama , mystery and shocks . Adding disturbing frames concerning a series of murders on prostitutes , which are recorded on snuff films , and eventually tense sequences especially in its final part , in a creepy denouement , near of the end with a crazy killer attempting to murder her . The plot is plain and simple : a pharmaceutical heiress becomes the next target of an unknown killer amid wealthy relatives craving for the inherited fortune , who's the killer ? . Although it is sometimes slow moving and stagy , however , being entertaining for the continuous suspense and tension . This film was made and released about two years after its source novel of the same name by Sidney Sheldon was first published in 1977 and the book was Sheldon's fourth novel , this prolific writer was very adapted and wrote several scripts , such as : The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer , The dangerous hero , The borrowed lady , Gambling Daughters , South of Panama , The Buster Keaton story , Jumbo , among others . The picture has been panned for being an inexcusably repulsive montage of predictability , bad taste and incoherence and the reason for some hardcore fans of Audrey Hepburn will be sickened to see her in such a travesty , in fact , it was only film rated ¨R¨ she played , as it contains graphic sex scenes and grisly violence . A large and notorious cast , that's why the essential entertainment of the film results to be to discover who main and support actor and actress appearing here and there . As a mature Audrey Hepburn is nice as the pharmaceutical heiress who decides to keep the company within the family , resulting to be involved into a conspiracy to kill her and she immediately becomes a deadly target , while Ben Gazarra plays her suspicious lover . The very secondary cast includes a lot of familiar faces from B-European genres , such as : Pinkas Braun , Wolgang Preiss ,Marcel Bozzuffi , Ivan Desny , Dan Van Husen , Ursula Buchfellner , Hans von Borsody, Mike Monty , and many others.

Special mention for the attractive and enjoyable musical score by maestro Ennio Morricone in his usual style . As well as evocative and adequate cinematography by expert cameraman Freddie Young . Shot on a large number of locations in Munich , Burghausen, Bavaria, Germany , London , Paris , Cinecittà , Rome, Lazio , Italy , Copenhagen, Denmark and Sardinia, Italy . This thrilling motion picture was middlingly directed by Terence Young , containing a lot of flaws , gaps , shortcomings and predictibility . Terence was an uneven craftsman who realized three of the first four James Bond films , as ¨Dr No¨, ¨From Russia with love¨ and ¨Thunderball¨, such successful blockbusters were hard to continue , though he attempted in search of more box office hits . His biggest film was , beyond doubt , ¨Wait in dark¨ with Audrey Hepburn and Richard Crenna . However , his last period was largely unsuccessful , full of failures and duds as ¨Amazons¨ , ¨Klansman¨ , ¨Blood line¨, ¨ Inchon¨, ¨Jigsaw man¨, ¨Takeover¨ , though some action scenes remained undiluted . Rating : 5/10 . Mediocre , only for Audrey Hepburn and Ben Gazzara fans.