The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion (1970)

- Le foto proibite di una signora per bene
A stylish Italian thriller full of blackmail and perversity, 9 April 2006

The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion (let's shorten that to Forbidden Photos for the rest of this write-up) is a stylish Italian thriller full of blackmail and perversity. Forbidden Photos would easily be among the best Gialli I've seen if it weren't for the lack of actual murders and other on-screen mayhem. To be so titillating, Forbidden Photos is in reality restrained, something you don't normally see in this genre. To be so restrained, it's amazing how the story held my attention throughout. And in the end, the convoluted plot and mystery all fit together quite nicely and it all makes sense. The cast is solid with good performances from Dagmar Lassander and Simon Andreu. But, as expected, Susan Scott steals every scene in which she appears. She never looked better or was she more mysterious than in Forbidden Photos. Finally, Forbidden Photos features an interesting score from Ennio Morricone. I went to bed last night with the main theme playing in my head.

Other than the minimal extras, Blue Underground's new DVD is very nice. You just don't expect something so obscure (I don't believe that Forbidden Photos was ever released in the U.S. in any form until now) to look this good. From what my untrained eyes could see, the transfer looked flawless. Nice job!

7/10