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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Le foto proibite di una signora per bene" or "Días de angustia")

 

directed by Luciano Ercoli
Italy/Spain 1970

 

Before the influence of Dario Argento's The Bird with the Crystal Plumage permeated every corner of the giallo genre, another strain of these distinctive Italian thrillers enjoyed considerable success. These ''melodrama gialli'', heavily inspired by Clouzot's Les diaboliques, relied less on graphic violence and high body counts and more on psychological tension.

Minou (Dagmar Lassander, Lucio Fulci's The Black Cat) leads a pampered but dull life with her frequently absent husband, Peter (Pier Paolo Capponi, The Cat O' Nine Tails). One night, while out walking on the beachfront, Minou is accosted by a mysterious blackmailer (Simón Andreu, Death Carries a Cane) who informs her that Peter is a murderer. Driven by misplaced loyalty to her husband, Minou gives in to the blackmailer's every whim in exchange for his silence. But as the blackmailer ups the ante, demanding that she submit to his increasingly obscene demands, can Minou hold on to what little remains of her sanity?

Written by the prolific Ernesto Gastaldi (Torso), infused with a seductive score by the great Ennio Morricone (
The Cat O' Nine Tails) and featuring a memorable turn by Nieves Navarro a.k.a. Susan Scott (Death Walks at Midnight) in the role of Minou's best friend, The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion is a trippy giallo delight that brings together the talents of many of the genre's leading lights on both sides of the camera.

Posters

Theatrical Release: 15 April 1971 (Spain)

Reviews                                                                            More Reviews                                                                  DVD Reviews

 

Comparison:

Blue Underground - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Arrow Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Blue Underground Screen Caps!

(Blue Underground - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Arrow Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray - RIGHT)

Box Covers

 

   

 

   

 

    

 

 

 

Distribution

Blue Underground

Region 0 - NTSC

Arrow Video
Region FREE -
Blu-ray
Runtime 1:35:39 1:35:44.780
Video

2.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 7.43 mb/s
NTSC 720x576 25.00 f/s

2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc One: 49,715,074,624 bytes

Feature: 26,330,709,696 bytes

Video Bitrate: 29.93 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

 

Blue Underground

 

Bitrate:

 

Arrow Video Blu-ray

 

Audio English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono

LPCM Audio Italian 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 320 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 320 kbps

Subtitles None English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack / English subtitles (SDH) subtitles for the English soundtrack, None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Blue Underground

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 2.33:1

Edition Details:
� 'Forbidden Secrets' interview with co-writer Ernesto Gastaldi (9:23)
� Theatrical Trailer (3:14)

DVD Release Date: 26 March 2006
Amaray

Chapters 24
 

Release Information:
Studio:
Arrow

 

2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc One: 49,715,074,624 bytes

Feature: 26,330,709,696 bytes

Video Bitrate: 29.93 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

New audio commentary by Kat Ellinger, author and editor-in-chief of Diabolique Magazine
Private Pictures, a newly-edited documentary featuring archival interviews with actress Nieves Navarro and director Luciano Ercoli, and new interview material with writer Ernesto Gastaldi (44:15)
The Forbidden Soundtrack of the Big Three, a new appreciation of the music of Forbidden Photos and 70s Italian cult cinema by musician and soundtrack collector Lovely Jon (47:05)
The Forbidden Lady, a Q&A with actress Dagmar Lassander at the 2016 Festival of Fantastic Films (44:03)
Original Italian (3:13) and English (3:13) theatrical trailers
Image gallery (1:30)
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Twins of Evil
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by author and critic Michael Mackenzie

 

Blu-ray Release Date: January 14th, 2019

Transparent Blu-ray Case

Chapters 13

 

 

Comments

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Arrow - Region FREE Blu-ray (January 2019): The new Arrow transfer is advertised as a "Brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative" and you get the option of seeing the film with the Italian opening and closing credits or the English version of the same length (seamlessly branched.) The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion was shot in Technicolor Techniscope often used for lower budget Italian films (Paranoia, Day of Anger) in the 60s and 70's. The 1080P shows more information in the frame than the 2006 Blue Underground DVD and is thicker and more film-like. It also has richer colors and the overall image is tighter in the higher resolution. It looks very god in-motion on a dual-layered Blu-ray with a high bitrate. There are no significant marks or blemishes and only a rare speckle. Very solid transfer.

Arrow offer original lossless mono Italian and English soundtracks in linear PCM (24-bit) transfers. The DUB can be awkward but the sync is generally not as poor as we have seen. There are aggressive effects that come in flat but with depth and we get a score by the iconic Ennio Morricone (The Fifth Cord, Luna, A Bullet for the General, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, U Turn, Stay As You Are etc. etc.) doing a wonderful job of supporting the tension and urgent tone of the more suspenseful scenes. The Region FREE Blu-ray offers optional English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack.

Arrow offer a few very good supplements starting with a new audio commentary by Kat Ellinger, author and editor-in-chief of Diabolique Magazine. I thought she gave some of her best analysis discussing F-Giallos with appeal to female viewers with plenty of other film references and details on the director and cast. She's great - love her opinion of Gothic and Gothic romance films. Private Pictures is a 3/4 hour newly-edited documentary featuring archival interviews with actress Nieves Navarro and director Luciano Ercoli, and new interview material with writer Ernesto Gastaldi. Slightly longer is The Forbidden Soundtrack of the Big Three, a new appreciation of the music of Forbidden Photos and 70s Italian cult cinema by musician and soundtrack collector Lovely Jon and lastly The Forbidden Lady, a 44-minute Q&A with actress Dagmar Lassander at the 2016 Festival of Fantastic Films. We also get the original Italian and English theatrical trailers plus an image gallery. The package offers a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Twins of Evil and for the first pressing purchasers get an illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by author and critic Michael Mackenzie.

Great to have another keen giallo on Blu-ray done to the 9s.  In many senses it is very typical of the genre with titilation, deception, blackmail and murder-in-the-air. I especially enjoyed the Ellinger commentary and the video extras have value as well. Also nice to have the option of each language version with the appropriate opening and closing credits. This is an expertly produced Blu-ray package and Giallo fans should be extremely pleased with owning it.

 -Gary Tooze

 


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Subtitle Samples (from Italian version and English version) - Arrow Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray

 

(Blue Underground - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Arrow Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM)


(Blue Underground - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Arrow Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM)


(Blue Underground - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Arrow Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM)


(Blue Underground - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Arrow Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM)


(Blue Underground - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Arrow Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM)


(Blue Underground - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Arrow Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM)

 

More Blu-ray Captures

 


 

Box Covers

 

   

 

   

 

    

 

 

 

Distribution

Blue Underground

Region 0 - NTSC

Arrow Video
Region FREE -
Blu-ray


 


 

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Gary Tooze

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