More English dubs that are impossible to find...

 

Back in June 2023, I made a post in which I highlighted 13 Italian productions that are known to have received English dubs, but which are currently not available anywhere in English. Since then, one of those rare dubs has finally surfaced and, hopefully, many of the others will eventually follow. But in the meantime, I thought I’d put the spotlight on a further batch of interesting films whose English versions are currently MIA and in dire need of being rescued, so here they are (in completely random order):

 

 

1. Deadly Sweet / Col cuore in gola (1967)

This pulpy Tinto Brass crime thriller stars Jean-Louis Trintignant (fresh off the international success of A Man and a Woman (1966)) as a French actor in London who finds himself embroiled in a murder mystery when he happens upon a corpse and a beautiful young woman (Ewa Aulin) who may or may not be responsible for the murder. An intriguing premise, though Deadly Sweet is more concerned with style than with narrative, brimming as it is with flashy pop-art visuals, split screen effects, wild zooms and switches from color to black and white – making this the kind of film that people tend to either love or hate.

An English language dub was prepared for export in Rome, but when Paramount picked up the film for American distribution, trying to cash in on Aulin’s newfound fame as the title character in Candy (1968), they had a new dub English recorded in the US. Unfortunately, both dubs have since disappeared, and they were not included on the film’s American DVD release by Cult Epics in 2009.

 

US poster trying to capitalize on Ewa Aulin's Candy fame.

 

That said, the original export dub prepared in Rome has not completely vanished, as it was given a Super 8 release in the UK by IE International under the title Heart Beat (although the actual on-screen title on the print is Dead Stop). Unfortunately, this is a condensed version that runs only 53 minutes, but it’s still more than enough to reveal this ultra-rare English dub to be very good indeed. In keeping with the London setting, it features many of the regular Brit dubbers, including Louise Lambert as the voice of Ewa Aulin. The dubbing director was in all likelihood Geoffrey Copleston, who can be heard voicing three very minor parts. Hopefully, the complete English version will one day be restored.

The ultra-rare Super 8 condensed release of the film's English version.

 

 

2. Juliette de Sade / Mademoiselle de Sade e i suoi vizi (1969)

A loose adaptation of the Marquis the Sade’s famous 1797 novel Juliette, set in contemporary times. The gorgeous Maria Pia Conte stars as Juliette, a young student who leaves a strict convent school to go to Rome and pursue her sexual fantasies. There she meets the mysterious Marquis Foro (the always delightful British character actor and dubber John Karlsen), who starts to instruct Juliette in the libertine philosophies of the Marquis de Sade, leading to a series of uninhibited sexual adventures.

 

Maria Pia Conte stars in the role of Juliette.

For some reason, this one ended up sitting on the shelf in Italy, where it didn’t see release until in December 1971. The English dubbed version, however, was picked up by Haven International Pictures and given a theatrical release in the US in 1969. It doesn’t appear to have been all that successful, though, and that’s probably down to the fact that, in spite of the film’s subject matter, it’s fairly tame stuff and doesn’t feature any nudity by its leading lady. This was something that New York Times critic Roger Greenspun made a big point about in his review of the film on December 27, 1969, writing: “This is the first time I have seen a movie with pretensions to pornography in which the principal actress never disrobes for the audience. Because she leads a life of willing sin and dissolution, she is continually in situations (bed, for example) where she ought to be undressed. But she never visibly is, and the resulting calisthenics devoted to holding the sheets up under the chin or keeping the beach towel from falling off would have done credit to, say, the athletic purity of Doris Day in her most embattled moments.”

The film’s jazzy, upbeat musical score was composed by a young Bill Conti – still several years away from the success of his Rocky and The Right Stuff scores – and the entire soundtrack has been released on CD and is significantly easier to find than the film itself, which is currently available only in a horrendous-looking Italian language print. As for the English dub, it doesn’t appear to have seen the light of day since the film’s theatrical run in the US...

The film's soundtrack release.

 

3. Giordano Bruno (1973)

This biographical drama directed by Giuliano Montaldo chronicles the last years of the life of the famed free-thinking Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno (1548-1600), from the time his ideas started drawing the attention of the guardians of Roman Catholic doctrines and until he was found guilty of heresy by the Roman Inquisition and burned at the stake. Starring in the role of Giordano Bruno is the renowned Italian actor Gian Maria Volonté, who, fittingly enough, was well-known not only for his excellent screen performances, but also for his outspoken left-wing leanings. Volonté had already played another non-conformist real-life character for Giuliano Montaldo, that of Bartolomeo Vanzetti in the director’s internationally celebrated Sacco & Vanzetti (1971), and he brings Giordano Bruno to life on the screen with a ferocious intensity.

 

Gian Maria Volonté as Giordano Bruno.

 

Alas, Giordano Bruno did not achieve the same international success as Sacco & Vanzetti, and though an English language version was prepared, it seems to have since vanished off the face of the earth. British dubbing actor Roger Worrod vividly recalls dubbing it into English in Rome, however. “I dubbed Gian Maria Volonté in Giordano Bruno,” Worrod explained to me in an email exchange. “This was probably the first time that the lead in an Italian feature film was dubbed with a regional dialect – I gave him a Wolverhampton accent. In fact, I dubbed several other characters, including the town crier (outside the prison), one of the guards (inside the prison cell) and the Pope!”

Unfortunately, the only trace I’ve been able to find of the English version is a poster for the film’s US release by International Cine Film Corp. under the generic title Revolt of the City. Absurdly, this poster actually omits Gian Maria Volonté’s name and instead only credits Charlotte Rampling, who plays a supporting role in the film.

 

The US poster.

 

 

 

4. Duel of Fire / Duello nella Sila (1962)

This historical adventure film set in Southern Italy in the 1850s was an early directorial effort by Umberto Lenzi, with 1950s Hollywood Latin lover Fernando Lamas playing the leading role. Lamas stars as a man whose sister is killed by a gang of ruthless brigands, and who sets out on an elaborate quest for revenge by infiltrating the gang, and falling for one of the members’ fiery-haired sister (Liana Orfei) in the process.

Duel of Fire was the first of three films Lamas made in Italy and Spain after he and his wife Esther Williams relocated to Europe for a couple of years in the early to mid 1960s, but Lamas’ name still carried enough marquee value for the film to get picked up for US distribution by American International Pictures (AIP).

 

Fernando Lamas and Liana Orfei are the stars of Duel of Fire.

 

Unfortunately, the English language version has since fallen into obscurity and doesn’t appear to ever have been issued on VHS, let alone any sort of digital media. All that is currently available of the English dub is apparently this theatrical trailer in black and white (the film is actually in color):

 

 

5. Operation St. Peter’s / Operazione San Pietro (1967)

This Lucio Fulci-directed heist comedy deals with a group of hapless Italian crooks plotting to steal Michelangelo’s Pieta, and was clearly inspired by the success of Dino Risi’s The Treasure of San Gennaro (1966). The film stars popular comedic actor Lando Buzzanca as the leader of the thieves, while Hollywood gangster icon Edward G. Robinson is on hand to offer some international appeal in the role of an American criminal who also gets involved in the operation. This was in fact one of three Italian heist films Robinson appeared in during the late 1960s, the other two being Grand Slam (1967) and It’s Your Move (1968).

 

Edward G. Robinson in a press photo for the film.

 

Despite Robinson’s presence, Operation St. Peter’s was never released theatrically in the US or the UK, but it did manage to make it to Australian cinema screens (as evidenced by the daybill poster above). The English dubbed version was also shown on BBC in September 1975, but has since completely disappeared from circulation, although Italian and German language versions are easily available.

 

TV listing from when the film was shown on BBC.

 

 

 

6. But You Were Dead / La lunga notte di Veronique (1966)

Often cited as one of the most obscure Italian horror films of the 1960s, But You Were Dead is really more of a slow-burning supernatural gothic melodrama. The plot is centered around a young man (Sando Pizzochero) who visits his grandfather’s villa, where he becomes infatuated with a beautiful, ghost-like young woman played by photo-novel actress and winner of the Miss Italia 1965 pageant Alba Rigazzi in her only film role.

 

Leading lady Alba Rigazzi.

Despite doing little business in Italy, an English language dub was prepared, and in 1969 the film was picked up for distribution in the UK, where it was paired on a double-bill with the Swedish shocker The Sadist (1966). Both films were given X ratings.

Newspaper ads from the time of the British cinema release in 1969.

After the British cinema release, the English dub appears to have faded into obscurity. The Italian language version has not really fared that much better, with the only currently circulating print being sourced from an old and faded-looking Italian VHS release, so this one is long overdue for a proper restoration.

 

 

 

7. Samoa, Queen of the Jungle / Samoa, regina della giungla (1968)

When the Italian low-budget jungle girl adventure Gungala, the Virgin of the Jungle (1967) starring Danish beauty Kitty Swan turned into a surprise international hit, it not only lead to the immediate sequel Gungala the Black Panther Girl (1968), but also to a handful of copycat ‘female Tarzan’ flicks such as Luana (1968) and Tarzana, the Wild Girl (1969). Samoa, Queen of the Jungle belongs to the same cycle of films, and stars American actor (and frequent dubber) Roger Browne as an adventurer who travels to Borneo in search of a diamond mine and encounters a stunning jungle girl played by legendary giallo and sex comedy icon Edwige Fenech in her first Italian film.

 

Italian fotobusta showing off the shapely figure of the film's star Edwige Fenech.

 

Whereas all of the other Italian female Tarzan films have long been readily available in English language versions, no English dub of Samoa has ever turned up anywhere, and despite the presence of Fenech, it does not appear to have received a whole lot of international exposure.

“Edwige’s first film in Italy as you may know was Samoa, la regina della giungla with me!” said Roger Browne when I discussed the film with him. “If it was ever dubbed in English while I was still there it’s news to me, and I would have been highly offended not being called in to dub myself in my kind of film.”

Yet, an English dub does exist as it is listed in the online catalogue of the film’s rights holder Movietime. It may very well be, however, that this English dub was actually recorded some years later, after Edwige Fenech had become a big star, to use her fame in order to sell the film internationally. Hopefully, it’ll get released one day so we can assess it for ourselves.

 

Stars Roger Browne and Edwige Fenech were also a real-life couple for a while after making the film.

 

 

 

8. Dirty Angels / Vergogna, schifosi! (1969)

This forgotten, slow-burning Italian thriller features three uninhibited, jet-setting bed hoppers (Marilia Branco, Roberto Bisacco and Daniël Sola) who find themselves in trouble when their latest casual pickup ends up dying in the act. The trio get rid of the body and cover up what has happened, but some years later they receive incriminating photos of their crime and a blackmail note…

Director Mauro Severino, who soon moved on to comedies starring the likes of Enrico Montesano and Lando Buzzanca, seems more concerned with social critique of the sleazoid rich than he does with thrills and suspense, which may account for relative obscurity of Dirty Angels, though the film does have a pleasing look to it, as well as a nice soundtrack by the legendary Ennio Morricone.

 

The soundtrack release.

 

In 1970, an English dubbed version of Dirty Angels was released theatrically in the UK, where it received some cuts by the BBFC in order to achieve an X rating. Sadly, the English dub has not turned up anywhere since then. The Italian language version is out there, though, but only through rips of a battered old VHS release, so this one is really in dire need of restoration. Distribution rights are held by Variety Distribution, who list it in their online catalogue under the title Shame on You! and offer it in English, Italian and French language versions.

 

British newspaper ad.

 

 

 

9. The Revenge of Spartacus / La vendetta di Spartacus, and Seven Slaves Against the World / Gli schiavi più forti del mondo (both 1964)

For this listing I’ve paired these two sword and sandal adventures together, which seemed the logical thing to do, because not only were they frequently paired together on double bills, they were also both directed by Michele Lupo, who shot them back-to-back, and they both feature Roger Browne, Gordon Mitchell, Scilla Gabel and Giacomo Rossi Stuart in the leading roles.

Seven Slaves Against the World was the first of the two to hit Italian movie screens in August 1964, whereas The Revenge of Spartacus followed in September. Of the two, Spartacus is the most serious in tone, featuring Roger Browne as a man out for revenge, joining up with some Spartan rebels after the Romans massacre his family. Seven Slaves on the other hand contains more elements of comic relief and this one sees Browne joining forces with a gang of fugitive slaves.

 

Roger Browne is the star of both films.

Both films were distributed by Paramount in the US, where the two films were frequently paired together on a double bill. Presumably owing to the fact that Spartacus is not actually a character in the film and only gets mentioned, The Revenge of Spartacus was re-titled The Revenge of the Gladiators – thus causing a great deal of confusion since there also exists another Italian sword and sandal film from 1964 named The Revenge of the Gladiators, this one directed by Luigi Capuano and starring Mickey Hargitay in the leading role. In the UK, however, the original title of The Revenge of Spartacus was retained. Seven Slaves Against the World also received a slightly different title in the UK: Seven Slaves Against Rome.

 

UK publicity still under the original The Revenge of Spartacus title...

...and a US still under the Revenge of the Gladiators re-title.

 

US lobbycard for Seven Slaves Against the World...

...and a UK publicity still under the slightly different title of Seven Slaves Against Rome.

Alas, despite theatrical distribution in both the US and the UK, the English versions of the two films have strangely vanished. They can easily be found in Italian, but the English dubs do not appear to have received any sort of video release. All that currently remains of them are the English trailers.

Here’s the one for Seven Slaves Against the World, in which Christopher Cruise can be heard dubbing the voice of Giacomo Rossi Stuart as the film’s villain:

 

 

And here you can see the trailer for The Revenge of Spartacus (under the Revenge of the Gladiators title) narrated by Frank Latimore, and from the short snippets of dialogue it sounds like Gordon Mitchell is dubbed by the great Stephen Garrett:

 

10. The Devil in the Brain / Il diavolo nel cervello (1972)

A riveting psychological giallo that for some inexplicable reason ended up falling through the cracks, The Devil in the Brain is, as of 2024, the last really great giallo to still languish in obscurity.

Keir Dullea of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) fame stars in his one and only foray into Italian cinema as a man who returns home after several years of working abroad and finds his old flame (Stefania Sandrelli) reduced to a childlike mental state due to the shock of her husband having been murdered by their young son (iconic Italian child actor Renato Cestiè). Dullea, however, suspects there is more to the case than meets the eye…

 

Stefania Sandrelli and Keir Dullea.

 

Those expecting a Dario Argento-style giallo with flashy, violent murders will probably be disappointed by The Devil in the Brain, but what the film may lack in visceral thrills, it more than makes up for with its genuinely compelling and well-crafted mystery and a uniformly excellent cast, which in addition to Dullea and Sandrelli also includes Italian character actor great Tino Buazzelli in his final film role as the doctor treating Cestiè, and French film diva Micheline Presle as Sandrelli’s mother.

An English dub was prepared and was released theatrically in Australia (see the daybill poster above), but then disappeared. The film itself is circulating in a soft and faded rip from an old television broadcast, but it deserves much better and will hopefully be rescued from oblivion sooner rather than later.

 

Lobbycard featuring Stefania Sandrelli and Micheline Presle.

 

Well, that’s it for now, though again, I may well do another post on the same subject later on. Oh, and... if I got any of this wrong and it turns out that some of the films covered above actually are available in English somewhere, then please let me know!