The Cat o’ Nine Tails

Summary

Introduction by film scholar Troy Howarth – author of Murder by Design: The Unsane Cinema of Dario Argento:

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage was not an instant smash, and during the period in which its commercial fortunes appeared uncertain, Argento mulled over doing a counter-culture flick in the style of Easy Rider (1969). When Bird took flight, however, Argento was pressured into doing another thriller. The co-producers from Germany asked for “jet set giallo,” and Argento bucked against their interference by taking The Cat O’Nine Tails (Il gatto a nove code, 1971) in a different direction. He long described the end result as the film he was least satisfied with, though over the years his attitude has softened considerably. While it’s true that the somewhat rambling story lacks the precision and expertly maintained tension of Bird, it still offers plenty of pleasures for the dyed-in-the-wool Argento and giallo enthusiast. Karl Malden gives an outstanding performance as the blind puzzle maker who stumbles into a case of industrial espionage and murder, while James Franciscus brings ample charm to his role as the hot shot journalist who teams up with Malden to break the story. There are a few missteps along the way—including quite possibly the most awkward love scene in cinema history—but there’s also ample evidence of Argento continuing to experiment with form and technique. The editing takes on a more experimental rhythm and Argento incorporates more roving camera work. The vicious murder scenes—soon to become an Argento hallmark—are more sadistic this time around and the image of a particularly nasty case of “rope burn” would be revived by the director much later for his film Giallo (2009). The Cat O’Nine Tails may not be quite top flight Argento, but don’t let the naysayers fool you: it’s still a good one.

Review

In 2017, Arrow Video released The Bird With The Crystal Plumage – the debut film from director Dario Argento. That was a spectacular release and sold well, so one year later Arrow Video did the world a favor and released Dario Argento’s second film in the Animal trilogy, The Cat o’ Nine Tails. I was so excited to see all of the Argento films that were released on Blu-ray that year with Synapse releasing both Phenomena and Suspiria and Arrow following up with Deep Red. As an Argento fan it was a great year!

Dario Argento was the loudest voice in giallo cinema and one of its most creative and artistic directors. His films were the stylistic backbone of the tremendous gialli output in the Seventies and his fingerprints on those films can be seen everywhere. The only director that had as profound of an impact on the genre would be Mario Bava. If Bava essentially created the format, Argento invigorated the genre and changed all the films that were made in his wake.

The Cat o’ Nine Tails was made by Dario Argento on the request of his film producer father Salvatore after The Bird with the Crystal Plumage was a huge success. The Cat o’ Nine Tails is not without some flaws. The film feels a little bit rushed in terms of the plot mechanics, but the film also features some of the most inventive sequences that Argento put to celluloid.

The plot revolves around a robbery of a Genetics Laboratory. As the film begins the killer steals some documents from a genetics lab and a security guard is left dead. The only person that may have a clue of what is going on is an older gentlemen that lives nearby. His name is Franco Arno (Karl Malden) and he is a former journalist that works as a crossword puzzle creator. He is also completely blind and relies upon his granddaughter to let him know what he is hearing and looking at. When hotshot journalist Carlo Giordani (James Franciscus) begins to investigate the murder, he ends up relying on the help of Franco. The body count rises as the killer strikes repeatedly with them hot on his trail.

As I mentioned, The Cat o’ Nine Tails was made immediately after Argento’s breakthrough film quickly to capitalize on the prior film’s success. The best aspect of the film is that it catches Argento still coming off the high creative peak of that film and he utilizes some of his greatest visual cues in this film. A scene involving a train and a scene involving an elevator are still a delight to behold nearly fifty years later. They are two of his best conceived shots from his career and both technical marvels. The film utilizes actor Karl Malden to great effect in the film. I also really enjoyed the performance by James Franciscus. Like his work in The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, composer Ennio Morricone delivers an exceptional score for the film.

The issues with the film are related to three different aspects. The most notable difference that stands out immediately is that the cinematographer Erico Menczer does not have the same flair and talent as the legendary Vitorrio Storaro. While he does a capable job, anybody who had seen The Bird With The Crystal Plumage is going to note this difference. Another problem is that the film itself feels a bit too “American” to quote Argento from the special feature interview on the disc. This works against some of the spark from the previous film. The final issue with the film is that the pacing is just a little slower than it should be. This probably has to do with the length of the story which probably could have easily lost a couple twists which would have left the film tighter and left the audience happier overall.

In Dario Argento’s opinion this film feels good but not great. He discusses this at length in the special feature. He does not consider it to be one of his best films, and I am tempted to agree with him. That said, I enjoyed watching the film and I am glad to own it. Even his lesser films from this peak period in his career are still pretty magical and have a lot to offer film lovers.

Video

Arrow Video have provided an excellent transfer of the film using an MPEG-4 AVC codec of a brand new 4K restoration from the original camera negatives. The image quality for the most part looks fantastic, retaining filmic grain and demonstrating great amounts of detail. As mentioned above, this film does not have the visual punch of the cinematography of Vitorrio Storaro, but there is still plenty to gaze upon and enjoy in the film. Arrow Video has proven themselves time and again to be great stewards of Italian genre films, and this is no exception.

Audio

Arrow Video has provided both an English and Italian LPCM Mono Track. I listened to the film intermittently in both languages and found that they both held up well. I personally preferred the English track because the American actors seem more natural in English. The score from Ennio Morricone is really solid. Even if it is not quite as memorable as the previous score, it fits the film very well. Obviously with these tracks being Mono tracks the range is incredibly limited. The dialogue is crisp and clear and I did not notice much hiss at all. This is a solid effort and fans are not likely to complain.

Supplements:

Original ending – a recreation of the lost original ending that Argento deemed too American and removed. The original footage has not been found so script pages are shown with stills from the film that correspond pretty well!

Giallo in Turin – An interview with production manager Angelo Iacono. He talks about working with Dario and Dario’s father Salvatore who was the producer while also discussing his memories of working on the film and the actors. This is a very sweet interview. Recorded exclusively for this release in 2017.

Nine Lives – an absolutely fantastic interview with the beloved director Dario Argento. Argento gives honest feedback about the film and it is well worth hearing what he has to say. Recorded exclusively for this release in 2017.

The Writer o’ Many Tales – Dardano Sacchetti, co-writer of the film, gives an extended interview on the process of making the film with Argento. It was his first film to write but he went on to write several cult classic films. IMDB him and you will be amazed at all he has written in his career. This is a great feature where he goes in between criticizing and praising his sometime friend and collaborator Dario Argento. This might be an even better feature than the Argento interview. Recorded exclusively for this release in 2017.

Interview with Cinzia de Carolis

Italian, international, and US Domestic Theater Trailers

Commentary by Allen Jones and Kim Newman- two authorities on giallo and Argento discuss the film in depth. This is a chatty conversation where they laugh and discuss numerous aspects of the film. This is a solid commentary with a good flow to it.

Overall Scores:

Video – 5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 5/5

Overall – 4.5/5

The Cat o’ Nine Tails is a good film but is certainly not without its flaws. I probably would rate the film about an eight out of ten, because Argento definitely still flexes some of his artistic muscle in the film and does plenty of interesting things. That said, the overall numerical score for this release by Arrow Video deserves higher praise than an eight out of ten. Arrow Video have provided some excellent supplements specifically for this release including an informative interview with Dario Argento and an amazing interview with his collaborator Dardano Sacchetti. If you have the slightest interest in the giallo genre, I would start with The Bird With The Crystal Plumage, but then I would go ahead and pick this one up next. Despite its shortcomings, there is still a lot to like. We can only hope that Arrow decides to release Four Flies on Grey Velvet at some point to round out the trilogy.

Portions of this review originally appeared on Blu-ray Authority.