Beautiful widows are dangerous

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Movie
German title Beautiful widows are dangerous
Original title Five Golden Hours
Cinque ore in contanti
Country of production United Kingdom of
Italy
original language English , Italian
Publishing year 1961
length 90 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Mario Zampi
script Hans Wilhelm
production Mario Zampi
music Stanley Black
camera Christopher Challis
cut Bill Lewthwaite
occupation

Beautiful widows are dangerous is a 1960 British-Italian comedy film by Mario Zampi , whose last cinema production this was, with Ernie Kovacs , Cyd Charisse and George Sanders in the leading roles.

action

Aldo Bondi, a vain dude with a narrow mustache, works as an employee in a funeral home and is satisfied with himself and the world, because: Business flourishes and people always die! On the occasion of the funeral of a baron, he met his captivatingly beautiful widow, the baroness Sandra. Quite Papagallo, he serves himself to the charming aristocrats, gives consolation wherever he can and gives the altruistic "carer" with plenty of abuse. Because that is his real vocation: to stand by the widowed ladies in need and to be a sensitive advisor in all worries, mental as well as financial and above all erotic needs. Aldo has already brought the slacker widow care together with Martha, Beatrice and Rosalia - simple-minded, older women who are only too happy to use his "service". The oily Bondi is of course not completely altruistic in his work: Quite a few sums have already been paid for as a successor to heir as a result of his efforts. Aldo knows that he has to work particularly hard with the new widow Sandra, because the Signora is more sought after than any of his previous clients, and besides, this elegant grande dame Aldo likes more than just business.

Signore Bondi throws himself into the stuff as best he can: he comes in as a butler and goes out as a gardener. But he soon finds out that the Signora Baroness's big house is completely over-indebted, as the noble deceased was anything but noble in his business conduct. You could even say that the dead baron was a real crook and cheat. He had used the time difference of, as the English original title reveals, "five golden hours" between Rome and New York to generate wealth with alleged stock market speculations, which enabled him to generate wealth with their wealth, both willing and above all wealthy investors. Well thought out, but unfortunately the trick according to the well-known pyramid scheme did not work: because the alleged stockbroker was just a simple gambler who used the time differences between the stock exchange closing in Rome and the stock exchange opening in New York to use the other's money to add to his gambling satisfy - always in the hope of being able to pay off the creditors again through the profits, which however should never arise. And so one day the player passed away and left the unsuspecting widow a mountain of debt.

In love with both ears, Aldo Bondi now uses the same lazy trick of the baron on his widows Martha, Beatrice and Rosalia, whom he likes, and carries the bills to Sandra. But his lady of the heart has learned a lot from her departed husband: when Aldo now wants to demand the sweet reward for his willingness to help, the widow has disappeared and the magnificent house is for sale. Now Aldo is up to his neck and he thinks he can see no other solution to his problem than to send the three widowed believers to the afterlife. The plan fails, and Signor Bondi sees no other way out than suddenly suffering from amnesia and being admitted to a sanatorium. There he meets Mr. Bing, who also fakes memory loss.

The Italian rascal is luckier than wits. The richest of his three widows suddenly dies naturally and leaves all her belongings to the funeral attendant. However, Aldo can only enjoy the inheritance if he continues to suffer from amnesia and gives to the crazy, otherwise a Catholic monastery will be the beneficiary. Rascal Aldo doesn't want to stay in the clinic forever, so he proposes a deal to the friars: They do fifty-fity. So he can now pay off the other two women, and suddenly, as if out of nowhere, Baronessa Sandra appears again on the scene: she has just become a widow for the sixth time! And she learns, secretly from Mr. Bing, who is also dismissed, now a confederate of the amorous Aldo, that he has meanwhile become wealthy. Of course, that makes the man extremely interesting for Sandra. Love is blind, and in the face of the Baronessa Aldo does not listen to his inner voice, but to his libido. Soon he will be husband No. 7 of the "black widow" Sandra, who quickly thinks about how she could become a widow again.

Production notes

Beautiful Widows Are Dangerous was filmed in both English and Italian. The outdoor shots were taken in Bolzano , South Tyrol . The Italian screening took place on March 10, 1961. In Germany, the film ran on August 16, 1963.

synchronization

role actor Voice actor
Aldo Bondi Ernie Kovacs Klaus Miedel
Baronessa Sandra Cyd Charisse Gisela Peltzer
Mr. Bing George Sanders Siegfried Schürenberg
Martha Kay Hammond Eva Eras
Rosalia Clelia Matania Gudrun Genest

The dubbing director was Franz-Otto Krüger .

Reviews

The reviews were all pretty poor. Here are three examples:

The Movie & Video Guide said the "limp comedy would waste the talent of the cast".

Halliwell's Film Guide saw the film as an "ill-considered black comedy" that "sadly lacks style."

"Stylistically half-baked and only moderately exhilarating."

- Lexicon of International Films

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Leonard Maltin : Movie & Video Guide, 1996 edition, p. 433
  2. ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 353
  3. ↑ Beautiful widows are dangerous in the lexicon of international films Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used

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