The Film:
From Wikipedia:
“Danger:Diabolik (Italian: Diabolik) is a 1968 action and crime film directed and co-written by Mario Bava, based on the Italian comic series Diabolik by Angela and Luciana Giussani.[3] The film is about a criminal named Diabolik (John Phillip Law), who plans large-scale heists for his girlfriend Eva Kant (Marisa Mell). Diabolik is pursued by Inspector Ginko (Michel Piccoli), who blackmails the gangster Ralph Valmont (Adolfo Celi) into catching Diabolik for him.
An adaptation of the comics was originally envisioned by producer Tonino Cervi, who set up an international co-production deal in 1965 and hired Seth Holt to direct the film with a cast that included Jean Sorel, Elsa Martinelli and Gilbert Roland. Appalled with Holt’s footage, distributor Dino De Laurentiis assumed control of the film’s production, electing to restart the project from scratch with a new screenplay and Bava as director. De Laurentiis produced the film in tandem with another comic book adaptation, Barbarella, with the two projects receiving financial support from Paramount Pictures and sharing several cast and crew members. Catherine Deneuve was initially cast as Eva, but her incompatibility with Law and disagreements with Bava led to the part being recast with Mell. Working under more financial and creative pressure than he was familiar with, Bava delivered Danger: Diabolik considerably below its assigned budget by utilizing many of the inexpensive visual effects techniques that he had used in his earlier films. It would prove to be the only film that he would direct for a major Hollywood studio.
Upon its theatrical release, Danger: Diabolik performed below De Laurentiis’ expectations at the box office, and received negative reviews from The New York Timesand Variety. With the re-evaluation of Bava’s filmography, retrospective reception of the film has been more positive, with its visuals, the performances of Law and Mell, and the score by Ennio Morricone receiving praise. In studies of the film, critics and historians have focused on Bava’s use of mise-en-scène to replicate the imagery and stylization of comic books, and the film’s reflection of the socio-political upheavals of the 1960s in its characterization and narratology. Having garnered a cult following, Danger: Diabolik was chosen by Empire magazine as one of “The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time” in 2008. The first in a trilogy of new Diabolik films directed by the Manetti Bros. was released in 2021.
De Laurentiis felt that the only way to save the film was to restart production with a new script and director.[12] The other production companies were not content with De Laurentiis stopping production, which led Les Films Marceau-Cocinor to terminate its contract with Italy Film.[12] A.S. Film Produccion confiscated the footage and took cameras, costumes, and weapons that had been rented by Italy Film, which nearly bankrupted the company.[12] During the interim, De Laurentiis capitalized on his newfound rights to the fumetti by including Diabolik, among several comic book characters, in “An Evening Like the Others”, Vittorio De Sica‘s segment of the anthology film The Witchesstarring Silvana Mangano and Clint Eastwood; here, Diabolik was portrayed by actor Gianni Gori.[15]Director Umberto Lenziunsuccessfully attempted to buy the rights to Diabolik from De Laurentiis, prompting him to instead make Kriminal, based on Magnus and Max Bunker‘s fumetti neri of the same name.[16]
Deciding to make the film as an ancillary project complimenting his upcoming production of Barbarella—which was also an adaptation of a comic series—De Laurentiis restarted production with financial backing for both projects from Paramount Pictures, set up a two-film co-production deal with French producer Henri Michaud of Marianne Productions, and hired Mario Bava as director.[12][17][18]Bava was reportedly suggested to De Laurentiis and the Giussanis by Farina, who was a fan of the director’s giallo films, and informed the producer of Bava’s popularity with cinephiles and intellectuals.[19] Bava was also deemed by De Laurentiis to be a financially viable director, as Le spie vengono dal semifreddo (the Italian version of Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs) had been a commercial success.[20]
The initial treatment for Danger: Diabolik was written by Adriano Baracco, which was then adapted into a full screenplay by Dino Maiuri, who had previously scripted the Eurospy comedy Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die for De Laurentiis.[21][22] The script was later revised by the British writing team of Brian Degas and Tudor Gates, who were hired by Bava due to their positive collaboration on the aborted gialloproject Cry Nightmare (later filmed by Antonio Margheriti as The Young, the Evil and the Savage).[19] The final screenplay, which is credited to Maiuri, Degas, Gates and Bava in the English version of the film, and only to Maiuri and Bava in the Italian version,[23] was based on three separate Diabolik stories: Sepolto vivo! (transl. Buried Alive!) from August 1963, Lotta disperata(Hopeless Battle) from March 1964, and L’ombra nella notte(The Shadows of Night) from May 1965.[24][25] Degas and Gates’ script bore the working title of Goldstrike! for Paramount to consider as an alternative title for the film’s international release due to the fumetti being little known outside Italy;[26] the film’s English title was announced by Paramount’s publicist Chuck Painter to be Danger: Diabolik on 29 November 1967.[27] De Lautentiis was so enthusiastic towards Degas and Gates’ work that he hired them to provide additional material for Barbarella.[25]
Bava was permitted by De Laurentiis to utilize many of the key crew members of several of his most recent films (namely Planet of the Vampires and Kill, Baby, Kill), such as his son and assistant director Lamberto Bava, editor Romana Fortini, cinematographer Antonio Rinaldi, and script supervisor Rosalba Scavia.[7][30] The film’s art direction was led by Flavio Mogherini and two-time Academy Award winner Piero Gherardi: Mogherini, who had last worked with Bava on The Wonders of Aladdin, was also responsible for the film’s scale model effects, while Gherardi, who had designed sets for films that Bava had shot early in both men’s careers, also assisted Luciana Marinucci with the film’s costume designs.[30][31]Other crew members would also become future Oscar winners: Carlo Rambaldi, who had previously provided special effects for Planet of the Vampires and created Diabolik’s form-fitting mask,[32] would be recognized for his work on E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, as would composer Ennio Morricone for The Hateful Eight.[33][34]
Catherine Deneuve (pictured) was originally cast in the role of Eva Kant, but left the film after a week of shooting and was replaced by Marisa Mell.
John Phillip Law was invited to audition for Diabolik as a favor by De Laurentiis after production on Barbarella, which Law had been cast in as Pygar, was delayed due to technical difficulties, allowing director Roger Vadim and his wife and star, Jane Fonda, to make the “Metzengerstein” segment of Spirits of the Dead.[12][35] An avid comic book fan since childhood, Law was initially unfamiliar with the characters in Diabolik, and read several of the comics to understand his character, as he had done when preparing for Barbarella.[36] Due to most of the character’s face being hidden by a black or white skin-tight mask, Law noted that the most prominent aspect of Diabolik’s appearance was his eyebrows; he prepared for the role by applying mascara to his own, and taught himself to convey a wide array of expressions with them. Upon meeting with De Laurentiis and Bava, the director exclaimed “Ah, questo Diabolik!” (“This is Diabolik!”), indicating to Law that he had won the role.[37]
Budgetary changes led to established actors being cast in smaller roles, including Michel Piccoli—who was recommended to De Laurentiis by Vadim—as Ginko, Adolfo Celi as Valmont and Terry-Thomas as the Minister of the Interior (later the Minister of Finance).[12][38] Because of his busy schedule, which precluded his ability to dub his own performance (in the typical manner of production for Italian films), Terry-Thomas’ scenes were shot in a single day and his dialogue was recorded as live sound.[39][40] Several minor members of the film’s cast had appeared in Bava’s earlier films, including Federico Boido (Planet of the Vampires), Francesco Mulè(Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs) and Walter Williams (The Girl Who Knew Too Much).[30] Renzo Palmer, whose character Mr. Hammond usurps Terry-Thomas in the Minister of the Interior role, was also an experienced dubbing actor who had provided voice work for Planet of the Vampiresand Knives of the Avenger; for the Italian version of the film, he looped not only his own lines, but those of Terry-Thomas’.[41]
Casting Eva Kant proved particularly troublesome. The role was originally going to be played by an unidentified American model who was cast at the behest of her friend, Gulf and Western (the then-parent company of Paramount) President Charles Bluhdorn. Law noted that the model was “gorgeous, but couldn’t say ‘Hello’ on film”, and was eventually fired a week into filming.[36][37] Vadim then suggested to De Laurentiis that he cast his ex-fiancée Catherine Deneuve as Eva.[36] Law believed that Bava was against this idea, and felt personally that Deneuve was wrong for the role: “There was no chemistry between us. She was very sweet, and a very good actress, but she was simply not right for the part”;[36] he also stated that “Catherine may not have been ready for the part. She had not yet done Belle de Jour. I think if she had done Diabolik after Belle de Jour, she might have been more relaxed, and things might have worked out a little differently.”[31] After examining production photographs of Law and Deneuve, Lucas corroborated Law’s assessment by noting that the actress was “unable to subdue her own persona to inhabit the character of Eva Kant. Standing beside her clearly enamored co-star in her white vinyl boots and mini-dress, she looks like an Ice Princess to be worshiped—which was not the interpersonal dynamic required between Eva and Diabolik. […] Her casting would have badly weakened Diabolik’s all-important authority and thrown the film completely off-balance.”[42] When asked about her involvement in the film in the 1980s, Deneuve revealed that Bava took his frustrations with the film’s production and her lack of chemistry with Law out on her, saying, “He didn’t seem to find anything about me agreeable, not even the way I walked”.[42] After a week of shooting with Deneuve, Bava and De Laurentiis decided that she should be replaced;[36]having objected to the nudity required for the role, she was fired after she refused to perform the scene in which Diabolik and Eva have sex on top of the $10 million they have stolen.[31]
Bava was given the opportunity to recast Eva and selected Marilù Tolo, who he would later cast in Roy Colt & Winchester Jack.[43]De Laurentiis, who had previously cast the actress in Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die and The Witches, disliked Tolo and instead hired Bava’s secondary choice, Marisa Mell.[36][44] Law recalled that upon meeting Mell, “we knew everything was going to work out. We fell into each other’s arms on the first day, and had a really great relationship on—and off-screen, after a while.”[45] For the duration of the film’s production, the two leads lived together, and adopted a stray black kitten, which they christened “Diabolik”.[38] With Mell in place as Eva, Law found Bava to be a cooperative, amiable director who allowed them to express vulnerability and create “magic moments” throughout the film.[37] Stylistically, Eva’s portrayal in the film notably differs from her fumetti counterpart: in the comics, Eva typically styles her hair in a bun (usually a chignon) and wears trenchcoats or black catsuits similar to those worn by Diabolik;[46][47] while her film counterpart keeps her hair long (Mell, a brunette, wore a wig to portray the character as a blonde) and undergoes a multitude of retrofuturistic costume changes.[26][45][48][b] Following the film’s completion, Mell was cast alongside Sorel and Martinelli in Lucio Fulci‘s giallo One on Top of the Other.[49]