Wednesday

Contact junior by writing junior@scoopy.com. Contact Scoopy by writing unclescoopy@msn.com. Contact Tuna by writing tuna@scoopy.com Send submissions to scoopy@scoopy.net

To see and use all the Funhouse features, you need Netscape 6.+ or MSIE 5.+.

• Netscape 6.2.2 is available free for download or on CD.
• MSIE 6.0 is available free.

The Night of the Glass Dolls (1971) is a giallo from Aldo Lado, and was his first film, set in Prague. The original title of Malastrana referred to a district in Prague, but the producers forced him into a title change long before release, saying that the public wouldn't understand the reference, so he chose The Night of the Butterfly. All of the promotional material had been printed, and just before release, someone else released a film with butterfly in the title, so they pasted Glass Dolls over Butterfly. Either of the first two choices made sense, but not the third. The title is about the only thing wrong with this double mystery. Reporter Gregory Moore (Jean Sorel) is found unconscious by a street sweeper. He is pronounced dead at the hospital, but is actually alive. He can see and hear everything around him, but exhibits no life signs.

To maintain some composure, he tries to remember what happened to put him there, and the story gradually unfolds. His girlfriend disappears, and he suspects foul play, but the police don't seem to be investigating very hard, so he undertakes to solve the mystery, and soon discovers that his girlfriend (Barbara Bach) was not the only young woman to turn up missing. He begins to suspect a conspiracy involving everyone of power and influence in Prague. The story was prompted by a case in Italy where a judge spoke up against the system, and was exhiled to Sardinia or somewhere. This gave Lado the idea for a story about someone who is oppressed by the powers that be. He goes on to say that men of power maintain it on the blood of young people, and cites war as the extreme example.

Bach shows her panty crotch in one scene, and most of her breast in another. Ingrid Thulin, as a colleague of Sorel, shows a nipple in a sex scene, and there is a host of nudity including full frontal from corpses, and also during an orgy scene at the end of the film. The orgy was mostly among senior citizens, and Also filmed in a nursing home using the residents. He was concerned with how well they would do, especially when they were standing around before shooting half dressed and moping. Once he started filming, they rediscovered their libido and he couldn't stop them.

IMDB readers say 7.6 of 10. I agree, This is as good as any suspense thriller I have seen, with two mysteries to solve. What happened to our hero, and where is his girlfriend? The scenics in Prague are fantastic. Even if you don't usually like Italian giallo, you might well enjoy this one, which plays more like a Hitchcock suspense thriller, but with topless women. Base don thsi, the film is a B.

Here are the latest movie reviews available at scoopy.com.

• The yellow asterisks indicate that I wrote the review, and am deluded into thinking it includes humor.
• If there is a white asterisk, it means that I inexplicably determined there might be something of interest.
• A blue asterisk indicates the review is written by Tuna (or Lawdog or Junior or C2000 or Realist or ICMS or somebody else besides me)
• If there is no asterisk, I wrote it, but am too ashamed to admit it.

• Marisol Padilla Sánchez, full frontal nudity from "Fever" (1999). Written and directed by Alex Winter aka...Bill S. Preston Esq. of "Bill and Ted" fame.

• Rebecca Romijn-Stamos in her unfortunately way too dark topless scenes from "Rollerball". For those who haven't seen this movie...don't rush out and rent it. It's poorly written, there are too many quick cuts, and despite being full of non-stop "action", the movie is dull and pointless.

Be sure to pay Graphic Response a visit at his website. www.graphic-barry.com.

Here's the breakdown:

PETA NEWS: FEMINISTS SLAM ANTI-FUR AD, CORN COB NAGS EGYPTIANS
Sexist Pigs! - A feminist group called "No Status Quo" is urging women to boycott People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals because their ad campaign, "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur," uses photos of famous women nude. The feminists claim PETA's ads are misogynist, that they "jack up sexual stereotypes, male privilege and conservative politics," and even if you're promoting animal rights, "it's not okay to treat women like meat."