(1970)
Il gatto a nove code; also Le chat a neuf queues
The Cat O’Nine Tails is partly based on a novel by Brian Edgar Wallace. A break-in at a genetics lab leads to the murder of a scientist the next day. A picture of the murder was taken by a newspaper photographer, but he turns up dead and the photo missing before a reporter (James Franciscus) can pick it up. Franciscus then teams up with a blind former reporter turned puzzle solver (Karl Malden) to find out who the muderer is. The two men come up with nine different leads, like a cat o’nine tails. Both men have attempts taken with their lives and Franciscus gets locked in a mausoleum. The lab was researching the XYY chromosome, which brings on violent behavior. Again the music is composed by Ennio Morricone.
Director: Dario Argento. Producer: Salvatore Argento. Screenwriter: Dario Argento, from a story by Dario Argento, Luigi Collo and Dardano Sacchetti. Cinematographer: Enrico Menczer. Music: Ennio Morricone. Art Director: Carlo Leva. Editor: Franco Fraticelli. Titles and Optical Effects: Luciano. Make-Up Artists: Giuseppe Ferranti and Piero Meccaci.
Cast: Karl Malden (Franco Arno), James Franciscus (Carlo Giordani), Catherine Spaak (Anna Terzi), Cinzia de Carolis (Lori), Carlo Alighiero (Doctor Calabresi), Vittorio Congia (Cameraman Righetto), Pier Paolo Capponi (Police Superintendent Spimi), Corrando Olmi (Morsella), Tino Carraro (Terzi), Aldo Reggiani (Doctor Casoni), Horst Frank (Doctor Braun), Emilio Marchesini (Doctor Mombelli), Tom Felleghy (Doctor Essen), Rada Rassimov (Manuel).
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1, 112 minutes, MPAA Rating: PG