review

THE CAT O'NINE TAILS

If there were one film in Argento's oeuvre that deserves a re-appraisal, it Argento's 1971 giallo, THE CAT O'NINE TAILS. While it's main conceit, that of a genetic code that could predetermine the violent tendencies of criminals, is indeed fact-based - though now discredited - it is among Argento's flimsiest plot devices. It doesn't really matter. If you're looking for plausibility, you'd be best advised to stay away from the giallo. This kind of plot device is no more than a MacGuffin, a concept borrowed from Hitchcock, and, if anything, the scientific angle of the story helps it attain a certain level of high mindedness missing from from of the other gialli of the period.


Cat O'Nine Tails - A doomed love affair

The story follows the formula of THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE almost exactly. Franco Arno, a former newspaper reporter, blinded in an accident, overhears a conversation between two men, sitting in a car, while walking home with his niece, Lori. That night someone breaks into a genetic research lab after bludgeoning a security guard, and rifles through some files. Soon enough we meet another reporter, Carlo Giordani, who is covering the story and will fill the role of amateur detective for the film - like Sam from THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, Carlo is given nearly full access to the police's leads throughout the film. Shortly after we are treated to a scene of a doctor being pushed in front of an oncoming train, an event caught on film by a photographer at the station to document the arrival of a beautiful young starlet. Once Franco learns, with help from his young niece (who calls him Cookie!), about the seemingly innocent accident, his old reporter's instincts are peaked. Turns out the murdered doctor is the same man he overheard in the car the previous night. The one who mentioned the word 'blackmail'...


Of course, this is a giallo and nothing is ever truly cut-and-dry in a giallo. Secret medical research, a dubious relationship between the research center's director and his beautiful daughter, a trip to a bar for transsexuals, grave robbing, and a most unfortunate dive down an elevator shaft all play their part in what I consider to be one of Argento's best films. This is a much darker creature than THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, much tighter in execution, more stylized and much more suspenseful.


Cat O'Nine Tails - Karl Malden survives an attack

Argento is not beyond repeating his own successes. The opening train murder will find it's way into THE CARD PLAYER much in the same way that the ending of THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE will be replayed, this time to fatal results, at the end of TENEBRAE. The slow motion bullet impact from his next film, FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET, will be used twice more, once in OPERA and finally in THE STENDHAL SYNDROME. Argento cribs a good bit from Hitchcock - most notably the poisoned glass of milk from SUSPICION - as well as from Lang. With THE CAT O'NINE TAILS, Argento came one step closer to creating what we now recognize as his signature look. You can feel him thumbing through past favorites, trying out new ideas, working with new editing techniques, trying to find a style he can call his own. By the time we get to DEEP RED, that style is firmly in place and Argento's forward momentum slows to a crawl. When the end credits roll on DEEP RED, so does Argento's growth as a cinematic stylist. What he does next, with SUSPIRIA and INFERNO, is simply refine his style, sharpen it up, perfect it. He's done growing and, for better or worse, he is now fully formed as a filmmaker.


For that reason and many others I feel that THE CAT O'NINE TAILS needs to be more seriously considered than it is. It's a transitional work and therefore an important work.


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