Crime in Via Teulada

 

"It's always shadows for me."

Behind the scenes of a busy television studio, amid the chaos of performers and crew, production assistant Lia (Auretta Gay) discovers a dead body in a storage room - but by the time she calls people over to show them, the body has disappeared! Intern Sandro (Pietro Brambilla), dancer Annie (Barbara d'Urso) and blind phone operator Ely (Margarita Sestito) resolve to help Lia find the truth. But as they investigate, the killer strikes again and again, murdering anyone who gets too close to the truth  and collecting evidence of the crimes. Who could the killer be? Can the team find out before the murderer does them in?

Crime in Via Teulada (not to be confused with Crimes) was originally aired on Italian TV as a serialized segment on the show "Variety" - the same show depicted in the movie. It appeared over 15 episodes, each about five minutes long and was later edited together for a video release. Because of this unusual structure, there's not a lot of time for introducing and establishing characters but, on the upside, it means there's a murder scene, chase or suspenseful moment every few minutes. Though it doesn't stand up to the genre's greats, it's an interesting experiment in the giallo form and worth checking out.

• The killer's motive - to find and hide an incriminating diary - is clearly lifted from Blood and Black Lace. Also, the behind the scenes showbiz setting is similar to Dario Argento's Opera, which would come out a few years later.

• Director Aldo Lado made his name as the director of Short Night of the Glass Dolls, Who Saw Her Die? and, much later, Circle of Fear. 

• Throughout the film, we see crew testing out special effects tricks - getting stabbed, impaled with a sword, and dropping a mannequin from a rooftop. All those same effects are later used at some point by the filmmakers of Crime in Via Teulada to kill off characters. It's rather meta.

• The original title was Giallo a Striscio, which translates as "A Smear of Yellow." 

What the Hell am I Watching?

In order to hide one of the victim's bodies, the killer shrink wraps her onto a board and places her among a group of prop statues. One can't help but make comparisons to Han Solo in carbonite in The Empire Strikes Back, which was released the same year as Crime in Via Teulada.

Fashion Moment

Here's a look at the dancers' Vegas-style costumes on the set of "Variety."

Notice that the logo for "Variety" is identical to the masthead for the American entertainment newspaper of the same name.

Also, a shout out to Annie for this cool hooded leather coat.