Four Flies on Grey Velvet
| Four Flies on Grey Velvet | |
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Italian theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Dario Argento |
| Produced by | Salvatore Argento |
| Screenplay by | Dario Argento |
| Story by | Dario Argento Luigi Cozzi Mario Foglietti |
| Starring |
Michael Brandon Mimsy Farmer Jean-Pierre Marielle |
| Music by | Ennio Morricone |
| Cinematography | Franco Di Giacomo |
| Edited by | Franco Fraticelli |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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104 min. |
| Country | Italy France |
| Language | Italian |
| Box office | ₤1,231,000,000 (Italy) |
Four Flies on Grey Velvet (Italian: 4 mosche di velluto grigio) is a 1971 Italian-French giallo film written and directed by Dario Argento, from a story by Luigi Cozzi (whom also served as assistant director). The film is the third in director Argento's "Animal Trilogy", having been preceded by The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) and The Cat o' Nine Tails (1971).
While confronting a mysterious stalker in sunglasses, rock drummer Roberto Tobias (Michael Brandon) inadvertently stabs the man when the stalker pulls out a knife, mysterious third man shining a spotlight on the incident and snapping several photographs. Roberto reads about the man's death in the newspaper the next day, and receives a letter identifying the man as one Carlo Marosi. During a get-together of with his bandmates, Roberto's maid Amelia catches a glimpse of him with the photographs, but does not intervene.
That night, Roberto begins having recurring dreams of being decapitated in a Persian coliseum. He awakens to find himself being attacked by a masked man, who tells him that he could kill him now, but won't because he "isn't finished with him." The man knocks Roberto out and flees. When his wife Nina (Mimsy Farmer) returns home, he confesses to her about the accidental stabbing and subsequent harassment, telling her that he can't go to the police.
Roberto goes to see his beatnik artist friend Godfrey (Bud Spencer), who lives at a shack with his con-artist colleague nicknamed the Professor (Oreste Lionello). Roberto confides in them about his problem and Godfrey suggests having the Professor keep an eye on him. His tormentor has a flashback of being committed to an insane asylum and being tied down to a bed. When Amelia (whom the tormentor evidently knows) attempts to blackmail him, he locks her inside of a city park after hours and kills her with a straight razor.
That same evening, Nina arrives at a train station to pick up her cousin Dalia (Francine Racette) for another get together, in spite of Roberto not wanting her their. His bandmate Mikro, asks why he skipped rehearsal. Nina gets a phone call and learns of Amelia's murder. Roberto later has the same nightmare of being decapitated again and awakens to a loud noise. He investigates but only hears his pet cat hissing. The next morning, the couple find a note from the killer, frightening Nina.
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Wikipedia