The Possessed (1965 film)

The Possessed (Italian: La donna del lago, lit. 'The Lady of the Lake') is a 1965 Italian mystery film written and directed by Luigi Bazzoni and Franco Rossellini and starring Peter Baldwin, Virna Lisi and Philippe Leroy. It is based on the novel La donna del lago by Giovanni Comisso.

The Possessed
Directed by	Luigi Bazzoni Franco Rossellini[1]
Produced by	Manolo Bolognini[1]
Screenplay by	Giulio Questi Luigi Bazzoni Franco Rosselini Ernesto Gastaldi
Based on	La donna del lago by Giovanni Comisso
Starring	Peter Baldwin Virna Lisi Valentina Cortese Pia Lindström
Music by	Renzo Rossellini[1]
Cinematography	Leonida Barboni[1]
Edited by	Nino Baragli[1]
Production companies	B.R.C. Produzione Film Istituto L.U.C.E.[2]
Distributed by	Telexport[3]
Release date	July 24, 1965 (Locarno Festival) August 14, 1965 (Italy)
Running time	90 minutes[2]
Country	Italy[2]
Box office	£100.116 million[4]

Summary

A visitor arrives in a small Italian village looking for a woman. Residents tell him that she committed suicide but there's more to the mystery than they're letting on.

Cast

• Peter Baldwin as Bernard
• Virna Lisi as Tilde
• Philippe Leroy as Mario
• Ennio Balbo as Coroner
• Valentina Cortese as Irma
• Pier Giovanni Anchisi as Francesco
• Pia Lindström as Adriana
• Salvo Randone as Mr. Enrico
• Anna Maria Gherardi as Servant girl
• Mauro Laurentino
• Vittorio Duse
• Bruno Scipioni

Production

The Possessed was based on the 1962 novel La donna del lago by Giovanni Comisso.[5] Giulio Questi was hired to write the screenplay.[6] Along with directors Luigi Bazzoni and Franco Rosselini, a fourth uncredited writer was added to work on the film: Ernesto Gastaldi.[6] For their contributions to the script, Gastaldi, Bazzoni, and Rosselini received 700,000, 500,000 and 250,000 Italian lire respectively.[6] Questi received the highest pay, earning 3 million lire.[6][7]

Release

The Possessed premiered at the Swiss Locarno Festival on 24 July 1965.[4] It was released in Italy on 14 August 1965, where it was distributed by Telexport,[3] a minor distribution company that only released the film in a limited area in Italy.[4] The film grossed 100,116,000 Italian lire domestically.[4]

References

1. "Cast and crew". The Possessed (booklet). Arrow Video. 2018. p. 5. FCD1850 / AV183.
2. "Donna del Lago, La (The Possessed), Italy, 1965". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 33 no. 394. British Film Institute. November 1966. p. 170.
3. "La donna del lago (1965)". Archivio del Cinema Italiano On-Line.
4. Ehrenreich 2018, p. 17.
5. Ehrenreich 2018, p. 8.
6. Ehrenreich 2018, p. 9.
7. Ehrenreich 2018, p. 10.

Sources

• Ehrenreich, Andreas (2018). "The Production of The Possessed". The Possessed (booklet). Arrow Video. FCD1850 / AV183.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

External links

• The Possessed at IMDb