their name wipes across the screen. (Mannekäng i rött opens with a similar conceit, as a svelte model in a red evening gown, scarves flowing in an ethereal breeze, stands to the left of a proscenium box, which opens to re- veal a scrolling list of the film’s cred- its.) In a business where actors never receive 100% screen credit unless they have reached the summit of their pro- fession, Bava rewards nearly every actor with a speaking part by giving them the entire screen, all to them- selves, for a few seconds at the very beginning. Top-billed (in most countries, any- way) was Cameron Mitchell, who was delighted to be working with Bava again. “I had remained in touch with Bava, hoping that we would find an- other project to do together,” he re- ported. In the intervening years be- tween 1961 and 1963, much of Mitchell’s screen work had been for lesser Italian directors such as Pino Mercanti and Sergio Bergonzelli, so when Bava wanted him for Sei donne, Mitchell eagerly accepted his invita- tion, though the role of Max Morlan didn’t ask too much more of him than to sit at a desk and smoke cigarettes. “There was a special chemistry be- tween us,” Mitchell reasoned. “Bava was one of my favorite people on the planet.” Mitchell found Bava to be in a genial mood during the filming, though he too had heard rumors about the nervous breakdown he was alleged to have suffered. “We never talked about it because, in this business, frankly, everybody breaks down. I think it was fairly serious with Mario, however.”
Mitchell’s co-stars seem to remem-
ber him favorably. German actor Tho- mas Reiner, who played the hardboiled Inspector Sylvester, shared Mitchell’s daily taxi ride from the hotel to the villa where they were shooting. “The taxi picked us up at the hotel, and in the car, he always brought up something to talk about,” Reiner smiles. “But I never understood him properly be- cause he spoke with such heavy slang. I could never figure out what he was
ITALIAN due-foglia, art by M. Colizzi. Note that this poster places “A Film by Mario Bava” above the title and above the stars’ names— a first in Bava’s career.
