I blew it with Mark Damon. Here at Vintage Leisure, I pride myself on pointing out the contributions of those who have somehow navigated life successfully enough to make it to a ripe old age. And we’re getting good at doing so before these players go off to meet Houdini. My thinking has always been that there is obviously a rash of articles discussing a person’s career in the immediate wake of their passing and another piece is just that; just another grain of sand on the beach. But, me, I like to celebrate these people and their work while they are still with us and therefore perhaps not getting talked about enough if at all. Today’s ExPat Cinema personage is one of those who exhibited some resiliency and staying power.

I waited too long, though, to discuss the interesting career of Mark Damon. Watching TCM’s always excellent TCM Remembers tribute video late in 2024 I was sad to see (a lot of names, actually) Mark’s name included. Did I just barely miss his passing? I did not. Mark Damon passed away on May 12th, 2024 at 91 and I heard nary a puff about it. I’ll give myself a pass, though, for not getting to him sooner. I put Mark down the list a bit when it came to the Once Upon a Time series due in part to the fact that I had a few years ago issued a piece on his excellent western Johnny Yuma. In that article I had already discussed Mark and his career and his move to Europe but let’s look at Damon again and explore another of his titles and this time we will talk about a sub genre we haven’t yet touched on in this series – the giallo film.

Mark Damon was born in Ol’ Chi as Alan Harris, the family’s Jewish surname of Herscovitz having been changed. When Mark was young, the family relocated to Los Angeles where Mark eventually attended Fairfax High School (the substantial and impressive list of students includes Herb Alpert) where, as a senior, he was scouted by Groucho Marx. After attending dental school, Mark pivoted to business school where he received an education that he would call upon when he eventually went into the film production and distribution business in the later 1970s. After less visible work in Hollywood, Mark Damon left for Europe where he began by making a raft of spaghetti westerns before trying his hand at horror films.

Today’s tale starts with the Woolner Brothers, a production company that is new to me. After US Army service in WW2, the brothers opened drive-ins in New Orleans and Memphis. They began to finance B movie productions and inevitably got off the ground working with Roger Corman. They would eventually produce films Stateside and abroad from almost every bonkers drive-in movie B genre; giallo, EuroSpy, sword-and-sandal and two “hillbilly” films. The brothers hooked up with Italian filmmaker Mario Bava and contracted him to make the film we are looking at today but after a disagreement, Bava bowed out. Enter another Italian who was busy forging a singular and indelible career. Antonio Margheriti I discussed in the Once Upon a Time episode featuring Tony King. Margheriti stepped in to a fully formed production that was ready to shoot and so he landed in Roma, sat in his chair and yelled “azione!”.

Nude…si muore (aka Naked…you die, The Young, the Evil and the Savage, The Schoolgirl Killer, The Miniskirt Murders) begins with a woman at her most vulnerable – taking a bath. She is strangled and placed in a trunk that is shipped to St. Hilda College, a private school for girls with but seven students. As the trunk is placed in the basement, we meet the various players. The students are vivacious and the faculty – most hired on short-term contracts – seems wary as they feel each other out. Teacher Richard (Damon) has been carrying on an affair with one of the girls, pretty Lucille. Stranglings continue and an investigation ensues and as horrible events continue to play out, it is revealed that one of the students is about to inherit a family fortune. As the bodies pile up with several under suspicion, Lucille determines to bolt the school while she still can and run away with Richard. She heads to his quarters late one night only to find Richard unconscious at the hands of the killer who reveals themselves and their motives.

Pretty Eleonora Brown (b. 1948) does well as Lucille. Brown (US father, Italian mother) portrayed the young girl traveling with Sophia Loren in the harrowing Two Women but was not much for acting and basically wrapped her career with our film. Cutey Sally Smith (b. 1942) was an English stage actress who had been the star of the TV series The Human Jungle (1963-5) with the theme by John Barry. Aside from a one-off, she also stopped making features with Naked…you die. Now, dig this; one of the teachers and a significant character is played by Ludmilla Lvova who was born Betty Low in my nation’s capital of Ottawa, where Paul Anka was born. She was not really an actress but a ballet dancer who made but four features and died in 2016 in Annapolis, Maryland. Now, you answer me this – what in the name of Sam Hill is she doing in this movie? How on earth did she come to be cast? Just anther of the fascinating mysteries you run into when you explore the films we look at here at your home for Vintage Leisure. Michael Rennie plays the police inspector who attempts to solve the murders. Rennie was an Englishman who had served in the RAF before forging a career in English film and, of course, portraying Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). I know him from Island in the Sun (1957) and another ExPat Cinema film we’ve talked about, Death on the Run (1967).

Perhaps the real star of Nude…si muore, though, is the location. St. Hilda’s College is “portrayed” by Castello della Castelluccia, a castle constructed on the remains of a Roman villa that dates back to the 1100’s. It is tucked in the lush countryside outside of Rome and exists today mostly as a venue for weddings. Like, fairytale weddings. I wonder at the type of people who tie the knot there and what it costs them. There are 23 rooms, each unique and with their own moniker. “The lush grounds exude an undeniable romantic ambience”, sure, but I wish I could’ve found more info on the castle’s history before it became a high-tone wedding venue for the filthy rich. And, as you would imagine, info about the castle’s use in our film is nowhere at all to be seen.

Nude… si muore is a giallo film. The giallo genre is said to have its origins in Mario Bava’s 1963 The Girl Who Knew Too Much and the films are basically characterized as suspenseful murder mysteries with graphic and sometimes sensational violence and a certain measure of sex including full and partial nudity. They often border on horror and invariably feature a mysterious killer who is not revealed until the final moments. The genre is considered to be a precursor to the slasher film, movies that took giallo‘s foundations and amplified the horror and gore. A giallo to me features sharp objects and quantities of bright red blood but Nude…si muore features strangulations which make the film a more tame entry in the genre. But there is no shortage of atmosphere and suspense, the settings, sets and the ladies wardrobes are nice and the surprise ending is legit. Speaking of wardrobes and just so you know, I read a review of this film with the comical heading “Fully Clothed You Die”. So, that tells you something about the lack of nudity here.

I encourage you to read the previously mentioned piece on Johnny Yuma to learn more about Mark Damon and his fascinating career pivot in the late 1970s. He is said to have invented the foreign film sales business and was a pioneer in promoting the independent film industry which is no small accomplishment considering what independent film has become. Another player in ExPat Cinema to turn middling success in US films to a substantial career in Europe and around the globe. Perdonami for missing your passing, sir. Riposa in pace.