Bluebeard (1972)

A young American (Joey Heatherton) touring as a showgirl in 1930s Europe is courted by a Hungarian aristocrat (Richard Burton), who has had multiple wives. They marry and he gives her a set of keys to the castle and tells her she must never use the gold one. Of course, her curiosity gets the better of her and what that key unlocks could be the death of her. Directed by Edward Dmytryk (CROSSFIRE) and based on the classic French folk tale which has "inspired" several previous films including the 1944 Edgar G. Ulmer film. This version is presented as a black comedy though it takes awhile before one realizes it is a comedy. Burton's last line in the film is, "This is ridiculous! This is absurd!" and that about sums up the movie. A bevy of international beauties are cast as his lovers and mistresses and the more amusing segments include Virna Lisi as the wife who drives him crazy because she won't stop singing pop songs all the time and Raquel Welch as an ex-nun who feels the need to confess her entire sexual history which is prolific! I could have done without the hunting montage with hunters shooting various animals which I found distasteful, however. The Ennio Morricone underscore is aces! With Nathalie Delon, Sybil Danning, Marilu Tolo, Agostina Belli and Karin Schubert.