Castle of the Banned Lovers

The conspiracy against the tyrant -father actually involved mother,brother ,Béatrice and her lover ; the poisoning by two of her lovers was historically accurate but failed .

The movie takes liberties with history ,which was sweetened ,as far as the heroine is concerned but it does not matter when you deal with Riccardo Freda ,the king of the popular cinema in the noblest sense of the term ;he's the king of the costume drama as " il cavaliere misterioso," "Spartaco" "le sette spade del vendicatore" testify ,to name but three .

He does know how to tell a story and his directing is efficient ,particularly in the night scenes ,in which he uses knowing lightnings ; most of the actors rise to the occasion ,particularly French Micheline Presles as the hypocrit fiendish stepmother and Gino Cervi ,the colorful father in love with his daughter ,almost a variation on the "beauty and the beast " topic . On the other hand ,Mireille Granelli is rather bland and one can wonder why Freda did not cast his magnificent wife ,Gianna-Maria Canale.

Best moments: the banquet ,with the poisoned pheasant ; the murder made to look like an accident .

Even if the denouement is well known , Freda creates some suspense ,not a small feat!