In this post, we will look at two adaptations of the 1949 novel, ‘The Screaming Mimi’ by Fredric Brown. One is an American film noir adaptation, ‘Screaming Mimi’, directed by Gerd Oswald. The other is ‘The Girl with the Crystal Plumage’, a loose Italian Giallo adaptation and the directorial debut of iconic Italian director Dario Argento.

Screaming Mimi (1958)

Screaming Mimi is a forgettable noir movie by Gerd Oswald. The opening scene, set in Dover, England, shows a woman (Anita Ekberg) in an outdoor shower. Suddenly, a large man stabs her dog and rushes at her, brandishing a knife. The large man is shot down by another man, who is later revealed to be the woman’s stepbrother.

The woman, Virginia Wilson, is seen in a sanitarium, under the care of Dr. Greenwood (Harry Townes). Greenwood seems to have won Virginia’s trust and can easily control and manipulate her. The couple absconds to New Orleans and assumes new identities.

Virginia is next seen as a performer at a shady bar in New Orleans with a new alias, Yolanda Lange. The club is owned by Joann ‘Gypsy’ Mapes (Gypsy Rose Lee). Yolanda is still under the care and control of Dr. Greenwood, who is now living as Bill Green. As the couple settles down with new identities, the city is plagued by the rampage of a serial killer targeting women. On one occasion, the murderer makes an attempt on Yolanda’s life. Yolanda’s vicious dog springs to her defense and scares away her attacker.

A journalist, Bill Sweeney (Philip Carey), who is intrigued by Yolanda, notices a female figurine in Yolanda’s room when he interviews her. A similar doll was found at the scene of the murdered women. Believing that there is a connection between the murders and Yolanda, and perhaps her enigmatic guardian, Sweeney befriends Yolanda and uncovers the mystery.

‘Screaming Mimi’ is a sign of the loosening control of the Hayes Code on moviemakers. Scenes of Anita Ekberg performing at a nightclub, with provocative clothes, indicate Oswald’s intent to use her sex appeal to captivate the audience. The plot cannot hold the interest of its audience, and neither can Oswald’s gimmick. While not the worst of movies, this is a movie one can miss.

For those interested, Screaming Mimi is available for viewing on our YouTube channel. Please scroll below to watch Screaming Mimi or to read a review of “The Bird with the Crystal Plumage”.

The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (1970)

Besides being Dario Argento’s first movie, ‘The Bird With the Crystal Plumage’ is the first installment in his ‘Animal’ movie trilogy. Set in Rome, the plot is a very loose adaptation of the book, Screaming Mimi. One has to really dig deep to see that some facets of the plot and how it unfolds bear a small commonality to the book.

An American tourist, Sam Dalmas (Tony Musante), in Rome, witnesses a dark figure attack a woman in an art gallery. He is caught between the gallery’s doors and helplessly watches and creates a ruckus. The assailant, taken aback by Sam’s involvement, absconds from the scene. The victim, however, survives the ordeal.

Inspector Morosini (Enrico Maria Salerno), the officer investigating the case, does not trust Dalmas and threatens to arrest him. Dalmas, who is living with his girlfriend Julia (Suzy Kendall), reminisces on the disturbing event and feels that there is some missing piece that he cannot decipher. Sam meets the victim of the attack, who turns out to be the wife of the gallery’s curator. While the woman and her husband are thankful to Sam for getting involved, the husband strongly shelters his wife and denies Sam the opportunity to talk with her.

At that time, a vicious serial killer is on the prowl, targeting women. Sam plunges into his own investigation of the murdered women. Morosini, now no longer suspicious of Sam, asks him to immediately return home to America. As expected, Sam disregards the request and continues his investigation. As one of the murdered women was a prostitute, Sam interrogates her pimp and learns that she also worked at a high-end antique and painting store. Sam visits the store, where a male clerk seems to be showing more than a passing interest in him. The clerk tells Sam that the woman sold a creepy painting of a man stabbing a woman on the day she died.

Sam next visits the artist who created the painting as part of his investigation. The plot intensifies as Sam begins to receive threatening calls, and the murderer targets Julia. A friend and employer of Sam soon discovers that a background noise obtained from the recording of one of the threatening calls was from a rare bird. This would turn out to be the final clue that solves the case.

Like most Giallo movies, ‘The Bird with the Crystal Plumage’ is packed with drama and crimson red blood, but with a lot less nudity that is associated with the genre. While most of the cast has done its part, this movie has no standout performances.

However, the visuals and the cinematography make this movie a decent one-time watch. It is not often that an adaptation of a plot triumphs over the original, but in this case, it does, probably because the bar was set really low. The plot of ‘The Bird With the ‘Crystal Plumage’ surpasses ‘Screaming Mimi’ with a more intense and gripping script. While it preserves some of the essence of the original, it does not become apparent that it is adapted from the same book as “Screaming Mimi”. There are enough changes in the plot of this movie that make it watchable, even for those who have seen ‘Screaming Mimi’. Some of the main characters in the original are pushed to the background in the plot of “The Bird with the Crystal Plumage”.