| Vintage Pulp | Apr 30 2020 |
Lana Turner and Co. stumble badly in counterculture drug thriller.
This Italian promo poster was made for the 1969 thriller Geometria di un delitto, better known by its original title The Big Cube. Plotwise a woman played by Lana Turner marries a rich man and comes into conflict with his twenty-something daughter, played by Karin Mossberg. Their problems worsen when the rich man dies and bequeaths his money to his wife, leaving only a monthly stipend for his daughter. However, according to the will—see if you can follow this—if the daughter marries she inherits everything, but only provided stepmom gives her consent.
No, it doesn't make a bit of sense. The filmmakers wanted to generate conflict and tension, but a nonsensical stipulation in the will isn't needed to do that. Families fly apart over money all the time, even when there's plenty for everybody. But okay, you have to go with it. As the movie wears on the problems between stepmom and stepdaughter are exploited by Mossberg's drug dealer boyfriend, who comes up with the bright idea of driving Turner insane by repeatedly dosing her with LSD. Instead of the perfect murder, he's come up with the “perfect freak-out,” as he describes it. If Turner is certified insane she loses control of the fortune.
This is a movie you watch strictly for laughs, because it's ridiculous. The script and acting are terrible, and the plot must have been conceived under the influence of whatever leftover acid Turner didn't ingest. Basically The Big Cube is a drug scare movie, and like most examples from that sub-genre it's fatally dumb. But you could do worse. Mossberg is radiant, and screen legend Turner is always worth a gander even when her non-elite acting skills are exposed. There's no known Italian release date, but The Big Cube premiered in the U.S. today in 1969.
ItalyGeometria di un delittoThe Big CubeLana TurnerKarin MossbergGeorge Chakirisposter artcinemamovie reviewdrugs
| Femmes Fatales | Nov 16 2018 |
Are you seeing these weird lights too, or is it just me that's tripping balls?
Swedish actress Karin Mossberg made this psychedelic promo shot when she was filming the anti-drug thriller The Big Cube. The movie was one of only three she made. She played Lana Turner's stepdaughter, and the psychedelic feel of the photo reflects the film's plot, which deals with her trying to drive Turner insane with LSD. As you probably suspect, it's one of the cheesiest and worst drug scare movies of the ’60s. It's the Reefer Madness of LSD. We actually have it somewhere in our library, so maybe we'll rewatch it and report back. Meanwhile, we've added a second promo shot below, made during the same session but before the drugs kicked in. Both images are from 1969.
