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In the past, I’d watched three other versions (four, if one includes Charles Chaplin’s variation MONSIEUR VERDOUX [1947]) about the famous fictional serial killer Landru – the 1944 Edgar G. Ulmer/John Carradine and 1963 Claude Chabrol/Charles Denner BLUEBEARD and the W. Lee Wilder/George Sanders BLUEBEARD’S TEN HONEYMOONS from 1960.

Actually, this one is best approached as “Euro-Cult” (what with its flashes of nudity from a bevy of international beauties) rather than a historical piece – BLUEBEARD, incidentally, was a production of the Salkinds, soon to enjoy critical success with Richard Lester’s “Three Musketeers” films and, eventually, the money would come pouring in with the “Superman” franchise. Besides, the tone is unsurprisingly one of black comedy – with the titular ladies’ man revealed as an impotent who’s forced to kill a succession of spouses so as to keep this embarrassing fact a secret! Incidentally, it also transpires that events as depicted on-screen may well be fabricated since the real reason for the killings only emerges towards the end: “Bluebeard” – a WWI air ace – recounts his romantic misadventures to his latest conquest, a young American showgirl, after she’s cajoled by her husband towards the discovery of a secret passage leading to the vault wherein all the bodies of his former wives lie frozen!

The treatment is somewhat heavy-handed (with obvious predatory symbols, for instance): its connotations to Nazism, too, prove unnecessary – and, consequently, Bluebeard’s demise/come-uppance seems fateful when it should have been slyly ironic. All of which results in an uneven film with a tendency towards camp – though undeniably abetted by the overall handsome look (“Euro-Cult” regular Gabor Pogany is the cinematographer) and a typically imposing score by Ennio Morricone; incidentally, I had used portions of a funereal motif from the soundtrack of this film for my final short during the NYFA course I took in Hollywood a couple of years back! Individual contributions by the star cast, then, are also variable: to begin with, Richard Burton’s thespian skills were often misused during this particular period – lending his services to interesting but often ill-advised ventures (three more of which I watched only recently, namely DOCTOR FAUSTUS [1967], CANDY [1968] and THE ASSASSINATION OF TROTSKY [1972]); in this case, he sports a silly colored beard (the script having interpreted the title all-too-literally, but which might actually be an indication that it shouldn’t be taken seriously) and looks alternately bored and exasperated throughout!

The ladies are all easy on the eyes but also surprisingly willing, with Joey Heatherton as the stunning current bride getting the lion’s share of the running-time. The others – in order of appearance – are Karin Schubert (when Burton’s deficiency, excused at first by a period of convalescence ostensibly suffering from a war wound, can no longer be concealed, she threatens to expose him to public ridicule and this triggers off his homicidal ‘urge’!); Virna Lisi (enjoying herself as she drives Burton to distraction with her incessant singing of corny love songs!); Nathalie Delon (a model whose inexperience in love leads her to take lessons from prostitute Sybil Danning, but the two become instant lovers!); Raquel Welch (a nymphomaniac who attempts to stifle the habit by, ahem, donning it i.e. she becomes a nun!); Marilu' Tolo (again, fun as an outspoken feminist – who even kicks Burton where it hurts! – but who also turns out to be a closet masochist); and Agostina Belli (as an outwardly-innocent but actually spoilt child-bride).

Going back to that “Euro Cult” comment, BLUEBEARD may have been influenced by the giallo work of Mario Bava – with its set of glamorous female victims (as in BLOOD AND BLACK LACE [1964]) and the novel methods of assassination (in the wake of A BAY OF BLOOD [1971]). Still, amid its forced Hitchcock references (the embalmed mother from PSYCHO [1960] and the falcon attack a' la THE BIRDS [1963]), it appears that Burton & Co. were consciously emulating the previous year’s success THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (1971) – a low-budgeted but stylish vehicle for horror icon Vincent Price. Of course, one can’t forget to mention the film’s affinity with the classic Ealing black comedy KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS (1949) in its nonchalant, inevitably comical attitude to murder.

Tis is a soporific remake titled ¨Bluebeard¨(1972) by Edward Dmytryck with the great star Richard Burton as a German Baron noted for his blue-toned beard . Big-budgeted as well as mediocre picture upon a known personage who knocks off series of beautiful women . A World War I pilot Kurt Von Sepper (Richard Burton) whom everybody envies as a "ladykiller" actually is one - after he beds the women he's after, he murders them . As he contacts European women , he seduces and eventually kills them in order to carry out his dark purports . His latest wife is an American beauty named Anne (Joey Heatherton) ; later on , Bluebeard explains to Anne that he found an easier alternative to divorce when he grew bored with his former spouses . Among those getting the ending curtain call from "bluebeard" (is a type of serial killer ; specifically, it is a man who murders his wives or lovers , this type is named after the fictional "Bluebeard") are Rachel Welch , Natahalie Delon , Virna Lisi , Karin Schubert and Agostina Belli .

This murder/drama is based on lady killer Henry-Denise Landru who seduced and murdered several women . The flick narrated by means of flashbacks , being realized in luxurious style ; it packs irony , drama , nudism , chills , suspense , kitsch situations and a lot of killings . Average acting by Richard Burton as an aristocrat who has a psychopatic urge to strangle gorgeous women . Exceptional group of European and American actresses , topbilled second after Richard Burton, Raquel Welch only has a little more than 8 minute screening time of this two hour long film . The speaking voices of almost all the European actresses in the film were re-voiced by Annie Ross . Enjoyable musical score by the great Ennio Morricone , including a sensitive and thrilling leitmotiv . Colorful as well as evocative Cinematography by Gabor Pogany . The motion picture was regularly directed by Edward Dmytryck and considered to be one of his worst movies . Filmmaker Edward , better known for overtly personal movies such as The Caine Mutiny was a craftsman whose career resulted to be interrupted by the activities of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), a congressional committee that employed ruthless tactics aimed at rooting out and destroying what it saw as Communist influence in Hollywood . Dmytryk was one of the so-called "Hollywood Ten" who refused to cooperate with HUAC and had their careers disrupted or ruined as a result. The committee threw him in prison for refusing to cooperate, and after having spent several months behind bars , Dmytryk decided to cooperate . Dmytrick's biggest film was ¨The Caine Mutiny¨ , . Edward was an expert on warlike genre as ¨Back to Batan¨ , ¨Battle of Anzio¨ , ¨Young lions¨ and Western as ¨Broken lance¨ , ¨Alvarez Kelly¨ , ¨Warlock¨ among others.

Other films dealing with this known character , Henry ¨Bluebeard¨ Landru , -who was really father of various children, disposed and married 11 wives and killed them in order to feed his little family , being subsequently beheaded- , are the followings : ¨Bluebeard¨ (1901) by George Melies ; ¨Bluebeard¨ (1944) by Edgar G Ulmer with John Carradine , Jean Parker , Nils Asther ; ¨Monsieur Verdoux¨ (1947) with Charles Chaplin and Martha Ryer ; ¨Bluebeard's 10 honeymoon¨ by W.L. Wilder with George Sanders , Patricia Roc and Corinne Calvet ; ¨Bluebeard¨(1963) by Claude Chabrol with Charles Denner , Stephane Audran , Danielle Darrieux , Michele Morgan and Hildegarde Neff ; and ¨¨Bluebeard¨(2009) by Catherine Breillat with Dominique Thomas and Lola Creton .

This film has a lot of neat ideas, some beautiful women, and Burton as world-weary Baron with a campy, phony, middle-European accent. The script is clever and the sets are lavish, with Bluebeard's estate evoking E. A. Poe's Prince Prospero's: a different color dominating each separate room.

Only Dmytryk fails as a director. The material frankly begs for someone like a Roger Vadim or even Roger Corman. BLUEBEARD should have been more fun, more intelligent than the Vincent Price movies of the time (such as THEATRE OF BLOOD) or even those of Roger Vadim (such as PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW), and yet it isn't. The script demands macabre humor and erotica, and Dmytryk couldn't deliver either, even in his heyday (and this film was made at the end of his slow, sad artistic decline).

However, I personally enjoy this movie more for what it could have been than what it is. Unlike Chaplin's MONSUIER VERDOUX, and other "Bluebeard" movies directed by various people (from Edgar G. Ulmer to Claude Chabral) this is one film not inspired by the true story of Landru. It much more hearkens back to the original Perrault fairytale, only done in the modern times with Burton's Bluebeard as a proto-Nazi. It's not a bad idea for a film, but someone more hip, with more energy, was needed to pull it off.

"Bluebeard" is neither a masterpiece nor a memorable movie. It is an outdated film... Nevertheless, more than thirty years later, it is still entertaining and funny. Why?

Because this 1972 version of the "Bluebeard" story -a wealthy charming psychopathic who kills his wives- is full of sarcasm, with a light horror touch. In this movie Richard Burton, who plays an insane, is once again a great leading man, surrounded by a group of sexy actresses at the height of their beauty (Raquel Welch, Virna Lisi, Nathalie Delon, Agostina Belli, Marilù Tolo, ...). The film is deliberately and elegantly kitsch... Watch the production design, the colours, the hunt scenes and the killing scenes -everything is filmed in a cynical and sardonic way. The film has quite a luxurious package, it's like a psycho-erotic endless game.

"Bluebeard" has no place in the movie history, I think it is an underrated film. But it has good points, even if it looks its age. To me it is a cult movie.

It's almost impossible to find the words to describe exactly how bad this film is. Or to describe how much fun it was to watch. Bluebeard is the story of a German Baron (Richard Burton) who has a, well, blue beard. When Joey Heatherington finds out that he has killed a series of wives and hidden the bodies she realizes that she is next. In attempt to delay the inevitable she gets the Baron to tell his story. What follows is a primer in how not to pick a girl.

The dialogue is phony, the accents are terrible but the women are all beautiful and (at least partially) disrobed. Maybe not the intent but this movie is a great example of a 1970's campy sex movie.

Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

Enjoyable, campy fun featuring a number of beautiful women, most of whom go nude, a seductive score by Ennio Morricone, good old fashioned direction from Edward Dmytryk that stresses atmosphere and setting, and that uses the flashback structure to good effect. Burton is an amusing Bluebeard and he's a lot more enjoyable here than he was in The ExorcistII(77), and Joey Heatherton who worked with Dmytryk in Where Love Has Gone(64)is well cast as the only American and the film's only likable character. Though Heatherton's look is not period, her charm and appeal to Burton's Bluebeard is believable, especially since most of Bluebeard's other wives are depicted somewhat unflatteringly. Though the film's treatment and attitude towards women is largely exploitive, and the film could be better paced, it's nonetheless diverting trash and thanks to a clever ad campaign and trailer it was a hit when released in theaters in 1972. The theatrical trailer is featured on Anchor Bay's DVD.

Austrian aristocrat Kurt Von Sepper (Richard Burton) is a celebrated WWI pilot with a striking blue beard and connections to the fledgling neo-Nazis. He's a real ladykiller. He meets and marries American vaudeville performer Anne (Joey Heatherton). After moving into his castle, she makes disturbing discoveries including his seeming inability to consummate their marriage. He gives her the keys to the castle with a golden key which leads to a freezer filled with his murdered former wives. He recounts to her the story of each wive and their faults which led to him murdering them. Anne plots her escape as she listens to his tales of horror.

This is sold as an erotic thriller with an international cast of beauties such as Raquel Welch. Joey Heatherton has a sincere bouncy cuteness which fits the sincere vaudeville role. However, she is not the best of actresses. She has to be both inwardly horrified and outwardly placating the crazed killer. Her inconsistencies only add to the camp of this movie. Richard Burton is still a powerful actor but the material is strictly B-level. There are some very memorable kill scenes like the elephant tusk chandelier and the hawk. The erotic thrills are fleeting and the horror is old style weak. Most of it is in flashbacks which takes away any intensity. It is still a memorable camp classic.

Ever since I was a child, the morbid tale of Bluebeard intrigued me immensely. But apparently, it's not very easy to find adequate films about the lady-murdering Baron. I haven't been able to track down the 1944 version (starring John Carradine!) yet, but I was very happy when I got hold of this one. I figured it couldn't go wrong with this cast (Richard Burton and Raquel 'One Million Years B.C.' Welsh), the period of release (the rancid 70's) and because it partly is an Italian production (they dare to exceed limits of good taste more easily). To my regret it turned out a disappointment… Not that it's an entirely bad film, though. The classic tale is respected and the film implies an interesting structure, but it's so darn tame! To any creative director or scriptwriter, this plot would offer such a great opportunity to deliver a compelling, adrenalin-filled film but here it's not the case. It doesn't even feature the slightest bit of sleaze, which I actually hoped for. There's too few excitement and action while the chilling set-pieces are underused. To choice to have Richard Burton play Baron Kurt 'Bluebeard' Von Sepper sounded like an ingenious casting idea but his performance only is so so. For those unfamiliar with the plot: it handles about a German WWI veteran who returns from the war a ladykiller….literally. His eighth wife Anne discovers a secret room in the castle and a horrible secret. The only good comments actually go out to the female cast! One thing you got to admit, Baron Bluebeard has a fine taste and eye for female beauty. Goddess Raquel Welsh is great as a nymphomaniac nun and also Sybil Danning, Nathalie Delon and Virni Lisi impress in their roles of ex-wives. Bluebeard is worth a peek if a TV-station would ever program it, definitely not worth buying.

Faithful version of the famous dateless novel, aside the Charles Perrault's tale La Barble Bleue was conceived on medieval era, conveyed to closing WWI, it had many versions, however the very first is Georges Méliès's Barbe-Bleue in far off 1901 as shortest length, apart the stunning visual, side by side a little bit than a half dozen beauties it somehow flopped wretchedly at its released time, although the gorgeous girls keeping the interest alive forever.

The breathtaking beauties as the guillotined Virna Lisi, the drowned Marilù Tolo, the shot Karin Schubert, the falconated Agostina Belli, both chandeliered Nathalie Delon and Sybil Danning and the smashing sexy appearance of Raquel Welsh as never seen before, nevertheless who stolen the show quite was the American eye-candy Joey Heatherton on a rampant sexy performance, attached with dizzying well-choreographed dancing act.

In other hand Richard Burton apart some meager scenes was utterly bogus, moreover a misconceived screenplay as well, Edward Dmytryk had a hard time with so stellar casting and it weren't enough to save it, overall a high octane sexy offering, I would like to see it on Blu-ray aiming for make a proper reassessment.

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First watch: 1985 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-Youtube / Rating: 6.5.

This movie was basically awesome: consistently statuesque women, exquisite castles, campy acting, ridiculous script, plenty of nudity, six murders, Richard Burton, and a pervasive, Euro-style charm that made even the sleaziest moments really fun and laughable. We ended up getting this as a Sybil Danning/Raquel Welch fan, and were really blown over by the film's consistent campiness and general Eurosleaze greatness. As far as Eurotrash goes, "Bluebeard" is double platinum. This was a really big budget production, and a lot of money went into the art direction. That said, expect great looking costumes and sets, which often rival the women as overall cinematic eye candy. I have to mention the ladies again, because they are stunning. Listen to this cast: Raquel Welch, Sybil Danning, Joey Heatherton, Virna Lisi, Nathalie Delon, Karin Schubert...."Bluebeard" plays out like a virtual "Whos Who" of A-list 1970's bombshells. Anyway, the script is ludicrous and silly, as is Joey Heatherton's performance as the female lead, but Richard Burton does a terrific job holding everything together. Raquel Welch plays one of the murdered wives, (and a nun to boot), and she's in the film for about 10-min. Sybil Danning plays a prostitute, and she has a pretty dank lesbian scene, but her screen time is similarly brief. The film's mystery elements are pretty predictable, but the whole affair is campy and attractive enough for it not to matter much. It is a bit long, and there is a tasteless hunting scene where a range of animals are shot, but I can't discount how fun most of this was. A Eurosleaze classic. ---|--- Reviews by Flak Magnet

Burton almost had as many wives as Bluebeard, if I'm not mistaken. Yet, he didn't kill any of em', This slightly bawdy tale, is another obscure Burton rental, about a legendary murderous Lord, his latest wife find, a hesitant kill, as recounting, his former wives, all locked up in this freezer room, and you should see his freezer room. Burton fits the bill, as idoes the rest of supporting cast, who are fantastic in this intriguing, yet unexceptional watch, which borders on boring, a little at times. Some nice gore and nudity doesn't hurt either. You won't be able to forget the freezer room, though.

Serta sleeper poster girl Joey Heatherton stars along with a brazenly slumming Richard Burton in this exercise in low rent film making.

Joey and Raquel Welch along with a gaggle of European actress of different levels of renown play the various wives of Burton, wearing a ridiculous transparently fake blue beard.

Top billed Raquel shows up as a nun with quite a past and wisely stays for under ten minutes. Other than her beauty she adds nothing to her part, not that there is much depth in hers or any role to explore.

Of the other ladies Virna Lisi is probably the best known and therefore gets to retain her clothes for her brief role. She was an extremely beautiful woman when she was young but you would never know it from her appearance here. She's tarted up with an atrocious wig and some of the most retina burning day-glo lingerie ever created. She eventually became a well respected character actress in Europe but this was made during her sex bomb period and her role is as vapid as all the rest.

As for the other actresses none really make an impression but all manage to lose at least their tops in order to pander to the audience.

Which brings us to Miss Heatherton, she offers a non performance of such staggering ineptitude that in its way it becomes enjoyable. Blank faced no matter what horror presents itself and with a flat expressionless voice she comes across as a third rate showgirl who wandered onto the set in error. In a way she is, she gets no assist from Burton nor does anyone else. Of all the great actors who squandered their talent his did so the most willingly. His bored, strictly for the paycheck performance is an affront to the paying audience.

That leaves only two points of the film to discuss. One is the unseemly and unnecessary violence to both the women and animals. The rough treatment of the women is part of the story since Bluebeard is a serial killer but the shooting of various animals is unimportant to the story and could have been deleted.

The other facet is the incredibly bad, and cheap, production design. While the castle which is the setting of the film is beautiful outside what the rooms look like inside is enough to upset your stomach for days. Red flocked wallpaper, electric blue velvet wall coverings and other nauseating geometric patterns abound causing the viewer eye strain, perhaps it was to distract them from the idiotic plot! Even worse are the cheap-jack effects: spiderwebs that looks like cotton candy, ice in a walk in freezer which looks like nothing more than white shag carpeting the list could go on and on. It's dreadful and funny at the same time.

The film is valueless by any measure of good film making but if you are a fan of bad movies there are things that will amuse you. Anyone else watch out!

Forgive the 10 minutes or so of Richard Burton's (thankfully) sporadic organ playing. Instead, appreciate the plot (yes, this movie actually has one), dialog (especially the fast flying quips between the LUSCIOUS Joey Heatherton and Burton), acting (rather subdued for an Italian production), and production values of this rather well made film. There is no embarrassing zooming in and out with the camera, no corny sudden bursts of melodramatic music and barely any footage thst should have wound up on the cutting room floor. The women are portrayed across a broad spectrum: Strong willed, weak willed, not so bright and intelligent. Heatherton's attempt at analyzing Burton in order to stay alive is clever and well played out and the film has the usual ironic Italian ending.

This stinker barely played in theaters, at least in Chicago, then was trimmed for late night TV, before vanishing until the days of DVD. The movie is caught somewhere between "what were they thinking?" and "Meh". Burton gives a few of the sketches his best shot, but the movie never more than scrapes up against funny. Burton would sink to even greater depths, and also come back for a few good moments.

The big story here is tragic sexpot Joey Heatherton, who gives it her all in what would be, really, her only shot at breaking into features. I'm almost sure She also did an early low budget feature IMDb somehow missed. A stunning beauty hampered perhaps by a chipmunkish voice, She looks stunning and hangs in there in shot after shot. Her amazing nude scene probably destroyed her chances of being taken seriously, but it does not rob her of her dignity. Showbiz is not for sissies, and She deserved a better break.

The movie redeems itself in the scenes where it really attempts to work as farce, it simply always falls a little short. Perhaps the bright colors and costumes actually work against it a little.

Richard Burton plays Baron Kurt Von Sepper, an Austrian war hero, aristocrat, fascist and serial wife killer. The title of the movie comes from Kurt's blue/purple beard, it covers his war scars and the colour is the result of some nonsense about a chemical reaction. He certainly charms the ladies as a string of beautiful young women (most of who are dubbed) take it in turns to marry him, but when they come on to him he can't rise to the occasion and they end up dead. One of his wives is American dancer Anne, he plans to kill her too but before doing so he tells her all about the former wives that he has murdered. These include some eccentrics, for example one woman never speaks, instead she sings; another introduces him to her breasts that have individual christian names; and a nun who has a string of former lovers. The latter is played by Raquel Welch, despite her second from top billing she does not appear until well into the second half of the film, and then she only has a few minutes screen time. My TV guide classed this is a horror, and indeed there are many horror elements present, however it is also a period drama, a black comedy and a soft skin flick. Shot in Italy and Hungary the movie looks nice, the Baron's castle is splendid, it is rich in colour and the Ennio Morricone musical score adds plenty of atmosphere. Burton keeps his clothes on but many of the woman shed theirs, B movie legend Sybil Danning has a small role (The Prostitute) in which she indulges in a spot of naked lesbianism. Animal lovers will not like a hunt scene, a variety of creatures from birds to a wolf and a wild boar are shot and killed, for real. I used to confuse this with the Oliver Reed movie "Blue Blood" (1973) and it has taken me decades to finally watch both. Neither were really worth the wait. There was plenty that I did like about "Bluebeard" but at 2 hours or so in length it felt too long, and quite frankly Burton - arguably one of the greatest actors of both stage and screen - looked ridiculous.

Richard Burton would seem ideally cast as a literal lady-killer in post-WWI Austria, yet his lead performance as "Bluebeard" never catches fire--and, as a result, the picture is a stillborn piece of macabre-y which is never thrilling enough nor funny enough to sustain interest for long. Former war pilot-turned-wealthy Baron (complete with a bluish beard to mask his scars) marries a succession of women who rub him the wrong way after rubbing up against him. It isn't that he dislikes women--he hates what their lust turns him into (seems the Baron suffers from bedroom problems). French-Italian-West German co-production has a striking art direction and design, but suffers from continual poor taste. Veteran director Edward Dmytryk is as tough on the animals as he is on the female victims, and an early hunting montage of creatures being shot and writhing in pain on the ground is unbelievably insensitive. Joey Heatherton tries hard in the largest femme role as the Baron's seventh wife, but Dmytryk undercuts her performance with a cheesy succession of nude shots. It appears the producers wanted titillation, satire and black comedy, but Dmytryk doesn't have the nimble touch to pull this trifecta off. For star-watchers, Raquel Welch and Virna Lisi are around for about six minutes apiece, while Burton remains in a deadly low-key throughout (although creepy at times, Burton is just faking his way through). Filmed in Budapest, the picture has an interesting look and some definite signs of style, but the narrative is a mess. A young handmaiden is involved in an accident while crossing a bridge, which we are to assume was orchestrated by the Baron, but we never learn why he chose to do this, how he managed to pull this stunt off, or whether or not the girl was killed. The screenwriters--Dmytryk among them--have even thrown in a Nazi-styled subplot which only serves as a shortcut to the finale (as if this Bluebeard weren't nasty enough, he's also made a war criminal!). It's an ungodly mess, crude and off-putting, though not without some shamefaced fascination. *1/2 from ****

I well remember this 124-minute movie running in a 120-minute timeslot on commercial television in 1976. I don't recall it exactly but it's safe to assume that at least 30 or 40 minutes was cut. Fair enough if it was those gruesome animal killing scenes, but a bit frustrating when the main appeal was the female cast, led by Joey Heatherton, in various stages of nudity.

Joey was hot . . . Crewmen on the USS "Ticonderoga" on Yankee Station could readily point out the exact spot on the flightdeck where she had danced as part of the 1966 Bob Hope Christmas Special.

To finally see this in its entirety in stunning Blu-ray is the perfect definition of a guilty pleasure.

A disappointing film version of the Bluebeard tale, with Richard Burton at his most colorless. The picture works neither as a straightforward horror flick (it has barely any suspense) nor as a tongue-in-cheek black comedy, although there hints of attempts at that direction, too (especially in the Raquel Welch segment). It's also quite long, and made somewhat indifferently. As for the women, I'd say that Nathalie Delon and Agostina Belli steal the show. (**)

Goodness knows what possessed Richard Burton to appear in rubbish like "Bluebeard." The above film, like "Hammersmith is Out," "Absolution," "The Assassination of Trotsky" and "The Exorcist 2: The Heretic," did no favours for Burton's career whatsoever. The attempts by "Bluebeard" to be humorous are embarrassingly poor. The whole thing has a low quality in every department and it's no wonder that the film quickly vanished without trace. The script is hardly worthy of Richard Burton or Raquel Welch, they being the only people in the cast remotely well known.

This tale told largely in flashbacks is pretty bad, but there is some very funny black humor too ! Richard Burton in the title role literally walks through appearing anguished in 99% of his scenes. What the Burtons wouldn't take on during their marriage to keep the $$$ rolling in ! On his honeymoon night with latest wife Anne, played by Joey Heatherton, Burton's Baron von Sepper fails to rise to the occassion. In flashbacks, his tales of murderous endeavor with previous wives unfold. Most of the beautiful European actresses in this movie merely pose looking beautiful. One exception is Virna Lisi who can't stop singing, so the Baron must off her to keep his sanity. Raquel Welch is another wife, a former convent nun named Sister Magadalena who constantly modifies both her nun's habit and appearance during the weeks that the Baron is courting her. By the time that the Baron is ready to pop the question to her, her habit is low cut and thigh high! Magadalena begins to confess her past indiscretions 1 by 1. By the time she is on her 76th peccadillo, the Baron can take no more and entombs her alive ! Otherwise the film is both dull and has terrible dialogue. Heatherton mutters things like, " I spit on you my darling ". The continuity runs like a badly dubbed Mexican horror flick. It's no wonder that the careers of those involved stalled..........

A young woman marries a wealthy man and discovers that all his other wives have come to violent ends and she might be next.

Bluebeard has the star power and the budget to impress, but the film doesn't find its footing until nearly 45 minutes into the movie and, up until that point, it's rather a bore. Once Burton's Bluebeard starts telling Heatherton's Anne about the ways in which he dispatched his previous wives, the film perks up and takes on a more darkly comic tone that keeps things moving at a decent pace for most of the rest of the movie. Raquel Welch isn't even on screen for 10 minutes as one of Burton's former wives and she threatens to steal the entire film with her nymphomaniac nun.