The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 25, 2017

"The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers" a.k.a. "Les plus belles escroqueries du monde" (1964) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Olive Films. The only bonus feature on the disc is an original trailer for the film. In Japanese, French, Italian, Arabic, and English, with optional English and English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The player and his prey

During the ‘60s and early ‘70s there were quite a few producers in Italy and France that invested in ‘package’ films like The World’s Most Beautiful Swindlers. The concept behind them was quite simple -- the producers would ask established or trendy filmmakers to direct short segments that are united by a common theme and then sell the ‘package’ as a feature film. One of my favorite such films was released a year after The World’s Most Beautiful Swindlers and it is called The Dolls a.k.a. Le Bambole. It has four incredibly funny segments directed by Dino Risi, Mauro Bolognini, Luigi Comencini, and Franco Rossi, and groups some of the sexiest actresses from the era (Monica Vitti, Virna Lisi, Elke Sommer, and Gina Lollobrigida). Two other similar films that I also like a lot are Ro.Go.Pa.G., which was released a year before The World’s Most Beautiful Swindlers, and The Witches a.k.a. Le streghe, which came out a little bit later. The former has four segments directed by Roberto Rossellini, Jean-Luc Godard, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and Ugo Gregoretti, and is very effective in targeting post-war European attitudes towards religion, consumerism, sex, and all kinds of other hot subjects. The latter is a very stylish psychedelic romp featuring five segments directed by such giants as Luchino Visconti and Vittorio De Sica. One of the funniest segments here also features a very young and naughty Clint Eastwood who has to resists some quite interesting temptations. It is also worth mentioning that during the same time there were ‘package’ films that did not use content from multiple directors. For example, the great Ettore Scola directed the excellent comedy Let's Talk About Women a.k.a. Se permettete parliamo di donne in which Vittorio Gassman plays multiple characters that can’t help themselves but do some really silly things to get in bed with stunningly beautiful women. And then there is the even wilder comedy The Maniacs a.k.a. I Maniaci from the future horror maestro Lucio Fulci.

The World’s Most Beautiful Swindlers was released in 1964 and originally featured five segments directed by Hiromichi Horikawa, Ugo Gregoretti , Claude Chabrol, Roman Polanski, and Jean-Luc Godard. Unfortunately, some time before the film was restored by Gaumont in France, Roman Polanski requested that his segment is removed. So the newly restored version that is included on Olive Films’ Blu-ray release has only four of the original five segments. (The earlier French DVD version is also missing the fifth segment).

The key element that unites the four segments is cheating and the fun takes place in four famous cities: Tokyo, Naples, Paris, and Marrakesh. In Tokyo, a beautiful girl who works in a busy bar decides to go home with a very rich client and soon after her life changes forever. In Naples, a concerned prostitute and her young friend come up with a brilliant plan that instantly reinvigorates the local economy. In Paris, a German idiot with deep pockets is convinced that he can own the Eiffel Tower. And in Marrakesh, a beautiful reporter from San Francisco realizes that life is a game but very few players truly understand its complicated rules.

This is as much that I am willing to tell you about The World’s Most Beautiful Swindlers as there are some spectacular twists in it and it is best that you do not know when to expect them. The first three segments are outstanding -- the cast is phenomenal and the direction is absolutely brilliant. Hiromichi Horikawa’s segment, in particular, is a real stunner. Only Jean-Luc Godard’s final segment feels a bit underwhelming because at the end he finds it impossible to stay focused and quickly switches in his conventional preachy mode.

The cast includes Jean Seberg, Mie Hama, Catherine Deneuve, Francis Blanche, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Ken Mitsuda, Charles Denner, and Gabriella Giorgelli.

The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films.

This film was recently remastered by Gaumont in France, and while I don't have any technical credits from Olive Films to share in our review, I am certain that the release is sourced from the new 2K master. (Some time before the 2K master was completed Gaumont removed Roman Polanski's segment at the request of the director, and in this presentation the segment is again missing. See screencaptures #26 and 27). The remaining four segments look outstanding. Only on Ugo Gregoretti's segment there are a few minor drops in density suggesting that time was not too kind to it, but detail and clarity remain very pleasing. Depth and fluidity are very good, and plenty of the darker/indoor footage has the type of strong and balanced appearance that only new masters can provide. The overall dynamic range is convincing, though the blacks and grays probably could have been balanced even a bit better. There are no compromising degrainig or sharpening corrections. However, because the four segments were shot under different conditions grain can appear slightly over/underexposed depending on how light was captured by the camera (compare screencapture #1 and 5). Image stability is excellent. All in all, this is a very nice organic presentation of the film. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Different languages are spoken in each segment -- Japanese, Italian, French, English, and Arabic -- and there are optional English subtitles for the non-English dialog and optional English SDH subtitles for the exchanges in English.

Clarity and depth are good, though in Ugo Gregoretti's segment there are a few spots where the audio can appear slightly compressed, mostly in the upper register where some 'thinning' is also noticeable. Overall fluidity is very good. There are no audio dropouts, pops, or digital distortions to report.

The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original French trailer for The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers. In French, not subtitled. (3 min).

The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kudos to Olive Films for producing yet another fantastic release of an outstanding film that has been very difficult to see in North America. My one and only regret is that some time before The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers was restored director Roman Polanki requested that Gaumont remove his segment. I am sure that he has valid reasons for making such a request, but this is a very unfortunate development. Regardless, consider picking up The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers because it is truly one of the best portmanteau films from the '60s and after the restoration it looks lovely on Blu-ray. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.