Hoping to record private conversations for blackmail, a high ranking Nazi officer bugs a brothel that he has populated with women loyal to National Socialism in this fictional drama from Tinto Brass. As one might expect from the director of 'Caligula', rampant nudity abounds, but it scarcely feels excessive as it mostly exists to showcase the Nazi's plan in detail. As the officer in question Helmut Berger is solid with ample moments in which his weaknesses slip through his face of strength and certainty. The best performances here though are from Ingrid Thulin as the brothel Madame and Teresa Ann Savoy as a teenager handpicked by Berger to work there. Thulin delivers impressive cabaret routines throughout and her opening two-faced number is startlingly good, plus she is convincing in her dramatic moments. Savoy is the real revelation here though and the film is sort of a character study of her; shirked off by her affluent parents, she joins the Nazis out of spite and it is only through her experiences as Berger's puppet and seeing the damage that she finds her humanity. Not to oversell the film too much, it runs at least half an hour too long with a lot of time spent on cabaret routines and training scenes of the brothel workers to-be, all of which add little to the project. The finer details of Berger's plot to gain power are sketchy too. In general though, 'Salon Kitty' is encapsulating and well made. The costumes are wonderfully creative and the production design is appropriately detailed. The cross-eyed Aldo Valletti of 'Salò' fame has an amusing brief role too.
Review of Madam Kitty
