The Laughing Woman

1969 Italian film

Philippe Leroy
Dagmar Lassander

CinematographySante AchilliEdited byCarlo RealiMusic byStelvio Cipriani

Production
company

Cemo Film

Distributed byCemo Film

Release date

4 December 1969 (1969-12-04)

Running time

90 minutesCountryItalyLanguageItalian

The Laughing Woman (Latin: Femina ridens), also known as The Frightened Woman, is a 1969 Italian erotic thriller film directed by Piero Schivazappa.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Plot

Dr. Sayer, the director of a philanthropic foundation, spends his weekends at his luxurious villa outside of Rome toying with sadistic fantasies. His games are usually acted out with the help of a prostitute conversant with his desires. When his regular prostitute becomes unavailable at the last minute, Sayer substitutes Maria, a young journalist on his staff. After the drugged Maria regains consciousness at his villa, Sayer realizes that he now has a real victim on his hands. She is subjected to his unpleasant games but soon begins subverting him.^[4]^[5]

Cast

Philippe Leroy: Doctor Sayer
Dagmar Lassander: Mary
Lorenza Guerrieri: Gida
Varo Soleri: Administrator
Maria Cumani Quasimodo: Sayer's Secretary
Mirella Pamphili: Streetwalker

Soundtrack

Femina Ridens

Soundtrack album by Stelvio Cipriani
Released	1969 (1969)
Genre	Jazz funk psychedelia
Label	CAM

The soundtrack to the film was composed by Stelvio Cipriani and released in 1969.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Stelvio Cipriani.

Side A
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Week-End with Mary"	2:02
2.	"Love Symbol"	2:20
3.	"Hot Skin" (Vocals by Edda Dell'Orso.)	2:46
4.	"Chorus and Brass “Fugato”" (Vocals by Edda Dell'Orso. Choir by I Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni.)	2:18
5.	"Rendez-Vous in the Castle"	1:51
6.	"Sophisticated Shake" (Vocals by Edda Dell'Orso.)	3:43

All tracks are written by Stelvio Cipriani.

Side B
No.	Title	Length
1.	"“Femina Ridens” Song" (Choir by I Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni. Vocals by Olympia.)	3:23
2.	"Mary's Theme"	2:08
3.	"The Shower" (Vocals by Edda Dell'Orso. Choir by I Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni.)	2:44
4.	"The Run in the Alley"	2:48
5.	"Fight of Love" (Choir by I Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni.)	3:21
6.	"Femina Ridens"	1:48

References

^ "The Frightened Woman (Piero Schivazappa, 1969)". 21 February 2013.
^ "Piero Schivazappa – Femina Ridens AKA The Frightened Woman (1969) (DVD) | Cinema of the World". worldscinema.org. Archived from the original on 2012-09-21.
^ "The Frightened Woman". AllMovie. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
^ "The Laughing Woman". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
^ "The Laughing Woman". MUBI. Retrieved October 18, 2021.