''Taste of Excitement'', also known as ''Why Would Anyone Want to Kill a Nice Girl Like You?'', is a 1969 British

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by

Don Sharp Donald Herman Sharp (19 April 192114 December 2011) was an Australian film director. His best known films were made for Hammer Film Productions, Hammer in the 1960s, and included ''Kiss of the Vampire (film), Kiss of the Vampire'' (1963) and ' ...

and starring

Eva Renzi Eva Renzi (born Evelyn Renziehausen; 3 November 1944 – 16 August 2005) was a German actress. Biography Born in Berlin to a Danish father and a French mother, she enrolled in the Berlin Actors' Studio at age 16 and began appearing in plays in G ...

David Buck David Keith Rodney Buck (17 October 1936 – 27 January 1989) was an English actor and author. Biography Buck was born in London, the son of Joseph Buck and Enid Marguerite (née Webb). He starred in many television productions from 1959 unti ...

and

Peter Vaughan Peter Ewart Ohm (4 April 1923 – 6 December 2016), known professionally as Peter Vaughan, was an English actor known for many supporting roles in British film and television productions. He also acted extensively on stage. Vaughan played Gr ...

. It was written by Sharp and Brian Carton based on the 1965 novel ''Waiting for a Tiger'' by Ben Healey. The film was a co production between Group W and Trio Films. It was shot during 1968 on location around

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million French Riviera The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...

, but not given a general release until 1970. It had an

X certificate An X rating is a film rating that indicates that the film contains content that is considered to be suitable only for adults. Films with an X rating may have scenes of graphic violence or explicit sexual acts that may be disturbing or offensive ...

for violence and brief nudity.

Plot

A series of attempts are made on the life of a young woman, Jane.

Cast

as Jane Kerrell *

as Paul Hedley *

as Inspector Malling *

Paul Hubschmid Paul Hubschmid (; 20 July 1917 – 1 January 2002) was a Switzerland, Swiss actor. He was most notable for his role as Pygmalion (play), Henry Higgins in the German stage production of ''My Fair Lady''. In his Hollywood films he was billed as Pa ...

as Hans Beiber * Sophie Hardy as Michela *

Kay Walsh Kathleen Walsh (15 November 1911 – 16 April 2005) was an English actress, dancer, and screenwriter. Her film career prospered after she met her future husband, film director David Lean, with whom she worked on productions such as ''In Which We ...

as Miss Barrow * Francis Matthews as Mr Breese *

George Pravda George Pravda (born Jiří Pravda; 19 June 1916 – 1 May 1985) was a Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak theatre, film and television actor. Early life He began his career in Czechoslovakia, where he was credited as Jiří Pravda, and then emigrated ...

as Dr Forla *

Peter Bowles Peter John Bowles (16 October 1936 – 17 March 2022) was an English screen and stage actor. He gained prominence for television dramas such as '' Callan: A Magnum for Schneider'' and '' I, Claudius''. He is best remembered for his roles in sit ...

as Alfredo Guardi * Alan Rowe as police inspector *Alan Barry as Mr Camot, French detective *

Tom Kempinski Thomas Michael John Kempinski (24 March 1938 – 2 August 2023) was an English playwright and actor best known for his 1980 play '' Duet for One'', which was a major success in London and New York City, and much revived since. Kempinski also wr ...

as French police officer *

Yves Brainville Yves Brainville (; 8 March 1914 – 16 November 1993) was a French film and television actor.Hayward p.245 Selected filmography * ''Entrée des artistes'' (1938) - Sylvestre * '' Final Accord'' (1938) - Chenal - l'ami de Georges * ''Entente cor ...

as hotel proprietor *Catherine Berg as receptionist

Original novel

''Taste of Excitement'' was based on Brian Healey's novel ''Waiting for a Tiger'' (1965), the first of a series of thrillers about artist Paul Hedley (the next would be ''The Millstone Men'', ''The Terrible Pictures'', ''Murder without Crime'', ''The Trouble with Penelope'', ''Blanket of the Dark'', and ''Last Ferry from the Lido''). Reviewing the book in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', Antony Boucher wrote "the action is incessant and well varied." ''The Los Angeles Times'' said it "suggests the Ambler touch." ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' called it "clever, restrained, brightly sinister." "The story is a delight," wrote the ''San Francisco Examiner''.

Production

Sharp says he was approached to make the film by producer George Willoughby, who had been recommended to use the director by John Terry of the

National Film Finance Corporation The National Film Finance Corporation (NFFC) was a film funding agency in the United Kingdom in operation from 1949 until 1985. The NFFC was established by the Cinematograph Film Production (Special Loans) Act 1949 ( 12, 13 & 14 Geo. 6. c. 20), a ...

. Sharp says it was "rather a nice thriller" with the original title of ''The Girl in the Red Mini''. The film was being made for television and theatrical release; Westinghouse – through its company, Group W – was providing American finance. It was shot in France in 1968. Sharp's commitment to the film meant he had to turn down an offer from Hammer Films to direct '' Vengeance of She''. Sharp said it had "quite a nice cast without any big names" but four days before shooting was to begin Westinghouse announced it had done a survey of what had been successful of television that revealed comedy-thrillers rated better than straight thrillers. Accordingly the company sent over a writer,

Alec Coppel Alec Coppel (17 September 1907 – 22 January 1972) was an Australian-born screenwriter, novelist and playwright. He spent the majority of his career in London and Hollywood, specialising in light thrillers, mysteries and sex comedies. He is best ...

, to turn the film into a comedy-thriller. Sharp knew Coppel from Australia before the war and felt "he'd done some good work" like ''

I Killed the Count ''I Killed the Count'' is a 1937 play by Alec Coppel. Its success launched Coppel's career. 1937 London production Cast *Eric Maturin as Count Victor Mattoni *Athole Stewart as Viscount Sorrington *Alec Clunes as Detective Raines * Anthony Hol ...

'' (1939) and ''

The Gazebo ''The Gazebo'' is a 1959 American black comedy CinemaScope film about a married couple who are being blackmailed. It was based on the 1958 play of the same name by Alec Coppel and directed by George Marshall. Helen Rose was nominated for th ...

'' (1959) but that was "some time back". Sharp says Coppel would rewrite "out of context... reams of stuff" which the director had to rewrite and cut the night before filming "getting it into the right shape... You wouldn't believe the chaos and confusion", said Sharp. The director says the roles played by Peter Bowles, David Buck and Francis Matthews in particular were greatly reduced. However Sharp said he "got along very well" with producer George Willoughby and the other producers from Group W, who hired him to make a second film, '' The Violent Enemy'' (1969), which would ultimately be released before ''Taste of Excitement''. (In between Sharp worked on a film version of ''

Till Death Us Do Part ''Till Death Us Do Part'' is a British television sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1965 to 1975. The show was first broadcast in 1965 as a '' Comedy Playhouse'' pilot, then as seven series between 1966 and 1975. In 1981, ITV continued the sitc ...

'' but was fired.) - around 18 minutes in Peter Bowles wrote in his memoirs that he had clashed with Don Sharp while making an episode of ''

The Avengers Avenger(s) or The Avenger(s) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of "The Infinity Sag ...

'' but three weeks later Sharp offered the actor a role in ''Taste of Excitement''. Bowles loved making the film because of its location.

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "Standard mystery adventure which, apart from the opening sequence, rather surprisingly fails to make much of its Riviera setting. The title's promise of excitement is fulfilled only on the most conventional level, but though a little stale in appearance the film has enough twists and red herrings to keep it moving and the cast adequately meet the small demands made of them."

References

External links

*
Taste of Excitement
at Letterbox DVD
Taste of Excitement
at BFI {{Don Sharp 1969 films British crime drama films 1969 crime drama films 1960s thriller films British thriller films 1970s mystery films Films directed by Don Sharp Films based on British novels Films set in Nice Films shot in Nice 1960s English-language films 1960s British films English-language crime drama films English-language mystery films English-language thriller films