The Empty Canvas

With a German lead actor, a French lead actress, and an American second lead, you'll be surprised at the audio track when you watch The Empty Canvas. No one is speaking their own lines; they're all dubbed by Italian actors! It's quite ridiculous, but I can only think of one reason why this happened: the nudity and sexual content could only be passed by the Italian film board. Even with the demise of the Hays Code, there were some barriers Americans hadn't crossed yet.

This is one nasty movie! Horst Buchholz plays a drifting artist, a poor little rich boy without purpose. He can't stand his mother, Bette Davis, and treats her with contempt while taking her allowance. When he sees Catherine Spaak, who modeled nude for an elderly artist (recently deceased after a bedroom excursion with her), he can't control his hormones. While it may appear they can't keep their paws off each other, they actually do for long enough for Catherine to cheat on him. Why would she do that? He's such a cutie! Even with the pain of sharing her with another man, Horst can't let her go.

It's an interesting take on the romance genre, if you think about the story itself. On paper, if you reversed the genders of the characters, it would be a classic romantic storyline. A woman repeatedly hurt by her boyfriend, suffering one humiliation after another but hanging in there because her hormones make her think it's love. If you imagine Catherine's character as a man, being so callous and hurtful, it's much more familiar. Why won't Horst ever kick her to the curb? Watch this very steamy movie to find out if he ever does. After a while, you won't even notice they're speaking Italian; there are other things to pay attention to.