Danger: Diabolik is a 1968 crime caper film directed by Mario Bava, based on the Italian comic series Diabolik by Angela and Luciana Giussani.
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Dubbing History[]
Two English-language dubs of Danger: Diabolik were produced. The original English version was produced in Rome for export to English-speaking countries, with both John Phillip Law and Marisa Mell returning to dub their own dialogue, and all non-English-speaking actors being dubbed with American accents. Glenn Erickson considers the original English version to be "terrible" compared to the later dub, deeming Celi and Piccoli's performances, in particular, to be negatively affected by the inferior acting of their dubbers. This version would be used for the film's VHS and LaserDisc release, as well as its showing on Mystery Science Theater 3000.
When the film was picked up for theatrical release in the United States by Paramount, they were evidently displeased with the original export dub and thus commissioned a new dub by Titra Studios in New York. This dub would reuse Law and Mell's audio from the original export dub, but with the remaining cast dubbed with predominantly faux-British accents. Paramount's version also changed the title to Danger: Diabolik. This version was believed to have been lost for a time due to the export dub being the version predominantly released on home video throughout the 90's, but the audio masters for the later English version were eventually recovered by Kim Aubry of American Zoetrope, who produced Paramount's DVD release in 2005.
Cast[]
| Character | Original Actor | Dub Actor | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Export Dub | Titra Dub | ||
| Diabolik | John Phillip Law | ||
| Eva Kant | Marisa Mell | ||
| Inspector Ginko | Michel Piccoli | William Kiehl | |
| Ralph Valmont | Adolfo Celi | Edward Mannix | Bernard Grant |
| Police Chief | Claudio Gora | Anthony La Penna | |
| Minister of the Interior | Terry-Thomas | not dubbed | |
| Sergeant Danek | Mario Donen | Robert Rietti | |
| Lady Clark | Caterina Boratto | Louise Lambert | |
Additional Voices[]
- Export Dub
- Richard Johnson
- Titra Dub
- Anthony Foutz
- Robert Rietti
Notes[]
- Paramount's dub is often cited as being the original and that the export dub was created sometime in the 1980's for the films release on VHS and Laserdisc due to the elements for the original dub going missing (despite Mell and Law's voices appearing in both versions). This misinformation seems to stem from Tim Lucas' book "Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark" which also inaccurately misattributes Dan Sturkie to William Kiehl's roles in Diabolik among other films.
- Though the film was mostly shot MOS as was the standard for Italian cinema of the time, Terry-Thomas had such a busy schedule at the time of production that all of his scenes were not only shot in one day but his voice was recorded on the set during filming. Law and Mell, on the other hand, dubbed themselves in the conventional manner.
Transmission[]
| Date(s) | Channel | Dub | Country | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Sci-Fi Channel | Export | United States | 
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Video Releases[]
| Distributor | Year | Format | Dub | Region | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paramount Home Video | 1992 | 
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Export | NTSC | United States |
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| 2005 | 
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Titra | 1 NTSC | |||
| Shout! Factory | 2020 | 
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A DVB-T | |||
| Imprint Films | All DVB-T |
Australia | 
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| Kino Lorber | 2025 |
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United States |
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See Also[]
External Links[]
- Danger: Diabolik! at the Internet Movie Database