I wanted to like this film and I had expectations that it would be good a movie. Unfortunately I was let down.
In case you did not know, David Bowie's famous song Life on Mars? contains the following lyrics:
Despite the interesting start, La Corta Notte delle Bambole di Vetro (Short Night of Glass Dolls) fails to ever get off the ground. Put simply, this film is "a saddening bore" just like in the Bowie song. Jean Sorel plays a reporter who is thrown into an array of all kinds of weird happenings. Some people disappear, some people appear, and they somehow manage to drag themselves from one scene to another, but nothing much really happens. Even the bodycount is ridiculously low.
I mean, come on, this is supposed to be an italian giallo. Almost all the essential key ingredients are there in this film: competent actors, beautiful cinematography, good score, and a plot that for the most part works fine. However, even at the risk of sounding vulgar, I must be totally honest with you and say that this film has way too little action. Where on earth is the violence? Let's face it, like it or not, violent murders and general depravity are an integral part of all giallos. Without them, the film is not a real giallo.
It is indeed disappointing that after a promising start, this film succumbs into endless boredom, only to wake up during the last five minutes or so. Maybe somebody of the film's crew finally realized: "Hey, the movie we're just shooting is about to end but nothing ever happened in it. Let's add some nudity and craziness and hope that it'll work!". Yes, well, there is some nudity in a crazy, nicely shot scene near the end, and on the course of the film, there are many other scenes that are stylish, but overall, I just cannot bring myself to recommend La Corta Notte delle Bambole di Vetro. Unless you are happy to spend over one and a half hour watching a movie where almost nothing happens, do not choose this movie. For sure, Barbara Bach looks pretty good in this film too, but given the fact that the action parts are sorely lacking, my verdict is: skip this film.