Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Saw this film when it was first released (1964) and was overwhelmed with the visual richness, and impressed with the soundtrack enough to have purchased it at that time and I believe it has at least one track that is not on the re-released soundtrack. I still have it and listen to it now and then since, in my opinion, the film's secret is in Morricone's soundtrack. Scenes and topics that were, in 1964, considered quite taboo, are tame compared to what's available in film today. It's nostalgic to see these old films and realize that that genre seems to have disappeared. Maybe the public has become so saturated with on-the-spot, round-the-clock coverages of everything in the world that films purporting to be exposes, can't find an audience any longer.