Thriller La Strega (1960–1962) watch online HD

One of director Ida Lupino's strongest THRILLERs, this episode stars the then unknown Swiss actress Ursula Andress in the lead role, as a young village girl in 19th-century Italy believed by the superstitious locals to be a witch (or 'strega'). When they attempt to drown the poor innocent girl, she is rescued by a young artist (Alejandro Rey), who then takes a protective interest in her, first as a model, then a lover. Unfortunately, when his lover's grandmother, the REAL witch (Jeanette Nolan), shows up demanding to see the girl, he refuses to divulge anything, resulting in the old woman placing a curse upon him. Former silent screen heartthrob Ramon Novarro makes a rare TV appearance (he died in 1968, a victim of homicide), Jeanette Nolan (Mrs. John McIntire), who earlier appeared in a similar role in "Parasite Mansion," is even more chilling here, and Argentinian Alejandro Rey likewise makes his second of two appearances (the first being "Guillotine"). Needless to say, his character meets a similar fate here, in a typically downbeat finale. But the real revelation is, of course, Ursula herself, just prior to her star-making turn in the very first James Bond feature, "Dr. No" in 1962. Having made only three Italian films at this point, she already reveals herself as a fairly good actress, quite beautiful and most affecting. While Ursula is known to have been dubbed in the Bond film, she apparently used her own voice here, another plus for this stellar entry in an excellent series.

This is a truly frightening episode of "Thriller." It begins with a beautiful woman, Ursula Andress, being accused of witchcraft, thrown into a lake to drown. Along comes a handsome young man who rescues her. This proves to be the worst act of his life. She is the granddaughter of a witch who is in control of her life. When she demands that the girl be given back and the man refuses, she puts a curse on him. Horrible things begin to happen to him. While attending a Witch's Sabbat, his good friend dies. One minor criticism is that the poor guy never has any chance to do anything. Still, it is one of the best of the best.

Stunningly beautiful Ursula Andress(before starring as Honey Ryder from "Dr. No") stars as Luana, an innocent young woman in Italy targeted for death by drowning by superstitious men who think her a witch because of her evil grandmother(played with relish by Jeanette Nolan). She is rescued from the river by a young artist named Tonio(played by Alejandro Rey), who falls in love with her, but their budding romance is doomed to tragedy when the grandmother tracks her down, issuing a curse on Tonio for not revealing her hiding place. Stylish and authentic chiller is quite downbeat and grim, but equally memorable as well.

It's not too much of a stretch to say that this episode of Thriller probably had the strongest cast up to this point in the series. Granted, Ursula Andress was still a film away from hitting the big time in the James Bond hit "Dr. No', but in hindsight, this story had a fairly strong lineup with Alejandro Rey, Jeanette Nolan and Ramon Navarro in the mix. Nolan often found herself typecast in roles like she had here as a wicked old crone; in fact she appeared in an earlier episode of Thriller called 'Parasite Mansion' where she also wound up giving you the creeps. In this one, she's just about the best witch ever, even surpassing her performance in a fourth season story of The Twilight Zone called 'Jess-Belle'.

The eye opener in this gem is that ritualistic dance that takes place at midnight in the woods supervised by the witch 'La Strega'. It's seductive and mysterious, and comes to an abrupt halt when Tonio (Rey) makes his presence known. The story makes overt use of symbolism like the sign of the cross to ward off evil spirits and the frequent appearance of a black cat to warn of impending doom. If you're the slightest bit superstitious, this is the kind of story that will have you running for cover.

One of a number of Thrillers directed by Ida Lupino, this just might be her best effort. No stranger to offbeat roles herself, you have to catch Lupino as the flawed femme-fatale with the gravel voice in 1948's "Road House", and going berserk with that maniacal court room rant in 1940's "They Drive by Night". Neither film however could have topped the finale in 'La Strega', as the gorgeous Luana (Andress) falls victim to the vile curse of her grandmother and winds up taking what in less sophisticated circles might be called the long dirt nap.

This is an episode of 'Thriller' that any fan of Ursula Andress should own. Made just before her superstar turn as 'Honey Rider' in 'Dr. No', 'La Strega' shows off Ursula in all of her incredible beauty. It's quite amazing how wonderful a television show could look in glorious black and white! Of course, it doesn't hurt to have a young Ursula Andress to photograph...

The story is compelling, as Ursula is shown being tossed into a river for being 'la strega', the 'witch'. She is haunted throughout the tale by her grandmother, who has some mysterious hold on her.

Jeanette Nolan plays her grandmother. A very fine actress, she was often as comfortable playing warm, sentimental women as she was the sinister type. Her fine understated performance in Fritz Lang's 'The Big Heat' attests to this fact.

Unfortunately for Ms. Nolan, her acting talents are overshadowed by the ridiculous makeup that has been piled onto her face. The look is not so bad in medium shots, but the close ups of Ms. Nolan as 'la strega' look to me as ludicrous as a child's cheap Halloween mask.

This teleplay would have worked a lot better had we seen a modicum of subtlety used in Nolan's appearance. I've never seen Jeanette Nolan as a 'ham', but her intoning of the curse she puts on the character played by Alejandro Rey is not so ominous as it is scene-chewing.

It's a shame, because everything else seems right about this episode. It would have been fun to see Ida Lupino directing Ursula. Ida knew what she had with Ms. Andress -- she's very generous in giving Ursula many close shots where we can drink in that magnificent face.

Having picked up the complete series on DVD, I am impressed with the audio and video quality. A wonderful job has been done in restoring this early sixties' TV series that struggled to find an identity, finally collapsing in a short two years.

And despite Stephen King declaring 'Thriller' 'the best horror TV series', it's either feast or famine with this show. You might see a well-told, intelligent, supernatural tale like 'The Hungry Glass' with William Shatner. But next week, it could be a Maxwell Shane crime drama. (Nothing against crime dramas, but suddenly the spooky presence of the great Boris Karloff seems a bit incongruous.)

Boris hams it up admirably in introducing each 'thriller'. Personally, I prefer the dry humor of Sir Alfred Hitchcock. His bits before and after his stories on 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' were at times the best thing about the half-hour shows.

'La Strega' is one of the better episodes of the series. Now if they'd just take that obvious fake nose off Jeanette Nolan's face.

When the story begins, a group of Italian peasants chuck Luana (Ursula Andress) into the water to drown her*. However, a nice guy (Alejandro Rey) passing by saves her. Soon, they fall in love. However, the girl's grandmother (IMDB summary says Luana is her niece...this is an error) insists she cannot marry and must follow in her footsteps and become a witch. And, to prevent the marriage, the Strega (witch) puts a curse on the man...and he is not about to just give up Luana without a fight.

It seemed a bit odd to me that although the story was set in Italy, they picked a Swiss woman and an Argentinian man to play the leads! So be it and both were actually fine in these roles. As for the story, it's pretty good with a decent twist at the end. Worth seeing.

****SPOILERS**** It's the former Swiss goat & sheep header beautiful Ursula Andress who's the only reason in watching this "Thriller" episode about finding love in the wrong places and with the wrong people. Ursula as Italian peasant girl Luana has been accused by the local townspeople as being a witch and thrown in the nearest river to drown. That's until handsome painter Tonio Bellini, Alejandero Rey, rescues her and brings her home to dry out. Tonio being only human falls madly in love with Luana despite her witch grandma La Strega, Jeanette Noland, demanding he release her to participate with her in an upcoming Witch's Sabbath the following Easter Sunday.

It's Tonio's good friend Meastro Giuliano, Roman Novarro,who lets him know what Luana and her grandma are all about and takes him to see, undercover, the Witch's Sabbath to prove his point. The point turns out to be a lighting bolt to Giuliano's skull killing him instantly and leaving Tonio in a state of shock. Novarro himself was murdered in real life six years later by a street hustler he invited to his Hollywood Mansion for a quit candle light dinner!

****SPOILERS*** Tonio now seeing the light in what he's now up against, the power of the occult, goes to plead with La Strega to release her granddaughter Luana from her spell she put on her under only to be laughed at by her and made to look lake a slobbering wimp. Enraged in what he's been put through in being humiliated by her Tonio rings La Strege's neck killing her and burying her body. Not finding Luana and feeling deserted by her Toni goes to the police to confess his crime and when he shows the proof of what he did, exhuming La Strege's body, he realizes that it-what he did-was a lot more serious then he ever thought it was!

P.S Ursula was soon to make a hit in being the very first "Bond Girl" Honey Ryder in "Dr. No" and later the reincarnated Egyptian love goddess in the 1965 film "She" as Ayesha or "She who must be obeyed".

LA STREGA is an impressive episode from the TV series THRILLER hosted by Boris Karloff. A strong cast and directed by Ida Lupino. This particular episode gives the lead role to the stunning Ursula Andress, yet unknown. She plays a young village girl named Luana, who is victim of three men trying to drown her fearing she is a witch. She is rescued by a struggling artist, Tonio(Alejandro Rey), who gives her shelter and she models for some paintings. Luana's elderly aunt(Jeanette Nolan), who is known to control a good portion of the countryside by suspected supernatural powers comes searching for her niece. Knowing she is being hided by Tonio, La Strega(the witch), places a spell on the artist. In the paintings of Luana, her image begins aging. What else exactly does Tonio have to fear? Just how strong are 18th Century Italian curses? Andress proves to be a star in the making. Supporting cast features Ramon Navarro and Frank DeKova.

I have enjoyed the Thriller series, and have been aware that particularly in its second season the stories' tone shifted from film noir drama to horror. Other viewers' comments on this site likewise painted La Strega as a near-traumatic chiller fest, not for the faint-hearted. So I watched it and... nothing. Perhaps it may have indeed seemed scary to a three-year-old back in 1962. But to a grownup, and/or by today's standards, the horrifying elements are conspicuous by their absence. Even the climax scene depicting a black sabbath of sorts looks and feels more like a segment from Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project than a blood-curling peek into the occult.