The story for Salon Kitty hinges on the eponymous brothel, which is well known among the Nazi party and is run by Madame Kitty Kellermann (Ingrid Thulin). Helmut Wallenberg (Helmut Berger), an SS officer, gets the idea of transforming the whole thing into an altogether different brothel, one that recruits middle class German women who are such avid Nazi sympathizers they will do anything for their country - including satisfying their clients most wicked perversions and reporting on them to their commanders. Wallenberg also hides microphones in the rooms so that he can eavesdrop in on the conversations, thus being privy to all kinds of discretionary information. When Wallenberg's mistress of choice, Margherita (Teresa Ann Savoy), falls in love with a disgruntled Nazi war hero who confesses to her his plans to defect, Wallenberg intervenes - and sets in motion the beginning of his own demise.
Brass is heralded by some as an Italian Russ Meyer, or Ken Russell, due in part to his outrageous sensibilities. Others praise him obliquely as the Fellini of sexploitation. But neither of these tags would really prepare audiences for any of the various opening scenes in Salon Kitty, such as one that features ribald dancing and singing in a chop house (with footage of real pigs being slaughtered). What leaves little to dispute, however, is that the Production Design by Ken Adam is sensational throughout the film - and it all starts out with a womb-like warmth that then moves to a colder and impersonal flavor as the Nazi's take hold of the Salon. Adam, who had been traumatized by working with Stanley Kubrick on Barry Lyndon (1975), was given complete artistic freedom by Brass and thus credits his experience on Salon Kitty with revitalizing his self-confidence. Indeed, the set designs are fantastic and completely uninhibited. Blue Underground's double-disk set features the film in it's Anamorphic 1.85:1 aspect ratio and is packed with bonus material including an interview with Tinto Brass, radio spots, an interview with Ken Adam, Jost Jacob's costume designs, theatrical trailers, a Tinto Brass biography, and a dvd-rom feature titled "The Story of Salon Kitty."
For more information about Salon Kitty, visit Blue Underground. To order Salon Kitty, go to TCM Shopping.
by Pablo Kjolseth
