A female corpse, with a charred face, bullet wound in the neck, and rather burned feet(..also carrying semen possibly explaining rape as well) is discovered by a child on a beach on the outskirts of Sydney, Australia. A retired, and bored, crusty, easily irritable Inspector Thompson(Ray Milland)offers his services to the investigation under young, and rather green, Inspector Ramsey(Ramiro Oliveros)who eyeballs a suspect named Quint(Giacomo Assandri). Quint is quite an easy mark..maybe too easy..for he is notorious for leaving empty cars on the beach, is rather uncouth and grubby, & lives rather close to the location of where the unidentified corpse was found. He also lifted a watch from her arm and was caught by the inspectors masturbating to the sight of a female neighbor's bum. Thompson, however, believes Ramsey's too focused on nabbing a suspect in order to quickly close the case, instead of finding out who the dead girl is. It's Thompson's belief that if you find out who the girl is, her murderer's identity will soon follow. Yet, Ramsey's too involved in making Quint admit to a murder he might not have committed, thus creating a narrow-minded agenda towards getting an easy confession. Meanwhile, like a bloodhound sniffing for clues, Thompson uses his old-school methods of following leads through little bits of evidence(..such as rice found in the a bag which wrapped the dead body, and a tag from the yellow pajamas she wore)which will ultimately yield results towards who is the real killer(s). In an alternate story, free-spirited river-boat waitress, Linda(Dalila Di Lazzaro)juggles sexual relationships with three men:one a wealthy professor, Henry Douglas(Mel Ferrer)who perhaps opens an avenue of removal from financial struggles, one a slimy lothario, Roy Conner(Howard Ross)whose merely well built and good in the sack, and a poor, rather melancholy, but handsome Italian immigrant waiter, Antonio(Michele Placido).
You might ask yourself what this film is doing taking two different paths telling alternating separate stories which often abruptly interfere each other. I will merely say that everything, as others who wrote user comments have already mentioned, falls into place at the end as the mystery is solved. I'm one of those who feels, despite this film's being Italian made set in Australia, that "The Payjama Girl Case" is not a giallo. It's mostly a somber tale about the ramifications for living a certain sordid lifestyle. Linda mistakingly marries Antonio, only to find herself pregnant, living a life of near-poverty, and desiring more in life than merely making ends meet. We see that, despite how happy she seems bedding different men, Linda is deeply yearning for a connection with someone unfortunately ending in limited(..to no) success. Through the beautiful Lazzaro, who offers a surplus of emotions both exteriorly and under the surface(..the pain is quite evident in her eyes, particularly one unpleasant sex scene where she prostitutes herself for abortion cash as a 13 year old boy on-looks in horror at what the two men he's with are doing to her), we are witness to a really sad unfolding of events as the sleazy atmosphere of her lifestyle choices come back to haunt her. But, the film takes a unique turn in Linda's story by showcasing the true tragic character as the film continues, Antonio. Antonio, deeply jealous and wounded by racial strife, lonely in a completely alien world of Australia far removed from his Italian country, confides in the wrong girl and is left battered emotionally. The detective story almost takes a back-seat to the lurid melodrama of Linda. It's cool seeing old pro Milland(..another one of those Hollywood abandoned, making his way into Italian cinema, even if temporarily) as the ornery detective, on his own it seems, deemed a relic better suited for remaining out to pasture by his younger colleagues, who represent a new breed of investigative reporter. There's an aura of sleaze throughout the whole film, in both stories. It's interesting viewing Milland's reactions to the ugliness he comes in contact with as he searches for answers(..such as how he responds to Quint's whacking off and nude posters on the wall). The most incredibly bizarre scene would have to be Inspector Ramsey's decision to put the dead corpse's nude body on display for the public so that someone might come forward to identify her..just the idea to do such a thing certainly shows the detective's unorthodox approach at solving his case;the crowd reaction takes voyeurism to a whole new level. The film's true weakness, in my opinion, was the musical accompaniment whether it be the cornball elevator score or the disco songs with a female singer belting her tunes rather masculinely. I do think the director brings style to the film through the camera-work, specifically the way he shoots faces and characters in certain settings(..especially the difficult/intimate moments between Linda and Antonio). I will admit, though, that after a central character is dispatched, my heart wasn't as into the movie..I was rather mortified because I thought the character brought such presence to the movie...
You might ask yourself what this film is doing taking two different paths telling alternating separate stories which often abruptly interfere each other. I will merely say that everything, as others who wrote user comments have already mentioned, falls into place at the end as the mystery is solved. I'm one of those who feels, despite this film's being Italian made set in Australia, that "The Payjama Girl Case" is not a giallo. It's mostly a somber tale about the ramifications for living a certain sordid lifestyle. Linda mistakingly marries Antonio, only to find herself pregnant, living a life of near-poverty, and desiring more in life than merely making ends meet. We see that, despite how happy she seems bedding different men, Linda is deeply yearning for a connection with someone unfortunately ending in limited(..to no) success. Through the beautiful Lazzaro, who offers a surplus of emotions both exteriorly and under the surface(..the pain is quite evident in her eyes, particularly one unpleasant sex scene where she prostitutes herself for abortion cash as a 13 year old boy on-looks in horror at what the two men he's with are doing to her), we are witness to a really sad unfolding of events as the sleazy atmosphere of her lifestyle choices come back to haunt her. But, the film takes a unique turn in Linda's story by showcasing the true tragic character as the film continues, Antonio. Antonio, deeply jealous and wounded by racial strife, lonely in a completely alien world of Australia far removed from his Italian country, confides in the wrong girl and is left battered emotionally. The detective story almost takes a back-seat to the lurid melodrama of Linda. It's cool seeing old pro Milland(..another one of those Hollywood abandoned, making his way into Italian cinema, even if temporarily) as the ornery detective, on his own it seems, deemed a relic better suited for remaining out to pasture by his younger colleagues, who represent a new breed of investigative reporter. There's an aura of sleaze throughout the whole film, in both stories. It's interesting viewing Milland's reactions to the ugliness he comes in contact with as he searches for answers(..such as how he responds to Quint's whacking off and nude posters on the wall). The most incredibly bizarre scene would have to be Inspector Ramsey's decision to put the dead corpse's nude body on display for the public so that someone might come forward to identify her..just the idea to do such a thing certainly shows the detective's unorthodox approach at solving his case;the crowd reaction takes voyeurism to a whole new level. The film's true weakness, in my opinion, was the musical accompaniment whether it be the cornball elevator score or the disco songs with a female singer belting her tunes rather masculinely. I do think the director brings style to the film through the camera-work, specifically the way he shoots faces and characters in certain settings(..especially the difficult/intimate moments between Linda and Antonio). I will admit, though, that after a central character is dispatched, my heart wasn't as into the movie..I was rather mortified because I thought the character brought such presence to the movie...