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"Bloodline", based on a novel by "I Dream of Jeannie" creator Sidney Sheldon, probably qualifies as one of Audrey Hepburn's lesser movies. Hepburn plays the heir to a pharmaceutical company who becomes a marked woman following her decisions about the company's future. I didn't find it a terrible movie, but Hepburn obviously starred in much better films (much of the movie seems like a rehash of her earlier movie "Charade"). She and co-star Ben Gazzara later co-starred in Peter Bogdanovich's bizarre "They All Laughed".

Director Terence Young is probably best known for "Dr. No" and "From Russia with Love". He didn't hit the bottom with this flick, but I doubt that anyone would want to stress it in their resumes. Usually I would say that there would be an incentive to remake it to try and do it right, but I actually don't like the idea of remaking an Audrey Hepburn movie. Since everyone is bound to have a few bad spots on his/her resume, we can leave it at that. "Bloodline" is still a pretty enjoyable movie, if not a masterpiece.

Also starring James Mason, Claudia Mori, Irene Papas, Michelle Phillips, Maurice Ronet, Romy Schneider, Omar Sharif, Beatrice Straight, Gert Frobe, Marcel Bozzuffi, Pinkas Braun, Ivan Desny, Vadim Glowna, Walter Kohut and Wolfgang Preiss.

Sam Roffe, president of a multi-national pharmaceutical corporation , is killed while mountain-climbing . When her dad is murdered, a rich heiress , Elizabeth (Audrey Hepburn) , becomes the next target of an unknown murderer amid the international jet set and submitted to a twisted conspiracy . It is first determined to be an accident , but Inspector Max Hormung (Gert Frobe) thanks to an old computer deduces that Roffe was murdered by a hired killer . Hoping to reveal the true guilty , the stubborn commissioner investigates here and there among the supposedly beneficiaries of the death , as the line between love and death is the bloodline . After that , Sam's daughter Elizabeth assumes control of the company , and subsequently traveling through Europe and running the pharmaceutical empire , as well . Suspicion falls on the Roffe cousins , all of whom want to go public with the company and sell their stock at a huge profit . Since this would be against her daddy's wishes , Elizabeth rejects their advice . As Inspector Hormung investigates the background of the cousins , as family secrets run deadly . Then more attempts are made on Elizabeth's life and there are several suspect people , all her relatives : James Mason as Sir Alec Nichols , Claudia Mori as Donatella , Irene Papas as Simonetta Palazzi , Michelle Phillips as Vivian Nichols , Maurice Ronet as Charles Martin , Romy Schneider as Hélène Roffe-Martin and Omar Sharif as Ivo Palazzi .

This intriguing and suspenseful film contains tense scenes , thriller, drama , mystery and shocks . Adding disturbing frames concerning a series of murders on prostitutes , which are recorded on snuff films , and eventually tense sequences especially in its final part , in a creepy denouement , near of the end with a crazy killer attempting to murder her . The plot is plain and simple : a pharmaceutical heiress becomes the next target of an unknown killer amid wealthy relatives craving for the inherited fortune , who's the killer ? . Although it is sometimes slow moving and stagy , however , being entertaining for the continuous suspense and tension . This film was made and released about two years after its source novel of the same name by Sidney Sheldon was first published in 1977 and the book was Sheldon's fourth novel , this prolific writer was very adapted and wrote several scripts , such as : The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer , The dangerous hero , The borrowed lady , Gambling Daughters , South of Panama , The Buster Keaton story , Jumbo , among others . The picture has been panned for being an inexcusably repulsive montage of predictability , bad taste and incoherence and the reason for some hardcore fans of Audrey Hepburn will be sickened to see her in such a travesty , in fact , it was only film rated ¨R¨ she played , as it contains graphic sex scenes and grisly violence . A large and notorious cast , that's why the essential entertainment of the film results to be to discover who main and support actor and actress appearing here and there . As a mature Audrey Hepburn is nice as the pharmaceutical heiress who decides to keep the company within the family , resulting to be involved into a conspiracy to kill her and she immediately becomes a deadly target , while Ben Gazarra plays her suspicious lover . The very secondary cast includes a lot of familiar faces from B-European genres , such as : Pinkas Braun , Wolgang Preiss ,Marcel Bozzuffi , Ivan Desny , Dan Van Husen , Ursula Buchfellner , Hans von Borsody, Mike Monty , and many others.

Special mention for the attractive and enjoyable musical score by maestro Ennio Morricone in his usual style . As well as evocative and adequate cinematography by expert cameraman Freddie Young . Shot on a large number of locations in Munich , Burghausen, Bavaria, Germany , London , Paris , Cinecittà , Rome, Lazio , Italy , Copenhagen, Denmark and Sardinia, Italy . This thrilling motion picture was middlingly directed by Terence Young , containing a lot of flaws , gaps , shortcomings and predictibility . Terence was an uneven craftsman who realized three of the first four James Bond films , as ¨Dr No¨, ¨From Russia with love¨ and ¨Thunderball¨, such successful blockbusters were hard to continue , though he attempted in search of more box office hits . His biggest film was , beyond doubt , ¨Wait in dark¨ with Audrey Hepburn and Richard Crenna . However , his last period was largely unsuccessful , full of failures and duds as ¨Amazons¨ , ¨Klansman¨ , ¨Blood line¨, ¨ Inchon¨, ¨Jigsaw man¨, ¨Takeover¨ , though some action scenes remained undiluted . Rating : 5/10 . Mediocre , only for Audrey Hepburn and Ben Gazzara fans.

One wonders what it is that attracts stars to a particular project. A well-written script certainly or the chance to work with a great director. At the risk of appearing cynical one can think of no earthly reason why any of these excellent actors would agree to do a film based upon a novel(I use the term loosely) by Sidney Sheldon and directed by the staggeringly undistinguished Terence Young except THE MONEY. The starry cast list would no doubt encourage bums on seats but anyone who bought a ticket to see one of their favourites in this rubbish must have felt more than somewhat deflated. Anything at all worth remembering? Romy Schneider's line whilst unbuttoning the shirt of Maurice Ronet: 'A woman's work is never done' and Omar Sharif's seldom seen comedic side. Having endured this tripe I call to mind a quote of Dolly Parton: 'It takes a lot of money to make something look this cheap'.

Audrey Hepburn returned to Hollywood in the late 1970s to much fanfare...but once her return movie, "Robin and Marian", was finished, Hollywood didn't know what to do with her. Throwing money her way to get the Audrey Hepburn name on a film product seemed to be the industry's answer, and Hepburn collected a $1,000,000 paycheck (plus profits, though I doubt there were any) for this adaptation of Sidney Sheldon's bestselling novel. It all must have looked good expense-wise, but one has to wonder if she even read the script. It's a pallid whodunit: pharmaceutical titan is killed in a mountain-climbing accident; his daughter, though left out of the industry-loop for most of her life, decides not to sell out and run the empire herself. This is disconcerting to her greedy relatives on the board of directors, who had hoped to reap profits in their boss's absence. After a police inspector deduces the billionaire was actually murdered, and the daughter's brakes go out on a winding mountain road, it becomes clear to her there's a fox in the henhouse. Boring mystery is 'spiced up' with a snuff-film subplot involving the killer, a bald, naked strangler and some unfortunate prostitutes (and which, like many of the story threads, is never resolved; this movie doesn't end, it just stops). Hepburn is lovingly lighted and, though she's rail-thin, is the sole bright spot in this catastrophe. Ben Gazzara, James Mason, Omar Sharif, Gert Fröbe, Romy Schneider, Irene Papas and Beatrice Straight are all wasted. Terence Young directed, bringing absolutely no personality to the job. Talented writer Laird Koenig did the adaptation, which is humorless and without a shred of suspense. The finale seems to be an homage to Hepburn's classic "Charade", but here the staging is so static and clumsy it doesn't come off. Rightfully regarded as one of the worst films of Hepburn's career. * from ****

When "Bloodline" was released in 1979, a major magazine review pointed out that in the course of the story, ostensibly for failure to pay a gambling debt, a character's knees are nailed to the floor. The critic then went on to say, `This is what Paramount Pictures is going to have to do to get audiences to sit through this picture.' There aren't enough negative things to say about this abomination of a movie. The meandering, incoherent story is hampered at every turn by ludicrously bad production values. The direction, the inept blocking of the scenes, the lighting, the sets – in every case conspires to make the results look cheap and hollow. The movie is really a miracle of dreadfulness. The following is one of thousand small crimes against cinema throughout the picture: There is an explosion in the street. This is conveyed by a flash of light on the actors in the scene and a sound effect. The next shot, meant to be the view of the street from the window, is a still photograph beneath which someone is apparently waving a lit piece of paper. Just before the cut from this scene, the photograph actually starts to buckle from the heat of the flame. And the filmmakers left this in the film! The real crime against cinema is the fact that the name of Audrey Hepburn is associated with this repugnant film, a monstrosity so putrid, one wishes every single copy of it would magically disappear.

...which makes this movie interesting to watch. It looks expensive and cheap at the same time. The money probably went to pay the stars, their wardrobe and to rent airplanes because the characters keep landing at airports. There seems to have been no money left for setbuilding or a proper editor! There are some really bad continuity gaps in the film.

The film is just trash! I thought it would be a serious study of a business empire run by a family. Instead it's a murder mystery without mystery and also a soft porn killer thriller! Did poor Audrey know about the naked ladies? She looks classy in her Givenchy clothes but the film is garbage; beneath her! She tries to pretend to care about the plot but the other stars (with the exception of Romy Schneider) are terrible!!!! I'm astounded at the low level of movie-making in "Bloodline"! See it for that reason only!

I checked this film out because I had read how terrible it was. And it was terrible. It seems to be that with the amount of talent that was wasted in this film, that somewhere something good could have come about it. But the dialogue was so laughable, and poor Audrey Hepburn looking very foolish. The end of the film is lifted (in bad taste) right from another Hepburn film called Charade. At the end you have no idea what is going on, or why the building is on fire, or why people are dying left and right. Ben Gazarra, James Mason, Beatrice Straight and Heburn are all wasted. Find another murder mystery instead of this clunker.

I enjoyed this movie! Any time Audrey Hepburn graced the screen was an occasion and for her to be paired with Ben Gazzara made this movie extra special for me. The story is interesting; the scenery is beautiful; a delightful romance develops; and who could forget Omar Shariff's shenanigans with his wife, his daughters and his mistresses? I do not wish that every single copy would disappear - I wish that they would put it on DVD. In fact, I have an excellent copy on VHS that I taped from TV. I have tried to copy it on my DVD recorder but they marked it so that it cannot be copied. I don't understand this practice but that has nothing to do with this movie! Sidney Sheldon is an excellent storyteller - and this one is no exception. As pointed out by another reviewer here, there may be cinematic flaws and shortcuts in this film - I did not notice them. I was much too engrossed in the story.

Regarding "Sidney Sheldon's Bloodline", I'd like to correspond to Paramount and inquire why not re-edit the film (remaster), and create a SPECIAL EDITION, maybe with deleted scenes (with Ursula Buchfellner and Eleonore Melzer, which were cut), and commentary. I read parts of the book, and like the book, but the movie, when I watched it in the theater back in 1979, it made no sense, and was confusing, particularly with the Snuff films. The book lets you know WHY these films are created, as with the movie, you wonder why?! OR: remake the movie the way the book is! Great cast, but overall, movie STINKS! Anyway, anybody know the address to write to Sidney Sheldon so I can ask him?! Thank you.

This movie is not a good one but a very special movie to me is not only the mature Audrey Hepburn in this one but is the very beautiful and fantastic Romy Schneider any movie with a cast like this should be better but doesnot matter you will love it , plus is Maurice Ronet a major international star he too die young, Romy at this time was a big international super star and one of the most beautiful women in this planet i am sorry for Audrey but i love Romy much more sadly she die young and have a tragic life, Romy was mainly an European star at this point but what surprise me the most is that many of the people written a review doesn't mention her name please she was as beautiful and important as Audrey Hepburn was

It seems best to consider Richard Lester's lovely "Robin and Marian" Audrey Hepburn's swansong."Bloodline " is the most distressingly mediocre movie she ever made.

Terence Young had already directed the actress in the excellent thriller "wait until dark" ,a film which compares favorably with Hitchcock's "rear window" .So it was only natural that they teamed up again .

The screenplay is a mess,a disaster ,and it's more complicated than complex.Full of plot holes,of implausibilities (the fabulously rich heiress ,after several murder attempts does not even think of hiring a bodyguard!),and see how Young even copies himself for the last sequence where Hepburn is alone in the house ,of course in the dark,like in the 1967 highly superior effort.

An absurd international cast gives the coup de grâce to the movie: Americans (Ben Gazzara),English (James Mason),Germans (Romy Schneider,Gert Froebe),French (Maurice Ronet) ,Greeks (Irene Pappas),Egyptians (Omar Sharif).All are given lousy parts .They are supposed to be the suspects of a whodunit.

Audrey Hepburn wearing two dresses in the same scene and three scenes depicting the making of SNUFF films that have absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the film. NOTHING!!!! A pitiful film made by lazy film makers! In 1979 it was the worst film I'd ever seen and 24 years later nothing has changed.

Hooray, it's another Wait Until Dark! Audrey Hepburn stars in another thriller, where three men are out to get her, and she has to unsuspectingly save herself and her fortune. This one isn't as good, though, but if you like to see an older Audrey defending herself, you can put the kids to bed and watch this one. A recurrent side plot of the film is the dirty business-no pun intended-of making snuff films. If you don't know what those are, don't research them and don't rent this movie.

Audrey's mogul dad dies at the start of the movie, and she finds herself a target because of her stock in the corporation. Ben Gazzara, James Mason, and Omar Sharif all stand to gain if she relinquishes her inheritance. Which one is behind the threats? Well, with two veteran villains among the suspects, it's a toss-up between Ben and James, so you'll be on the edge of your seat until the end.

Omar Sharif serves at the much-needed comic relief, believe it or not, and his scenes were my favorites in the movie. He has three daughters with his wife, and three sons with his mistress, and while he juggles both families, his mistress constantly threatens to expose his second to his first. Unless you like seeing how everyone aged, though, you might want to just rent movies where they're younger. The few funny scenes Omar has doesn't really make the entire movie worth it.

Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to nudity, violence, and graphic sex scenes, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.

This is one of those movies ("Jaws The Revenge" was another) that have a really low reputation, yet when you actually see them you find out that, while by no means good movies, they are at least passable time-fillers. Aside from Gert Frobe ("Goldfinger") being cast as a detective, there is nothing laughable about this - also nothing exceptional. The pacing is wrong; it doesn't stay focused on the mystery of the plot. But if you have two hours to waste...

Sam Roffe of Roffe & Sons Pharmaceuticals dies.His daughter Elizabeth takes over the business.The cause of her father's death turns out to be a murder, and Elizabeth's life is also in danger.Bloodline (1979) is directed by Terence Young.It's based on Sidney Sheldon's 1977 novel.The movie has pretty handsome cast list, which should be a guarantee for a better movie.There's Audrey Hepburn in the lead playing Elizabeth Roffe.This is actually the only R-rated movie she ever starred.Recently deceased Ben Gazzara plays Rhys Williams.James Mason portrays Sir Alec Nichols.Claudia Mori is Donatella.Irene Papas is Simonetta Palazzi.Michelle Phillips plays Vivian Nichols.Romy Schneider plays Helene Martin.Omar Sharif, who turned 80 this month, plays Ivo Palazzi.Gert Fröbe portrays Inspector Max Hornung.Ennio Morricone is behind the music.The movie doesn't have anything too memorable.The moments at the villa in the end are pretty suspenseful, but it's too little too late.

Bloodline opens with the billionaire founder and president of an international drug conglomerate being shot off an Alp. It goes further downhill from that.

The deceased's daughter is Audrey Hepburn who now is in charge of the family owned business and she is being pressed by other family members to have the corporation go public. The family is Jewish and they seem to bare no small resemblance to the Rothschilds. This issue about whether to start going public with their stock is what got Dad killed. He refused to do it and when she does likewise, Hepburn also is targeted.

Sounds like a straightforward enough story, but the telling of it was botched beyond belief. There are a string of snuff murders of prostitutes being investigated by the same inspector, Gert Frobe, who is investigated Dad's murder, in the film just to give it exploitation value. Also a rather needless flashback to the father's younger days and the founding of the company.

A really great cast is wasted here. Making the film somewhat bearable in his scenes is Omar Sharif, one of the cousins and board members whose philandering ways have made him a legend of sorts. Looks like Omar's determined to repopulate Europe all by himself.

The climax involving a burning villa in Sardinia is exciting enough. But you have to endure a lot of boredom in Bloodline to get there.

It was said that midway through shooting "Bloodline" Audrey Hepburn finally realized what a horrible and degrading movie this was going to be and desperately wanted to get out of it, but she was under contract and had no choice.

When you see this movie you will realize exactly why she felt so bad about making it. The absolute only reason to watch "Bloodline" is to see how Audrey Hepburn aged like fine wine.