Alberto Ranieri is the secondary antagonist of the giallo film The Bird with the Crystal Plumage. Alberto is the husband of Monica Ranieri, the reported surviving victim of a serial killer targeting women in Rome, living through being slashed in her husband's own art gallery. It is revealed that Monica was the killer all along, with Alberto fully aware of his wife's crimes and even being complicit to protect her.
He was portrayed by the late Umberto Raho.
Biography[]
Alberto ran a successful Roman art gallery and was devoted to Monica, who moved to the city from her hometown of Alviano. They purchased a painting by Berto Consalvi from an antique store, depicting a woman in a village being disemboweled by a masked assailant while being scared out of her. It was really a depiction of a violent murder attempt Monica suffered in her hometown, which she narrowly survived despite being permanently scarred from the ordeal. When Monica herself saw the painting, she flashed right back to the violent attack, but her mind and emotions were warped to the point she started dissociating into the mindset of the assailant. To this end, she killed three women before the events of the movie to emulate her own near-fatal mutilation.
Albert came to realize the truth when comparing the similarities of the murders to the painting, which Monica personally confirmed to him in full. Instead of turning her in, Alberto didn't want to lose his wife and was ready by any means to try and divert suspicion from her. However, she was much more unstable, and when they were both in their art gallery alone, Alberto wearing black gloves, a brimmed hat, and a raincoat, Monica grabs her knife and tries to slash Alberto to death. Alberto resists, resulting in Monica being lacerated in the process. She tumbles down the stairs, writer Sam Dalmas witnessing the altercation, but assuming Monica is the victim. The police and medics arrive to save Monica, and since Dalmas is a crucial witness, Alberto introduces himself during a later day back at the gallery, ingratiating himself to Dalmas by thanking him for "saving" his wife.
The murders don't stop, however, as Monica eventually breaks into a young woman's apartment and kills the woman on her bed. Dreading the police would find her, Alberto himself snaps and goes looking for a way to kill Dalmas, knowing he’s hot on their trail. Alberto hires infamous hitman Er Sirigna to shoot Dalmas dead, running over a policeman in a failed attempt to get Dallas. When the plan fails, Alberto kills Er Sirigna to eliminate him as a witness. Monica then corners another woman in an elevator and slashers her to death with a straight razor. The couple then leave harassing phone calls to the police and Dalmas, ordering him to back off the case so they don't kill his girlfriend Julia. An attempt is made on her life, but whichever of them tries to slay her doesn't get into her apartment and runs when Dalmas returns.
The police recordings of the phone calls reveal two killers are working together, and isolated background noises are revealed to be from the city's official zoo, specifically the zoo's grey-crowned crane. Knowing the killers must be nearby, Dalmas goes to the zoo with police and realizes the Ranieris are in the neighborhood. The couple has yet another violent altercation, so the police barge in and see Alberto brandishing a knife while fighting with Monica. He tries to escape by fleeing from the balcony, but he slips and clings to the ledge. Dalmas and the police try to pull Alberto back up, as he pleads he doesn't want to die, but they lose their grip and Alberto plummets to his death. His final words, while covered in his own blood, are a full confession to the murders and saying he loves his wife.
Monica escalates further by kidnapping Julia and murdering a friend of Dalmas', professor Carlo Dover, posing him as if he were to look like the killer for a brief distraction. When Dalmas finds Julia tied up in restraints, Monica appears to switch between fighting and running from Dalmas. Eventually reaching the art gallery, where she pins Dalmas under a sculpture, she's about to murder him when the police arrive to arrest her and place her in an institution. Monica is revealed as the woman in the painting, Alberto having a shared psychosis with her by killing alongside her.
Victims[]
- Unidentified policeman - ran over with a car
- Er Sirigna - killed by unspecified means
Gallery[]
