This is a comparison between "Operation Titian" and "Portrait in Terror". Both versions are included in the "Blood Bath" UK Blu-Ray Box Set released by Arrow.

Dzoni lands in Dubrovnik (Jugoslavia) in order to plan his wedding with his fiance Vera. The Italian gangster Zaroni arrives in the exact same plane in order to steal a valuable painting. During the burglary, he kills owner Ugo Bonacic, yet is able to escape along with the painting. He gets himself into a flirt with stipper Linda, who gets to know of the burglary and then tries to blackmail Zaroni. Zaroni kills her and leaves the police all the more puzzled, since they have no idea what the robbery was all about. Meanwhile, the American artist Toni - who momentarily works on a special painting for the museum in Dubrovnik - also has a special connection to the painting. When Zaroni disappears, inspector Miha starts to suspect him.

"Operation Titian" - which was co-produced by Roger Corman - was said to be non-marketable in the USA. It is not hard to believe this, since the plot lacks excitement. The only thing that is not too forseeable is Toni's connection to the painting - which is revealed at the very end of the movie. Apart from that, the audience knows who is responsible for the crimes. Dubrovnik was probably used as the setting in order to promote the city as an attractive holiday resort. In fact, there are a few nice shots of the city, still, this does not help the pretty boring plot. This is a pity - after all, "Operation Titian" is actually well shot. The opening scene of a man wandering through the historic city in half dark is pretty atmospheric. Anna Pavane as stripper-girl Linda adds some sexappeal to the movie.

For a TV deal, Corman decided to re-cut the movie and released it under the title "Portrait in Terror". Big parts of the plot were taken out, while two scenes were added. The murder of Linda was shot again, using different actors. Zaroni stabs her to death, brings her to a boat and sinks her in the ocean. Accordingly, there are later scenes of divers searching for Linda's corpse on the ocean bed. Those new scenes again are pretty dull and it is almost ironic to see that boring scenes were replaced by new boring scenes. The entire beginning of Dzoni and Zaroni landing in Dubrovnik was taken out - along with the first meeting of Toni and Vera. A lot of dialog between Miha and Dzoni is missing as well, along with several minor cuts.

Yet, the history of different versions does not end there. In 1964, Corman assigned Jack Hill to shoot new scenes in Jugoslavia. The result is a story about a crazy beatnik artist who kills women and makes sculptures out of them. Yet, Corman was not happy about this version - thus it was never released. In 1966, Stephanie Rothman was assigned to make yet another new version based on the material that Hill had shot. The result is the movie "Blood Bath" (which was going to be the title of Hill's movie as well). The main plot stayed intact, yet was mixed with Vampires. This version ran about 70 minutes and was shown as a double feature along with "Queen of Blood". However, in order to be shown on TV, "Blood Bath" was too short - so yet ANOTHER version had to be made. Several scenes were shot to make "Track of the Vampire". For example, the Vampire chases after a girl until he is finally able to catch her in the ocean. Additionally, the producers added a longer scene of Lori Saunder's dancing at the beach.

The Blu-ray Box Set by Arrow Video includes four versions of the movie:

- "Operation Titian" - the original version
- "Portrait in Terror" - The TV Version of "Operation Titian"
- "Blood Bath" - Stephanie Rothman's edit of Jack Hill's movie which includes scenes from "Operation Titian"
- "Track of the Vampire" - the TV version of "Blood Bath"

For "Operation Titian" they did not have an HD-master which is why they included an SD version of the original movie. Arrow follow the principle that movie's should not differ in their quality. Therefore, "Operation Titian" is included in SD only, even though some of the scenes could have been taken from the "Portrait in Terror"-HD-master. The bonus material includes a lengthy analysis about the production of the individual cuts and their differences.

Runtimes:

Operation Titian: 95:20 min.
Portrait in Terror: 81:22 min.

[00:00:00][00:00:00]

Operation Titan begins with a shadowy figure walking through the historic city. The man enters a building in order to steal a painting. Subsequently, the opening credits roll.

After that, we see a plane landing in Dubrovnik. In the foyer, someone hands a man a letter. Toni meets his old friend Vera in the hall. He wants to arrange a meeting with her, yet she has no time. She's stuck with her wedding plans with Dzoni. Meanwhile, an American sports team arrives.

Zaroni gets the letter and enters the bus.

At night, Toni meets Vera and her fiance at a party. Unwillingly, she goes over to his table. Vera wants him to leave since he is drunk. They arrange a meeting for the next day in the museum.

Meanwhile, a woman talks to Zaroni about his golden ring. He says, that this is not gold and she leaves. Then they announce stripper Linda.

Portrait in Terror Fassung begins with a black screen that lasts for two seconds.

Operation Titian: 10:16 min.
Portrait in Terror: 2 sec.


[00:10:27][00:00:13]

In Portrait in Terror, the image freezes and the opening credits roll.

Portrait in Terror: 1:07 min.


[00:10:41][00:01:34]

In Portrait in Terror, they give Toni his table. Operation Titan already showed this.

Portrait in Terror: 11 sec.


[00:10:46][00:01:49]

Now we see the scene in which they bring Vera to TOni's table. They set up the meeting at the museum.

Portrait in Terror: 50 sec.


[00:11:31][00:03:24]

In Operation Titian there is a short cut to the clapping sailors.

Operation Titian: 1 sec.


[00:12:19][00:04:11]

Again, we see the sailors.

Operation Titian: 3 sec.


[00:12:24][00:04:13]

Vera asks Dzoni where he was. He answers that he does not like to sit alone. After that we see the stripper.

Operation Titian: 12 sec.


[00:12:42][00:04:20]

Dzoni asks what is going on. The sailor walks to Zaroni. Vera says that he landed along with the American team.

Operation Titian: 7 sec.


[00:13:13][00:04:43]

The sailor is shown earlier, shaking.

Operation Titian: 1 sec.


[00:13:25][00:04:55]

We see the sailor lying on the floor. His colleague gets up and starts fighting Dzoni.

Portrait in Terror shows an alternative shot of the sailor getting up and walking to Dzoni.

Operation Titian: 8 sec.
Portrait in Terror: 3 sec.


[00:13:47][00:05:12]

Dzoni says that he is not hurt much. The others cheer for the sailor who won the fight. AFter that we see Dzoni and Vera a little earlier. In comparison to Portrait in Terror, the scene is slightly zoomed in.

Operation Titian: 9 sec.


[00:15:07][00:06:23]

Toni puts away his jacket. In the background we hear a guided walk through the museum.

Operation Titian: 11 sec.


[00:17:31][00:08:38]

Toni is shown earlier.

Portrait in Terror: 1 sec.


[00:18:47][00:09:53]

The guide continues.

Operation Titian: 5 sec.


[00:20:36][00:11:38]

Zaroni walks to the side. Two women come and take the bag from Ugo. Zaroni walks past Ugo and throws the paper bag into the ocean.

Operation Titian: 34 sec.


[00:21:32][00:11:59]

Dzoni complains about Vera being out all day and that now he has to watch Hamlet. He also asks why Miha does not accompany them; Vera hits back.

Operation Titian: 21 sec.


[00:21:59][00:12:05]

Dzoni is shown earlier.

Operation Titian: 1 sec.


[00:23:03][00:13:09]

Several women thank TOni for the tickets. The light is slightly dimmed.

AFter that, Zaroni sneaks to the church and opens the lock.

In Portrait in Terror we instead see the opening scenes of a dark figure walking through the streats and then opening the church door.

Operation Titian: 41 sec.
Portrait in Terror: 2:00 min.


[00:24:07][00:15:33]

Zaroni walks through the open door.

Operation Titian: 7 sec.


[00:24:45][00:16:03]

During the play, Toni looks at Vera who only has eyes for Dzoni.

The dog attacks Zaroni.

Operation Titian: 26 sec.


[00:27:41][00:18:33]

In Portrait in Terror, Zaroni is shown longer.

Portrait in Terror: 2 sec.


[00:30:30][00:21:24]

Dzoni supposes that something serious is going on. He is right: Miha has to leave to investigate a case.

Dzoni does not accompany them. Vera is happy and says that he already lies like a husband. After that she asks if Dzoni thinks that someone pushed him on the steps.

Operation Titian: 1:09 min.


[00:33:25][00:23:10]

They open the door for Toni who takes a look at Ugo's corpse.

Operation Titian: 48 sec.


[00:37:33][00:26:30]

Operation Titian:

The police officers come out of the house and have a talk. Miha goes over to Dzoni and talks to him about the case. He is unable to make sense of the murder.

Miha and Dzoni enter a bar in order to drink something. The barkeeper shows him the newspaper with an image of him. The barkeeper adds that the dog had been barking often at night. Miha adds that this makes the case even more complicated.

Vera, Dzoni and Miha are sitting together. They talk about the case and come to the conclusion that something strange is going on. Yet, they cannot quite figure out what it is.

A police officer appears and says that he found out where the lock comes from. It is from a store nearby, yet the owner died, which is why the store closed down. They want to investigate the store on the next day. Then they talk about the Titian painting. The original is gone and Ugo was the only one known to own a copy. Additionally, there are rumors about a copy which was created for the Sordie family. Miha thinks that this is interesting, since Ugo claimed to be an offspring of the Sordie damily.

Portrait in Terror:

Portrait in Terror instead shows a dissolve.

Operation Titian: 4:44 min.
Portrait in Terror: 2 sec.


[00:44:13][00:28:27]

Zaroni wraps the painting and takes a few pieces of clothing out of the suitcase.

Operation Titian: 9 sec.


[00:45:38][00:29:43]

Dzoni says that he landed with the American dream and tells her which hotel he stays in. Miha wants to have him interrogated because of the brawl.

Operation Titian: 18 sec.


[00:47:28][00:31:15]

The porter is shown earlier.

Portrait in Terror: 1 sec.


[00:53:39][00:37:26]

Toni bends down to pick up the glass.

Operation Titian: 1 sec.


[00:54:48][00:38:34]

The waiter is shown a little earlier.

Operation Titian: 1 sec.


[00:57:39][00:41:25]

The woman watches Linda a little longer.

Operation Titian: 3 sec.


[00:58:35][00:42:17]

In Operation Titian we see Linda longer, followed by a cut to the coast. Then we see Zaroni and Linda.

Portrait in Terror immediately cut to the coast. Linda tunrs to the side and Zaroni comes up the stairs.

Operation Titian: 6 sec.
Portrait in Terror: 6 sec.


[00:58:43][00:42:25]

Zaroni walks to Linda who now is no longer happy. Cut to a ship.

In Portrait in Terror, Taroni walks to the front. He pulls out a knife and stabs Linda. He takes her corpse and walks down the stairs, looking back if anybody is watching him. Once he is sure, he takes the corpse with him and goes to a boat. He rows out in the ocean to sink the dead body.

Operation Titian: 11 sec.
Portrait in Terror: 4:35 min.


[01:01:25][00:49:31]

Miha and Dzoni ask if it was a copy or the original painting. Dzoni wants to go to the church since he hesitates to ask Vera what the painting is all about; after all, they wantet to go see a movie.

After that we see the house earlier.

Operation Titian: 44 sec.


[01:03:15][00:50:38]

Miha tells Vera that he wants to look for stripper Linda; Vera gets mad.

The police officers are sitting on the stairs. An old womand comes and says that she wants to talk to their boss since she has important information. One of them leads her in.

Operation Titian: 50 sec.


[01:04:17][00:50:49]

The woman adds that Linda looked like a slut.

Operation Titian: 4 sec.


[01:04:42][00:51:10]

The police officer tells the woman that Miha had seen a giant snake.

Operation Titian: 6 sec.


[01:05:05][00:51:27]

The ships are shown longer. Then, we see the three men earlier.

Operation Titian: 4 sec.


[01:05:39][00:51:57]

There are more shots of the ships and divers. The divers recover the booty and immediately weigh it. The Jugoslavian team are up.

In Portrait in Terror we instead see the divers searching for the corpse on the ocean bed. They examine a shipwreck and then find Linda.

Operation Titian: 42 sec.
Portrait in Terror: 4:31 min.


[01:06:28][00:56:36]

Dzoni introduces himself. Then they celebrate the Jugoslavian team.

Operation Titian: 17 sec.


[01:07:23][00:57:12]

The boats are shown longer.

Operation Titian: 5 sec.


[01:08:02][00:57:45]

We see Linda's corpse - impaled - being dragged out of the water.

Vera goes to Toni's place, yet he is not at home. The housekeeper lets her in and tells her about Linda's death. Vera shows her the painting but the housekeeper says that it is not the one that had been stolen. Vera takes a look at the crime scene.

Dzoni and Miha talk about the finding of the corpse and that Zaroni is still the number one suspect; however, they cannot seem to find him.

Operation Titian: 3:06 min.


[01:17:03][01:03:40]

Dzoni is shown earlier in Portrait in Terror.

Portrait in Terror: 1 sec.


[01:26:52][01:13:31]

Dzoni and Miha are shown a little longer in Portrait in Terror.

In return, we see Toni a little earlier in Operation Titian.

Operation Titian: 1 sec.
Portrait in Terror: 1 sec.


[01:31:39][01:18:20]

Toni is shown earlier.

Operation Titian: 2 sec.


[01:34:35][01:21:14]

In Operation Titian, Dzoni lifts Vera up a little longer. At the door the two of them kiss.

Portrait in Terror instead shows "The End" a little longer.

Operation Titian: 46 sec.
Portrait in Terror: 8 sec.