Spirits of the Dead
Spirits of the Dead | |
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Directed by | |
Screenplay by |
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Dialogue by | Daniel Boulanger[1] |
Based on | "Metzengerstein" "William Wilson" "Never Bet the Devil Your Head"[b] by Edgar Allan Poe |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | |
Edited by |
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Music by |
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Production companies | |
Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 121 minutes[1][c] |
Countries | |
Languages |
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Box office |
Spirits of the Dead (
Vadim's segment, "
Spirits of the Dead was released in the United States by American International Pictures in an English-language version featuring narration by Vincent Price.[9]
Plot
"Metzengerstein"
At the age of 22, Countess Frédérique inherits the Metzengerstein estate and lives a life of promiscuity and debauchery. While in the forest, her leg is caught in a trap and she is freed by her cousin and neighbour Baron Wilhelm, whom she has never met because of a long-standing family feud. She becomes enamoured with Wilhelm, but he rejects her for her wicked ways. His rejection infuriates Frédérique and she sets his stables on fire. Wilhelm is killed attempting to save his prized horses.
One black horse somehow escapes and makes its way to the Metzengerstein castle. The horse is very wild and Frédérique takes it upon herself to tame it. She notices at one point that a damaged tapestry depicts a horse eerily similar to the one that she has just taken in. Becoming obsessed with it, she orders its repair. During a thunderstorm, Frédérique is carried off by the spooked horse into a fire caused by a lightning strike.
"William Wilson"
In the early 19th century when Northern Italy is under Austrian rule, an army officer named William Wilson rushes to confess to a priest (in a church of the "Città alta" of Bergamo) that he has committed murder. Wilson then relates the story of his cruel ways throughout his life. After playing cards all night against the courtesan Giuseppina, his doppelgänger, also named William Wilson, convinces people that Wilson has cheated. In a rage, the protagonist Wilson stabs the other to death with a dagger. After making his confession, Wilson commits suicide by jumping from the tower of "Palazzo della Ragione", but when seen his corpse is transfixed by the same dagger.
"Toby Dammit"
Former
Cast
Credits primarily adapted from Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1957–1969 and Midnight Movie Monographs: Spirits of the Dead (Histoires Extraordinaires).[1][10]
- "Metzengerstein"
- Jane Fonda as Countess Frédérique de Metzengerstein
- Peter Fonda as Baron Wilhelm Berlifitzing
- Serge Marquand as Hugues
- Philippe Lemaire as Philippe
- Carla Marlier as Claude
- Georges Douking as the Upholsterer
- James Robertson Justice as a Marquis[11]
- Françoise Prévost as a Courtesan
- Marie-Ange Aniès as a Courtesan
Uncredited:
- Dennis Berry as a Courtier
- Jackie Blanchot as a Courtier
- Audoin de Bardot as the Page
- Anny Duperey as a Courtesan
- Andréas Voutsinasas a Courtier
- Maurice Ronet as the Narrator (French version)
- Clement Biddle Wood as the Narrator (English version)
Despite receiving prominent billing in both the film and advertising materials, most of Justice and Prévost's performances appear to have been cut from the final print of the film.[1][12]
- "William Wilson"
- Alain Delon as William Wilson
- Marco Stefanelli as Wilson as a boy
- Brigitte Bardot as Guiseppina Ditterheim[13] (Josephine in the English version)
- Katia Christine as the Blonde Girl
- Renzo Palmer as the Priest
- Umberto D'Orsi as Hans
- Daniele Vargas as the University Professor
Uncredited:
- Paolo Giusti as Wilson's Double
- Massimo Ardù as Wilson's Double as a boy[13]
- Andrea Esterhazy as Officer at Casino
- John Karlsen as Military School Instructor
- Franco Arcalli as the Teacher who beats Wilson[14]
- "Toby Dammit"
- Terence Stamp as Toby Dammit
- Marina Yaru as The Devil
- Salvo Randone as Father Spagna
- Annie Tonietti as the TV Commentator
- Monica Pardo as Miki, the Curly-Haired Actress
Uncredited:
- Antoni Pietrosi as "La Signora"
- Federico Boido as Toby's Double
- Marisa Traversi as Marilù Traversi (Marilù Lolo in the French version)
- Ferdinand Guillaume as the Old Blind Actor
- Fabrizo Angeli as Maurizio Manetti
- Ernesto Colli as Ernestino Manetti
- Aleardo Ward as First TV Interviewer
- Paul Cooper as Second TV Interviewer
- Milena Vukotic as Third TV Interviewer
- Nella Gambini as Elizabeth
- Andrea Fantasia as the Producer
- Campanella as Lombardi, the Assistant Producer
- Brigitte as the Old Blind Actor's Aide
- Irina Maleeva as a Gypsy Fortune Teller
- Giovanni Tarallo as an Old Paparazzo
- Fides Stagni as Herself
Van Heflin appeared in a deleted scene in which he plays an actor in Trente dollari, the Spaghetti Western that Toby is cast in.[15]
Production
Development
Omnibus films were popular in Europe in the 1960s so producers Alberto Grimaldi and Raymond Eger developed the idea of film anthology influenced by the work of Edgar Allan Poe.[1][16][17]
Initial directors announced to work on the film included
Production
Roger Vadim's segment "Metzengerstein" was filmed just after Vadim had completed shooting on his previous movie Barbarella, which also starred Jane Fonda. Scriptwriter and novelist Terry Southern, who had worked on the screenplay for Barbarella, travelled to Rome with Vadim and according to Southern's biographer Lee Hill, it was during the making of this segment that Peter Fonda told Southern of his idea to make a 'modern Western' movie. Southern was enthusiastic about the idea and agreed to work on the project, which eventually became the renowned independent film Easy Rider.[19][page needed] The segment was filmed in Roscoff, a small town in Brittany.[17]
Louis Malle accepted the job of directing the segment "William Wilson" in order to raise money for his next film Murmur of the Heart. The financial process of raising money for Murmur took him three years after completing "William Wilson" and in the meantime he shot two documentaries about India. Malle stated that he did not consider his collaboration in Histoires Extraordinaires a very personal one and that he agreed to make some compromises with the producer, Raymond Eger, in order to make the film more attractive to mainstream spectators. Malle's original conception of the film was closer to Poe’s tale than the final result. The most important changes were: casting Brigitte Bardot in the role of Giuseppina with the purpose of adding some erotic touches to the film, the inclusion of the dissection scene, and a somewhat explicit use of violence in some scenes.[20][page needed] Malle did not enjoy working with Delon. He wanted Florinda Bolkan for the female lead but the producers insisted on someone more well known, like Bardot. Bardot agreed to make the film; Malle thought she was miscast.[17]
Release
Spirits of the Dead opened in Paris in June 1968.[25]
Spirits of the Dead was released in Italy on 12 September 1968 in Italy where the film was distributed by P.E.A.
Samuel Z. Arkoff offered the producers $200,000 for American International Pictures to have the US and Canadian rights, but was knocked back as Arkoff wanted to cut a scene from the Fellini sequence. A year later the producers had not been able to find another buyer so when Arkoff made the same offer they took it.[26] The film was released in the United States on 23 July 1969.[1]
Critical reception
The film received a mixed critical reception, with the Fellini segment widely regarded as the best of the three. Reviewing the picture under its English language title Spirits of the Dead, Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote that "Toby Dammit, the first new Fellini to be seen here since Juliet of the Spirits in 1965, is marvellous: a short movie but a major one. The Vadim is as over decorated and shrill as a drag ball, but still quite fun, and the Malle, based on one of Poe's best stories, is simply tedious."[27][22] Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 86% of 21 critic reviews are positive for the film; the website's consensus reads, "Three auteurs descend on the works of Poe, each putting on a ghoulish show -- adapting The Tomahawk Man's tales of dreams and fright, with Fellini's segment particularly out of sight."[28]
References
Notes
- ^ Regarding the film's national origins, Tim Lucas considers its French identity dominant, noting that the project was initiated by its French producer, Raymond Eger, and that all versions bear a copyright notice for Les Films Marceau-Cocinor.[2]
- ^ Referred to as "Don't Wager Your Head to the Devil" in the credits of the English version.[4]
- ^ The individual runtimes of each segment are:[6]
- "Metzengerstein": 38 minutes
- "William Wilson": 37 minutes
- "Toby Dammit": 43 minutes
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Curti 2015, p. 184.
- ^ Lucas 2018, p. 3.
- ^ "Histoires Extraordinaires (Spirits of the Dead) (47x63in)". Movie Posters Gallery. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ^ Lucas 2018, p. 148.
- ^ UniFrance. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
- ^ Lucas 2018, p. 45, 98, 140.
- ^ French box office information for film at Box Office story
- ^ Lucas 2018, p. 4.
- ^ Hughes, p.92f
- ^ Lucas 2018, p. 45, 98, 139-140.
- ^ Lucas 2018, p. 55.
- ^ Lucas 2018, p. 45.
- ^ BFI. Archived from the originalon 20 July 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
- ^ Lucas 2018, p. 106.
- ^ Lucas 2018, p. 178.
- ^ a b c d e f g Curti 2015, p. 186.
- ^ a b c Stafford, Jeff. "Spirits of the Dead". Turner Classic Movids. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Cinefantastique (August 30, 2009)
- ^ Lee Hill – A Grand Guy: The Life and Art of Terry Southern (Bloomsbury, 2001)
- ^ Mena José Luis and Cuesta Javier – Diccionario de Cine (Edimat, 2004)
- ^ a b c Curti 2015, p. 185.
- ^ a b George Porcari – Fellini's Forgotten Masterpiece: Toby Dammit (CineAction Magazine, January 2007)
- ^ Kezich, Tullio (2006). Fellini: His Life and Work (New York: Faber and Faber), 284.
- ^ Alpert, Hollis (1988). Fellini: A Life (New York: Paragon), 197.
- ^ "Spirits of the Dead". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on 19 June 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
- ^ Mark McGee, Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures, McFarland, 1996 p276
- ^ Canby, Vincent. "3 Unrelated Stories by Poe:' Spirits of the Dead' at Rivoli and Pacific East". The New York Times. 7 April 2022. (New York Times, September 4, 1969)
- ^ "Spirits of the Dead". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
Sources
- Curti, Roberto (2015). Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1957–1969. ISBN 978-1-4766-1989-7.
- Hughes, Howard (2011). Cinema Italiano - The Complete Guide From Classics To Cult. London - New York: I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84885-608-0.
- ISBN 978-1786364081.
External links
- Histoires extraordinaires at IMDb
- Histoires Extraordinaires at AllMovie
- Spirits of the Dead at TCMDB