(Directors:
Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Robert Hamer, and Basil Dearden.
Screenwriters: John Baines and Angus MacPhail, with additional dialogue by
T.E.B. Clarke.)
Review
Not to
be confused with Dan Curtis’s 1977 NBC telepic, this influential 1945 multi-tale movie, put out by Ealing Studios (a British production company mostly known for
social dramas, documentaries, and comedies), is a rare World War II cinematic
work (the production of horror films wasn’t allowed in Great Britain during the
1940s).
DEAD
begins with an architect, Walter Craig (Mervyn Johns, THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS, 1963) arriving at a house in the English countryside, a haunted
look crossing his face as he sees his destination. While walking up to the
cottage, he’s greeted by Eliot Foley (Roland Culver, THUNDERBALL, 1965),
who invited Craig for possible renovations to the house. They enter the house,
where, in the living room, he sees five other people—guests—and his haunted
look deepens. He’s not heard of, nor met them, at least in waking life.
He
tells the congregated host and guests about how he has a recurring,
half-remembered “evil” dream that begins exactly like the events shown thus
far. He says another guest, a surprise “penniless” visitor, is due to arrive
and provides other details about his dream that have happened or will happen.
One of
the guests, Dr. van Straaten (Frederick Valk, NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNICH, 1940),
a psychoanalyst, tries to convince Craig that it’s all in his head. The others,
entertained by the situation, debate about the merits of Craig’s recurrent
night vision, and talk about their own eerie, possibly supernatural experiences,
seamlessly segueing the overarching (and untitled) segment into other segments.
This
wraparound section was directed by Basil Dearden, its screenwriter not
specified.
“The
Hearse Driver”: Hugh Grainger (Anthony Baird, billed as
Antony Baird), a race car driver, relates how during a post-crash recovery, he
sees a hearse and its driver outside his hospital room. Later, something
happens that leads him toward a life-changing decision.
Based
on E.F. Benson’s story, published in The Pall Mall magazine in 1906, “Hearse”
was directed by Basil Dearden, screenwriter (again) not specifically credited.
One of the other guest, a
teenager, Sally O’Hara (Sally Anne Howes, THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, 1972)
recounts a spooky, chiaroscuro-drenched game of hide-and-seek during “The
Christmas Party” in a murder-site mansion the previous year, a holiday
shindig with a surprise guest.
“Christmas,”
during its upstairs/hide-and-seek portion, is especially excellent in its
visual aspects. Penned by screenwriter Angus MacPhail and directed by Alberto
Cavalcanti, its twist may be apparent to modern day viewers, but it’s still a
striking cinematic experience in parts.
Joan
Cortland (Googie Withers), the next tale teller, speaks about “The Haunted
Mirror” she bought for her fiancé-now-husband (Peter), and how the reflecting
glass with a troubling history intensely influenced their lives. Great use of
light and shadow in this DEAD entry as well.
Robert
Hamer directed “Haunted,” from John Baines’s screenplay.
The
host, Eliot Foley, is the next to chime in with “The Golfer’s Story”.In
it, two golfing buddies (George Parratt and Larry Potter, a real-life comedy
duo played by Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne) fall for the same woman (Mary
Lee), threatening their joyous amity. They agree to decide who gets the
indecisive woman by playing golf—whoever wins becomes her betrothed. (Yes, sexist
overtones here, in the weakest of these DEAD-told microtales.) But all
is not as it seems.
Based
on H.G. Wells’s “The Story of the Inexperienced Ghost,” it was directed
by Charles Crichton, no specific screenwriter named.
“The
Ventriloquist’s Dummy” is told by Dr. van Straaten, who discloses his
experiences with a patient (Maxwell Frere), a famous, overwrought ventriloquist
with an equally iconic dummy (Hugo). When Hugo begins scouting for a new
partner (Sylvester Kee), Frere further unravels. Is Hugo, a brash personality,
an aspect of Frere’s feverish insecurities, or is he a separate, supernatural
entity?
“Ventriloquist”
is the most-remembered segment in DEAD, an influential tale whose
gone-mad ventriloquist trope has been seen in numerous works since. It wasn’t
the first notable ventriloquist-trope flick (that honor goes to the 1929 movie THE GREAT GABBO, co-directed by and starring Erich von Stroheim), but GABBO doesn’t appear
to have the following that DEAD has.
Alberto
Cavlcanti directed the John Baines-scripted “Ventriloquist”.
DEAD’s
circular storyline dovetails in a dreamlike, shadowy and déja vu manner after
the psychiatrist’s remembrance—it’s a satisfactory, twisty and memorable
finish, one that makes DEAD one of my all-time favorite horror anthology
films, with its striking visual aspects, inherent charm, humor and
fright, tight editing (hello, Charles Hasse), superb direction and writing, and
Michael Relph’s art direction. Check it out!
Deeper
film(ic) dive
Googie
Withers, comedy duo “Parratt and Potter” (Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne) and
Michael Redgrave all appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1938 film THE LADY VANISHES.
#
Big
thanks to Anne Hockens, who, in the September 2022 edition of her
monthly column (“Film Noir and Neo-Noir on TCM”) reminded me and compelled me
to write about DEAD with these words: “. . . noir-stained horror
anthology. . . Michael Redgrave started the whole evil ventriloquist trope with
his masterful segment. This is not strictly a noir but is a brilliant film."
Also,
thanks to Turner Classic Movies’ Alicia Malone, who
mentioned in her televised 9/6/22 introduction to the film, that the “initial
[stateside] release of the film was missing two of the segments, ‘The
Golfer’s Story,’ and—depending on the source—'The Haunted Mirror,’
or ‘The Christmas Party’.”
