Tales That Witness Madness is a 1973
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
horror filmHorror films are movies that strive to elicit the emotions of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of death, the supernatural or mental illness...
produced by Norman Priggen, directed by veteran horror director
Freddie FrancisFrederick William Francis./ was an English cinematographer and film director.He achieved his greatest successes as a cinematographer, including winning two Academy Awards, for Sons and Lovers and Glory...
, and written by actress
Jennifer JayneJennifer Jayne was an English film and television actress.Her name at birth was Jennifer Jones, which she altered in order to avoid confusion with Jennifer Jones, the Hollywood actress...
.
It was one of several in a series of portmanteau films made during the 1960s and 1970s which included
Dr. Terror's House of HorrorsDr. Terror's House of Horrors is a 1965 British horror film from Amicus Productions, directed by veteran horror director Freddie Francis, written by Milton Subotsky, and starred Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee....
(1965),
Torture GardenTorture Garden is a 1967 horror film made in the UK by Amicus Productions. It was directed by Freddie Francis and scripted by Robert Bloch. It stars Burgess Meredith, Jack Palance, Michael Ripper, Beverly Adams, Peter Cushing, Maurice Denham, Ursula Howells, Michael Bryant and Barbara Ewing...
(1967),
The House That Dripped BloodThe House That Dripped Blood is a 1970 British horror anthology film directed by Peter Duffell and distributed by Amicus Productions. The film stars Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Nyree Dawn Porter, Denholm Elliott, and Jon Pertwee...
(1970),
AsylumAsylum is a 1972 British horror film made by the Amicus Productions film company...
(1972),
Tales from the Crypt (1972),
The Vault of Horror (film)The Vault of Horror is a British portmanteau horror film made in 1973 by Amicus Productions. Like its predecessor, Tales from the Crypt, it is based on stories from the EC Comics series written by Al Feldstein and Bill Gaines...
(1973), and
From Beyond the GraveFrom Beyond the Grave is a 1973 British portmanteau horror film from Amicus Productions, directed by horror film director Kevin Connor, produced by Milton Subotsky and based on stories by R. Chetwynd-Hayes...
(1973).
This is similar to the Amicus portmanteau horror films of the time, but was not an Amicus production.
Tales That Witness Madness is a 1973
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
horror filmHorror films are movies that strive to elicit the emotions of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of death, the supernatural or mental illness...
produced by Norman Priggen, directed by veteran horror director
Freddie FrancisFrederick William Francis./ was an English cinematographer and film director.He achieved his greatest successes as a cinematographer, including winning two Academy Awards, for Sons and Lovers and Glory...
, and written by actress
Jennifer JayneJennifer Jayne was an English film and television actress.Her name at birth was Jennifer Jones, which she altered in order to avoid confusion with Jennifer Jones, the Hollywood actress...
.
It was one of several in a series of portmanteau films made during the 1960s and 1970s which included
Dr. Terror's House of HorrorsDr. Terror's House of Horrors is a 1965 British horror film from Amicus Productions, directed by veteran horror director Freddie Francis, written by Milton Subotsky, and starred Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee....
(1965),
Torture GardenTorture Garden is a 1967 horror film made in the UK by Amicus Productions. It was directed by Freddie Francis and scripted by Robert Bloch. It stars Burgess Meredith, Jack Palance, Michael Ripper, Beverly Adams, Peter Cushing, Maurice Denham, Ursula Howells, Michael Bryant and Barbara Ewing...
(1967),
The House That Dripped BloodThe House That Dripped Blood is a 1970 British horror anthology film directed by Peter Duffell and distributed by Amicus Productions. The film stars Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Nyree Dawn Porter, Denholm Elliott, and Jon Pertwee...
(1970),
AsylumAsylum is a 1972 British horror film made by the Amicus Productions film company...
(1972),
Tales from the Crypt (1972),
The Vault of Horror (film)The Vault of Horror is a British portmanteau horror film made in 1973 by Amicus Productions. Like its predecessor, Tales from the Crypt, it is based on stories from the EC Comics series written by Al Feldstein and Bill Gaines...
(1973), and
From Beyond the GraveFrom Beyond the Grave is a 1973 British portmanteau horror film from Amicus Productions, directed by horror film director Kevin Connor, produced by Milton Subotsky and based on stories by R. Chetwynd-Hayes...
(1973).
This is similar to the Amicus portmanteau horror films of the time, but was not an Amicus production. It was produced by World Film Services.
The
Encyclopedia of Horror says the film "avoids farce and develops a nicely deadpan style of humour which is ably sustained by the excellent cast in which only Novak appears unable to hit the right note."
Plot
A psychiatrist in a high tech modern mental asylum, Dr. Tremayne (
Donald PleasenceDonald Henry Pleasence OBE, was an English actor, having accumulated over 200 screen credits throughout his long career...
), discusses a bold new psychiatric theory with colleague Dr. Nicholas (
Jack HawkinsJohn Edward "Jack" Hawkins was an English film actor of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s.-Career:Hawkins was born at Lyndhurst Road, Wood Green, Middlesex, the son of master builder Thomas George Hawkins and his wife, Phoebe née Goodman...
). Tremayne uses four patients who went insane - Paul, Timothy, Brian and Auriol - to illustrate the theory, presenting each in turn to Nicholas:
In
Mr. Tiger, Paul (
Russell Lewis- Career :Lewis began his career as a child actor, first appearing in the 1969 film adaptation of The Looking Glass War. He also starred as George Gathercole in The Kids from 47A....
) is the sensitive and introverted young son of constantly bickering parents Sam (
Donald HoustonDonald Daniel Houston was an impassive, hardworking Welsh actor whose first two films - The Blue Lagoon with Jean Simmons, and A Run for Your Money with Sir Alec Guinness - were highly successful...
) and Fay Patterson (
Georgia BrownGeorgia Brown, pseudonym de Rossana Monti is an Italian Brazilian singer noted for her extensive vocal range. She currently holds the Guinness World Records for hitting the highest vocal note and for possessing the greatest range, which spans exactly 8 octaves from G2-G10 using scientific pitch...
). Amid the unhappy domestic situation he befriends an "imaginary" tiger. Features
David WoodDavid Wood OBE is an English-born actor and writer, called "the National Children's Dramatist" by The Times.He was educated at Chichester High School For Boys and Worcester College, Oxford....
as Paul's tutor Phillipe.
In
Penny Farthing, Timothy (
Peter McEneryPeter McEnery is an English stage and film actor. His daughter Kate, by his first marriage to British actress Julie Peasgood, is an actress....
) an antique store owner, stocks a strange portrait of "Uncle Arthur" (Frank Forsyth) and a penny farthing bicycle. In a series of episodes Uncle Arthur compels Timothy to mount the bicycle and he is transported to an earlier era where he observes the apparently mourning Polly (
Beth MorrisBethany Morris is an actress noted for her roles in television.She is probably best known for her performance as Drusilla in the 1976 BBC adaptation of I, Claudius...
). These travels place Timothy's wife Ann (
Suzy KendallSuzy Kendall is a British actress best known for her film roles in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Her blonde attractive looks got her leading roles in some fairly prestigious productions...
) in peril. Features Neil Kennedy and Richard Connaught as the removal men.
In
Mel, Brian Thompson (
Michael JaystonMichael Jayston is an English actor.-Early life:He attended the Becket Grammar School in West Bridgford. He worked briefly as a trainee accountant at the offices of the National Coal Board before obtaining a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to train as an actor...
) brings home an old dead tree, which he lovingly calls Mel, mounting it in his modern home as a bizarre piece of objet d'art. He increasingly shows unusual attention to Mel angering his jealous wife Bella (
Joan CollinsJoan Henrietta Collins OBE is an English actress, author, and columnist.-Early life:Collins was born in Paddington, London, the daughter of Elsa , a dance teacher and nightclub hostess, and Joseph William Collins, an agent whose clients would later include Shirley Bassey, The Beatles and Tom Jones...
).
In
Luau literary agent Auriol Pageant (
Kim NovakKim Novak is a two-time Golden Globe Award-winning American actress. She is best known for her performance in the classic 1958 film Vertigo...
) lasciviously courts a new client Kimo (Michael Petrovich), however he shows more interest in her beautiful young daughter Ginny (
Mary TammMary Tamm is an English actress. She is best known for being the first actress to play the character of Romana in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, opposite Tom Baker as the Doctor, from the 1978 - 1979 season known collectively as The Key to Time...
). Auriol organises a sumptuous luau for him as per the detailed instructions of Kimo's associate Keoki (
Leon LissekLeon Lissek is an actor originated from Australia who primarily does work in England. He has appeared in over 80 films in his career, which started with Marat/Sade...
). However it is actually a ceremony to reincarnate Kimo's deceased mother Malia (Zohra Segal), and a requirement is that the flesh of a virgin he consumed. Features Leslie Nunnerley as Vera.
Production
Filmed at
Shepperton StudiosShepperton Studios is a film studio in Shepperton, Surrey, England with a history dating back to 1931. A part of the Pinewood Group along with Pinewood and Teddington Studios, it has produced many notable films.-History:...
on 35 mm with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. This was the last film of Frank Forsyth who appears as Uncle Albert.
Jack HawkinsJohn Edward "Jack" Hawkins was an English film actor of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s.-Career:Hawkins was born at Lyndhurst Road, Wood Green, Middlesex, the son of master builder Thomas George Hawkins and his wife, Phoebe née Goodman...
died shortly after his scenes were filmed. Hawkins had had his larynx removed in an operation in 1966 and here his voice was
dubbedDubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting schedule. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who...
by
Charles GrayCharles Gray may refer to:* Charles Gray , representing Colchester, England, in the 18th century* Charles Gray , in the mid-19th century*Charles Gray , Canadian politician* Charles McNeill Gray, U.S...
in
post-productionPost-production is part of the filmmaking process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, videos, audio recordings, photography and digital art...
.
(Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide)
This was Hawkins' final film appearance.
Kim Novak broke a four year hiatus from films with her appearance in this film. She replaced
Rita HayworthRita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s not only as one of the era's top stars, but also as the era's greatest sex symbol, most notably in Gilda...
shortly after production started.
External links
- Allmovie
- http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tales_that_witness_madness at Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films. The name derives from the historical cliché of throwing tomatoes and other produce at stage performers if a performance was particularly bad.- History :...