The Woman in Black (film)
Encyclopedia
The Woman in Black is a 1989
television
drama production starring Adrian Rawlins
, Bernard Hepton
, David Daker
and Pauline Moran
. Nigel Kneale
adapted it from the novel by Susan Hill
and it was directed by Herbert Wise
. The programme was produced by Central Television for the ITV Network, and was an unexpected success.
of England
to attend the funeral
of Mrs. Alice Drablow, an elderly widow
who lived alone at Eel Marsh House. On the train to Crythin Gifford, Kidd meets a rich local landowner, Sam Toovey, who seems unsettled upon hearing that Kidd is here to deal with the belongings of the late Mrs. Drablow.
The next day, Kidd attends the funeral with Mr. Pepperell, a local solicitor. During the sermon, he notices a woman in black standing at the back of the church. He sees her again amid the gravestones and mentions the woman to Mr. Pepperell, who appears shocked. Meanwhile, in town, a truck carrying heavy lumber
accidentally drops its load. A log falls on a gypsy
child, crushing her legs. Kidd rushes in and snatches her out of the way.
Since Pepperell refuses to accompany him to Eel Marsh House, Kidd decides to make his way there alone. The house is completely cut off from the mainland
and hidden by mist
. Kidd is driven there in a trap by Keckwick, a local man who knows the timing of the tides. He agrees to pick up Kidd in due time.
Kidd walks around the graveyard near the house when he sees the woman once again. This time he sees her face. She begins to walk towards him. Terrified, he flees back into the house. While looking around the study of the house, he finds the death certificates of two people who died on the same day, as well as pictures of a young woman who resembles the Woman in Black. After hearing some disturbing recordings made by Mrs. Drablow on wax cylinders, he decides not to wait for Keckwick and walk the causeway alone.
While walking on the path towards the town, the mist rolls in, rendering Kidd blind on the dangerous path. He hears the sound of a horse
trotting down the path. Thinking it is Keckwick, he starts walking towards it. However, Kidd then hears sounds of the horse struggling and a child crying and screaming. Lost, Kidd cannot find the source leaving him no choice but to go back towards the house.
When Keckwick brings him back to town, Kidd pays a visit to Mr. Toovey, to whom he tells his story. Toovey tells him not to go back to the house, but Kidd insists on returning and staying there. Toovey then loans Kidd his dog
, called Spider, to keep him company.
Upon his return, Kidd searches through the papers in the study, but is interrupted by the sounds of a bouncing ball from upstairs. Spider starts whining and leads Kidd to a door that cannot be opened. A panicked Kidd runs downstairs to get an axe
to break the door, only to find the door has opened by itself.
Behind the door, Kidd finds a immaculately clean child's nursery
. A football drops onto the floor, which was the source of the sound. Suddenly, the sound of a child's laughter fills the room, along with a soft 'Hello?'. Kidd notices that a little lead soldier somehow found its way into his hand. He then realizes that the generator
is running down. Unwilling to be left alone in the dark, Kidd rushes to the outhouse
to start up the electricity generator.
When Kidd and Spider are outside, Spider answers a high whistle and runs away. As Kidd searches for him, the noises of the horse and the child start again. Kidd, frightened almost into madness, rushes back into the house and locks himself in. He then continues to study the papers in the house and records his fears onto the wax cylinders.
From various sources, Kidd learns that Mrs. Drablow's sister, Jennet Humfrye, gave birth to a child, but was unable to care for it. Mrs. Drablow and her husband adopted the boy, insisting he should never know that Jennet was his mother. One day, Jennet kidnapped her son and tried to escape via the causeway. The pony and trap carrying Jennet and the boy across the causeway became lost and sank into the marshes, killing all aboard. Jennet then came back to haunt Eel Marsh House with a vengeful malevolence, as the Woman in Black.
Mr. Toovey finds that Spider has returned to him and immediately realizes that something is wrong. He goes to Eel Marsh house, where he listens to Kidd's new theories. He then tells Kidd that according to local tales, seeing the Woman in Black presages the death of a child, which was why no one tried to interfere when the girl at the market was nearly crushed. Kidd decides to pack his things and leave the house. However, amongst the papers, he finds the lead soldier. He points this out to Mr. Toovey, and decides to show him the nursery. However, when they reach it, the room is a mess, with all the toys smashed and the furniture in shambles. This is too much for Kidd, who collapses.
Toovey brings Kidd back to the inn, where he falls into a deep sleep. He is awakened by the sound of the child's laughter and finds the soldier yet again in his hand. After asking out loud what the child wants of him, the child replies that the soldier "is for you". The Woman in Black then appears, hovering over his bed, and shrieks into his face, terrifying him into unconsciousness.
Kidd returns to London
to his family and accuses his boss of sending him to Eel Marsh House because he was scared for his own safety. His boss then instructs him to look through the box of Mrs. Drablow's papers that was sent from Crythin. At that moment, his two assistants come in and say that there was a customer for him, a woman dressed completely in black. Delirious with terror, Kidd searches madly through the box for the toy soldier. When he does not find it, he burns all the papers and the box, and half his office as well. His boss fires him and he and his wife and children decide to leave London.
Arthur and his family are on a peaceful lake when Arthur sees the Woman in Black standing on the lake, watching him. Petrified, he does nothing. A tree falls on their boat, crushing all within it.
(for example, the sex of the dog 'Spider' was changed from male to female). Arthur's name has also been changed from Kipps to Kidd. The TV version was released in the United Kingdom on VHS but only for a fairly short time. There was also a Region 1 DVD release but it is now out of print and, according to the messageboard at the site of Susan Hill
, the TV rights are now owned by someone else. Apparently the rights have been purchased twice and currently reside with the U.S. studio http://twitchfilm.net/reviews/2006/12/seldom-seen-review-the-woman-in-black.php. As a result of this there will probably be no further TV broadcasts of the TV movie or any further DVD releases.
Such is the popularity and demand for the out of print TV movie that the shortage of officially available copies created a small black market in illegal copies of the DVD release.
, near Goldhanger in Essex
, the causeway being two miles away from the local salt marshes and the National Trust
village of Lacock
, near Chippenham
, Wiltshire
.
would play the role of Arthur Kipps on July 19, 2010, and soon it was discovered that Hammer had decided to film in regular 2D. The film was due to be released on October 28, 2011, but this was later changed to February 10, 2012.
1989 in television
For the American TV schedule, see: 1989–90 United States network television schedule.The year 1989 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1989.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
drama production starring Adrian Rawlins
Adrian Rawlins
Adrian Rawlins is an English actor who is probably best known for playing Author Kidd in the woman in black .-Early life:Rawlins was born in Stoke-on-Trent, the son of Mavis and Edward Rawlins.-Education:...
, Bernard Hepton
Bernard Hepton
Bernard Hepton is a British actor of stage, film and television.Hepton is known as a particularly versatile character actor. He trained at Bradford Civic Theatre school under Esme Church along with actors such as Robert Stephens...
, David Daker
David Daker
David Daker is an English actor.His is best known for his role as Harry Crawford in the hit series Boon. He also played PC Owen Culshaw in Z-Cars, Jarvis in Porridge, Captain Nathan Spiker in Dick Turpin....
and Pauline Moran
Pauline Moran
Pauline Moran is an English actress known for her role as Miss Lemon in the British television series Agatha Christie's Poirot....
. Nigel Kneale
Nigel Kneale
Nigel Kneale was a British screenwriter from the Isle of Man. Active in television, film, radio drama and prose fiction, he wrote professionally for over fifty years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award and was twice nominated for the British Film Award for Best Screenplay...
adapted it from the novel by Susan Hill
Susan Hill
Susan Hill is an English author of fiction and non-fiction works. Her novels include The Woman in Black, The Mist in the Mirror and I'm the King of the Castle for which she received the Somerset Maugham Award in 1971....
and it was directed by Herbert Wise
Herbert Wise
Herbert Wise is an Austrian-born film and television producer and director.He was born as Herbert Weisz in Vienna, Austria and began his career as a director at Shrewsbury Repertory Company in 1950. He was at Hull Rep and then as Director of Productions at Dundee Rep 1952-55...
. The programme was produced by Central Television for the ITV Network, and was an unexpected success.
Plot synopsis
A young solicitor, Arthur Kidd, is sent to a small market town on the East CoastEast Coast
East Coast most often refers to coastline which is on the eastern side of a particular area. Many other terms refer to this initial meaning. Some of these things include:-Malaysia:* The East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia.-New Zealand:...
of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to attend the funeral
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
of Mrs. Alice Drablow, an elderly widow
Widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
who lived alone at Eel Marsh House. On the train to Crythin Gifford, Kidd meets a rich local landowner, Sam Toovey, who seems unsettled upon hearing that Kidd is here to deal with the belongings of the late Mrs. Drablow.
The next day, Kidd attends the funeral with Mr. Pepperell, a local solicitor. During the sermon, he notices a woman in black standing at the back of the church. He sees her again amid the gravestones and mentions the woman to Mr. Pepperell, who appears shocked. Meanwhile, in town, a truck carrying heavy lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
accidentally drops its load. A log falls on a gypsy
Gypsy
-Ethnic groups:* Romani people, a group widely dispersed throughout Europe* Dom people, an Indo-Aryan group** Lyuli, a Dom subgroup from Central Asia* Lom people, a group from East Anatolia and Armenia* Banjara, a group from India* Irish Travellers...
child, crushing her legs. Kidd rushes in and snatches her out of the way.
Since Pepperell refuses to accompany him to Eel Marsh House, Kidd decides to make his way there alone. The house is completely cut off from the mainland
Mainland
Mainland is a name given to a large landmass in a region , or to the largest of a group of islands in an archipelago. Sometimes its residents are called "Mainlanders"...
and hidden by mist
Mist
Mist is a phenomenon of small droplets suspended in air. It can occur as part of natural weather or volcanic activity, and is common in cold air above warmer water, in exhaled air in the cold, and in a steam room of a sauna. It can also be created artificially with aerosol canisters if the...
. Kidd is driven there in a trap by Keckwick, a local man who knows the timing of the tides. He agrees to pick up Kidd in due time.
Kidd walks around the graveyard near the house when he sees the woman once again. This time he sees her face. She begins to walk towards him. Terrified, he flees back into the house. While looking around the study of the house, he finds the death certificates of two people who died on the same day, as well as pictures of a young woman who resembles the Woman in Black. After hearing some disturbing recordings made by Mrs. Drablow on wax cylinders, he decides not to wait for Keckwick and walk the causeway alone.
While walking on the path towards the town, the mist rolls in, rendering Kidd blind on the dangerous path. He hears the sound of a horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
trotting down the path. Thinking it is Keckwick, he starts walking towards it. However, Kidd then hears sounds of the horse struggling and a child crying and screaming. Lost, Kidd cannot find the source leaving him no choice but to go back towards the house.
When Keckwick brings him back to town, Kidd pays a visit to Mr. Toovey, to whom he tells his story. Toovey tells him not to go back to the house, but Kidd insists on returning and staying there. Toovey then loans Kidd his dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
, called Spider, to keep him company.
Upon his return, Kidd searches through the papers in the study, but is interrupted by the sounds of a bouncing ball from upstairs. Spider starts whining and leads Kidd to a door that cannot be opened. A panicked Kidd runs downstairs to get an axe
Axe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
to break the door, only to find the door has opened by itself.
Behind the door, Kidd finds a immaculately clean child's nursery
Nursery
Nursery can refer to:Childcare* Nursery , a room within the house designed for the care of a young child or children* Nursery school, a daycare facility for preschool-age children...
. A football drops onto the floor, which was the source of the sound. Suddenly, the sound of a child's laughter fills the room, along with a soft 'Hello?'. Kidd notices that a little lead soldier somehow found its way into his hand. He then realizes that the generator
Generator
Generator may refer to:* Electrical generator* Engine-generator, an electrical generator, but with its own engine.* Generator , any of several closely related usages in mathematics.Computing:...
is running down. Unwilling to be left alone in the dark, Kidd rushes to the outhouse
Outhouse
An outhouse is a small structure separate from a main building which often contained a simple toilet and may possibly also be used for housing animals and storage.- Terminology :...
to start up the electricity generator.
When Kidd and Spider are outside, Spider answers a high whistle and runs away. As Kidd searches for him, the noises of the horse and the child start again. Kidd, frightened almost into madness, rushes back into the house and locks himself in. He then continues to study the papers in the house and records his fears onto the wax cylinders.
From various sources, Kidd learns that Mrs. Drablow's sister, Jennet Humfrye, gave birth to a child, but was unable to care for it. Mrs. Drablow and her husband adopted the boy, insisting he should never know that Jennet was his mother. One day, Jennet kidnapped her son and tried to escape via the causeway. The pony and trap carrying Jennet and the boy across the causeway became lost and sank into the marshes, killing all aboard. Jennet then came back to haunt Eel Marsh House with a vengeful malevolence, as the Woman in Black.
Mr. Toovey finds that Spider has returned to him and immediately realizes that something is wrong. He goes to Eel Marsh house, where he listens to Kidd's new theories. He then tells Kidd that according to local tales, seeing the Woman in Black presages the death of a child, which was why no one tried to interfere when the girl at the market was nearly crushed. Kidd decides to pack his things and leave the house. However, amongst the papers, he finds the lead soldier. He points this out to Mr. Toovey, and decides to show him the nursery. However, when they reach it, the room is a mess, with all the toys smashed and the furniture in shambles. This is too much for Kidd, who collapses.
Toovey brings Kidd back to the inn, where he falls into a deep sleep. He is awakened by the sound of the child's laughter and finds the soldier yet again in his hand. After asking out loud what the child wants of him, the child replies that the soldier "is for you". The Woman in Black then appears, hovering over his bed, and shrieks into his face, terrifying him into unconsciousness.
Kidd returns to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to his family and accuses his boss of sending him to Eel Marsh House because he was scared for his own safety. His boss then instructs him to look through the box of Mrs. Drablow's papers that was sent from Crythin. At that moment, his two assistants come in and say that there was a customer for him, a woman dressed completely in black. Delirious with terror, Kidd searches madly through the box for the toy soldier. When he does not find it, he burns all the papers and the box, and half his office as well. His boss fires him and he and his wife and children decide to leave London.
Arthur and his family are on a peaceful lake when Arthur sees the Woman in Black standing on the lake, watching him. Petrified, he does nothing. A tree falls on their boat, crushing all within it.
Broadcast history and availability
It was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on ITV on Christmas Eve 1989 (repeated only once by Channel 4 over Christmas 1994). Overall the TV adaptation stayed reasonably faithful to the original novel, although some of the changes angered the author Susan HillSusan Hill
Susan Hill is an English author of fiction and non-fiction works. Her novels include The Woman in Black, The Mist in the Mirror and I'm the King of the Castle for which she received the Somerset Maugham Award in 1971....
(for example, the sex of the dog 'Spider' was changed from male to female). Arthur's name has also been changed from Kipps to Kidd. The TV version was released in the United Kingdom on VHS but only for a fairly short time. There was also a Region 1 DVD release but it is now out of print and, according to the messageboard at the site of Susan Hill
Susan Hill
Susan Hill is an English author of fiction and non-fiction works. Her novels include The Woman in Black, The Mist in the Mirror and I'm the King of the Castle for which she received the Somerset Maugham Award in 1971....
, the TV rights are now owned by someone else. Apparently the rights have been purchased twice and currently reside with the U.S. studio http://twitchfilm.net/reviews/2006/12/seldom-seen-review-the-woman-in-black.php. As a result of this there will probably be no further TV broadcasts of the TV movie or any further DVD releases.
Such is the popularity and demand for the out of print TV movie that the shortage of officially available copies created a small black market in illegal copies of the DVD release.
Production
The programme was filmed on Osea IslandOsea Island
Osea Island is an inhabited island in the estuary of the River Blackwater, Essex, East England. It is approximately in size and is connected to the north bank of the river by a causeway, covered at high water....
, near Goldhanger in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, the causeway being two miles away from the local salt marshes and the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
village of Lacock
Lacock
Lacock is a village in Wiltshire, England, 3 miles from the town of Chippenham. The village is owned almost in its entirety by the National Trust, and attracts many visitors by virtue of its unspoiled appearance.-History:...
, near Chippenham
Chippenham
Chippenham may be:* Chippenham, Wiltshire* Chippenham * Chippenham, Cambridgeshire-See also:* Virginia State Route 150, also known as Chippenham Parkway, USA* Cippenham, Berkshire, UK...
, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
.
Background
- The novel and play are not to be confused with Wilkie CollinsWilkie CollinsWilliam Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. He was very popular during the Victorian era and wrote 30 novels, more than 60 short stories, 14 plays, and over 100 non-fiction pieces...
's Victorian thriller The Woman in WhiteThe Woman in White (novel)The Woman in White is an epistolary novel written by Wilkie Collins in 1859, serialized in 1859–1860, and first published in book form in 1860...
- although Susan Hill admitted this is what inspired the name for her own. - The actress who portrays The Woman in Black, Pauline MoranPauline MoranPauline Moran is an English actress known for her role as Miss Lemon in the British television series Agatha Christie's Poirot....
, is best known for playing Miss Lemon, the redoubtable secretary of Hercule PoirotHercule PoirotHercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. Along with Miss Marple, Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-lived characters, appearing in 33 novels and 51 short stories published between 1920 and 1975 and set in the same era.Poirot has been portrayed on...
, in the LWT television series Agatha Christie's PoirotAgatha Christie's PoirotAgatha Christie's Poirot is a British television drama that has aired on ITV since 1989. It stars David Suchet as Agatha Christie's fictional detective Hercule Poirot. It was originally made by LWT and is now made by ITV Studios...
, starring David SuchetDavid SuchetDavid Suchet, CBE, is an English actor, known for his work on British television. He is recognised for his RTS- and BPG award-winning performance as Augustus Melmotte in the 2001 British TV mini-drama The Way We Live Now, alongside Matthew Macfadyen and Paloma Baeza, and a 1991 British Academy...
. - The adaptation differs from the novel in several small ways.
- Mr Kidd is named Kipps in the book, other names are also different.
- In the novel, Kipps himself does not die; the entire tale is told years later by an elderly Kipps whose wife and child had been killed in an accident involving a runaway horse and trap whilst he looked on.
- Mr Sweetman (in the novel he is called Mr. Bentley) is a kindly figure in the novel, unlike the disdainful coward of the adaptation.
- The phonograph does not appear in the novel.
- The dog Spider is female in the novel, male in the adaptation.
- Kidd/ Kipps does not burn down his law office in the novel.
- The accident involving the gypsy girl does not happen in the novel.
- The child does not talk to Kipps in the novel.
- The toy soldier does not appear in the novel.
- Spider remains with Kipps in the novel and almost drowns in the marshes after being lured into them by (presumably) the woman in black. Kipps manages to save her and almost drowns himself. When he comes back ashore and looks up at the nursery window, the woman in black is watching him.
- In the novel Kipps hears the sound of a rocking chair coming from the nursery, not a ball bouncing.
- In the novel, Sam Daily's wife is very shy and withdrawn.
- In the adaptation, references to Charlie ChaplinCharlie ChaplinSir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
and the Great War are used to set the scene historically. - The screenwriterScreenwriterScreenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, Nigel Kneale, is best known for his QuatermassQuatermassQuatermass may best be known as the surname of the title character of a British science fiction franchise of several television serials and films, and a radio production...
films.
Awards and nominations
The Woman in Black was nominated for four BAFTA awards, including Best Design, Best Film Sound, Best Make Up and Best Original Television Music.Remake
In 2009, Hammer Films announced a remake of the film to be shot in 3D and released in 2011. Though news of the film following the announcement was rather scarce, Hammer eventually announced that Daniel RadcliffeDaniel Radcliffe
Daniel Jacob Radcliffe is an English actor who rose to prominence playing the titular character in the Harry Potter film series....
would play the role of Arthur Kipps on July 19, 2010, and soon it was discovered that Hammer had decided to film in regular 2D. The film was due to be released on October 28, 2011, but this was later changed to February 10, 2012.