.png "THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1963)") |
| THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1963) |
Who?
Director: William Castle
Producers: William Castle & Anthony Hinds
Screenplay: Robert Dillon
Cast: Tom Poston, Robert Morley, Janette Scott, Joyce Grenfell, Mervyn Johns, Fenella Fielding, Peter Bull, Danny Green, John Harvey
How?
In 1961 Hammer had planned a remake for Universal of the original The Old Dark House (1932) but had to rethink when they discovered that American producer/director William Castle was also planning a version. The two, however, decided to collaborate on a version for Columbia, a black comedy, with Castle directing at Hammer's Bray Studios. US actor Tom Poston was brought in as lead, having just completed Castle's Zotz! (1962), and an array of English character actors were hired, including Janette Scott, who would go on almost immediately into filming Hammer's Paranoiac, and Fenella Fielding, later famous as the vamp in Carry on Screaming (1966). Oakley Court doubled as the exterior of the Femm house. Shooting, however, did not go smoothly, being interrupted by a series of electricians' strikes and the picture ran over schedule.
What?
Tom Penderel, an American car salesman in England, delivers a client, Casper Femm's, new car to him at his gambling club. However, Casper insists that he must fly home to his familiy's estate that evening and so Tom must deliver the car there. The estate is a rambling, remote house in the middle of nowhere, letting in rain and falling to pieces. On arrival Tom discovers Casper has died in a mysterious fall and meets the rest of the strange Femm family, all of whom live there - Roderick (a gun collector), the beautiful Cecily, Joyce (a constant knitter), Potipher (who is building and stocking an ark), the man-eating Morgana, her mute, protective father Morgan, and Casper's brother Jasper. Since the car has suffered an accident Tom cannot leave, but nor can the others - each must be on the estate every night or they will lose their share of the inheritance. But someone is determined to get it all and is killing off the members of the family one by one...
So?
William Castle was a master showman and marketer, his films usually featuring a gimmick of some sort,e.g. wiring buzzers to cinema seats for The Tingler (1959) or special glasses with which to see the ghosts in 13 Ghosts (1960). Unfortunately, The Old Dark House had no such gimmick, other than being a teaming of Castle and Hammer, and in truth it could have done with one. Unsure as to what exactly it was meant to be, House is neither truly funny nor truly scary. Castle seemed to have lost his touch with this one. Perhaps it was due to the less than happy filming environment in which he was working at Bray. Or perhaps there was tension between what Hammer and what Castle were expecting. In any case, House never really satisfies. A very loose remake of the 1932 original, the script can be plodding, if at times witty, and Castle's direction too easily slips into slapstick and farce, and the 'twist' can be seen coming a mile off
That being said, House does have some engaging performances from its cast of character actors - Robert Morley makes a suitably eccentric head of the house, Joyce Grenfell is wonderful as the scatterbrained Joyce, and Janette Scott is a very endearing 'heroine' (the actress herself being very relieved to finally have a role wasn't all sweetness and light). The star turn, however, is Fennella Fielding's Morgana, a truly unnerving frustrated man-eater! Unfortunately, Tom Posten's performance is so over-the-top as to eventually become annoying, having a bumbling Abbott and Costello quality to it that doesn't sit well with the rest of the cast or film, Castle obviously being influential in that casting decision. One ends up hoping that Morgana's father would finally get his hands on him. Similarly, Mervyn Johns is simply trying a little too hard at eccentric with his Potipher. Peter Bull is actually one of the genuinely creepy characters with his bug eyes and unearthly manner.
On the plus side, Bernard Robinson's and Don Mingaye's set design is, as expected, excellent. His house has an eccentric, decayed look and feel that one wishes more could have been made of. And the film does have both moments that are quite creepy and others that do raise a laugh. Unfortuntely these are few and far between. That's not to say House is a bad movie. It is innocuous entertainment that easily passes a wet afternoon, and is enjoyably amusing if not outright funny. As a showcase of British character actors of the time it is hard to beat. But it has a feeling of being neither fish nor fowl, and seems to sit uncomfortably in Hammer's catalogue. It just doesn't have that Hammer 'feel'. That sense of being unsure of who exactly it was aimed at carried over into its release. Released uncut in the US in 1963 (although in black and white for monetary reasons) it wasn't until 1966 that it got a UK release, Hammer having struggled with the British censors to get a child-friendly U certificate; a struggle they eventually abandoned and released a heavily cut A version, although in colour. In the end, however, House failed to live up to expectations. Billed as the dream pairing of Hammer and Castle it failed to ignite audiences on either side of the atlantic. As a harmless curiosity in Hammer's cabinet, however, it deserves a viewing.
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