THE
TOMB OF LIGEIA (1964)/AN EVENING OF EDGAR ALLAN
POE (1970)Directors: Roger Corman, Ken Johnson
MGM
THE
TOMB OF LIGEIA (1964)/AN EVENING OF EDGAR ALLAN
POE (1970)In addition to the 1930s and 40s
Universal horror series and the DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN series from England's
Hammer Films in the 1950s and 60s, one of the most successful series of horror
films came from a small American film company founded in 1954… American
International Pictures (AlP). Of course, the series was the excellent Edgar
Allan Poe adaptations starring the late, great Vincent Price that director Roger
Corman began in 1960 with THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER and ended (at least
with Corman as director) with 1964's TOMB OF LIGEIA. Well… Mr. Corman certainly
went out with style as this film is the most luscious, most beautifully photographed,
and well acted as any other in this particular series and FINALLY, the film
makes its long awaited DVD debut as part of MGM's "Midnite Movies"
series. Believe me, it was well worth the wait.
The screenplay by Robert (CHINATOWN) Towne is loosely based on Poe's short story and concerns a 19th century British nobleman, Verden Fell (Vincent Price) whose wife, Ligeia (Elizabeth Shepherd) has died and the grief he suffers because of it. A short time later he meets a beautiful and strong willed girl, Lady Rowena Trevanian who resembles the late Lady Ligeia (Shepherd plays Lady Rowena as well). Eventually, Fell falls in love with Lady Rowena and eventually marries her. On the very night of their return from their honeymoon to Fell's decaying abbey, Fell vanishes from the house while Lady Rowena is terrorized by a vicious black cat and on subsequent nights by terrifying nightmares. One of these vivid dreams frightfully ends with a vision of Verden transforming into Ligeia and smothering the life out of Rowena. Upon awakening, she finds Ligeia's dead pet fox upon her body, but when she alerts Verden and the servants, the fox has mysteriously vanished.
As
time passes, it appears that Lady Ligeia's influence from beyond the grave is
affecting everyone in the house. Verden disappears for hours upon end only to
return in a hypnotic state while Rowena appears to become briefly possessed
by Ligeia during an experiment with hypnosis. In addition, Rowena's nightmares
become even more terrifying and the attacks by this particular black cat become
even more violent and frightening. Eventually, Rowena's former suitor, Christopher
Gough (John Westbrook) and Fell's servant, Kenrick (Oliver Johnston) team up
to solve the mystery of Ligeia's secret. What is that secret you may well ask
and will they be able to save Fell and Rowena from 
Ligeia's
ghostly influence? Well... I'm NOT telling how it ends!!! Get out there and
get this true Gothic classic in your collection immediately.
Roger Corman decided right at the beginning of production in England during the summer of 1964 that TOMB OF LIGEIA would be his eighth and last Edgar Allan Poe adaptation. By this time, he had become tired of the formula and felt that he had already explored all the cinematic techniques to bring these short stories to life. As a result, Corman produced one of the most beautiful and entertaining films of the series with heavy doses of gothic flavor with a touch of romance to boot. Most of the beauty of the film comes from not just the great interior sets done at Shepperton Studios, but from stunning location photography filmed at the ancient abbeys, churches and castles in England. The director of photography was none other than long time Hammer Films photographer Arthur Grant.
Vincent
Price delivers a very restrained performance as the tormented Verden Fell. By
this point in his AlP career, Mr. Price had a couple of over-the-top performances
(like THE COMEDY OF TERRORS) and this trend would continue with his participation
in AIP'S DR. GOLDFOOT AND THE BIKINI MACHINE and DR. GOLDFOOT AND THE GIRL BOMBS
and again with Fox's "Batman" series (as "Egghead"). However,
in TOMB OF LIGEIA, he plays the romantic and gothic aspect well and the audience
actually ends up caring for him and rooting for him as he attempts to break
free from Ligeia's possession of him and be with Rowena whom he genuinely loves.
On the audio commentary track with Roger Corman, he reveals that Mr. Price had
heavier make-up than usual in order to make him look younger than his real life
53 years.
Other members of the excellent cast include Elizabeth Shepherd as Ligeia/Rowena and this gifted British actress does a great job with both roles. Even though Ligeia is mostly seen lying down dead, Shepherd brings an eerie and hypnotizing quality to Ligeia's face that suggests she could easily control Verden and Rowena from her grave. As Rowena, Shepherd brings a dignity and feistiness that makes the audience sympathize with her and hope that she too (along with Verden) will defeat Ligeia's influence and can live happily with her husband. Genre fans will recall Elizabeth Shepherd in a small, but memorable role as the doomed journalist Hart in Fox's DAMIEN: OMEN II (1978).
John Westbrook is good as Rowena's
jilted suitor, Christopher Gough, but he had a better role a few months earlier
as "Death" in Corman's MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH. Derek Francis plays
Rowena's father, Lord Trevanian and he will be easily recognizable from Hammer's
RASPUTIN: THE MAD MONK (1965). Oliver Johnston is also good as Fell's loyal
butler, Kenrick and he later appeared with Roddy McDowell in 1966's IT. However,
in a very small role as Peperel, Lord Trevanian's butler is none other than
British actor Frank Thornton. Mr. Thornton is probably best known in the United
States as "Captain Stephen Peacock" in the 
long running British sitcom, "Are You Being Served?"
MGM has done their usual great
job in preserving the integrity of this film. TOMB OF LIGEIA is presented anamorphic
in the letterboxed widescreen format (2.35:1) and the print is beautifully pristine
with no visible scratches or grain of any kind. The colors are sharp and crisp
(especially the red riding suits of Christopher and Rowena in the opening fox
hunt and again in the blazing finale). The Dolby Digital mono sound is also
excellent for a 40-old film. It is very clear with no audible noise or static
to interfere with the listening enjoyment. In particular, Kenneth V. Jones'
musical score sounds full and rich on this DVD. The special features for TOMB
OF LIGEIA include an excellent audio interview conducted a few years ago for
the Image laserdisc release and features David Del Valle reminiscing about the
film with Elizabeth Shepherd. It is very informative as Mr. Del Valle asks some
great questions about the making of the film while Miss Shepherd sounds like
a perfectly charming woman who speaks very highly of this film (and of Vincent
Price). The other commentary track features Roger Corman alone reminiscing about
the film. His comments are good and informative as well and are a treat for
any genre fan. There is also the original release trailer and the subtitle choices
include English, French, and Spanish. The film runs 81 minutes.
AN EVENING OF EDGAR ALLAN POE is on the flip side of the disc and was originally shot on videotape for television in 1970. The version on this DVD is the 16mm kinescope transfer of that videotape.
This was a unique experience for Vincent Price. After years of playing in adapted Edgar Allan Poe stories for AIP in which many of Poe's original plots were changed in order to translate well to the screen, now he was offered a chance by AIP to do what he once called "pure Poe." Basically this is a one-man stage show in which Mr. Price performs four Poe stories (divided into four "acts"..."The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Sphinx," "The Cask of Amontillado," and "The Pit and the Pendulum") EXACTLY as Poe wrote them word for word. Each story has its own little set and Mr. Price enacts the stories as if he were on a Broadway stage doing a one-man show of Poe stories for an audience.
The
transfer from videotape to 16mm in 1970 was rather crude as they lacked the
technology to really do it as well as a 2003 audience now expects. Having said
that, the transfer on this DVD is rather dull and fuzzy (in a television videotape
sort of way) in certain parts and after watching the terrific letterboxed transfer
of TOMB OF LIGEIA on the first side, AN EVENING OF EDGAR ALLAN POE might come
as a bit of a disappointment visually… AT FIRST. However, keep in mind
that it was made for television many years before our present visual technology
so it will not be letterboxed and the colors and picture will not be as sharp
to the level in which we are accustomed. Secondly, this 53-minute performance
is such a rare oddity that the fact that MGM released it at all and made it
look as decent as it does (and this reviewer has seen some pretty BAD prints
of this on television) is something that genre fans should rejoice about and
definitely have as part of their collection. The mono sound quality of AN EVENING
OF EDGAR ALLAN POE is in English only and is good, and there are optional subtitles
in English, French, and Spanish. No other special features are on this side
of the disc.
THE TOMB OF LIGEIA/AN EVENING OF EDGAR ALLAN POE is a double feature disc ALL serious genre collectors will want to have in their collections and it comes highly recommended by this reviewer. With all the great "Midnite Movies" being released by MGM this summer, we can only look forward with great enthusiasm to 2004 and some more MGM goodies from the old vaults of AIP!!! (Joe Cascio)