USA, 1962
106m
35mm film, black and white, 2.35:1, CinemaScope
mono (Westrex Recording System), English
An American psychological horror film directed by Roger Kay.
Plot Summary
When Jane's car breaks down, she finds herself in a remote old house owned by the mysterious man named Caligari, a prisoner along with the other strange residents. But not everything is at it seems…
Credits
Crew
Directed by: Roger Kay
© MCMLXII [1962] by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Twentieth Century-Fox presents a CinemaScope picture. A Robert L. Lippert production. Released by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Produced by: Roger Kay
Screenplay by: Robert Bloch
Director of Photography: John Russell
Supervising Film Editor: Archie Marshek
Music: Gerald Fried
Sound Recorder: Jack Solomon
Mens' Wardrobe: Wes Jefferies
Women's Wardrobe: Kathleen McCandless
Makeup: Gene Hibbs
Hairdresser: Jane Shugrue
Production Designer: Serge Krizman
Cast
Miss Glynis Johns (Jane)
Mr Dan O'Herlihy (Paul/Caligari)
Dick Davalos [Mark]
Lawrence Dobkin [David]
Constance Ford [Christine]
J. Pat O'Malley [Martin]
Vicki Trickett [Jeanie]
Estelle Winwood [Ruth]
Doreen Lang [Vivian]
Charles Fredericks [Bob]
Phyllis Teagarden [little girl]
Alternative Titles
Le Cabinet du docteur Caligari – France
Le Cabinet du Dr Caligari – France
Tri Caligarin kabinetti – Finland
Doktor Caligari – Greece
Dr Caligari – Sweden
Dr. Caligaris kabinet – Denmark
El gabinete Caligari – Spain
El gabinete del Dr. Caligari – Mexico
O Gabinete do Dr. Caligari – Portugal
Il gabinetto del dottor Caligari – Italy
Das Kabinett des Dr. Caligari – Austria, West Germany
A Mansão do Dr. Caligari – Brazil
Кабинет доктора Калигари – Russia
怪人カリガリ博士 – Japan
Links
Extracts included in
Cinema: Alguns Cortes – Censura III (2015)
See also
Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari (1920)
Press
1962
Monthly Film Bulletin vol.29 no.344 (September 1962) p.125
Whether or not the viewer has seen Labyrinth, the German film on which this ham-fisted essay in clinical, expressionistic melodrama seems closely modelled, he should have little difficulty in guessing the true nature of the beleaguered heroine's pilgrimage. To be fair, the clues are there -despite numerous censorship interruptions – from the symbolic car break-down onwards. But the direction is so inept, the dialogue and situations so often uproariously absurd, that it is impossible to be grateful for the film on any of its levels: as a post-Psycho thriller, as a doppelganger myth, as a psychological study or as a personal near-tragedy. […] Also, Robert Bloch's script is rather too sick to be altogether acceptable as one of those unintentionally funny exercises, like Autumn Leaves, in Higher Lunacy. Glynis Johns and Constance Ford give game performances, Dan O'Herlihy a curious one, something of an unlikely cross between Orson Welles and Wilfrid Lawson, and the decor is apt. The title, incidentally, is virtually the only thing the piece has in common with Wiene's silent classic.
2006
Fangoria no.249 (January 2006) p.39
Any book on the history of great horror movies must mention on page one the German silent The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, a masterpiece of weird genius. Any book on run-of-the-mill horror movies should mention – somewhere way in the back, perhaps in a footnote – this 1962 remake, which did preserve the weirdness but couldn't manage the genius (or even come close) […] Johns is soon planning an escape from this cuckoo's nest, but each attempt is thwarted, leading to more scenes of awkward, un-lifelike dialogue, lengthy chats with White-Haired O'Herlihy… and plenty of indications that our Alice in Nightmareland identification figure (Johns) is perhaps mentally unstable herself, a due to the eventual twist {what's in a word?) ending. Robert Bloch gets credit for the script – but who knows how much of what he wrote made it to the screen, because it ended up going to Writers Guild arbitration and a whole lot of hard feelings all around. So let's not pin this one on Bloch; the culprit here was most likely Roger Kay, whose direction (again, what's in a word?) is on the slow side, to say the least, and whose avant-garde touches give this Cabinet the feel of a film-school project. – “Dr Cyclops”
References
Periodicals
- American Cinematographer vol.43 no.7 (July 1962) pp.420-422, 441-442, 444-445 – illustrated article (From Caligari to Caligari: A comparison of the modern version with the 1919 original by Herb A. Lightman)
- Castle of Frankenstein no.2 pp.15, 16
- Castle of Frankenstein no.3 p.4
- Castle of Frankenstein no.4 p.5
- Castle of Frankenstein no.8 p.36
- The Daily Cinema no.8637 (18 July 1962) p.9
- Fangoria no.249 (January 2006) p.39 – video review (The video eye of Dr. Cyclops)
- The Film Daily vol.120 no.93 (15 May 1962) p.9
- Film Quarterly vol.16 no.3 (Spring 1963) p.50
- Film Score Monthly vol.6 no5 (June 2001) p.47 – soundtrack review (Random play: contributing writers share their feelings and some of their favorite scores by Steven A. Kennedy)
- Films and Filming vol.8 no.12 (September 1962) p.29
- Films in Review vol.13 no.6 (June/July 1962) p.364
- The Hollywood Reporter vol.170 no14 (11 May 1962) p.3
- Kine Weekly no.2859 (19 July 1962) p.19
- Legend no.28 (1999) p.38 – soundtrack review (CD Reviews by Graham Watt)
- Monthly Film Bulletin vol.29 no.344 (September 1962) p.125
- Motion Picture Herald vol.227 no.7 (23 May 1962) p.563
- Variety 16 May 1962
Books
- The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror by Phil Hardy (ed.) p.147
- Euro Gothic: Classics of Continental Horror Cinema by Jonathan Rigby p.22
- Feature Films, 1960-1969: A Filmography of English-language and Major Foreign-language United States Releases by Harris M. Lentz III p.53
- Kinematograph and Television Year Book 1963 p.114 – credits (Films trade shown 1961-1962)
- Reference Guide to Fantastic Films by Walt Lee p.52 – credits
- Sixties Shockers by Mark Clark and Bryan Senn pp.88-89
