The Tomb of Ligeia / An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe
by Kenneth Johnson, Roger Corman
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DVD details
Actor: Derek Francis, Elizabeth Shepherd, John Westbrook, Oliver Johnston, Vincent PriceDirector: Kenneth Johnson, Roger Corman
Brand: PRICE,VINCENT
Producer: Kenneth Johnson
Writer: Kenneth Johnson
Producer: Dan Kibbie
Producer: James H. Nicholson
Producer: Pat Green
Writer: David Welch
Writer: Edgar Allan Poe
Writer: Robert Towne
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 135 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-08-26
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of The Tomb of Ligeia / An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe
DVD Review: The best Poe film in the series -- more poetic than frightening
Summary: 5 Stars
The other reviews of THE TOMB OF LIGEIA on this site are so sensitively and intelligently written that I hesitate to add anything. I agree totally with their views and wish to weigh in on this project only to add support to what was probably an unappreciated film when it was released, at least in the midwest where it often appeared on a double-bill or on a triple-bill at the drive-in. This film belonged in an art house, and perhaps some art houses still in existence today could present a retrospective for urbane audiences. It clearly is not a film for groping teenagers and cigarettes-in-the-sleeve Joe Six-Pack types at the drive-in.
Most of the Poe films were given superb treatment by the economical but skillful Roger Corman. What an interesting director. I do wish a good DVD could be made available of one of his 1950s small-budget but well-written projects THE UNDEAD. One of the few films to put the witches' sabbath on the screen, complete with soul trading with Satan, it is cleverly combined with a time travel theme. In fact, I once showed this film to science-fiction students when teaching a film course emphasizing time travel. Another of his films that I showed to the same students was FRANKENSTEIN UNBOUND. It is an interesting take on the time-travel theme -- bringing in the well-known Frankenstein story as seen by a time traveler from the future. Not only do we see Mary Shelley in this film, author of the original story, but we likewise are treated to brief characterizations of the famous poets Lord Byron and Percy Shelley (before he marries Miss Godwin and makes her Mrs. Shelley).
Like MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, and perhaps THE HAUNTED PALACE, which is more H. P. Lovecraft than Poe, THE TOMB OF LIGEIA is a work of subtle poetry on the screen. The scene where Vincent Price's Shakespearean voice provides a narrative from Poe, as written by the talented Robert Towne, is mesmerizing. I am referring, of course, to the scene where Rowena follows the evil black cat up the stairs of the bell tower in the abbey (for the rest of the film, the cat chases or torments her). Price as the admittedly morose but intellectual resident of the half-ruined abbey reminds us of our own memories and the ultimate futility of trying to recall, intact, the actual content of those dream-like memories. The voice-over is compelling and one of the greatest examples of poetry transferred to the motion picture screen.
This DVD belongs in the collection not only of lovers of the Poe series, as I am, but to serious fans of intelligent films in general. . . as well as to teachers and professors who teach Poe literature. What is amazing to me, if I may be allowed a segue, is that female Chinese students and teachers alike find Poe to be so frightening and disturbing. One teacher in Anshan, China, even asked me why Poe wrote such material. When I showed THE TOMB OF LIGEIA to Chinese students recently, I was almost astounded to discover, after the showing in a small auditorium when I was discussing what we had just seen, that one young lady was trembling visibly. I tried to be sympathetic while, at the same time, concealing (successfully, I hope) my amazement. If this early-sixties film is so frightening, what would be their reaction to a film like THE EVIL DEAD, a film lacking any subtlety whatsoever?
Elizabeth Shepherd is, at least for me, an unknown actress, yet she accomplishes what is almost the impossible -- keeping pace with the actor of all actors, the theatrical and stalwart (if occasionally hammy) Vincent Price. She is eerie as the ghostly raven-haired Ligeia, who speaks very little on-screen; as the red-haired aristocratic Rowena, she is sophisticated and three-dimensional -- not a shrinking violet heroine but a woman with her own complications and superior intelligence. She even tells her solicitor companion, who obviously carries a torch for her, that one may not like someone to whom one is drawn. She admits that one must not necessarily be in love with the man one marries. Why she is attracted to the Byronic and clearly learned Verden Fell is not really clear to us, any more than it is clear to her. She becomes caught up in a situation that is beyond her comprehension; considering the extent of her intelligence, this seems to be quite incredible. Yet with Poe, the incredible is often made credible. She is facing supernatural elements that are not made even partially clear until the end when the servant, placed in an extremely awkward position of trying to be gracious to the new bride while remaining loyal to his master and employer, explains the power of the dead woman to still possess the living. Maybe it is not revealing too much to state that Price does not portray, as he does in MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH and THE HAUNTED PALACE ( half of the time, anyway) a menacing figure; he is a victim, not a victimizer. He is the tragic figure at the center of a gothic mystery, like the mysterious master of the estate in JANE EYRE. In fact, this Poe story, as presented by Mr. Corman, could have been penned by one of the immensely talented Bronte sisters during the height of the Romantic Age in England. Like tragic figures as written by such luminaries as Oscar Wilde, he clearly has a secret that cannot be revealed to the other characters until the end. As for the black cat, I am a lover of cats, but this has to be the most evil feline creature ever shown on the screen.
AN EVENING OF EDGAR ALLAN POE is pure theatre, with Mr. Price exhibiting his considerable talents in a one-man show. This is not a motion picture, of course, and the visual presentation is quite fuzzy; however, this is a work that should be required viewing by literature students studying Poe and other authors who gave us such classic masterpieces. That it is included on a DVD with THE TOMB OF LIGEIA is an inspired decision. This is authentic Poe, and Price gives us a compelling presentation of written literature on the screen. Anyone doubting the genius of this actor need only watch this performance and follow the original text. It is no surprise, therefore, that Price, an art expert as well as a man of the theatre (and a witty person when guesting on talk and game shows), considered this to be his greatest performance.
Congratulations to all involved in this masterful example of the extent to which talented artists can excel.
DVD Review: Amazing Adaptation of Poe's Classics
Summary: 5 Stars
Me being only fifteen years old, you would not expect I would be a fan of old movies. Well, I am. I'm a fan of almost everything from Lon Chaney in the Phantom of the Opera to these films: the Tomb of Ligeia and An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe.
I must voice how very well put together the Tomb of Ligeia was.
The film is about a man named Verden Fell (Vincent Price), whose wife Ligeia(Elizabeth Shepherd), passed away, but he feels her will to cling to life, even after she looses it. Some months later, he meets the Lady Rowena (Also played by Elizabeth Shepherd) after she meets with a riding accident. She breaks off her engagement with Christopher Gough (Played by John Westbrook), a prosecuting lawyer, and marries Verden. After their honeymoon around Europe, Rowena and Verden return home. Rowena feels the presence of Ligeia stalking her and seeking to destroy her, and Verden disappears at night with no explanation of where he had been... what is going on in Verden Fell's abbey. What hidden horrors await Rowena? Can she help her husband let go of the memory of his Ligeia? Or will Ligeia never set her husband free from her control?
I applaud Vincent in his performance as Verden Fell. Everyone in this movie was an English actor except for Vincent. I admire his ability to fit in with a bunch of English actors, which is something few American actors can do. I praise Elizabeth Shepherd for her ability to play both the parts of Lady Rowena Trevanion of Tremaine AND Ligeia, and her being so young (She was only twenty eight when she played this part! Holy crap!). Above all, I was extremely impressed by John Westbrook's performance as Christopher Gough. He's a freaking amazing actor! I feel I must include him for his brilliant acting, since hardly anyone has heard of him and notice his amazing ability to assume the character of the role he is playing. Plus, I love his deep, sensuous, mellifluous voice. It's sad that this was the biggest film role he was ever in. He deserved so many more roles in movies than he actually got. If you have seen Masque of the Red Death, he was the man in red, though not credited in his performance (Which I think he should have been!!!!). I fear I must stick John Westbrook at the very top of my list as one of my favorite actors of all time, Vincent Price being the second of my favorites. The rest of the actors I think were very well cast. I felt the scenery in the Tomb of Ligeia was absolutely beautiful, all filmed in southern England (I think...).
Now, An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe, I thought was very brilliantly put together. It must have taken Vincent hours to memorize those stories, but an actor of his ability I think can accomplish it. I loved the way he acted out every word he spoke, with such emotion, dread, fear, and despair, as in the case of the Pit and the Pendulum and the Tell Tale Heart.
Above all, both of these movies were amazing. I now have my favorite movie of all time decided: The Tomb of Ligeia. Yeah, that's right, I loved it that much.
Love,
Adrienne
DVD Review: WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
When I saw that someone still had this video for sale, I nearly trampled people on my way to the computer to order. This video collection has been discontinued to my knowledge. I would have gladly paid triple the price, and with such a low price, triple wouldn't have even effected my wallet. Will defidentally do buisness with vendor again, especially if they can come across such classics.DVD Review: Prime Poe and Price
Summary: 4 Stars
This DVD represents the most and least elaborate of the American International Poe series, but also two of its very best efforts. "The Tomb of Ligeia," the last of the classic series (meaning the teaming of Vincent Price with director Roger Corman) is also the most unusual. Shot in England, it capitalizes on exterior locations rather than the series' usual claustrophobic soundstage settings. It also features Price at his most Byronic, made up and bewigged to look as young and dashing as possible, and he responds by keeping his character's madness well controlled. Sultry-voiced Elizabeth Shepherd plays two of Price's wives, one dead and one alive, with the latter being threatened by possession by the former. Abetted by cinematographer Arthur Grant, a Hammer Films regular, Director Corman established a dream-like atmosphere from the first scene (which is spoiled somewhat by a redundant bona fide dream sequence). The literate script by Robert Towne fuses in elements of other Poe stories, such as "The Black Cat" and even "The Fall of the House of Usher." But the overall influence here seems not so much Poe as Hitchcock. If "The Masque of the Red Death," the Poe film that directly preceeded "Ligeia," is something of an homage to Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal," then this can be seen as Corman's take on "Vertigo." Even some of the individual shots, such as the one in which the alive Shepherd visits Price unnanounced, appearing to him as a vision stepping out of the light, are reminiscent of Hitchcock's masterpiece. Only the seemingly obligatory conflagration finale sends it straight back into typical Corman-land.
Also in this set is an hour-long television special called "An Evening With Edgar Allan Poe," which for years was something of a lost production, fondly remembered by those of us who first saw it in syndication, but seeming to exist nowhere on tape or disc. It features Vincent Price in solo recitations of four Poe tales -- "The Sphinx," "The Cask of Amantillado," "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Pit and the Pendulum." "The Sphinx" is one of Poe's rather whimsical short-short stories, and is treated by Price with the appropriate ironic humor, and "Amantillado" and "Heart" are good treatments of the stories. The real gem, though, is "Pendulum." In narrating the terrors of solitary confinement in complete darkness (this is the original Poe story, not the completely fabricated storyline of the 1961 film), Price works himself into such a state of intense terror that the result is electrifying. It may well be his best recorded performance, ever.
DVD Review: Allan Poe's Best
Summary: 4 Stars
I have to teach Edgar A. Poe and Vincent Price bring Poe to life. The movies are old but the adaptations of the master of terror are very well adapted.
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