Tonight we were back with Barbara Steele, this time in "The Ghost" (1963), which was director Riccardo Freda's sequel - well, sort of - to "The Terror of Dr. Hichcock". You will recall that we watched that film last week and quite enjoyed it. I discovered "The Ghost" at the same source, West Valley Libe (open on Sundays, yessiree). I saw Barbara Steele on the box and that was good enough for me, but didn't know until the movie started that Freda was the director. Afterward, I read on IMDB that it was a sequel to "Dr. Hichcock" and that the two films were shot back to back.
I'm not sure how "The Ghost" could be considered a sequel, as there are a few discrepancies in the continuity and plot lines of the two films. "Dr. Hichcock" took place in London in 1885, and "The Ghost" is set in Scotland in 1910. Okay fine, I suppose the timeline is no biggie because only 25 years have passed, and in "The Ghost" Dr. Hichcock is now elderly and confined to a wheelchair. If you want to get technical you could maintain that he looks no older than he did in 1885, and possibly even a few years younger. He is played by a different actor, but we will let all of that pass for now. The bigger problem is that he is still married to Steele, whom he tried to kill in the first movie, and who fled his burning mansion - with Doc Hichcock still inside it - after being rescued by the handsome young doctor from the hospital.
Now wait just a minute here : I would have thought that Dr. Hichcock perished in the flames that overtook his house at the end of the movie. And even if he survived, why in the world would Steele have stayed with him?
We can think of "The Ghost", then, as a sequel in name only, or maybe a sequel from a parallel universe.
As noted, the Doc is now in a wheelchair, sickened by a mystery illness that may have to do with his experimentation with curare.
Wow, first we had a grave robbery theme running through several recent films and now we have curare, the coma-inducing poison that we saw being used in "The Oblong Box".
In his crippled state, Doc Hichcock hasn't many pleasures left in life, except for gin and seances. He loves to contact the spirit world as he feels he is nearly there himself. His wife Barbara Steele tries to rouse him from his depression, as does his doctor, a handsome young man who practically lives at the house (he is not the same doctor who rescued Barbara at the end of the first movie). The young doctor also stops Hichcock's attempts to end his own life with poison, taken from a bottle marked with the word "Poison" - just so you won't mistake it for a non-poisonous substance haha - and which is likely curare. Dr. Hichcock is very depressed. Miss Steele and the young doctor are only trying to help him.
Or are they?
Is there a chance they could be having an affair instead, and concealing a different motive? One person who may know the answer to that question is the actress Harriet Medin, who played the Sinister Housekeeper "Martha" in the first movie, and who plays the Sinister Housekeeper "Catherine" in "The Ghost". Behind her poker face and stone wall hairline lie the secrets of all the plotters, including Dr. Hichcock, who may be aware of what is going on behind his back. Is he planning his revenge? You might ask the grim Catherine, for she definitely knows of the affair. But is she as loyal to the Doc as she appears? Or does she have a motive of her own?
There is a lot of scheming taking place in "The Ghost", which could be thought of as a mystery thriller in a horror setting. Director Riccardo Freda once again demonstrates a great ability to create mood and atmosphere, using slow camerwork and specific movement from his actors (a head turn, a walk across a room with clasped hands, you get the idea) to build tension. Again he makes great use of light and shadow, just as he did in "The Terror of Dr. Hichcock, and he has another excellent dramatic score to heighten the chills.
I would love to see more of Freda's work. I had never heard of him prior to discovering "Dr. Hichcock" at the Libe. The only trouble is that both films I have seen were substandard in picture quality. "The Ghost" was released by Alpha Video (aka "The Anti-Criterion"), so I knew what to expect, and it was at least watchable, but I think that Freda's movies deserve restoration so that we could better appreciate the artistry he displays. He also knows how to get the best out of his actors with the slow and deliberate pace of the story. Barbara Steele is like a tightly coiled spring slowly unwinding. This is one of those horror movies in which the characters feel isolated and cut off from the outside world, so Steele has no one to turn to, and no one she can really trust. Is anybody on her side? What about her husband, Dr. Hichcock? Her boyfriend, the young doctor? How about Catherine the Evil Housekeeper? Or even the local priest who occasionally pays a visit?
You can almost feel what is going on inside Steele's pretty head as she shifts her big dark eyes from side to side, scanning a room to see if anyone is hiding in there. There does seem to be a ghost on the premises........
"The Ghost" doesn't have quite as much story as did "The Terror of Dr. Hichcock", and therefore it slows down just a tad in the final half hour. Freda probably could have cut the running time by 10 or 15 minutes and had a very tight 80 minute picture. That might have changed the pace, however, and disturbed the sense of slow-burning claustrophobia he had worked to build up. This is only a minor quibble on my part, as I enjoyed "The Ghost" very much. I recommend watching it in tandem with "The Terror of Dr. Hichcock", perhaps on successive nights, and I'm hoping that Kino (if not Criterion themselves) will consider a proper restoration of these films.
Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Ghost". ////
It's me again, and it is now Monday afternoon. The choir news I meant to tell you about is this : our director, Bob, will be leaving us after next Sunday's service. He broke the news yesterday morning, and we were all a bit shocked by the suddenness of it, but it seems that Bob has been offered an opportunity at another congregation that will be better for him overall. We all love Bob. I have been in the choir for five years next month; Bob has been the director for 4 1/2 of those years, and he has taught us so much about singing. My own vocal ability has improved by leaps and bounds under his tutelage, and he has really whipped us into shape overall. We are a "small but mighty" little group, as we like to say, and a lot of the credit is due to Bob, who really knows his music and the nuances and technical details therein. We are gonna miss him, and we wish him well. For the immediate future we will be without a choir director and also without an organist, as Bob played that role also. We will work with our pianist, a capable young woman from CSUN, and we will go it alone for now, directing ourselves until a replacement can be found. However, money has been a problem at the church, and we are only hoping that we will be able to have another choir director, and that nothing will happen to the choir. /////
So that's the news. Keep your fingers crossed. I am gonna head up to Aliso real quick before returning to Pearl's. Grimsley called to report that the park has been burned in the fire. He said I will be "shocked" to see it. I am very worried, but will report back my findings tonight at the usual time.
See you then. Tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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