| Major Cast | |
|---|---|
| Peter Wyngarde | as Norman Taylor |
| Janet Blair | as Tansy Taylor |
| Margaret Johnston | as Flora Carr |
| Anthony Nicholls | as Harvey Sawtelle |
| Colin Gordon | as Lindsay Carr |
| Kathleen Byron | as Evelyn Sawtelle |
| Reginald Beckwith | as Harold Gunnison |
| Jessica Dunning | as Hilda Gunnison |
| Norman Bird | as Doctor |
| Judith Stott | as Margaret Abbott |
| Bill Mitchell | as Fred Jennings |
| MPAA Rating: | NR |
| Production Company: | Independent Artists |
| Distributors (US): | American International Pictures (theatrical) Orion Home Video (video) Anchor Bay Entertainment (VHS) MGM Home Entertainment (DVD) Kino Lorber (Blu-ray) |
| Release Date (US): | 25 April 1962 |
| Lifetime Box Office: | $? |
| Foreign Box Office: | $? |
| Production Budget: | $200,000 (Est.) |
Norman Taylor, vigorous proponent of science and truth and unflinching opponent of superstition, in an up-and-coming teacher at [Ebbington Academy]. Though he gets along well with his colleagues, has them over for Friday bridge nights and such, there is an undercurrent of academic rivalry of which he is largely unaware. But his wife Tansy is aware of it, and is working against it in her way. And when Norman chances to find a dead spider in a cold-cream jar, he accepts her explanation that it's a souvenir of their trip to the Caribbean.
But soon other oddments turn up. He confronts Tansy, who grows increasingly agitated and finally confesses that these are protections for him — protections against the spells that would otherwise have derailed his career. Norman, of course, doesn't buy her notions of witchcraft. He burns everything he's found in the fireplace, as Tansy grows increasingly dismayed. Finally he uncovers a hank of hair and his picture in a locket. He burns those too, to Tansy's ultimate horror.
It isn't long before things go wrong. The tape of a lecture Norman gave arrives in the mail, unsigned. When he plays it, Tansy experiences extreme pain. Later a storm blows up, and something rattles the door of the house. When Norman opens it, nothing is there.
The next morning, Tansy is gone when Norman wakes up. He finds another tape in his player. It is Tansy announcing that she will give up her life to save him. She says it is the only way — that by midnight, all will be resolved. Norman, desperate, learns that she may have gone to their cottage on the coast. He follows in his sports car, suffering an accident on the way. But though injured, he presses on. Arriving at the cottage, he can't find her anywhere. Will he be able to save his beloved wife and find an answer to the crisis that so troubles her?
Fritz Lieber was one of the greats of the Golden Age of science fiction and fantasy. His novel Conjure Wife, on which this film is based, was first published in 1943. I haven't read it, but I have to believe its plot holds together better that what I saw on my flat screen TV. Sidney Hayer assembled a fine ensemble of British actors, and they all give competent performances. However, the film seems to jump from a state of near normalcy, in which Tansy's distress is the only disturbance, to some extreme peril which only she perceives. Norman's quest for her is erratic; we see only cursory scenes of the accident and his escape from the men who pull him from the wreck and insist he go to the hospital. He spends too much time scrambling around the cottage, and nothing explains how Tansy is brought from the sea, into which she has walked, to the door of the cottage where Norman at last finds her.
She's in a trancelike state. He takes her to a doctor, where she manages to speak three words: "Take me home." Over the doctor's objections, Norman does. His final confrontation with the other witch in the picture is also too drawn out, while the climax of the picture seems too abrupt and contrived. Also, the musical score is at times obtrusive. While the film has its moments, I consider it a mediocre treatment of what is probably a gripping novel.
My Rating:
7 out of 10
Capsule review: The fine performances and good production values in this film cannot make up for a script which sometimes draws out scenes too long and at other times jumps past events we should see. It generates plenty of tension, but does a less than perfect job of showing Norman's response to being thrust into a strange, wild world.
| IMDB Rating: 7.0 | Raters: 2,550 |
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