Fright (1956)

Director:

W. Lee Wilder

Writer:

Myles Wilder (writer)

Release Date:

September 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Get out of her life if you want to stay alive!

Plot:

A woman believes herself to be the reincarnated spirit of an ancient prince's lover. Meanwhile, a murderer turns out to be the reincarnated spirit of the prince himself. |

Plot Keywords:

Reincarnation | Patient | Psychiatrist | Trance | Impersonation

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Nancy Malone	...	Ann Summers
Eric Fleming	...	Dr. James Hamilton
Dean L. Almquist	...	Cullen
Frank Marth	...	George Morley
Humphrey Davis	...	Prof. Charles Gore
Elizabeth Watts	...	Lady Olive Fitzmaurice
Walter Klavun	...	Warden
Amelia Conley	...	Miss Ames
Tom Reynolds	...	City Editor - Bill
Robert Gardett	...	Managing Editor
Norman McKay	...	Inspector Blackburn (as Norman MacKaye)
Ned Glass	...	Taxi Driver
Donald Douglas	...	Inspector II - Lt. White (as Don Douglas)
Sid Raymond	...	Van Driver
Philip Kenneally	...	Cop (as Philip Kenealy)

Also Known As:

Spell of the Hypnotist

Runtime:

68 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Planet Filmplays

Fanciful Storyline Receives Little Support From The Production Or A Vacuous Central Performance.

Shot in New York City locations, this film, also titled SPELL OF THE HYPNOTIST, opens with escaped murderer George Morley (Frank Marth) being trapped by police officers upon a high bridge, prompting a psychiatrist, Dr. James Hamilton (Eric Fleming) to attempt hypnotising, with the approval of the on-scene police supervisor, the killer whose vicious crimes he has been following through newspaper reports. An onlooker at the scene, Ann Summers (Nancy Malone) is apparently simultaneously also hypnotised and subsequently visits Hamilton at his office, with the doctor, attracted to the young woman, beginning treatments for her in a case that he perceives as an instance of dual personality, Ann's body ostensibly being shared with a reincarnated Austrian, Baroness Maria Vetsera, lover of Hapsburg Crown Prince Rudolph, and co-participant in the infamous sex scandal that culminated in the royal hunting lodge, Mayerling, with their mutual suicide pact in 1889. This manner of theme, that narrating a multiple personality disorder, requires a good deal of cinematic talent to be convincing, but such is not on board here, the film suffering not only from a poorly organised script and weak direction, but also from a particularly wooden Fleming, whose expressivity is nearly completely non-existent, a deadly flaw indeed in a story that is depicting his character as being in love with his patient. Malone tries hard but her lines, as with much of the screenplay's dialogue, are not credibly written, and the pacing of the piece is notably erratic with a result that a viewer will probably feel as little emotional involvement in the action as does the stoical Fleming.