Histoires extraordinaires (1968)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Directors:

Federico Fellini
Louis Malle

Writers:

Edgar Allan Poe (story) (segment "Metzengerstein")
Roger Vadim (adaptation) (segment "Metzengerstein") ...

Release Date:

23 July 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

the ultimate orgy of evil

Plot:

Three directors each adapt a Poe short story to the screen: "Toby Dammit" features a disheveled drugged...

Plot Keywords:

Catholic | Haunting | Priest | Desire | Army

Cast

Brigitte Bardot	...	Giuseppina (segment "William Wilson")
Alain Delon	...	William Wilson (segment "William Wilson")
Jane Fonda	...	Contessa Frederique de Metzengerstein (segment "Metzengerstein")
Terence Stamp	...	Toby Dammit (segment "Toby Dammit")
James Robertson Justice	...	Countess' Advisor (segment "Metzengerstein")
Salvo Randone	...	Priest (segment "Toby Dammit")
Françoise Prévost	...	Friend of Countess (segment "Metzengerstein") (as Francoise Prevost)
Peter Fonda	...	Baron Wilhelm Berlifitzing (segment "Metzengerstein")
Marlène Alexandre	...	(segment "Metzengerstein")
Marie-Ange Aniès	...	(segment "Metzengerstein")
David Bresson
Katia Christine	...	Young Girl (segment "William Wilson") (as Katia Christina)
Peter Dane
Georges Douking	...	Du Lissier (segment "Metzengerstein")
Philippe Lemaire	...	Philippe (segment "Metzengerstein")

Also Known As:

Spirits of the Dead (USA)
Tales of Mystery
Tales of Mystery and Imagination (UK)
Tre passi nel delirio (Italy)
Trois histoires extraordinaires d'Edgar Poe

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French | Italian | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Argentina:16 | UK:18 (1990) (cut) | UK:X (1973) (cut) | Italy:VM14 (re-rating) (1999) | Finland:K-16 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Bergamo, Lombardia, Italy

Company:

Les Films Marceau

Trivia:

The film was originally to have been directed by Orson Welles, Luis Buñuel and Federico Fellini.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Countess Frederique ("Metzengerstein") is urging the black stallion into the sea, her ermine-trimmed cloak is suddenly gone.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Son of Svengoolie: Spirits of the Dead (1968) (#1.26)" (1979)

Soundtrack:

Ruby

Three times Poë.

Or is it so?Because if the first sketch (it's a movie made of three of them)is poesque,then my dog can speak English.Roger Vadim,one of the most overrated French directors,casts the Fonda family (Jane,his then-wife and Peter) as cousins(sic).It's the Middle Ages,folks,and Dame Jane is making it rough all over.Needless to say,from the short story "Metzengerstein",nothing is preserved except a beautiful horse .Only Claude Renoir's splendid color cinematography redeems this one a little.Louis Malle rarely treads on fantasy films ,the exceptions being "black moon" and his sketch here "William Wilson".Poë's short story was very austere,some kind of stream of consciousness.Hence the necessity to add spice to the screenplay:so we have a dissection-scene-with-nudity,and,to top it all ,Brigitte Bardot herself,in a role that was not intended for her in the first place,but for Italian model Florinda Bolkan.The results are so-so,Alain Delon is not poesque at all,and Malle's style cannot generate a doomed atmosphere .Fellini wins hands down.Instead of adapting his style to Poë,he adapted Poë to HIS style,finding astonishing equivalents,with an end of the world feeling,and a smiling and scary little girl playing with a ball.Terence Stamp("Tobby Dammit") easily outclasses the rest of the cast of the three sketches put together.