Twice-Told Tales (film)
Encyclopedia
Twice-Told Tales is a 1963
American horror film
directed by Sidney Salkow
and starring Vincent Price
. It is based on three of Nathaniel Hawthorne
's stories found in the book Twice-Told Tales
: "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment
" (1837), "Rappaccini's Daughter
" (1844), and the novel The House of the Seven Gables
(1851).
(in a voice-over
). Price also stars in all three narratives.
) and Alex (Price) get together to celebrate Carl Heidegger's 79th birthday. They discover that Heidegger's bride-to-be from 38 years before, Sylvia, is perfectly preserved in her coffin. Heidegger discovers that the water dripping into the coffin has the power to reverse time. Carl and Alex drink it, and become young again. Carl injects the liquid into Sylvia and she comes back to life...only to reveal that she and Alex were secretly lovers. In a struggle Alex kills Carl, but the effects of the water wear off. Sylvia becomes a desiccated skeleton, Carl's body returns to its original age. Alex turns, then goes back to the crypt to find more of the water, only to find that it no longer flows.
, Giacomo Rappaccini (Price) keeps his daughter Beatrice in the back yard garden. A student next door, Giovanni, sees her and falls in love. One of Giovanni's teachers says that he used to teach with Rappaccini, but he mysteriously quit and locked himself in his house after his wife ran away with a lover. It turns out that Beatrice has been treated with a mysterious exotic plant that makes her touch deadly. Giacomo applied this treatment to his daughter to keep her safe, but it makes her a prisoner. When Giacomo sees the attraction between Giovanni and Beatrice, he knocks out and treats Giovanni as well so they can be together. Giovanni goes to his teacher and gets an experimental antidote. He goes to Beatrice and takes it, but it kills him. Beatrice drinks it as well, killing herself. Giacomo grabs the plant with both hands and its touch kills him.
1963 in film
The year 1963 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* June 12 - Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton premieres at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City....
American horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
directed by Sidney Salkow
Sidney Salkow
Sidney Salkow was an American film director , screen writer, and television director....
and starring Vincent Price
Vincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
. It is based on three of Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
's stories found in the book Twice-Told Tales
Twice-Told Tales
Twice-Told Tales is a short story collection in two volumes by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The first was published in the spring of 1837, and the second in 1842...
: "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment
Dr. Heidegger's Experiment
"Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" is a short story by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, about a doctor who claims to have been sent water from the Fountain of Youth. It was eventually published in Hawthorne's collection Twice-Told Tales in 1837.-Plot:...
" (1837), "Rappaccini's Daughter
Rappaccini's Daughter
"Rappaccini's Daughter" is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1844 concerning a medical researcher in medieval Padua. It was published in the collection Mosses from an Old Manse.-Plot summary:...
" (1844), and the novel The House of the Seven Gables
The House of the Seven Gables
The House of the Seven Gables is a 1668 colonial mansion in Salem, Massachusetts, USA. The house is now a non-profit museum, with an admission fee charged for tours, as well as an active settlement house with programs for children...
(1851).
Plot
Each of the three sequences is introduced by Vincent PriceVincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
(in a voice-over
Voice-over
Voice-over is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations...
). Price also stars in all three narratives.
"Dr. Heidegger's Experiment"
Two elderly friends, Carl (Sebastian CabotSebastian Cabot (actor)
Charles Sebastian Thomas Cabot was an English film and television actor, best remembered as the gentleman's gentleman, "Giles French," opposite Brian Keith's character, in the 1960s sitcom Family Affair. He was also known for playing Dr...
) and Alex (Price) get together to celebrate Carl Heidegger's 79th birthday. They discover that Heidegger's bride-to-be from 38 years before, Sylvia, is perfectly preserved in her coffin. Heidegger discovers that the water dripping into the coffin has the power to reverse time. Carl and Alex drink it, and become young again. Carl injects the liquid into Sylvia and she comes back to life...only to reveal that she and Alex were secretly lovers. In a struggle Alex kills Carl, but the effects of the water wear off. Sylvia becomes a desiccated skeleton, Carl's body returns to its original age. Alex turns, then goes back to the crypt to find more of the water, only to find that it no longer flows.
"Rappaccini's Daughter"
In PaduaPadua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
, Giacomo Rappaccini (Price) keeps his daughter Beatrice in the back yard garden. A student next door, Giovanni, sees her and falls in love. One of Giovanni's teachers says that he used to teach with Rappaccini, but he mysteriously quit and locked himself in his house after his wife ran away with a lover. It turns out that Beatrice has been treated with a mysterious exotic plant that makes her touch deadly. Giacomo applied this treatment to his daughter to keep her safe, but it makes her a prisoner. When Giacomo sees the attraction between Giovanni and Beatrice, he knocks out and treats Giovanni as well so they can be together. Giovanni goes to his teacher and gets an experimental antidote. He goes to Beatrice and takes it, but it kills him. Beatrice drinks it as well, killing herself. Giacomo grabs the plant with both hands and its touch kills him.
"House of the Seven Gables"
Gerald Pyncheon (Price) returns to his family house after an absence of 17 years, bringing with him his wife Alice. His sister Hannah, who had been living in the house, tells Alice about the curse put upon Pyncheon men by Matthew Moll, who used to own the house but lost it in a shady deal to the Pyncheon family. Jonathan Moll, a descendant of Matthew, arrives, but he refuses Gerald's offer to give him the house in exchange for the location of a vault where valuable property deeds are stored. Alice becomes haunted by the curse on the house, which eventually leads her to the cellar. Gerald finds her there and discovers the map to the vault. He kills Hannah to keep her share of the inheritance. Gerald traps Alice in the basement grave of Mathew Moll, then goes to the study to find the vault. He opens it, and a skeletal hand inside the vault kills him. Jonathan arrives and takes Alice out of the house, just as it shakes and collapses.Cast
- Vincent PriceVincent PriceVincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
as Alex Medbourne / Giacomo Rappaccini / Gerald Pyncheon - Sebastian CabotSebastian Cabot (actor)Charles Sebastian Thomas Cabot was an English film and television actor, best remembered as the gentleman's gentleman, "Giles French," opposite Brian Keith's character, in the 1960s sitcom Family Affair. He was also known for playing Dr...
as Dr. Carl Heidigger - Brett HalseyBrett HalseyBrett Halsey , is an American film actor, sometimes credited as Montgomery Ford. He is best known as the original John Abbott on the soap opera The Young and the Restless, a role he held from May 1980 to March 1981, before being replaced by Jerry Douglas.-Career:Interested in acting since he was a...
as Giovanni Guasconti - Beverly GarlandBeverly GarlandBeverly Garland was an American film and television actress, businesswoman, and hotel owner. Garland gained prominence for her role as Fred MacMurray's second wife, "Barbara Harper Douglas", in the 1960s sitcom My Three Sons...
as Alice Pyncheon - Richard DenningRichard DenningRichard Denning , was an American actor who starred in such movies as Creature from the Black Lagoon and An Affair to Remember , and on radio with Lucille Ball as her husband George Cooper in My Favorite Husband , the forerunner of television's I Love Lucy, for which Denning was replaced by Ball's...
as Jonathan Maulle - Mari BlanchardMari BlanchardMari Blanchard was an American actress, known for her roles as a B movie femme fatale in American films of the 1950s and early 1960s.-Career:In the late 1940s, Blanchard was a successful print model and film extra...
as Sylvia Ward - Abraham SofaerAbraham SofaerAbraham Sofaer was a stage actor of Burmese-Jewish descent who became a familiar supporting player on film and television in his later years. He was born in Rangoon, Burma...
as Prof. Pietro Baglioni - Jacqueline deWitJacqueline deWitJacqueline deWit was an American film and TV character actress from Los Angeles, California who appeared in over 2 dozen films including That Night With You, Spellbound, The Snake Pit, The Damned Don't Cry!, Tea and Sympathy, All That Heaven Allows and Harper...
as Hannah Pyncheon, Gerald's Sister - Joyce Taylor as Beatrice Rappaccini
- Edith EvansonEdith EvansonEdith Evanson was an American film actress.-Career:Her first film role came in The Man Who Wouldn't Talk in an uncredited role. In the 1940s she was in supporting roles mostly as a maid, a busybody, landladies, or middle-aged secretaries...
as Lisabetta, the landlady - Floyd SimmonsFloyd SimmonsFloyd Macon Simmons was an American athlete and actor who competed mainly in the decathlon. He was born in Charlotte, North Carolina....
as Ghost of Mathew Maulle - Gene RothGene RothGene Roth was an American film actor. Born in Redfield, South Dakota, Roth was born Eugene Oliver Edgar Stutenroth...
as Cabman