#peter jeffrey

[elizabethboleyn]

Lady Elizabeth Boleyn née Howard, Countess of Wiltshire

As portrayed by Katherine Blake in Anne of a Thousand Days [1969]

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

Have you seen Ring of Bright Water (1969)?

Yes

No

Haven’t even heard of this movie

Voting ended onMay 15

[saimusage]

Some photo stills of "Villette" 1970 TV version featuring a scene where Lucy, Monsieur Paul and the students are having a picnic. Judy Parfitt plays as Lucy (top picture) and Paul Jeffrey as M. Paul (bottom picture; left).

"Villette" 1970 version is one of known TV adaptations based on a same title of a novel written by Charlotte Brontë and it was produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation. It is said that all of its five episodes are currently lost and the only proof of existence are some of its photo stills available in BBC Archive.

[letterboxd-loggd]

if... (1968) Lindsay Anderson

January 3rd 2024

[moviemosaics]

if....

directed by Lindsay Anderson, 1968

[lobbycards]

If…., Mexican lobby card. Ca. 1970

[collinsportmaine]

Vincent Price as Dr. Phibes”

1. One of Vincent Price’s greatest roles was in “The Abominable Dr. Phibes” (1971). In it he played a brilliant artist and scientist who was horribly disfigured and thought dead as he raced back to London to see his wife. She was undergoing a life and death operation which, alas, she died. Phibes swore revenge on the 10 doctors and nurses who participated in the surgery.

2. Phibes murder spree was inspired by the Ten Plagues of Egypt from the Old Testament. Each was more gruesome than the last, but they were all done with panache. Phibes was assisted by Vulnavia (a beautiful but silent young woman) and he was accompanied by a stylish life-size clock work band.

3. After neatly eliminating all his targets, Phibes evaded capture by laying down in a hidden double sized coffin with his wife body.

4. Dr. Phibes (and Price) rose again in the 1972 sequel. After a few years of literally laying low, he returned so that he could bring his wife’s body to Egypt and resurrect her via ancient secrets he had discovered. Somehow Vulnavia returned to assist him again (even tho she died in the last movie).

5. But Phibes’ Egyptian cure-all is also sought by Darius Biederbeck (Robert Quarry) who is suffering with a kind of Dorian Grey type curse. Quarry is best known for his Count Yorga movies (Dracula knock-offs).

6. Sooner than you can say cruise-ship, the adversaries are headed off to Egypt, with Phibes leaving a trail of victims behind him.

7. The cast included three actors from the original. Peter Jeffrey returned as Inspecter Trout. After a few odd murder victim are found, Trout suspects Phibes has returned when he learned the cruise ship’s cargo included a life-size clock work band. Terry-Thomas returns in a new role (his character was exsanguinated in the first film). And Hugh Griffith who survived the first film but not so the second.

8. Although I enjoyed seeing Price as Phibes, the sequel didn’t reach the heights of the original. In the first, Phibes was driven by revenge, with a clearly set list of victims. That helped drive the plot. He also had clever ways of killing via the ten plagues of Egypt - so you could wonder or anticipate how he would accomplish the next.

9. But in the sequel, those key elements were gone, and while some of the murderer were inventive, they were just a series of people who got in his way.

10. A third Phibes movie was discussed but It didn’t help that Quarry and Price didn’t get along during production. It was reported that one day, Quarry was singing in his dressing room and he asked Price:

Quarry: "You didn't know I could sing did you?"

Price replied: “Well I knew you couldn't act."

[fourorfivemovements]

Films Watched in 2024: 7. The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) - Dir. Blake Edwards