By Richard Harland Smith
Cast a Dark Shadow
Brief Synopsis
A wife-killer marries an innocent barmaid and plots her death.
Cast & Crew
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Lewis Gilbert
Director
Margaret Lockwood
Dirk Bogarde
Kay Walsh
Walter Hudd
Kathleen Harrison
Film Details
Also Known As
Angel
Genre
Suspense/Mystery
Drama
Thriller
Release Date
1955
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 25m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Synopsis
An evil con artist marrys elderly women, kills them off, and takes their fortunes, until he meets his match.
Director
Lewis Gilbert
Director
Videos
Movie Clip
Film Details
Also Known As
Angel
Genre
Suspense/Mystery
Drama
Thriller
Release Date
1955
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 25m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Articles
Cast a Dark Shadow -
By first impression of Dirk Bogarde, writer/director Lewis Gilbert found the actor charming but lacking in machismo ("kind of feminine, in a way"). Sensing an affinity for the sinister, Gilbert chose Bogarde to play a cunning sociopath in Cast a Dark Shadow (1955), an adaptation of Janet Green's play Murder Mistaken, a modern riff on the Bluebeard folktale. Though he had played a cop killer in Ealing's The Blue Lamp (1950), Bogarde was best known at the time for romantic, patriotic, and comedic parts- most notably in the Rank Organization's hospital comedy Doctor in the House (1954) and its sequel Doctor at Sea (1955). In the change-of-pace assignment as the Machiavellian "Teddy" Bare, Bogarde indulges in a physical tic - a high-pitched laugh - that puts him in the company of Richard Widmark's Kiss of Death (1947) psycho and the murderous handyman of Emlyn Williams' play Night Must Fall (adapted for the screen in 1937 and 1964). Photographed in evocative monochrome by Jack Asher (who later shot many a Hammer horror), Cast a Dark Shadow did little for Bogarde's career, while costar Margaret Lockwood abandoned cinema entirely. The film's nominal hero, Robert Flemyng, would go on to a measure of Euro-cult immortality as The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962) while Bogarde hit his cinematic stride in Basil Dearden's Victim (1961) and Joseph Losey's The Servant (1963).
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
Cast a Dark Shadow -
By first impression of Dirk Bogarde, writer/director Lewis Gilbert found the actor charming but lacking in machismo ("kind of feminine, in a way"). Sensing an affinity for the sinister, Gilbert chose Bogarde to play a cunning sociopath in Cast a Dark Shadow (1955), an adaptation of Janet Green's play Murder Mistaken, a modern riff on the Bluebeard folktale. Though he had played a cop killer in Ealing's The Blue Lamp (1950), Bogarde was best known at the time for romantic, patriotic, and comedic parts- most notably in the Rank Organization's hospital comedy Doctor in the House (1954) and its sequel Doctor at Sea (1955). In the change-of-pace assignment as the Machiavellian "Teddy" Bare, Bogarde indulges in a physical tic - a high-pitched laugh - that puts him in the company of Richard Widmark's Kiss of Death (1947) psycho and the murderous handyman of Emlyn Williams' play Night Must Fall (adapted for the screen in 1937 and 1964). Photographed in evocative monochrome by Jack Asher (who later shot many a Hammer horror), Cast a Dark Shadow did little for Bogarde's career, while costar Margaret Lockwood abandoned cinema entirely. The film's nominal hero, Robert Flemyng, would go on to a measure of Euro-cult immortality as The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962) while Bogarde hit his cinematic stride in Basil Dearden's Victim (1961) and Joseph Losey's The Servant (1963).
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States August 2001
Released in United States August 2001 (Shown in New York City (Walter Reed) as part of program "Dirk Bogarde: Gentleman in the Shadows" August 1-9, 2001.)
