Twice Told Tales

1h 59m 1963
Twice Told Tales

Brief Synopsis

A poisonous young beauty, the secrets of eternal life and a haunted house chill this collection of Nathaniel Hawthorne stories.

Cast & Crew

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Sidney Salkow

Director

Vincent Price

Alex Medbourne

Sebastian Cabot

Dr. Carl Heidegger

Mari Blanchard

Sylvia Wardrobe

Vincent Price

Dr. Rappaccini

Brett Halsey

Giovanni Guastconti

Photos & Videos

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Twice Told Tales -- (Movie Clip) Dr. Heidigger's Experiment
Ben Mankiewicz Intro -- Twice-Told Tales (1963)
Twice Told Tales -- (Movie Clip) House of Seven Gables
Twice Told Tales -- (Movie Clip) Rappaccini's Daughter
Twice-Told Tales - (Original Trailer)

Film Details

Also Known As
Nathaniel Hawthorne's {q}Twice Told Tales{q}, The Corpse Makers
Genre
Horror/Science-Fiction
Adaptation
Horror
Thriller
Release Date
Jan 1963
Premiere Information
Los Angeles opening: 30 Oct 1963
Production Company
Admiral Pictures
Distribution Company
United Artists
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the short story "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" by Nathaniel Hawthorne in Twice Told Tales (Boston, 1837) and his short story "Rappaccini's Daughter" in Mosses from an Old Manse (New York, 1846) and his novel The House of the Seven Gables (Boston, 1851).

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 59m
Sound
Mono
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.66 : 1

Synopsis

DR. HEIDEGGER'S EXPERIMENT describes the discovery of an elixir of youth, which restores the aged Heidegger, his old friend Alex Medbourne, and the corpse of Heidegger's fiancée Sylvia, who died on the eve of her wedding. When Sylvia discloses that Medbourne killed her in retaliation for her refusal to elope with him, the jealous assassin slays Heidegger. Suddenly, the potion loses its effect; Medbourne is once again aged, Sylvia a corpse. In RAPPACCINI'S DAUGHTER a Paduan physician, deserted by his wife, renders his daughter Beatrice forever inviolate by inoculating her with a deadly serum, the effect of which is to blight any living thing she touches. When she falls in love with their neighbor Giovanni, a medical student, Rappaccini attempts in vain to counter the poison's effects. After an antidote devised by Giovanni's science professor slays the lovers, Rappaccini kills himself. In THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES newlywed Gerald Pyncheon scours his ancestral home for the family fortune. While so doing he confronts the ghost of a man burned as a warlock by his ancestors, who also had been the lover of his wife's ancestor. After murdering his sister, Pyncheon dies in the treasure vault. The estate is destroyed, and Pyncheon's widow elopes with the ghost's descendant.

Director

Sidney Salkow

Director

Cast

Vincent Price

Alex Medbourne

Sebastian Cabot

Dr. Carl Heidegger

Mari Blanchard

Sylvia Wardrobe

Vincent Price

Dr. Rappaccini

Brett Halsey

Giovanni Guastconti

Abraham Sofaer

Prof. Pietro Baglioni

Joyce Taylor

Beatrice Rappaccini

Edith Evanson

Lisabetta

Vincent Price

Gerald Pyncheon

Beverly Garland

Alice Pyncheon

Richard Denning

Jonathan Maulle

Jacqueline De Wit

Hannah

Floyd Simmons

Mathew

Gene Roth

Cab driver

Crew

Ralph Acton

Casting Director

Franz Bachelin

Art Director

Al Bird

Effects Editor

Sam Bishop

Grip

Edna Bullock

Music Editor

Ellis W. Carter

Director of Photography

Marjorie Corso

Costumes

Lambert Day

Sound

Jean Downing

Script Supervisor

Bert Eason

Assistant Camera

Pete Faga

Special Effects

Gene Hibbs

Makeup Artist

Lloyd Hill

Gaffer

Joe Jackman

Camera Operator

Robert E. Kent

Producer

Robert E. Kent

Screenwriter

Richard La Salle

Music

Madison Lacy

Stills

Nat Merman

Assistant Director

Dan Nelson

Prop

Milt Olsen

Special Effects

Jane Shugrue

Hairstyles

Irving Sindler

Prop

Irving Sindler

Props master

Joseph Small

Production Manager

Charles Thompson

Set Decoration

Tom Welsh

Costumes

Al Westen

Assistant Director

Grant Whytock

Film Editor

Paul Wolfe

Recording

Videos

Movie Clip

Twice Told Tales -- (Movie Clip) Dr. Heidigger's Experiment Dr. Heidigger (Sebastian Cabot) and his friend Alex Medbourne (Vincent Price) have discovered an elixir that restores youth in "Dr. Heidigger's Experiment" from Twice Told Tales, 1963.
Twice Told Tales -- (Movie Clip) House of Seven Gables Alice (Beverly Garland) is ushered into the ancestral Pyncheon home by her spooky sister-in-law Hannah (Jacqueline de Wit) in "The House of Seven Gables" from Twice Told Tales, 1963.
Twice Told Tales -- (Movie Clip) Rappaccini's Daughter Beatrice (Joyce Taylor) decides she would "rather die" than live under the curse her father (Vincent Price) has used to make her poisonous to all men in "Rappaccini's Daughter" from Twice Told Tales, 1963.

Trailer

Twice-Told Tales - (Original Trailer) Vincent Price stars in three horror stories from American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, Twice-Told Tales (1963).

Hosted Intro

Intro Aired: May 2016
Ben Mankiewicz Intro -- Twice-Told Tales (1963) Ben Mankiewicz introduces Twice-Told Tales, 1963.

Film Details

Also Known As
Nathaniel Hawthorne's {q}Twice Told Tales{q}, The Corpse Makers
Genre
Horror/Science-Fiction
Adaptation
Horror
Thriller
Release Date
Jan 1963
Premiere Information
Los Angeles opening: 30 Oct 1963
Production Company
Admiral Pictures
Distribution Company
United Artists
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the short story "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" by Nathaniel Hawthorne in Twice Told Tales (Boston, 1837) and his short story "Rappaccini's Daughter" in Mosses from an Old Manse (New York, 1846) and his novel The House of the Seven Gables (Boston, 1851).

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 59m
Sound
Mono
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.66 : 1

Articles

Twice-Told Tales - Twice Told Tales

April 10, 2007
After completing Tales of Terror (1962), Vincent Price took a break from Roger Cormen's low-budget but atmospheric adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories and tried something different with another studio. The result was the United Artists production, Twice-Told Tales, which featured three macabre tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" about a formula that retards aging, "Rappaccini's Daughter" in which the title character has a poisonous touch, and "The House of Seven Gables" featuring a haunted house that bears a family curse.

By a strange coincidence, Price was also in the 1940 version of The House of Seven Gables where he played the young hero who was framed by his brother (George Sanders) for the murder of their father. The abbreviated version that appears in Twice-Told Tales plays up the supernatural angle and also co-stars fifties scream queen Beverly Garland as his wife. Garland was a familiar face in Roger Corman drive-in fare such as It Conquered the World (1956) and Not of This Earth (1957) but eventually escaped the B-movie factory to find a permanent role in the TV sitcom, My Three Sons (1969-1972).

Director: Sidney Salkow
Producer: Robert E. Kent
Screenplay: Robert E. Kent
Cinematography: Ellis W. Carter
Art Direction: Franz Bachelin
Music: Richard LaSalle
Special Effects: Milt Olsen, Pete Faga
Cast: Vincent Price (Alex Medbourne/Rappaccini/Gerald Pyncheon), Beverly Garland (Alice Pyncheon), Brett Halsey (Giovanni Guastconti), Sebastian Cabot (Dr. Carl Heidegger), Richard Denning (Jonathan Maulle), Mari Blanchard (Sylvia Ward), Joyce Taylor (Beatrice Rappaccini).
C-120m.

by Jeff Stafford
Twice-Told Tales - Twice Told Tales

Twice-Told Tales - Twice Told Tales

After completing Tales of Terror (1962), Vincent Price took a break from Roger Cormen's low-budget but atmospheric adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories and tried something different with another studio. The result was the United Artists production, Twice-Told Tales, which featured three macabre tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" about a formula that retards aging, "Rappaccini's Daughter" in which the title character has a poisonous touch, and "The House of Seven Gables" featuring a haunted house that bears a family curse. By a strange coincidence, Price was also in the 1940 version of The House of Seven Gables where he played the young hero who was framed by his brother (George Sanders) for the murder of their father. The abbreviated version that appears in Twice-Told Tales plays up the supernatural angle and also co-stars fifties scream queen Beverly Garland as his wife. Garland was a familiar face in Roger Corman drive-in fare such as It Conquered the World (1956) and Not of This Earth (1957) but eventually escaped the B-movie factory to find a permanent role in the TV sitcom, My Three Sons (1969-1972). Director: Sidney Salkow Producer: Robert E. Kent Screenplay: Robert E. Kent Cinematography: Ellis W. Carter Art Direction: Franz Bachelin Music: Richard LaSalle Special Effects: Milt Olsen, Pete Faga Cast: Vincent Price (Alex Medbourne/Rappaccini/Gerald Pyncheon), Beverly Garland (Alice Pyncheon), Brett Halsey (Giovanni Guastconti), Sebastian Cabot (Dr. Carl Heidegger), Richard Denning (Jonathan Maulle), Mari Blanchard (Sylvia Ward), Joyce Taylor (Beatrice Rappaccini). C-120m. by Jeff Stafford

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

The working title of this film is The Corpse Makers. May also be known as Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Twice Told Tales".

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States 1963

Constructed as three stories: "Dr. Heidgger's Experiment", "Rappaccini's Daughter", and "The House of Seven Gables". Vincent Price appears in all three.

Released in United States 1963

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