The Turn of the Screw | |
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Based on | The Turn of the Screw by Henry James |
Written by | William F. Nolan |
Directed by | Dan Curtis |
Starring | Lynn Redgrave |
Theme music composer | Bob Cobert |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producers | Dan Curtis Tim Steele |
Cinematography | Ben Colman |
Editor | Dennis Virkler |
Running time | 120 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | April 15, 1974 |
The Turn of the Screw is a 1974 American made-for-television horror film directed by Dan Curtis based on the 1898 novella of the same name by Henry James. The film aired on ABC on April 15, 1974.
Plot
[edit]An English governess is hired to take care of two children whose parents have died. Orphaned herself at a young age,[1] the governess begins to believe that the orphans are communicating with the ghosts of the previous governess and her lover.
Cast
[edit]- Lynn Redgrave as Miss Jane Cubberly
- John Barron as Mr. Fredricks
- Eva Griffith as Flora
- Jasper Jacob as Miles
- Megs Jenkins as Mrs. Grose
- Anthony Langdon as Luke (credited as Anthony Lagdon)
- James Laurenson as Peter Quint
- Kathryn Leigh Scott as Miss Jessel
- Benedict Taylor as Timothy
Production
[edit]The film was shot in London, England.[2]
Broadcast
[edit]The film was first broadcast in the USA on April 15, 1974.
Reception
[edit]In an article for the journal e-Rea, author Dennis Tready writes that the film "would have to be considered a landmark teleplay adaptation. Dan Curtis had long been intrigued by James’s short story, Archibald’s stage play and especially Clayton’s film, to such a point that he admits that 'The Turn of the Screw' had a major influence on many episodes of his famous suspense series Dark Shadows."[3]
M. Grant Kellermeyer of oldstyletales.com named it the seventh-best adaptation of the novella, writing that the adaptation "positively drips with the pleasantly campy atmosphere that made 'Dark Shadows' a Gothic icon. [...] Cold, stark, and soapy, this is by no means a high-production masterpiece, but is in many ways among the creepiest adaptations I've seen."[4]
Reviewer Jane Nightshade of horrornews.net called it "a surprisingly good made-for-TV movie" and wrote that "there are flickering candles, over-sized shadows, odd camera angles, secret casks of letters, and portentous musical cues galore. It can all get a bit tedious, but Curtis knows his horror, and inserts a good chill just when the numerous shots of Redgrave wandering in the darkness with a candle start to drag. Full marks to the child actors, Griffith as Flora and Jacob as Miles, with Jacob offering a somewhat different take on Miles (who's been upgraded in the script to teenage status): more sexually knowledgeable, more obnoxious, and more sinister."[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Why We Keep Getting New Adaptations of "The Turn of the Screw"". 9 April 2020.
- ^ "The Turn of the Screw, Filming locations". IMDb. Retrieved 26 September 2017.[unreliable source?]
- ^ Tredy, Dennis (2007). "Shadows of Shadows: Techniques of Ambiguity in Three Film Adaptations of "The Turn of the Screw": Jack Clayton's the Innocents (1961), Dan Curtis's the Turn of the Screw (1974), and Antonio Aloy's Presence of Mind (". E-Rea. 5 (1). doi:10.4000/erea.196.
- ^ "Top 8 Film Adaptations of the Turn of the Screw". 26 February 2019.
- ^ "How Many Times Can They Turn the Screw? The 9 Most Accessible Versions of the World's Most Famous Ghost Story". 20 December 2019.
External links
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