Crescendo

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Alan Gibson; Produced by Michael Carreras for Hammer Films; Released in America by Warner Brothers. Screenplay by Jimmy Sangster and Alfred Shaughnessy; Photography by Paul Beeson; Edited by Chris Barnes; Music by Malcolm Williamson. Starring: Stefanie Powers, James Olson, Jane Lapotaire, Margaretta Scott and Joss Ackland.

Tight little, well-constructed old-fashioned "psycho" horror thriller, with Stefanie in an ultra-short white nightgown. Depicts interesting and ominous possessive/sexual relationships among the characters and features fine soft-focus, slow-motion nightmares, plus brief exploitation of Olson's paralyzed legs a la Tod Browning's "Freaks".

Although Britain's Hammer Films is mostly known for their Gothic horrors (Frankenstein, Dracula, etc.), they also had a long series of "psycho" movies from "Scream of Fear" in 1962 to "Straight On 'til Morning" in 1973, which were in many ways even better (they definitely were by the 1970's) than their Gothics. This movie came fairly late in the cycle and perhaps isn't the best, but it is pretty decent. The story, as another reviewer said, is definitely "unusual". It isn't necessarily good and it isn't remotely believable, but it is certainly unusual. An American nurse (Stefanie Powers)comes to a secluded English mansion to care for the invalid adult son of a famous deceased composer. Right away she knows something is amiss. The sultry maid (Jane LaPortare)seems to have the guy addicted to drugs (and sex with her) and is using them to cruelly manipulate him. And SOMEBODY keeps playing the dead composer's music. . .The end is pretty absurd, but fun--and definitely surprising.

I had one big problem with this though. Apparently, they originally filmed this with some nude scenes by Stefanie Powers. Americans of a certain age will definitely remember Powers from the early 80's TV series "Hart to Hart" where she and Robert Wagner played husband-and-wife detectives. As Lionel Stander (who played the couple's butler "Max") said of her every week in the opening narration of the show: "She's GORGEOUS!!"-- which had to be the biggest understatement in the history of television. Anyway, some sick, depraved person seemed to have cut out her alleged nude scenes in the version I saw. Maybe some horny projectionist clipped them out and took them home for his, personal, um, use, but more likely it was someone trying to "protect society" (from what, God only knows). LaPortare (who is attractive, but a mere mortal compared to Powers) also seems to have received some unkind cuts, but she does have a brief nude swimming scene.

I don't mean to go on about this. It's still a worthwhile movie, but WHY must people do stuff like this?!

American Susan Roberts (Stefanie Powers) goes to the south of France to research the late composer Henry Ryman. She is staying with his family. There are his widow wife Danielle (Margaretta Scott) and his wheelchair-bound son Georges (James Olson).

This is a Hammer horror. Like a lot of them, they're not actually scary. It's more a psychological thriller with some injected nudity to try to make it erotic. It doesn't get sexier than Stefanie Powers but the movie drags. The flashbacks are too clunky. I really don't like shooting the pool scenes in a studio. There is something inferior about this and it annoys me. Besides all that, the bigger sin is the lack of tension, thrills, or scares. I guess it has a few thrills in the final section but it's too little, too late.

For her masters degree in music, Susan Roberts (Stefanie Powers) intends to write a thesis on the late composer Henry Ryman and accepts an invitation to stay at the Ryman villa in the south of France, home to Henry's widow Danielle, her wheelchair-bound son Georges (James Olson), and their staff: manservant Carter (Joss Ackland) and maid Lillianne (Jane Lapotaire). However, soon after arriving, Susan realises that something is very wrong in the Ryman household.

This psychological horror from Hammer is admittedly slow-moving, and instead of building to a crescendo, it closes with a rather trite twist that I imagine most will have seen coming a mile off. That said, the film does score major points with its fine cast of five, who deliver memorable performances despite the predictability of the script. The gorgeous Stefanie Powers is terrific as the woman-in-peril, proving a far more capable actress than her role in Hart to Hart ever suggested; Ackland is very effective as menacing manservant Carter; Olson is required to run the gamut from pitiful to deranged, and does so admirably; Scott is relatively restrained, but still acquits herself well as the clearly not-quite-right matriarch; and Lapotaire steals every scene she is in, oozing sultriness with a side-order of insanity.

Those looking for horror in this particular Hammer outing might be disappointed by the one murder, but the film offers up some sleaze by way of compensation, with Georges revealed to be a heroin addict who is sexually teased by Lillianne, who wants to become his wife so that she can quit her job and live the high life. Lapotaire strips off several times, most notably for a naked swim in the Ryman pool, while Powers flaunts her bod in a blue bikini and briefly gets topless for a dream sequence.

Not nearly as bad as others might have you believe, this is definitely worth checking out if you've enjoyed Hammer's other psychological thrillers (or if you've always wanted to see Jennifer Hart's jubblies).

This is a thriller from England's Hammer studios and not a TV movie as some comments have suggested. A woman arrives at a country estate to write a thesis on a dead classical composer. While she's there, she becomes involved in a twisted tale involving infidelity and murder and finds her own life in jeopardy. Warner Brothers released this uncut and rated R but later cut it down to PG and used it on double bills with Dracula AD 72 and WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH. WHEN DINOSAURS was cut down to a G rating and seeing as Warner's is releasing Dracula AD later this year, maybe they can get around to their other remaining Hammer properties. It would be great to see CRESCENDO AND DINOSAURS get uncut R1 DVD releases.