#helene thimig

[hauntedbystorytelling]

Thimig by Fleischmann · 1929

Trude Fleischmann (1895–1990) ~ Helene Thimig in riding outfit, Vienna, 1929. Vintage silver print, sepia-toned, on postcard paper | src Ostlicht view more on wordPress

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Helene Thimig on a vintage postcard

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Cloak and Dagger (1946) Fritz Lang

February 11th 2023

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BLOGTOBER 10/4/2022: ISLE OF THE DEAD (1945)

ISLE OF THE DEAD tells you what it's up to right away when it makes the following, rather accusative statement:

"Under conquest and oppression the people of Greece allowed their legends to degenerate into superstition; the Goddess Aphrodite giving way to the Vorvolaka."

I don't know if I'm ready to dissect the idea that this Greek vampire concept is a specific corruption of the goddess of love and fertility…but it's certainly an option! In the meantime, if you must allow your legends to degenerate, at least let it be under conquest and oppression. In spite of this transparent setup for a thriller whose central villain is delusional belief, the film is still surprising and disturbing in execution. It is the fourth collaboration of producer Val Lewton with director Mark Robson (following horror outings THE SEVENTH VICTIM and GHOST SHIP), and scribe Ardel Wray (on the heels of I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE and THE LEOPARD MAN), and it is as beguiling and sophisticated as that may suggest.

The 1945 production takes place during the Balkan Wars of 1912, planting the viewer in the middle of a veritable potters field of dead and dying soldiers (causing me to wonder how many graphically cynical movies about war were produced in the US at this time). In this setting, plucky American journalist Oliver Davis (Marc Cramer) encounters the singularly dogmatic General Pherides (Boris Karloff)—also known as the Watchdog—in the midst of executing a commanding officer for allowing his troops to lag during a deployment. After Oliver witlessly insults the memory of the General's wife, he promises to accompany him to the island where the the woman is buried. Jarringly, they find that all the tombs there have been looted, and now they are trapped with a group of people beset by septicemic plague. There, as the opening text suggests, the native Greeks are overcome by their inveterate cultural fear of vampires, as the international characters wait and pray for the arid sirroco winds to arrive and burn off the pestilence.

The Watchdog is proud of having survived a rural, superstitious upbringing to become a man of strict reason. Unfortunately, this is soon undone by the poisonous whispers of Madame Kyra (Helene Thimig), the housekeeper of his host, Swiss archeologist Dr. Aubrecht (Jason Robards, Sr.). The two focus their phobia on lovely young Thea (Ellen Drew), who isn't sickly enough for their liking as the other guests rapidly waste away. Madame Kyra appeals to the Watchdog's Greek heritage, convincing him that whatever fears prick up in him are the result of his latent ability to perceive things that the foreigners cannot. Thus emboldened, the General destroys any means of escape and subjects Thea to a campaign of terror and surveillance, driving the whole episode to an inevitably violent, hysterical conclusion.

Though we don't doubt that the supernatural element of the story lies only in the minds of Kyra and the Watchdog, ISLE OF THE DEAD still weaves a hallucinatory spell that deranges one's rational feeling. The island itself is designed after symbolist painter Arnold Böcklin's popular painting of the same name, which is generally regarded to depict the psychopomp Charon transporting souls to their final destination. Layers of spiritual belief—folk, hermetic, christian—overlap as the doomed characters cry out for aid when science fails to save them. A feverish hand-washing montage is one of the most striking images in the film, and the logical explanation for various disturbing events provides little comfort: for instance, Dr. Aubrecht's confession that the grave robberies were ultimately his fault, as he made it so profitable for the locals to provide him with artifacts to study. It seems that destructive spiritual belief has snuck in where civilized society has collapsed, reinforcing order in its own perverse way.

Order itself is always in question in ISLE OF THE DEAD, as various ideologies compete with and destroy each other, rather than falling into a hierarchy. The Watchdog receives a cold welcome from those on the island who remember his ruthless tax collection techniques. "Who is against the law of Greece is not a Greek!" he defends himself, and Thea retorts, "Laws can be wrong, laws can be cruel. And the people who live only by the law are both wrong and cruel." Her statement applies both to his military career, and to the resurgence of his faith in the folklore with which he was raised. In the bigger picture, these people are failed even by the laws of hygiene, as one after another of them succumbs to the plague, and standard medical procedures fail to determine who is properly dead, and who is still alive.

In this sense ISLE OF THE DEAD is a truly apocalyptic film, in which one is failed just as badly by spirituality as by established scientific principle. Even the line between life and death is unreasonably hard to determine, which surely reflects the psychological state of affairs for people just barely emerging from World War II. I'm sure finer minds than mine have commented on this extensively, so I'll leave it there, but regardless of your historical acumen, the film remains a singularly haunting work of 20th century art.

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7 novembre … ricordiamo …

7 novembre … ricordiamo … #semprevivineiricordi #nomidaricordare #personaggiimportanti #perfettamentechic

2022: Leslie Phillips, Leslie Samuel Phillips, attore britannico, conosciuto inizialmente solo come attore comico, più tardi ha iniziato ad interpretare ruoli caratteristici. La sua prima apparizione cinematografica risale agli anni trenta, quando era ancora un bambino. Dopo il suo matrimonio con Angela Scoular nel 1982, l’attore decise di dare una svolta alla sua carriera, abbandonando i lavori…

[365filmsbyauroranocte]

Strangers in the Night (Anthony Mann, 1944)

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Strangers in the Night (1944)  

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Director: Anthony Mann

Cinematographer: Reggie Lanning

Performers: Edith Barrett & Helene Thimig

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A Ilha Dos Mortos (Isle of the Dead) - 1945 - Filme

Nikolas Pherides (Boris Karloff) takes leave from the 1912 Balkan War to visit a small island in Greece, where his wife is buried. While there, a plague breaks out -- and along with an American reporter (Marc Cramer) and several other travelers, Pherides is forced to stay when quarantine is declared. Soon, locals and foreigners alike succumb to the influence of Madame Kyra (Helene Thimig), who accuses a nurse (Ellen Drew) of being a vampiric kind of demon called a vorvolaka and the true cause of the recent deaths.

https://filmfreedonia.com/2008/01/15/isle-of-the-dead-1945/

https://cinemelodic.es/critica-la-isla-de-la-muerte-1945/

[byneddiedingo]

Isle of the Dead (Mark Robson, 1945)

Cast: Boris Karloff, Ellen Drew, Marc Cramer, Katherine Emery, Helene Thimig, Alan Napier, Jason Robards Sr., Ernst Deutsch. Screenplay: Ardel Wray. Cinematography: Jack MacKenzie. Art direction: Albert S. D’Agostino, Walter E. Keller. Film editing: Lyle Boyer. Music: Leigh Harline.

Two famous works of art haunt (I use the obvious word intentionally) the film Isle of the Dead. The obvious one is Arnold Böcklin's painting of that name, five versions of which he painted from 1880 to 1901, the year of his death. The image is re-created early in the movie, when the Greek Gen. Nikolas Pherides (Boris Karloff) and an American reporter, Oliver Davis (Marc Cramer) sail to a Greek island to visit the grave of the general's daughter. But the other, less obvious work that comes to my mind is Francisco Goya's aquatint etching The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, one of the images he created for the series Los caprichos in the late 1790s. In it, a man slumped at his desk is surrounded by menacing bats and owls. Producer Val Lewton's celebrated series of moody psychological horror movies in the 1940s typically depict conflicts between the scientific, rational mind and manifestations of superstition and myth. In the film, the island is swept by what a doctor (Ernst Deutsch) diagnoses as septicemic plague, but the superstitious resident of the island, Madame Kyra, believes it's caused by a vorvolaka, a vampire-like creature she thinks is embodied in the pretty young Thea (Ellen Drew), who is nursing the sickly Mrs. St. Aubyn (Katherine Emery). And when the doctor himself dies, the superstitious view begins to win out, especially with the general. But the narrative track of the movie, which inevitably includes a romance between the reporter and Thea, and which tends to come apart at the seams a little toward the end, matters less than the creepy effect it creates, including such horrors as the fear of being buried alive. Karloff gives the best performance, of course, as he degenerates from the imperious general who calmly sends a delinquent officer off to commit suicide into a man gripped by terrors he can't face. 

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | Isle of the Dead (Robson, 1945)

If Boris Karloff is in a movie, there's a good chance I'll enjoy it, and I think his performance here goes a long way in warming me up to this movie. He plays a Greek general during the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, and when we first meet him, we see him order an officer shot for abandoning his unit and forcing his troops to carry supplies instead of putting them on horses. I think in another movie, or with another actor, this character could have easily come across as a cruel authoritarian, and indeed, that's how the other characters see him. But here, you get the sense that this is not a cruel man deep down, but one who has been forced into cruelty by a cruel situation. I recently watched Barbarian, which I highly recommend going into as blind as possible, but there's a bit there about a character chewing over whether they're a bad person or a good person who did a bad thing, and I think that thought very much applies to Karloff's character here. Of course it helps that Karloff has spent his career imbuing monsters with a certain humanity, so that we understand why he's doing what he's doing even if we might not be inclined to agree with his actions.

Of course, his actions are probably easier to sympathize with if you're watching this movie now. His character finds himself stuck on a secluded island during a deadly plague, and the last thing he wants to do is to have the inhabitants or his soldiers get infected. So naturally he defers to the doctor and enforces a strict quarantine protocol. Nobody gets in or out. Of course the other characters plead with him about he inhumane he's being, but I dunno, most of what he says seems pretty reasonable to me. Of course, as this is a horror movie, it's possible that what's killing the inhabitants might not be a plague after all, and after their efforts prove futile, Karloff's mental state deteriorates, and he becomes convinced that the unexpectedly youthful and healthy Ellen Drew is a vorvolaka (or vampire, essentially) and reorients his efforts to protect the others from her. Again, the characters (this time more rightfully) plead with him to change his mind, but one, he probably goes easier on her than someone else might, and Karloff plays his character with enough sympathy that we do feel for him, even as he's going off the deep end.

So Karloff is great, and Drew is good, as is Helene Thimig as the old crone who keeps putting bad ideas and superstitions in Karloff's ear. The problem is that the bulk of this is a chamber piece, where Karloff goes room to room discussing the proceedings with a bunch of significantly less charismatic actors. Meaning that I was leaning very heavily on my affinity for Karloff to enjoy a good chunk of this, although I should disclose that this ploy succeeded. As this is a Val Lewton production, there is some nice shadowy, windy atmosphere at the bookends, particularly in the almost abstract depiction of the battlegrounds in which the opening is set.

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ISLE OF THE DEAD (1945) – Episode 163 – Decades Of Horror: The Classic Era

“I meet my old familiar enemy, Death. I’ve fought him before. I’ve won, often. Now he wins. Let him come for me.” Yes, Death is a resident of this particular island. Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Chad Hunt, Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Doc Rotten, and Jeff Mohr – as they journey to an island cemetery off the coast of Greece in Val Lewton’s Isle of the Dead (1945).

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 163 – Isle of the Dead (1945)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

ANNOUNCEMENT Decades of Horror The Classic Era is partnering with THE CLASSIC SCI-FI MOVIE CHANNEL, THE CLASSIC HORROR MOVIE CHANNEL, and WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL Which all now include video episodes of The Classic Era! Available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, Online Website. Across All OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop. https://classicscifichannel.com/; https://classichorrorchannel.com/; https://wickedhorrortv.com/

On a Greek island during the 1912 war, several people are trapped by quarantine for the plague. If that isn’t enough worry, one of the people, a superstitious old peasant woman, suspects one young girl of being a vampiric kind of demon called a vorvolaka.

  Directed by: Mark Robson

Writing Credits: Ardel Wray; Val Lewton (uncredited), Josef Mischel (uncredited)

Produced by: Val Lewton (producer); Jack J. Gross (executive producer) 

Music by: Leigh Harline

Cinematography by: Jack MacKenzie (director of photography)

Selected Cast:

Boris Karloff as Gen. Nikolas Pherides

Ellen Drew as Thea

Marc Cramer as Oliver Davis

Katherine Emery as Mrs. Mary St. Aubyn

Helene Thimig as Madame Kyra

Alan Napier as St. Aubyn

Jason Robards Sr. as Albrecht (as Jason Robards)

Ernst Deutsch as Dr. Drossos (as Ernst Dorian)

Skelton Knaggs as Andrew Robbins (uncredited)

Sherry Hall as Col. Kobestes (uncredited)

Erick Hanson as Officer (uncredited)

Rose Hobart as Mrs. Mary St. Aubyn (in long shot) (uncredited)

The Grue-Crew join producer Val Lewton, director Mark Robson, and legend Boris Karloff for a quietly creepy and haunting masterpiece from RKO Radio Pictures, Isle of the Dead (1945). This is the second of three films Lewton and Karloff would make together (along with Bedlam and The Body Snatcher) and the fourth of five films Lewton would make with Robson. The tagline promises, “Will Keep You Screaming!” – and, this time, it just might. Check out what Chad, Daphne, and Jeff take away from this undeniable classic.

Here are the other Decades of Horror Classic Era episodes on Lewton-produced movies:

CAT PEOPLE (1942) – Episode 37 – Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

THE BODY SNATCHER (1945) – Episode 66 – Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943) – Episode 97 – Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

At the time of this writing, Isle of the Dead can be found streaming from multiple PPV sites and is currently available on disc as a Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era records a new episode every two weeks. Up next in their very flexible schedule, as chosen by Daphne, is The Head (1959), a German film whose original title is Die Nackte und der Satan. Head transplants, a hunchbacked nun, and a sexy dancer. You definitely won’t want to miss this one!

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: leave them a message or leave a comment on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel, the site, or email the Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com

To each of you from each of them, “Thank you so much for watching and listening!”

Check out this episode!

[postcard-from-the-past]

Helene Thimig on a German vintage postcard

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Strangers in the Night (1944) Anthony Mann

May 6th 2024

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Isle of the Dead

Less a horror film than a meditation on mortality and, dare I suggest it, homosexual desire, Mark Robson’s ISLE OF THE DEAD (1945, Criterion and TCM) may not be the most successful of his films for producer Val Lewton’s B horror unit at RKO, but it’s certainly one of the most fascinating. The tale of a tyrannical Greek general (Boris Karloff) quarantined at an island cemetery because of a plague has moments of sheer poetry punctuated by prosaic shots and line readings that drag everything down to earth. The only house on the island is home to a failed archaeologist (Jason Robards, Sr.), whose housekeeper (German theatre legend Helen Thimig, doing the Mrs. Danvers role) is convinced a serving girl (Ellen Drew) is a vorvolaka, a demon spirit that feeds on the living. Karloff dismisses the idea until his young friend (Marc Cramer, one of the weakest romantic leads in Lewton’s films) finds himself attracted to the girl. Drew looks great but keeps breaking the spell with some leaden line-readings and moments of dramatic mugging. Fortunately, Karloff, Thimig and Katherine Emery, as Drew’s employer, carry the acting. The film’s dramatic centerpiece is a long sequence in which Emery, who is subject to catatonic trances, is buried alive. Composer Leigh Harline created a moody score for the film, much of it copied form Rachmaninoff’s “Isle of the Dead,” and had the wisdom to let the burial scene and some other key moments play out in silence. Robson keeps losing control of the material (he was no Jacques Tourneur or Robert Wise, and cinematographer Jack McKenzie was no Nicholas Musuraca), but the film still builds in power. The tension between what works and what doesn’t almost adds another level to the film, a consideration of the near futility of achieving artistic goals in a studio system focused primarily on commodification.

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7 novembre … ricordiamo …

7 novembre... … ricordiamo … #semprevivineiricordi #nomidaricordare #personaggiimportanti #perfettamentechic

2021: Dean Stockwell, attore statunitense. Figlio degli attori Harry Stockwell e Nina Olivette. Esordisce bambino, all’età di sette anni, (1945), a fianco di Frank Sinatra e Gene Kelly. Si allontana dal grande schermo per alcuni anni, ritornandovi ormai adulto per un altro ruolo da protagonista nel drammatico Frenesia del delitto (1959). Stockwell ha sposato l’attrice Millie Perkins nel 1960…