"Eye of the Devil" airs Wed

[Philippe Cordier]

"Eye of the Devil" airs Wednesday afternoon on TCM.  In my time zone (central), it's at 4:30 p.m.  I won't attempt to adjust the time for Eastern or Pacific time zones for fear of getting it wrong.

The final scene of this movie appears to me to have inspired the final scene in "Night of Dark Shadows."  Without wanting to give too much away, just think of the mansion (or chateau in "Eye"), the car about to depart from it, and someone going back inside ...

One of my favorite things about this movie are the many dream/trance/hypnotic states that thread the movie from nearly the first scene to the last.

[Charles_Ellis]

That, and seeing Sharon Tate in her first major role!!!!

[Gothick]

On today's IMDB there's a short notice about a lawsuit Roman Polanski is mounting against the magazine Vanity Fair.  A quote:

Polanski told jurors it was the most upsetting article about him he's ever read, because it suggests he did not care about his wife. He told the jury of nine men and three women, "This was the worst thing ever written about me. It's absolutely not true. I was in shock when I read it. But I think it was particularly hurtful, because it dishonors my memory of Sharon. It's all lies. That's not the way I behave. Still I had some honour. Still I have it now. Sharon was sweet, bright, brilliant. She had a great sense of humor. She was in my eyes the perfect woman." The 71-year-old gave evidence from France via video link for the case to avoid extradition to America, where he's wanted for questioning on child sex charges dating back to 1977.  (end quote)

Despite the jokes made back in the day about her putative lack of acting ability, I thought Tate had a rare, luminous quality that makes her few roles very memorable.  Her performance in Eye of the Devil was one of her finest.  Apparently there is a short film that was made about her work on the movie.  Would be fun to see sometime.

G.

[Charles_Ellis]

The short in question is called "All Eyes on Sharon Tate".  It's a great fluff piece on Sharon as an up-and coming starlet, complete with her dancing the night away at a London disco with costar David Hemmings.  Odds are that TCM will show it just before or after "Eye of The Devil" is shown- I'll probably program my VCR 1/2 hour before and after the film is shown so I can see this fab short again.  One thing about Sharon's performance as Odile in "Eye" is that she has this haunting otherworldy quality that makes you believe that she realy could be a witch.  Also, she lowers her usual voice down an octave to a sinister mid-Altantic whisper.  Kinda like what happened to Joan Bennett when she went from blonde ingenue to brunette siren.

BTW, Deborah Kerr was a last-minute replacement for Kim Novak, who had been injured in an accident just before filming was to begin.

[Philippe Cordier]

The short in question is called "All Eyes on Sharon Tate".  It's a great fluff piece on Sharon as an up-and coming starlet, complete with her dancing the night away at a London disco with costar David Hemmings.  Odds are that TCM will show it just before or after "Eye of The Devil" is shown- I'll probably program my VCR 1/2 hour before and after the film is shown so I can see this fab short again.

I'd forgotten about that documentary short - thanks for mentioning it.  I'll try to program my VCR for 10 mins before and 10 mins after the movie, but will need to check the movie length to see if all of that will fit on a VHS in SP.  I've seen it on the TCM website and I think it runs about 10 mins.  Seems to me there were some good shots of the chateau and also some clips of the director.

One thing about Sharon's performance as Odile in "Eye" is that she has this haunting otherworldy quality that makes you believe that she realy could be a witch.  Also, she lowers her usual voice down an octave to a sinister mid-Altantic whisper.  Kinda like what happened to Joan Bennett when she went from blonde ingenue to brunette siren.

Her voicework on this is very good.  Perhaps paced a bit too slowly and carefully, but quite effective.

BTW, Deborah Kerr was a last-minute replacement for Kim Novak, who had been injured in an accident just before filming was to begin.

I love Kim Novak in Vertigo (as Madeline anyway), and she would probably have been more appropriate in terms of age as the mother of young children than Deborah Kerr.  But Kerr's performance is top-notch.

[ClaudeNorth]

Thanks for the tip.  Maybe this time I'll get to see it. 

[Philippe Cordier]

On today's IMDB there's a short notice about a lawsuit Roman Polanski is mounting against the magazine Vanity Fair.  A quote:

Polanski told jurors it was the most upsetting article about him he's ever read, because it suggests he did not care about his wife. He told the jury of nine men and three women, "This was the worst thing ever written about me. It's absolutely not true. I was in shock when I read it. But I think it was particularly hurtful, because it dishonors my memory of Sharon. It's all lies.  (end quote)

I saw on a news crawl last night that Mia Farrow ("Rosemary's Baby") is testifying in support of Polanski.  Apparently the article says Polanski tried to seduce a woman on the way to his wife's funeral.

ClaudeNorth, hope you remembered the movie this time.     I think it will re-air a second time late in August, then it probably won't be on again for quite a while.

I'm not at home so I'll be anxious to check my tape when I get back to see if the short piece on Sharon Tate was shown.

[Midnite]

I'm not at home so I'll be anxious to check my tape when I get back to see if the short piece on Sharon Tate was shown.

It was.  For those without TCM, a topic from 2003 about this movie has a direct link to "All Eyes on Sharon Tate."  Click the link below to access the post that contains a direct link to the featurette:

Re: "Eye of the Devil" and Dark Shadows