The bare bones of Montague R. James' masterful short story 'Casting of the Runes' have been fleshed out in no uncertain terms in this adaptation by renowned screenwriter Charles Bennett which is directed by Jacques Tourneur, an inspired choice having previously worked wonders on a series of small budget occult horrors for producer Val Lewton at RKO.
One would hazard a guess that a not inconsiderable part of this film's budget was taken up by the salary of obligatory Hollywood import Dana Andrews who is of course worth every cent as his strong, eminently plausible persona makes him perfect casting as a sceptical man of science whose increasing doubts and fears are dramatically effective. His character of Holden replaces the Dunning of the original whilst the brother of the ill-fated Harrington has become his attractive niece played by the appealing Peggy Cummins. Happily the 'romance' element has been kept to a minimum. The clean-shaven satanist Julian Karswell of James' imagining has here acquired a suitably Mephistophelian beard and is given a splendidly subtle portrayal by Niall MacGuiness and there are marvellous turns by notable British eccentrics Athene Seyler, Reginald Beckwith, Liam Redmond and Brian Wilde. For filmic purposes the dreaded 'time allowed' has been condensed from three months to thee days.
The only fly in the ointment it seems was the meddling producer Hal E. Chester who not only tried to tell Tourneur how to direct but insisted on ramping up the 'horror' element which was totally opposed to Tourneur's emphasis on suggestion rather than depiction. The bone of contention, needless to say, was Chester's conception of the 'fearful fiend' and Bennett later said the 'introduction of the demon took a major movie down to the level of crap'. Mr. Andrews comment was more succinct: "Chester was a schmuck".
The effectiveness or otherwise of the mythical beast has long since divided critics and audiences alike but that aside, it is the performances, script, editing, cinematography, art direction, score and not least Tourneur's restrained direction which enable the film to triumph as one of the most accomplished of its type.
I would heartily recommend a reading of James' original. It won't take you long!
One would hazard a guess that a not inconsiderable part of this film's budget was taken up by the salary of obligatory Hollywood import Dana Andrews who is of course worth every cent as his strong, eminently plausible persona makes him perfect casting as a sceptical man of science whose increasing doubts and fears are dramatically effective. His character of Holden replaces the Dunning of the original whilst the brother of the ill-fated Harrington has become his attractive niece played by the appealing Peggy Cummins. Happily the 'romance' element has been kept to a minimum. The clean-shaven satanist Julian Karswell of James' imagining has here acquired a suitably Mephistophelian beard and is given a splendidly subtle portrayal by Niall MacGuiness and there are marvellous turns by notable British eccentrics Athene Seyler, Reginald Beckwith, Liam Redmond and Brian Wilde. For filmic purposes the dreaded 'time allowed' has been condensed from three months to thee days.
The only fly in the ointment it seems was the meddling producer Hal E. Chester who not only tried to tell Tourneur how to direct but insisted on ramping up the 'horror' element which was totally opposed to Tourneur's emphasis on suggestion rather than depiction. The bone of contention, needless to say, was Chester's conception of the 'fearful fiend' and Bennett later said the 'introduction of the demon took a major movie down to the level of crap'. Mr. Andrews comment was more succinct: "Chester was a schmuck".
The effectiveness or otherwise of the mythical beast has long since divided critics and audiences alike but that aside, it is the performances, script, editing, cinematography, art direction, score and not least Tourneur's restrained direction which enable the film to triumph as one of the most accomplished of its type.
I would heartily recommend a reading of James' original. It won't take you long!