The Haunting **** (1963, Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, Russ Tamblyn) – Classic Movie Review 2282

Director Robert Wise’s smooth and seamless classic 1963 chiller stars Richard Johnson, Claire Bloom, Russ Tamblyn and Julie Harris.

In the famous story, four people stay over at an evil dark old New England mansion where a ghostly presence manifests itself in horrific and deadly ways. Wise’s haunting British-made thriller boasts a gripping story, polished performances and elegant, atmospheric direction.

Johnson stars as Dr John Markway, whose research into the existence of ghosts leads him to investigate Hill House, a large, eerie mansion with a lurid history of violent death and insanity. With him at the house are the sceptical young Luke Sanderson (Tamblyn), who stands to inherit the home, the mysterious and clairvoyant Theodora (Bloom) and the insecure psychic Eleanor Lance (Harris).

The scary, but literate and intelligent screenplay by Nelson Gidding is based on Shirley Jackson’s novel The Haunting of Hill House. David Boulton’s black and white widescreen cinematography is also very striking.

The Haunting is eerie, special and extremely well done. It was remade in 1999 in an amusing movie that you nevertheless can’t say any of these things about.

Also in the cast are Lois Maxwell, Valentine Dyall, Fay Compton, Rosalie Crutchley, Diane Clare, Ronald Adam and Freda Knorr.

Visually, the sharp contrast of the house against the dark sky and the clouds was achieved by using infra-red film stock.

British actor Richard Johnson, who appeared in such films as Deadlier than the Male, Khartoum and The Pumpkin Eater but turned down an offer to play James Bond in Dr No, died on June 6 2015, aged 87.  Johnson, who was married to actress Kim Novak in the 1960s, died after a short illness at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea, London.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2282

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