| Twice-Told Tales | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Sidney Salkow |
| Produced by | Robert E. Kent |
| Written by | Novel: Nathaniel Hawthorne Screenplay: Robert E. Kent |
| Starring | Vincent Price |
| Music by | Richard LaSalle |
| Cinematography | Ellis W. Carter |
| Editing by | Grant Whytock |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | September 1963 |
| Running time | 120 minutes |
| Language | English |
Twice-Told Tales is a 1963 American horror film directed by Sidney Salkow and starring Vincent Price. It is based on three of Nathaniel Hawthorne's stories found in the book Twice-Told Tales: "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" (1837), "Rappaccini's Daughter" (1844), and the novel The House of the Seven Gables (1851).
Contents |
Each of the three sequences is introduced by Vincent Price (in a voice-over). Price also stars in all three narratives.
Two elderly friends, Carl (Sebastian Cabot) and Alex (Price) get together to celebrate Carl Heidegger's 79th birthday. They discover that Heidegger's bride-to-be from 38 years before, Sylvia, is perfectly preserved in her coffin. Heidegger discovers that the water dripping into the coffin has the power to reverse time. Carl and Alex drink it, and become young again. Carl injects the liquid into Sylvia and she comes back to life...only to reveal that she and Alex were secretly lovers. In a struggle Alex kills Carl, but the effects of the water wear off. Sylvia becomes a desiccated skeleton, Carl's body returns to its original age. Alex turns, then goes back to the crypt to find more of the water, only to find that it no longer flows.
In Padua, Giacomo Rappaccini (Price) keeps his daughter Beatrice in the back yard garden. A student next door, Giovanni, sees her and falls in love. One of Giovanni's teachers says that he used to teach with Rappaccini, but he mysteriously quit and locked himself in his house after his wife ran away with a lover. It turns out that Beatrice has been treated with a mysterious exotic plant that makes her touch deadly. Giacomo applied this treatment to his daughter to keep her safe, but it makes her a prisoner. When Giacomo sees the attraction between Giovanni and Beatrice, he knocks out and treats Giovanni as well so they can be together. Giovanni goes to his teacher and gets an experimental antidote. He goes to Beatrice and takes it, but it kills him. Beatrice drinks it as well, killing herself. Giacomo grabs the plant with both hands and its touch kills him.
Gerald Pyncheon (Price) returns to his family house after an absence of 17 years, bringing with him his wife Alice. His sister Hannah, who had been living in the house, tells Alice about the curse put upon Pyncheon men by Matthew Moll, who used to own the house but lost it in a shady deal to the Pyncheon family. Jonathan Moll, a descendant of Matthew, arrives, but he refuses Gerald's offer to give him the house in exchange for the location of a vault where valuable property deeds are stored. Alice becomes haunted by the curse on the house, which eventually leads her to the cellar. Gerald finds her there and discovers the map to the vault. He kills Hannah to keep her share of the inheritance. Gerald traps Alice in the basement grave of Mathew Moll, then goes to the study to find the vault. He opens it, and a skeletal hand inside the vault kills him. Jonathan arrives and takes Alice out of the house, just as it shakes and collapses.