Crescendo (film)

Crescendo
German film poster
Directed by	Alan Gibson
Produced by	Michael Carreras
Written by	Alfred Shaughnessy Jimmy Sangster
Starring	Stefanie Powers James Olson Margaretta Scott
Music by	Malcolm Williamson
Cinematography	Paul Beeson
Production company	Hammer Film Productions
Distributed by	Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (USA)
Release date	7 June 1970
Running time	95 min.
Country	England
Language	English
Budget	£299,000^[1]

Crescendo is a 1970 British psychological thriller film directed by Alan Gibson and starring Stefanie Powers, James Olson and Margaretta Scott.^[2] It was made by Hammer Film Productions.

Plot

Drawn to the spectacular south of France to research the late composer Henry Ryman, music student Susan Roberts (Stefanie Powers) encounters his son, drug-addicted Georges (James Olson) and his eccentric family. Investigating the haunting strains of an unfinished Ryman concerto leads Susan to discover an empty piano… and a brutally savaged mannequin! Georges tells her she’s the lookalike of his lost love. But Susan may not be the only one at the villa with an eerie doppelgänger.

Cast

Stefanie Powers ... Susan Roberts
James Olson ... Georges / Jacques
Margaretta Scott ... Danielle Ryman
Jane Lapotaire ... Lillianne
Joss Ackland ... Carter
Kirsten Lindholm ... Catherine

Production

Alfred Shaughnessy wrote the script in the mid 60s. In 1966, Michael Reeves approached Hammer Films with the script. James Carreras tried for two years to make it with Joan Crawford but could not get financing. In 1969, the project was reactivated, with Jimmy Sangster hired to rewrite the script and Alan Gibson to direct.^[3]

Release

The film was released in the United States theatrically in the fall of 1972. In American theaters, it was paired with the Hammer vampire film Dracula A.D. 1972 starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.

Its performance at the box office was disappointing.^[1]

The film was released to DVD by the Warner Archive Collection in March 2009.

References

1 2 David Hanks Crescendo at EOFFTV 2009 accessed 14 April 2014
↑ http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/30176
↑ Marcus Hearn, The Hammer Vault, Titan Books, 2011 p117

External links

Crescendo on IMDb
Crescendo at Hammer Films

Films directed by Alan Gibson
Crescendo (1970) Goodbye Gemini (1970) Journey to Midnight (1971) Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972) The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973) Checkered Flag or Crash (1977) Churchill and the Generals (1981) A Woman Called Golda (1982) Witness for the Prosecution (1982) Martin's Day (1985)

Hammer Film Productions films

by series

Dracula films	Dracula (1958) The Brides of Dracula (1960) Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968) Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) Scars of Dracula (1970) Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972) The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973) The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)
Frankenstein films	The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958) The Evil of Frankenstein (1964) Frankenstein Created Woman (1967) Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)
Mummy films	The Mummy (1959) The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964) The Mummy's Shroud (1967) Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971)
The Karnstein Trilogy	The Vampire Lovers (1970) Lust for a Vampire (1971) Twins of Evil (1971)
Dick Barton films	Dick Barton: Special Agent (1948) Dick Barton Strikes Back (1949) Dick Barton at Bay (1950)
Quatermass films	The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) Quatermass 2 (1957) Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
Robin Hood films	The Men of Sherwood Forest (1954) Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960) A Challenge for Robin Hood (1967)
On the Buses films	On the Buses (1971) Mutiny on the Buses (1972) Holiday on the Buses (1973)
The Woman in Black films	The Woman in Black (2012) The Woman in Black: Angel of Death (2014)
See also	Hammer filmography

by genre

Gothic horror films	The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960) The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) The Shadow of the Cat (1961) The Phantom of the Opera (1962) The Kiss of the Vampire (1963) The Gorgon (1964) Rasputin the Mad Monk (1966) The Plague of the Zombies (1966) The Reptile (1966) The Witches (1966) The Devil Rides Out (1968) Hands of the Ripper (1971) Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971) Countess Dracula (1971) Vampire Circus (1972) Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter (1974) To the Devil a Daughter (1976)
Horror films	The Mystery of the Mary Celeste (1935) Demons of the Mind (1972) Beyond the Rave (2008) Let Me In (2010) Wake Wood (2011) The Quiet Ones (2014)
Thriller films	The Man in Black (1949) The Black Widow (1951) The Snorkel (1958) Hell Is a City (1960) The Full Treatment (1960) Taste of Fear (1961) Cash on Demand (1961) Maniac (1963) Paranoiac (1963) Nightmare (1964) Fanatic (1965) Hysteria (1965) The Nanny (1965) Crescendo (1970) Straight On till Morning (1972) Fear in the Night (1972)
Science fiction films	Four Sided Triangle (1953) Spaceways (1953) X the Unknown (1956) The Abominable Snowman (1957) The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959) The Damned (1963) The Lost Continent (1968) Moon Zero Two (1969)
Mystery films	Death in High Heels (1947) Dr. Morelle: The Case of the Missing Heiress (1949) The Rossiter Case (1951) Whispering Smith Hits London (1952) Lady in the Fog (1952) Mantrap (1953) The Saint's Return (1953) Blood Orange (1953) The Glass Cage (1955) The Lady Vanishes (1979)
Crime drama films	Cloudburst (1951) The Last Page (1952) Wings of Danger (1952) Stolen Face (1952) The Gambler and the Lady (1953) The Flanagan Boy (1953) 36 Hours (1953) Face the Music (1954) The House Across the Lake (1954) Murder by Proxy (1954) Five Days (1954) A Stranger Came Home (1954) Third Party Risk (1954) Women Without Men (1956)
Drama films	Song of Freedom (1936) Never Look Back (1952) Mask of Dust (1954) Break in the Circle (1955) Never Take Sweets from a Stranger (1960) Captain Clegg (1962) Man at the Top (1973) The Resident (2011)
Action films	Ten Seconds to Hell (1959) The Stranglers of Bombay (1959) The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964) Shatter (1974)
Adventure films	The Jack of Diamonds (1949) Passport to China (1961) The Terror of the Tongs (1961) The Pirates of Blood River (1962) The Scarlet Blade (1963) The Brigand of Kandahar (1965) She (1965) One Million Years B.C. (1966) Prehistoric Women (1967) The Viking Queen (1967) The Vengeance of She (1968) When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970) Creatures the World Forgot (1971)
Comedy films	The Public Life of Henry the Ninth (1935) Sporting Love (1936) The Lady Craved Excitement (1950) Someone at the Door (1950) What the Butler Saw (1950) Life with the Lyons (1954) The Lyons in Paris (1955) Up the Creek (1958) I Only Arsked! (1958) Further Up the Creek (1958) Don't Panic Chaps! (1959) The Ugly Duckling (1959) Watch it, Sailor! (1961) A Weekend with Lulu (1961) The Old Dark House (1963) The Anniversary (1968) That's Your Funeral (1972) Love Thy Neighbour (1973)
War films	The Steel Bayonet (1957) The Camp on Blood Island (1958) Yesterday's Enemy (1959) The Secret of Blood Island (1964)
See also	Hammer filmography

Films by Jimmy Sangster

As writer

A Man on the Beach (1955)
X the Unknown (1956)
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
Dracula (1958)
The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
Intent to Kill (1958)
The Snorkel (1958)
Blood of the Vampire (1958)
The Trollenberg Terror (1958)
Jack the Ripper (1959)
The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959)
The Mummy (1959)
The Brides of Dracula (1960)
The Criminal (1960)
The Siege of Sidney Street (1960)
The Hellfire Club (1961)
The Terror of the Tongs (1961)
Taste of Fear (1961, also producer)
The Pirates of Blood River (1962)
Paranoiac (1963, also producer)
Maniac (1963, also producer)
Nightmare (1964, also producer)
The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964)
Hysteria (1965)
The Nanny (1965, also producer)
Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)
Deadlier Than the Male (1967)
The Anniversary (1968, also producer)
Foreign Exchange (1970, also producer)
Crescendo (1970)
A Taste of Evil (1971)
Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1972)
Scream, Pretty Peggy (1973)
The Legacy (1978)
Ebony, Ivory and Jade (1979, also producer)
No Place to Hide (1981)
The Devil and Max Devlin (1981)

As director

The Horror of Frankenstein (1970, also writer)
Lust for a Vampire (1971)
Fear in the Night (1972, also writer)

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