We often make connections when exploring a new avenue in the arts that are purposeful. For example, someone sees their first Fellini film, say, La Strada, and becomes excited to seek out more of his work. Other times, the connection is accidental. Someone sees and loves Mystery of the Wax Museum, then The Adventures of Robin Hood, then Casablanca, loves all three and only then realizes they were all directed by the same person, Michael Curtiz (we have to assume they came in after the credits, of course). This happened to me recently, starting with a write-up here of Dear Murderer, followed a couple of weeks later by Highly Dangerous, that culminated in me ruminating on my favorite horror anthology movie, one of the best of its kind. We’ll get to that in a minute. First, let’s talk about the Boxes.
It was producer Betty Box who guided the production of Dear Murderer from its inception to its execution. She brought on her brother, Sydney Box, and his wife, Muriel Box, to write the screenplay, after she became Head of Production at Gainsborough Studio, part of the Rank Organization. Sydney and Muriel were hot properties at the time having just come off an Oscar win for their screenplay for The Seventh Veil. Dear Murderer, starring Greta Gynt, Jack Warner, and Dennis Price, so entertained me that I decided to write it up here. I chose Dear Murderer to watch because, lately, I’ve been on a sort of crime/mystery/thriller/noir kick. No straight ahead dramas or comedies or sci-fi or family films. The last movies I’ve written up here have been Raw Deal, The Onion Field, Manhunt, Impact, Dear Murderer, and Highly Dangerous.
That last one, Highly Dangerous, was directed by Roy Ward Baker, a director I admire for his ability to make the banal interesting, the routine extraordinary. I wrote him up, along with Eric Ambler, the movie’s writer, just last week and decided, finally, to get off the whole thriller/crime kick and watch something a little lighter. Scrolling through endless options on comedies from the forties (it’s the decade I search on most often online when trying to find a movie to watch which is why every movie listed above, save The Onion Field, is a forties movie or close with Highly Dangerous released in 1950), I came upon one called Easy Money from 1948. It was a British movie telling four separate tales of people winning the national football pool and, I thought, why not? I turned it on and started watching only to discover soon after that it starred, among many others, Greta Gynt, Jack Warner, and Dennis Price. Hey, how about that, I thought, the same people from Dear Murderer. Then I saw the writing credits: Sydney and Muriel Box. At this point, having happened upon this through pure serendipity, I figured I was in for a good time given how much I liked their previous effort.
Unfortunately, I was disappointed. Not on the whole and, actually, not unexpectedly but disappointed nonetheless. You see, I am rarely completely satisfied with anthology movies. They often contain one standout story with two or three surrounding weaker ones. In this case, the first story, about a father (Jack Warner) who wins the football pool only to see his family’s unity become threatened, was well written and acted and provided several keen observations. The others, including the one with Greta Gynt and Dennis Price, were only so-so at best. They were mildly entertaining but not on the level of the first story. In fact, the first story was so strong, and so detailed, it could have easily been stretched out further to become the whole movie. It runs nearly 45 minutes already and honestly felt a little rushed, as if it was closed out quickly to make room for the other three stories which, combined, have the same running time as the first story.
All of this got me to thinking about anthology movies. The first thought that came to mind was how few of them aren’t horror. In pure numbers, there may be plenty that aren’t horror, from Easy Money and Boccaccio 70 to New York Stories and Night on Earth, but in terms of ratio, a far greater percentage of anthology films are horror films than any other genre. The second thought was, why? Why are so many anthology films horror-based? Is it because it’s easier to put together short shocking vignettes than short comedies or short melodramas? Probably. I think mainly it’s because they mimic the campfire story. No one sits around the campfire and tells short, terse tales of romantic comedy or family drama (“And then, they all had an intervention and father never drank again.”). They tell ghost stories and tales of horror. The anthology film works perfectly to mimic that on the big screen, a way to provide the viewer with multiple jolts and shocks.
As I thought about this, I started thinking of some of my favorites in the genre. First, the Roger Corman directed, Vincent Price starring, Tales of Terror came to mind. My wife and I have watched that so many times I’ve lost count. Then I thought of another classic with Vincent Price, Twice-Told Tales, another movie revisited by my wife and I often. Then I thought of the television classic, Trilogy of Terror, with Karen Black and the even more classic Freddie Francis directed Tales from the Crypt, from 1972. I thought of all of these until my mind finally settled on, as it always does, what I believe may well be my favorite horror anthology film so far made, Asylum, also released in 1972.
The movie not only has four interesting stories, well told and easily repeatable around a campfire if necessary (though the final one is a bit too silly it still works brilliantly in wrapping up the movie, although the real reason to watch is the Peter Cushing story, if only to see his magnificent performance), it also has a superb framing device as a new candidate for Chief Doctor arrives (Robert Powell) and is instructed by the director (Patrick Magee) that a former head of the asylum is now an inmate and if Powell can deduce, through interviews with four inmates, which is the former head, he will get the job. It keeps Powell as well as the audience guessing and provides for a chilling turn just before the credits roll.
Then I thought, “Here I am trying to get away from crime/thriller/mystery movies for a while and I’m thinking about watching Asylum again.” And then, even though it hadn’t crossed my mind until that moment, I remembered who directed Asylum: Roy Ward Baker. I guess I’ll have to try a little harder.