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The Old Dark House

Year:

1963

Duration:

USA:86 min | UK:77 min (original cinema release) (cut)

Genres:

Comedy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

IMDB rate:

5.4

Director:

William Castle

Details

Country: UK

Release Date: 1963-10-31

Filming Locations: Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London, England, UK

Cast

Actor

Character

Fenella Fielding

Tom Poston

Tom Penderel

Robert Morley

Roderick Femm

Janette Scott

Cecily Femm

Joyce Grenfell

Agatha Femm

Mervyn Johns

Potiphar Femm

Peter Bull

Caspar Femm / Jasper Femm

Danny Green

Morgan Femm

John Harvey

Club Receptionist

Charles Addams

Hand in Title Sequence (uncredited)

Amy Dalby

Gambler (uncredited)

Did you know?

Trivia

The drawings in the title sequence were by Charles Addams, whose whole career was inspired by the 1932 version of The Old Dark House (1932) (of which this is a remake).

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Although filmed with a color negative, the film was released in black-and-white.

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Boris Karloff, who played the sinister butler Morgan in The Old Dark House (1932), was offered a role in this one as well but turned it down because he didn't like the script and considered it too biased towards comedy instead of horror.

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Goofs

In the opening credits, William Castle is credited as director twice: first "Written and directed by William Castle" followed immediately by "Directed by William Castle."

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When Jasper claims his mother "never spent a penny!", the dubbed word we hear is 'penny', yet the word he clearly says with his mouth is 'shilling', probably because American audiences would not understand what a 'shilling' is.

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Many of Uncle Potiphar's animals are stuffed mounts, with the live "hyena" being an obvious wolf or dog.

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Quotes

Tom Penderel: You, uh... why, you must be very lonely. Well, I mean, uh, all alone...

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Agatha Femm: [Knitting] I capture time and space in my stitches. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I stopped.

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Faq

Is The Old Dark House available on DVD?

In October 2009, The Old Dark House was released on Region 1 as part of the William Castle Film Collection.This is the only official DVD release so far.

Are there major differences between this, the novel and the 1932 film?

This film is radically different from both the novel and the 1932 film version. Only the basic concept - a traveller arriving at a country house inhabited by a weird family with a deranged servant called Morgan - is the same. After that, this version has few similarities with either the novel or the earlier film.

When was this made - 1962 or 1966?

The Old Dark House was filmed in May-June 1962, but was not released until 1966.

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