Spirits of the Dead
Synopsis
Segment 1 : Metzengerstein (Roger Vadim)
The bored and corrupt medieval countess Frederica spends her futile life in orgies and cruelties. When she moves with her friends to one of her castles nearby the lands of her poor cousin Baron Wilhelm, she desires him but is not corresponded. When one of her minions burns the stable, Wilhelm dies trying to rescues his stallion and Federica is haunted by her lost cousin.
Segment 2 : William Wilson (Louis Malle)
The sadistic and cruel soldier of the Austrian army William Wilson confesses to a priest the cruelties he committed along his sinful life and the participation of his double also called William Wilson in specific moments of his dreadful life.
Segment 3 : Toby Dammit (Federico Fellini)
The cynical alcoholic and decadent English actor Toby Dammit travels to Rome to make a Catholic Western, but only interested in receiving the Ferrari promised by the production.
Source : IMDb
Credits
Actors (24)
Production and distribution (4)
- Executive Producer : Filmsonor Marceau
- Co-production : Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA)
- Film exports/foreign sales : STUDIO TF1 Distribution (ex-Newen Connect)
- French distribution : Marceau-Cocinor
Full credits (14)
- Screenwriters : Roger Vadim, Federico Fellini, Bernardino Zapponi, Louis Malle
- Dialogue Writer : Daniel Boulanger
- Directors of Photography : Tonino Delli Colli, Claude Renoir, Giuseppe Rotunno
- Music Composers : Nino Rota, Jean Prodromidès
- Assistant directors : Michel Clément, Jean-Michel Lacor, Serge Vallin
- Editors : Suzanne Baron, Ruggero Mastroianni, Hélène Plemiannikov
- Costume designers : Jacques Fonteray, Piero Tosi, Ghislain Uhry
- Author of original work : Edgar Allan Poe
- Producer : Raymond Eger
- Assistant Operators : Philippe Brun, Alain Douarinou, Vladimir Ivanov
- Camera Operator : Bernard Noisette
- Production managers : André Cultet, Ludmila Goulian
- Continuity supervisor : Suzanne Durrenberger
- Production designers : Jean André, Piero Tosi, Ghislain Uhry
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Technical details
- Type : Feature film
- Genres : Fiction
- Sub-genre : Anthology film, Horror
- Production language : French, Italian, English
- Coproducer countries : France, Italy
- Original French-language productions : Yes
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About
Histoires extraordinaires (1968) dubbed Spirits of the Dead for English and Tre Passi Nel Delirio for Italian, is an "omnibus" film comprising three segments. The French title Histoires extraordinaires (translated to English as "Extraordinary Stories") is from the first collection of Poe's short stories translated by French poet Charles Baudelaire; the English title "Spirits of the Dead" is from an 1827 poem by Poe.
American International Pictures distributed this horror anthology film featuring three stories by Edgar Allan Poe directed by European directors Roger Vadim, Louis Malle and Federico Fellini. Jane Fonda, Alain Delon, Peter Fonda, Brigitte Bardot, and Terence Stamp are among the stars. The English language version features narration by Vincent Price.
The film received a mixed critical reception, with the Fellini segment widely regarded as the best of the three. Reviewing the picture under its English language title Spirits of the Dead, Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote that "Toby Dammit, the first new Fellini to be seen here since Juliet of the Spirits in 1965, is marvelous: a short movie but a major one. The Vadim is as overdecorated and shrill as a drag ball, but still quite fun, and the Malle, based on one of Poe's best stories, is simply tedious."
In 2008, Toby Dammit was separately restored under the personal supervision of its renowned cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno. A new 35mm print was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, where it was widely acclaimed by the press as a lost Fellini masterpiece.
Source : Wikipedia
