''Spirits of the Dead'' (french: Histoires extraordinaires, lit=Extraordinary Tales, it, Tre passi nel delirio, lit=Three Steps to Delirium), also known as ''Tales of Mystery and Imagination'', is a 1968 horror anthology film comprising three segments. The French title is derived from the first collection of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

's short stories translated by French poet

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited ...

; the English titles ''Spirits of the Dead'' and ''Tales of Mystery and Imagination'' are respectively taken from an 1827

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

by Poe and a 1902 British collection of his stories.

American International Pictures American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...

distributed this horror anthology film featuring three Poe stories directed by European directors

Roger Vadim Roger Vadim Plemiannikov (; 26 January 1928 – 11 February 2000) was a French screenwriter, film director and producer, as well as an author, artist and occasional actor. His best-known works are visually lavish films with erotic qualities, su ...

Louis Malle Louis Marie Malle (; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a filmmaker difficult to pin down," Malle's filmogr ...

and Federico Fellini. The cast includes Jane Fonda, Alain Delon, Peter Fonda,

Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...

, and

Terence Stamp Terence Henry Stamp (born 22 July 1938) is an English actor. Stamp is known for his sophisticated villain roles. He was named by ''Empire Magazine'' as one of the 100 Sexiest Film Stars of All Time in 1995. He has received various accolades inc ...

. The English-language version features narration by

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

Plot

"Metzengerstein"

At the age of 22, Countess Frédérique inherits the Metzengerstein estate and lives a life of promiscuity and debauchery. While in the forest, her leg is caught in a trap and she is freed by her cousin and neighbour Baron Wilhelm, whom she has never met because of a long-standing family feud. She becomes enamoured with Wilhelm, but he rejects her for her wicked ways. His rejection infuriates Frédérique and she sets his stables on fire. Wilhelm is killed attempting to save his prized

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

s. One black horse somehow escapes and makes its way to the Metzengerstein castle. The horse is very wild and Frédérique takes it upon herself to tame it. She notices at one point that a damaged

tapestry Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads ma ...

depicts a horse eerily similar to the one that she has just taken in. Becoming obsessed with it, she orders its repair. During a

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are some ...

, Frédérique is carried off by the spooked horse into a fire caused by

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an avera ...

that has struck.

"William Wilson"

In the early 19th century when Northern Italy is under

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n rule, an army officer named William Wilson rushes to

confess A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...

to a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

(in a church of the "Città alta" of Bergamo) that he has committed murder. Wilson then relates the story of his cruel ways throughout his life. After playing cards all night against the courtesan Giuseppina, his '' doppelgänger'', also named William Wilson, convinces people that Wilson has cheated. In a rage, the protagonist Wilson stabs the other to death with a dagger. After making his confession, Wilson commits suicide by jumping from the tower of "Palazzo della Ragione", but when seen his corpse is transfixed by the same dagger.

"Toby Dammit"

Former

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

an actor Toby Dammit is losing his acting career to alcoholism. He agrees to work on a film, to be shot in Rome, for which he will be given a brand new Ferrari as a bonus incentive. Dammit begins to have unexpected visions of a macabre girl with a white ball. While at a film award ceremony, he gets drunk and appears to be slowly losing his mind. A stunning woman comforts him, saying she will always be at his side if he chooses. Dammit is forced to make a speech, then leaves and takes delivery of his promised Ferrari. He races around the city, where he sees what appear to be fake people in the streets. Lost outside of Rome, Dammit eventually crashes into a work zone and comes to a stop before the site of a collapsed bridge. Across the ravine, he sees a vision of the little girl with a ball (whom he has earlier identified, in a TV interview, as his idea of the Devil). He gets into his car and speeds toward the void. The Ferrari disappears, and we then see a view of roadway with a thick wire across it, dripping with blood, suggesting Dammit has been decapitated. The girl from his vision picks up his severed head and the sun rises.

Cast

Credits primarily adapted from ''Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1957–1969'' and ''Midnight Movie Monographs: Spirits of the Dead (Histoires Extraordinaires)''. ;"Metzengerstein" * Jane Fonda as Countess Frédérique de Metzengerstein * Peter Fonda as Baron Wilhelm Berlifitzing *

Serge Marquand Serge Marquand was a French actor and film producer (12 March 1930 – 4 September 2004). He died of advanced leukemia. He was the brother of Nadine Trintignant and Christian Marquand. Filmography *1959: '' Les Liaisons dangereuses'' ...

as Hugues *

Georges Douking Georges Douking (born Georges Ladoubée; 6 August 1902 – 20 October 1987) was a French stage, film, and television actor. He also directed stage plays such as the premier presentation of Jean Giraudoux's ''Sodom and Gomorrah'' at the Thé ...

as the Upholsterer *

Philippe Lemaire Philippe Lemaire (14 March 1927 – 15 March 2004) was a French actor. He appeared in more than ninety films between 1946 and 2004. Lemaire was married three times; Nicole Pinton (1949–1951) (divorced); Juliette Gréco Juliette Gréco (; ...

as Philippe *Carla Marlier as Claude *

James Robertson Justice James Robertson Justice (15 June 1907 – 2 July 1975) was a British actor. He is best remembered for portraying pompous authority figures in comedies including each of the seven films in the '' Doctor'' series. He also co-starred with Greg ...

as a Marquis * Françoise Prévost as a Courtesan *Marie-Ange Aniès as a Courtesan ''Uncredited:'' * Dennis Berry as a Courtier *Jackie Blanchot as a Courtier *Audoin de Bardot as the Page *

Anny Duperey Anny Duperey (born Annie Legras; 28 June 1947) is a French actress, published photographer and best-selling author with a career spanning almost six decades as of 2021 and more than eighty cinema or television credits, around thirty theatre pr ...

as a Courtesan * Andréas Voutsinas as a Courtier *

Maurice Ronet Maurice Ronet (13 April 1927 – 14 March 1983) was a French film actor, director, and writer. Early life Maurice Ronet was born Maurice Julien Marie Robinet in Nice, Alpes Maritimes. He was the only child of professional stage actors Émile Rob ...

as the Narrator *Clement Biddle Wood as the Narrator Despite receiving prominent billing in both the film and advertising materials, most of Justice and Prévost's performances appears to have been cut from the final print of the film. ;"William Wilson" * Alain Delon as William Wilson **Marco Stefanelli as Wilson as a boy *

as Guiseppina Ditterheim *Katia Christine as the Blonde Girl *

Renzo Palmer Renzo Palmer (20 December 1929 – 4 June 1988) was an Italian film, television and stage actor. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1957 and 1988. Life and career Born in Milan as Lorenzo Bigatti, Palmer was the adopted son of the ...

as the Priest *

Umberto D'Orsi Umberto D'Orsi (30 July 1929 – 31 August 1976) was an Italian character actor and comedian. Born in Trieste, D'Orsi took a degree in law in 1953, but he was already active in theater from 1950, performing in small companies of prose and revu ...

as Hans *

Daniele Vargas Daniele Vargas, stage name of Daniele Pitani (20 April 1922 – 7 January 1981) was an Italian film actor. Life and career Born in Imola, a small town in the district of Bologna, after attending high school with Pier Paolo Pasolini, Daniel ...

as the University Professor ''Uncredited:'' *Paolo Giusti as Wilson's Double **Massimo Ardù as Wilson's Double as a boy *Andrea Esterhazy as Officer at Casino *

John Karlsen John Karlsen, sometimes credited as Charles John Karlsen or John Karlson (20 October 1919 – 5 July 2017), was an actor from New Zealand who was active in cinema between 1958 and 2003. He is best known for ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure' ...

as Military School Instructor *

Franco Arcalli Franco "Kim" Arcalli (13 March 1929 – 24 February 1978) was an Italian film editor and screenwriter best known for his work with Bernardo Bertolucci and Michelangelo Antonioni. Life and career Born in Rome by a Venetian family, his last name ...

as the Teacher who beats Wilson ;"Toby Dammit" *

as Toby Dammit *Marina Yaru as The Devil *

Salvo Randone Salvatore "Salvo" Randone (25 September 1906 – 6 March 1991) was an Italian theatrical, television and film actor. Born in Syracuse, Sicily, Randone debuted on stage in mid-1920s and, after some years in which he played roles of little w ...

as Father Spagna *Annie Tonietti as the TV Commentator *Monica Pardo as Miki, the Curly-Haired Actress ''Uncredited:'' *Antoni Pietrosi as "La Signora" *

Federico Boido Federico Boido (8 January 1938 – 7 October 2014), was an Italian film actor who appeared in many horror films, Spaghetti Westerns, and sword and sandal movies. He also acted in the Sadistik photo novels and related his experiences in the fi ...

as Toby's Body Double *Marisa Traversi as Marilù Traversi * Ferdinand Guillaume as the Old Blind Actor *Fabrizo Angeli as Maurizio Manetti *

Ernesto Colli Ernesto Colli (16 May 1940 – 19 November 1982) was an Italian film, television and stage actor. Life and career Born in Biella, Colli graduated from liceo classico, then he started acting in some amateur dramatics and starred in two lost ...

as Ernestino Manetti *Aleardo Ward as First TV Interviewer *Paul Cooper as Second TV Interviewer * Milena Vukotic as Third TV Interviewer *Nella Gambini as Elizabeth *Andrea Fantasia as the Producer *Campanella as Lombardi, the Assistant Producer *Brigitte as the Old Blind Actor's Aide *Irina Maleeva as a Gypsy Fortune Teller *Giovanni Tarallo as an Old Paparazzo *Fides Stagni as Herself

Van Heflin Emmett Evan "Van" Heflin Jr. (December 13, 1908 – July 23, 1971) was an American theatre, radio and film actor. He played mostly character parts over the course of his film career, but during the 1940s had a string of roles as a leading man. H ...

appeared in a deleted scene in which he plays an actor in ''Trente dollari'', the Spaghetti Western that Toby is cast in.

Production

Development

Omnibus films were popular in Europe in the 1960s so producers Alberto Grimaldi and Raymond Eger developed the idea of film anthology influenced by the work of

. Initial directors announced to work on the film included

Luchino Visconti Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo (; 2 November 1906 – 17 March 1976) was an Italian filmmaker, stage director, and screenwriter. A major figure of Italian art and culture in the mid-20th century, Visconti was one of the ...

, Claude Chabrol, Joseph Losey and

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

would direct one segment based on both " Masque of the Red Death" and "

The Cask of Amontillado "The Cask of Amontillado" (sometimes spelled "The Casque of Amontillado" ) is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in the November 1846 issue of ''Godey's Lady's Book''. The story, set in an unnamed Italian city at ca ...

". Welles withdrew in September 1967 and was replaced by Fellini. The script, written in English by Welles and

Oja Kodar Oja Kodar ( ; born Olga Palinkaš; 1941) is a Croatian actress, screenwriter and director known as Orson Welles's romantic partner during the later years of his life. Personal life Olga Palinkaš was born in Zagreb to a Hungarian father and a ...

, is in the Filmmuseum München collection. The final directors involved eventually became Federico Fellini,

and

Production

Roger Vadim's segment "Metzengerstein" was filmed just after Vadim had completed shooting on his previous movie '' Barbarella'', which also starred Jane Fonda. Scriptwriter and novelist

Terry Southern Terry Southern (May 1, 1924 – October 29, 1995) was an American novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and university lecturer, noted for his distinctive satirical style. Part of the Paris postwar literary movement in the 1950s and a companion to ...

, who had worked on the screenplay for ''Barbarella'', travelled to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

with Vadim and according to Southern's biographer Lee Hill, it was during the making of this segment that Peter Fonda told Southern of his idea to make a 'modern Western' movie. Southern was enthusiastic about the idea and agreed to work on the project, which eventually became the renowned independent film ''

Easy Rider ''Easy Rider'' is a 1969 American independent drug culture road drama film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda, and directed by Hopper. Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American So ...

''. The segment was filmed in Roscoff, a small town in Brittany. Louis Malle accepted the job of directing the segment "William Wilson" in order to raise money for his next film ''

Murmur of the Heart ''Murmur of the Heart'' (french: Le souffle au cœur) is a 1971 Cinema of France, French comedy-drama film written, produced and directed by Louis Malle. The film stars Lea Massari, Benoît Ferreux and Daniel Gélin. Written as Malle's semi-auto ...

''. The financial process of raising money for ''Murmur'' took him three years after completing "William Wilson" and in the meantime he shot two documentaries about India. Malle stated that he did not consider his collaboration in ''Histoires Extraordinaires'' a very personal one and that he agreed to make some compromises with the producer, Raymond Eger, in order to make the film more attractive to mainstream spectators. Malle's original conception of the film was closer to Poe’s tale than the final result. The most important changes were: casting

in the role of Giuseppina with the purpose of adding some erotic touches to the film, the inclusion of the dissection scene, and a somewhat explicit use of violence in some scenes. Malle did not enjoy working with Delon. He wanted

Florinda Bolkan Florinda Bolkan (born Florinda Soares Bulcão; 15 February 1941) is a retired Brazilian actress and model. Biography She was born in Uruburetama and lived in Fortaleza and Rio de Janeiro until she moved to Italy. A former flight inspector fo ...

for the female lead but the producers insisted on someone more well known, like Bardot. Bardot agreed to make the film; Malle thought she was miscast. Federico Fellini directed the segment "Toby Dammit" which he wrote with Bernardino Zapponi. Zapponi had a love for gothic literature which can be seen in his short story collection ''Gobal'' (1967) where he attempted to re-shape the genre into a contemporary setting. Zapponi's stories caught Fellini's attention. Fellini was particularly interested in ''C'è una voce nella mia vita'' ('There is a voice in my life'), which was his first choice in adapting into a film for ''Spirits of the Dead''. The producers were reluctant to have Zapponi's name on the film, so Fellini changed his mind and returned to Poe for inspiration. Fellini considered " The Scythe of Time" and " 'The Premature Burial", but eventually chose " Never Bet the Devil Your Head". Zapponi and Fellini only used the ending of the story in their adaptation of the material. The film has thematic similarities to three earlier Fellini films. The disintegrating protagonist and the hellish celebrity demimonde he inhabits are reminiscent of both ''

La Dolce Vita ''La Dolce Vita'' (; Italian for "the sweet life" or "the good life"Kezich, 203) is a 1960 satirical comedy-drama film directed and co-written (with Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli and Brunello Rondi) by Federico Fellini. The film stars Marcello ...

'' and ''

8½ ' (Italian title: , ) is a 1963 surrealist comedy-drama film directed and co-written (with Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano and Brunello Rondi) by Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini. The metafictional narrative centers on Guido Anselmi, played by M ...

,'' while the interweaving of dreams and hallucinations into the plotline and the use of highly artificial art direction to reflect inner states resemble similar techniques used in ''

'' and ''

Juliet of the Spirits ''Juliet of the Spirits'' ( it, Giulietta degli spiriti) is a 1965 fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Federico Fellini and starring Giulietta Masina, Sandra Milo, Mario Pisu, Valentina Cortese, and Valeska Gert. The film is about the vi ...

''.George Porcari – ''Fellini's Forgotten Masterpiece: Toby Dammit'' (CineAction Magazine, January 2007) Fellini rejected Poe's version of the devil, a lame old gentleman with his hair parted in front like a girl’s, and cast a 22 year old Russian woman (Marina Yaru) to play the devil as a young girl. Lending a "pedophiliac slant" to Toby's character, Fellini explained that "a man with a black cape and a beard was the wrong kind of devil for a drugged, hipped actor. His devil must be his own immaturity, hence, a child."

Release

''Spirits of the Dead'' opened in Paris in June 1968. ''Spirits of the Dead'' was released in Italy on September 12, 1968 in Italy where the film was distributed by P.E.A. It grossed a total of 512 million

Italian lira The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually ...

on its domestic release in Italy. Samuel Z. Arkoff offered the producers $200,000 for

to have the US and Canadian rights, but was knocked back as Arkoff wanted to cut a scene from the Fellini sequence. A year later the producers had not been able to find another buyer so when Arkoff made the same offer they took it.Mark McGee, ''Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures'', McFarland, 1996 p276 The film was released in the United States on July 23, 1969.

Critical reception

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 ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote that "''Toby Dammit,'' the first new Fellini to be seen here since ''

'' in 1965, is marvellous: a short movie but a major one. The Vadim is as over decorated and shrill as a drag ball, but still quite fun, and the Malle, based on one of Poe's best stories, is simply tedious."Canby, Vincent. (New York Times, September 4, 1969) Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reports that 86% of 21 critic reviews are positive for the film; the website's consensus reads, "Three auteurs descend on the works of Poe, each putting on a ghoulish show -- adapting The Tomahawk Man's tales of dreams and fright, with Fellini's segment particularly out of sight."

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * *

External links

* *
''Spirits of the Dead''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of A ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spirits Of The Dead 1968 films 1968 horror films American International Pictures films French horror anthology films Italian horror anthology films Films scored by Nino Rota Films about automobiles Films about filmmaking Films about horses Films about suicide Films based on works by Edgar Allan Poe Films directed by Federico Fellini Films directed by Louis Malle Films directed by Roger Vadim Films set in Italy Films set in Rome Films set in the Holy Roman Empire Films set in the 15th century Films set in the 19th century Films shot in Spain 1960s French-language films English-language French films English-language Italian films 1960s English-language films Gambling films 1960s ghost films Films with screenplays by Federico Fellini Films produced by Alberto Grimaldi French ghost films Italian ghost films 1960s Italian films 1960s French films