''Crescendo'' is a 1970 British

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a Film genre, genre combining the thriller (genre), thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting ...

film directed by

Alan Gibson Norman Alan Stewart Gibson (28 May 1923 – 10 April 1997) was an English journalist, writer and radio broadcaster, best known for his work in connection with cricket, though he also sometimes covered football and rugby union. At various times ...

and starring

Stefanie Powers Stefanie Powers (born November 2, 1942) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Jennifer Hart on the mystery television series ''Hart to Hart'' (1979–1984), for which she received nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards an ...

, James Olson,

Margaretta Scott Margaretta Mary Winifred ScottBrian McFarlane, "Scott, Margaretta Mary Winifred (1912–2005)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 201available online Retrieved 30 August 2020. (13 February 1912 – 15 Apr ...

Jane Lapotaire Jane Elizabeth Marie Lapotaire (née Burgess; 26 December 1944) is an English actress from Suffolk. Lapotaire won the Laurence Olivier Award for Actress of the Year in a New Play for ''Piaf'' in 1979 and was nominated for the Actress of the Y ...

and

Joss Ackland Sidney Edmond Jocelyn Ackland (29 February 1928 – 19 November 2023) was an English actor who appeared in more than 130 film, radio and television roles. He was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for portraying ...

. It was made by

Hammer Film Productions Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classi ...

Plot

Drawn to the spectacular south of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to research the late composer Henry Ryman, music student Susan Roberts encounters his son, drug-addicted Georges 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 A doppelgänger ( ), sometimes spelled doppelgaenger or doppelganger, is a ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its own fleshly counterpart. In fiction and mythology, a doppelgänger is often portrayed as a ghostly or p ...

Cast

as Susan Roberts * James Olson as Georges Ryman / Jacques Ryman *

as Danielle Ryman *

as Lillianne *

as Carter *

Kirsten Lindholm __NOTOC__ Kirsten Lindholm (born Kirsten Lindholm Andreassen; 1 September 1943) is a former model and a film actress known for her roles in Hammer horror movies, in which she first appeared as Kirsten Betts. She is now a yoga instructor and perfor ...

as Catherine (credired as Kirsten Betts)

Production

Alfred Shaughnessy Alfred James Shaughnessy (19 May 1916 – 2 November 2005) was an English scriptwriter, film director and producer best known for being the script editor of '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. Early life Alfred Shaughnessy was born in London, his father ...

wrote the script in the mid-'60s. In 1966, Michael Reeves approached

Hammer Films A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...

with the script.

James Carreras Sir James "Jimmy" Enrique Carreras (30 January 1909 – 9 June 1990) was an English film producer and executive who, together with William Hinds, founded the British company Hammer Film Productions. His career spanned nearly 45 years, in multi ...

tried for two years to make it with

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 190? was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion-picture cont ...

but could not get financing. In 1969, the project was reactivated, with

Jimmy Sangster James Henry Kinmel Sangster (2 December 1927 – 19 August 2011) was a Welsh screenwriter and film director, best known for his work on the initial horror films made by Hammer Film Productions, including '' The Curse of Frankenstein'' (1957) an ...

hired to rewrite the script and Alan Gibson to direct.Marcus Hearn, ''The Hammer Vault'', Titan Books, 2011 p117

Release

''Crescendo'' premiered in London on 7 May 1970 at the New Victoria Theatre. It received a general release on 7 June 1970 by

Warner-Pathé Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), originally British International Pictures (BIP), was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970 when it was absorbed into EMI. ABPC also owned appro ...

in support of ''

Taste the Blood of Dracula ''Taste the Blood of Dracula'' is a 1970 British supernatural horror film produced by Hammer Film Productions. Directed by Peter Sasdy from a script by Anthony Hinds, it is the fifth installment in Hammer's ''Dracula'' series, and the fourth t ...

''. It was distributed in the United States by Warner Brothers on November 29, 1972.

Home media

The film was released to

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

by the

Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

in March 2009.

Reception

Box office

Its performance at the box office was disappointing.David Hanks ''Crescendo'' at EOFFTV 2009
accessed 14 April 2014

Critical reception

In a contemporary review, ''

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "Another Hammer horror, and within its own terms quite a spirited offering. Given a plot somewhere between ''

Fanatic Fanaticism is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal or an obsessive enthusiasm. The political theorist Zachary R. Goldsmith provides a "cluster account" of the concept of fanaticism, identifying ten main attributes that, in various comb ...

965 Year 965 ( CMLXV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor Nikephoros II conquers the fortress cities of Tarsus and Mopsuestia. The Muslim resid ...

and ''

Taste of Fear ''Taste of Fear'' (U.S. title: ''Scream of Fear'') is a 1961 British Thriller (genre), thriller film directed by Seth Holt. The film stars Susan Strasberg, Ronald Lewis (actor), Ronald Lewis, Ann Todd, and Christopher Lee in a supporting role. ...

961 Year 961 ( CMLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * March 6 – Siege of Chandax: Byzantine forces under Nikephoros II Phokas capture and pillage Chandax after an 8 ...

director Alan Gibson has injected a gratuitous amount of sex into the story but otherwise presents the usual mixture with a sure style and a good eye for colour. The dream sequences – like Georges' nightmarish premonition that his insane brother will eventually kill him – are particularly effective. The dialogue does creak somewhat, but the next Hammer surprise is never very far away: even the butler turns out to have been a frequent inmate of asylums, though he seems about as normal as anyone else in the film. Jane Lapotaire overacts rather gratingly as the maid, but Margaretta Scott moves from sanity to insanity with gracious ease, and Stephanie Powers is an attractive heroine, though the thesis never gets very far."

References

Sources

External links

* * * 1970 films 1970 thriller films Films directed by Alan Gibson Films shot at Associated British Studios 1970s English-language films Films set in France British thriller films Hammer Film Productions films Films scored by Malcolm Williamson Films with screenplays by Jimmy Sangster 1970 directorial debut films 1970s British films English-language thriller films {{psychological-thriller-film-stub