''The Screaming Woman'' is a 1972 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

horror-

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

starring

Olivia de Havilland Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British and American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her tim ...

and directed by

Jack Smight John Ronald Smight (March 9, 1925 – September 1, 2003) was an American theatre and film director. His film credits include ''Harper (film), Harper'' (1966), ''No Way to Treat a Lady (film), No Way to Treat a Lady'' (1968), ''Airport 1975'' (19 ...

. It is loosely based on a short story by

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury ( ; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, Horror fiction, horr ...

(which in turn was based on his 1948 radio play for the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

show ''

Suspense Suspense is a state of anxiety or excitement caused by mysteriousness, uncertainty, doubt, or undecidedness. In a narrative work, suspense is the audience's excited anticipation about the plot or conflict (which may be heightened by a viol ...

'') with a script written by Merwin Gerard. The film was produced by

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a division of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#Universal Studio Group, Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is ...

and originally aired as an ''

ABC Movie of the Week The ''ABC Movie of the Week'' is an American weekly television anthology series featuring Television film, made-for-TV movies that aired on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network in various permutations from 1969 in television, 1969 t ...

'' on 29 January 1972. It features

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

's final score for a TV movie.

Plot

De Havilland plays Laura Wynant, a wealthy former mental patient who has travelled to her country estate to recuperate. While there, she discovers, when hearing faint calls for help, that a woman has been buried alive on her property. Laura tries to inform others of what she has found but nobody believes her, and her family begins to suspect a relapse in her mental condition. Because her hands are nearly crippled by arthritis, she is not able to dig the woman up herself. She tricks a local boy into assisting her by telling him she is digging for a lost earring, but when he is scared by the cries of the buried woman she is forced to tell him the truth, which results in a confrontation with the lad's angry father. While going door-to-door to seek help she encounters the buried woman's husband, who had buried her after striking her on the head with a shovel and thought her dead. Laura is confined to her home under doctor's orders but, in a fit of desperation, experiences enough recovery from the arthritis to provide strength in her hands. She begins to dig up the buried woman, who is still alive. Just then the murderous husband arrives on the scene, intending to bury his wife's body thoroughly. He comes up behind Laura and is about to strike her with the shovel when the buried woman grabs Laura's hand and pulls herself up out of the ground. The husband is petrified, giving the authorities just enough time to arrive on the scene and save Laura and the buried woman.

Cast

as Laura Wynant *

Ed Nelson Edwin Stafford Nelson (December 21, 1928 – August 9, 2014) was an American actor, best known for his role as Dr. Michael Rossi in the television series ''Peyton Place (TV series), Peyton Place''. Nelson appeared in episodes of many TV p ...

as Carl Nesbitt *

Laraine Stephens Laraine Stephens (born 24 July 1941) is a retired American actress. Stephens was born in Oakland, California. She studied at both Los Angeles City College and the University of California, Los Angeles. A coloratura soprano, Stephens performed ...

as Caroline Wynant *

Joseph Cotten Joseph Cheshire Cotten Jr. (May 15, 1905 – February 6, 1994) was an American film, stage, radio and television actor. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original stage productions of '' The Philadelphia Story'' (1939) an ...

as George Tresvant *

Walter Pidgeon Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. A major leading man during the Golden Age of Hollywood, known for his "portrayals of men who prove both sturdy and wise," Pidgeon earned two Academy ...

as Dr. Amos Larkin * Charles Knox Robinson as Howard Wynant *

Alexandra Hay Alexandra Lynn Hay (July 24, 1947 – October 11, 1993) was an American actress of the 1960s and 1970s best known for her roles in ''Guess Who's Coming to Dinner'', '' Skidoo'', and '' Model Shop''. Mainstream career On October 29, 1966, t ...

as Evie Carson *

Lonny Chapman Lon Leonard Chapman (October 1, 1920 – October 12, 2007) was an American actor best known for his numerous guest star appearances on television drama series. Early years Chapman was the son of Elmer and Eunice Chapman, He was born on Oc ...

as Police Sergeant * Charles Drake as Ken Bronson * Russell Wiggins as Harry Sands * Gene Andrusco as David * Joyce Cunningham as Bernice Wilson * Jan Arvan as Martin, the Servant * Ray Montgomery as Ted Wilson * John Alderman as Slater

Television debuts

The film was first shown in the United States on 29 January 1972, in Great Britain on 2 January 1973 (Granada region), and in Sweden on 23 June 1973.

Other adaptations

A television adaptation more faithful to the source material was broadcast as "The Screaming Woman", episode 5 of season 1 of ''

The Ray Bradbury Theater ''The Ray Bradbury Theatre'' is an anthology series that ran for three seasons on Crave (TV network), First Choice Movie Central, Superchannel in Canada and HBO in the United States from 1985 to 1986, and then on USA Network, running for four ad ...

'', on 22 February 1986. A parody of the story appears in the Simpsons in the episode " Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes" with Bart discovering the screaming but no one believing him.

References

1972 NBC show.

External links

* * *
{{DEFAULTSORT:Screaming Woman, The 1972 television films 1972 films 1970s horror thriller films 1972 horror films ABC Movie of the Week American horror thriller films American horror television films Films directed by Jack Smight Films scored by John Williams Films based on short fiction Films based on works by Ray Bradbury 1970s American films Psycho-biddy films