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The Man Who Haunted Himself

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The Man Who Haunted Himself
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBasil Dearden
Screenplay by
Based onnovel The Strange Case of Mr Pelham by Anthony Armstrong
Produced byMichael Relph
Starring
CinematographyTony Spratling
Edited byTeddy Darvas
Music byMichael J. Lewis
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner-Pathé (UK)
Release date
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£400,000[1] or £275,000[2]

The Man Who Haunted Himself is a 1970 British psychological thriller film written and directed by Basil Dearden (his final film prior to his death by car accident in 1971) and starring Roger Moore. It is based on the 1957 novel The Strange Case of Mr Pelham by Anthony Armstrong,[3] and is a variation on the Jekyll and Hyde story.

The story was previously filmed as a 30 minute short for television as part of the series Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Series 1 Episode 11: The Case of Mr Pelham.

In 2011 Moore said his role in the film was his favourite. "It was a film I actually got to act in, rather than just being all white teeth and flippant and heroic."[4]

Plot

While driving home from his London office in his Rover P5B, Harold Pelham, a director of Freeman, Pelham & Dawson, a marine technology company and very conservative creature of habit, seems to undergo a sudden personality change and starts to drive both fast and recklessly on his way home, imagining himself in a sports car, and ending in a serious high-speed crash. On the operating table he briefly suffers clinical death, after which there briefly appear to be two heartbeats on the monitor.

After he recovers from the accident Pelham notices odd things occurring and people acting strangely, and he gradually finds his life in turmoil. Friends, colleagues and acquaintances claim to have seen him in places where he has no memory of being or doing things he can't recall, involving behaving in rash ways quite unlike his usual character. When he gets home from work, a friend is at his house for a drink which he doesn't recall arranging, and an attractive girl at the company swimming pool casts him a knowing glance. At bedtime he and his wife have a somewhat tense but amicable discussion about their recent lack of a love life. His wife also notices a mysterious silver car (a Lamborghini Islero) which she sees parked outside their house, but gives it no further thought. The driver of the car is then seen lighting a cigarette and snapping the match stick in half after he blows it out, exactly as Pelham does.

There seems to be a spy at work trying to force a merger with a rival company. Pelham drives to the research and development centre in Rugby to try and see where the leak began.

Soon he suspects there is a "double" masquerading as him. On a night out at the company club with his wife, he hopes to energise their relationship by indulging her request to go gambling, but he is tense and clearly not interested. As they are about to leave he bumps into the attractive girl, who sees his wife a short distance away and says "I didn't know you were married." His wife notices the exchange and is furious, suspecting the worst. She threatens to leave him. He finds out where the girl lives and confronts her; confused, she makes it clear that "he" was having an affair with her. He angrily denies the affair; the woman, hurt and almost hysterical, yells at him to leave.

At his usual the barber‘s he is told, "I cut your hair yesterday".

At work Pelham finds out that apparently he was supporting a merger that he now opposes with the board. He confronts an executive of the other company, who explains how the two of them had clandestinely arranged the deal in a series of meetings, to "his" (the double's) benefit as well as the company's, when "he" revealed a "top secret" technology breakthrough his company was about to make. When he confronts the rival firm (run by Ashton) he is reminded of three secret meetings: at the top of The Monument; in the London Planetarium; and in a boat on The Serpentine.

He phones home and due to a misunderstanding, his butler Luigi thinks he is asking for Mr Pelham. Luigi says "I will just get him". He drives home quickly.

Distraught and unable to explain the unfolding events, he consults a psychiatrist, Dr Harris, and undergoes extended treatment in his clinic, where Harris explains that he doesn't believe Pelham is mad but perhaps was acting out of a subconscious desire to break out of his obsessively rigid lifestyle. He agrees to be admitted to the psychiatrist’s clinic for a few days’ observation. On his discharge the doctor persuades him to adopt some less conventional behaviour, so he goes to work dressed quite differently. However, during his time away, the double finalised the merger and took his wife out on the town, culminating in their going home and sleeping together. Pelham calls his home from the office and is astonished when the phone is answered by someone claiming to be himself. On edge, he drives to his house as quickly as possible, and inside comes face to face with his double, who calmly insists he is the real Pelham, pointing out the uncharacteristic clothes the visitor is wearing. The family and his best friend are all there and side with the double.

After asking the others to let the two of them speak alone, the double tells the "real" Pelham that the new clothes were a mistake, and explains how on the operating table the double was "let out" but there is only room in this world for one of them. Both insist they will go to the police.

The real Pelham drives off in his Rover in a greatly agitated state. The double immediately leaves and pursues him in the sports car. Dr Harris happens to see both men and is shocked. After a high-speed chase in the rain, the two cars race towards each other on a bridge. The real Pelham swerves off into the river, and just before he hits the water his image fades away. The double stops and looks down into the water, and then, to the audible sound of a double heartbeat, he briefly clutches his chest as if in extreme pain, but the spasm soon passes and he becomes calm: there is only one Pelham again.

Cast

Production

Fairholt, Hadley Green, which featured as the home of Harold Pelham in the film.

The film was one of the first three greenlit by Bryan Forbes while he was head of EMI Films (the others were Hoffman and And Soon the Darkness).[6] The film was announced in August 1969.[7] And Soon the Darkness started filming first then The Man Who Haunted Himself. It was part of an overall slate of fifteen films Forbes intended to make. This included a second film from Roger Moore, based on his own story, A Question of Innocence.[8] Moore, Relph and Dearden were old friends of Forbes's. Relph said the film would give Moore "a new dimension. Roger Moore is a good actor. Very under-rated."[9]

Filming started at Elstree Studios on 25 August 1969. "We are not making cheap films," said Forbes. "We're not saving on the films themselves. The sets are perfect but actors and others are helping us keep costs down."[10]

Roger Moore said, " “The only way I’ve had to extend myself before was to Carry on Charming. This is the first picture for eleven years in which I’ve had to show any emotion. I’m grateful for the chance to show that saintliness is not my only stock in trade."[11] His fee was £20,000 plus a deferment.[12]

Lamborghini Islero

The 1969 Lamborghini Islero GTS that appeared in the film, registration YLR 11G, sold at auction in 2010 for £106,400. It is one of only five right-hand-drive versions of the model to be built.[13] The car was auctioned again in March 2020, achieving a hammer price of £265,000 (£296,800 including commission, fees, etc.).[14]

Release

Moore later wrote, "I think there was a certain resentment in the hierarchy of EMI towards Bryan Forbes at that time....There were noticeable undercurrents all around, not least in EMI’s distribution arm. It was petty jealousy, I guess. Consequently, though, over all the films, the publicity machinery was cranked up in a rather amateurish way, sending out the message ‘We’ve made a film for £200,000: aren’t we clever?’ It was akin to EMI saying ‘we’re making cheap films’... What the marketing people should have said is that they made terrific films, and such was the principals’ belief in them that they had taken reduced fees. The films were excellent but the publicity let them down."[15]

Box office

Box-office results were disappointing.[16] Alexander Walker later argued this, Hoffman and And Now the Darkness "were all films obviously rushed into production to get the studio ship- shape again: Forbes couldn’t afford the luxury of waiting for the off-beat, or chancing an untested project. But it might have been better if he had. The three films were released “back to back’ (i.e. following each other in consecutive weeks) across the country — as E.M.I. had then no West End ‘showcase’ cinema — and coincided with the World Cup football play-offs, a heat wave, and a general election."[17]

Moore argued the film "was not the commercial success it deserved to be. It saddened me greatly — not least because I owned a share of the profits!"[18] Bernard Delfont, head of EMI, later said about the film: "‘I should have put a stop to that one."[19] Forbes' position at EMI never recovered.[20]

Critical reception

Initial reviews of the film were negative.[21][22] The Guardian wrote "Basil Dearden handles the story professionally enough" but "this isn't my particular cup of ectoplasm."[23] Sight and Sound called it a "Depressed psychological thriller which sets the clock back twenty years in its stolid treatment of a story about a business executive plagued by his alter ego. An inauspicious start to Bryan Forbes' new production programme."[24] The Evening Standard called it "ingenuous... if a little too dragged out at times."[25]

Roger Moore said this was his favourite film from his own work.[26]

Home media

The film was released on DVD format in 2005 with a PG rating. The DVD includes special features including a commentary by Roger Moore and Bryan Forbes.

A new HD restoration from the original film elements was released in a dual-format package on 24 June 2013 by Network.[27] The Blu-ray disc is in a widescreen aspect ratio as was used in cinemas. Special features include - 34 minute music suite of Michael J. Lewis's original score; a commentary track recorded in 2005, featuring Roger Moore and Bryan Forbes; the original theatrical trailer; four image galleries, including storyboards; and promotional material in PDF format for reading on a PC. An article is available on Network's website detailing the transfer and restoration of the film.[28]

Basil Dearden

It was Dearden's last film. On 23 March 1971 he was travelling home from his office at Pinewood Studios along the M4 when he veered off the road and hit a road sign, resulting in his car bursting into flames. Forbes said "Basil was a colleague and a close friend for many years. He was probably one of the best craftsman British films have produced." The Man Who Haunted Himself also featured a crash on the M4.[29] The following day Forbes resigned as head of EMI Films.[30]

References

  1. ^ "A Tribute to the Man Who Haunted Himself". Den of Geek. 3 August 2017.
  2. ^ Moody, Paul (2018). EMI Films and the Limits of British Cinema. Palgrave MacMillan. p. 16.
  3. ^ Roger Greenspun (4 September 1970). "The Man Who Haunted Himself". The New York Times.
  4. ^ Barnett, Laura (29 November 2011). "Portrait of the artist: Roger Moore, actor". The Guardian.
  5. ^ "Alastair Mackenzie". www.aveleyman.com. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  6. ^ McEwan, Ian (15 August 1969). "British Film Czar Plans to Revitalize Industry". The Los Angeles Times. p. D16.
  7. ^ Martin, Betty (30 August 1969). "MOVIE CALL SHEET: 'Summer Look' on Stanley Donen Slate". The Los Angeles Times. p. 16.
  8. ^ Day-Lewis, Sean (13 August 1969). "British finance backs plans for 15 new films". The Daily Telegraph. p. 17.
  9. ^ "Excuse me while I keep a haunted man's secret". Evening Post. 10 September 1969. p. 3.
  10. ^ Owen, Michael (25 August 1969). "Shooting begins on Bryan Forbes' £7 million film gamble". Evening Standard. p. 15.
  11. ^ Donovan, Paul (1983). Roger Moore. p. 114.
  12. ^ Moore p 309
  13. ^ "1969 Lamborghini Islero GTS". RM Auctions. 27 October 2010.
  14. ^ "Ascot Racecourse 7th March 2020 Sale". Historics Auctioneers. 7 March 2020.
  15. ^ Moore p 311
  16. ^ City comment: Soon the darkness The Guardian 8 Mar 1971: 12.
  17. ^ Walker, Alexander (1986). Hollywood, England : the British film industry in the sixties. Harrap. p. 431.
  18. ^ Moore p 311
  19. ^ Delfont, B. (1990). East End, West End. London: Macmillan. p 184
  20. ^ Vagg, Stephen (10 October 2021). "Cold Streaks: The Studio Stewardship of Bryan Forbes at EMI". Filmink.
  21. ^ "The Man Who Haunted Himself". Timeout.com. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  22. ^ Greenspun, Roger (4 September 1971). "Movie Review - Lust For a Vampire - Screen: 2 Men in Unusual Situations:Teacher Infatuated in 'Lust for a Vampire' 'Man Who Haunted Himself' Also Opens". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  23. ^ McNay, Michael (23 July 1970). "God is a black man". The Guardian. p. 8.
  24. ^ "Film Guide". Sight and Sound. October 1970. p. 228.
  25. ^ Walker, Alexander (24 August 1970). "Film Guide". Evening Standard. p. 13.
  26. ^ "Sir Roger Moore looks back at Hollywood career in new book". Bbc.co.uk. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  27. ^ "Network ON AIR > Man Who Haunted Himself". 11 October 2014. Archived from the original on 11 October 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  28. ^ "Networkonair > Features > Bringing Back Mr Pelham". 9 January 2014. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  29. ^ "Top film man dies in blaze". Evening Standard. 24 March 1971. p. 10.
  30. ^ Walker, Alexander (25 March 1971). "Bryan Forbes: The End". Evening Standard. p. 26.

Notes

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