I totally disagree with a previous review to this film. We are presented here with an extremely low budget film with mostly up and coming young actors or unknowns. The story is interesting, the acting is erratic- but Eric Fleming is rather good in his first leading role and shows promise for the future lead in TV's Rawhide.The doctor played by Fleming investigates a rash of murders and discovers a young lady believing herself to be the reincarnation of a princess.Due to a erratic script and lack lustre direction, both leads - Nancy Malone and Eric Fleming have to provide us with the interest and for me they succeed.There is one hauntingly good sequence when Fleming is alone studying and he feels the presence of Malone behind him. If you need blood and gore to satisfy your film needs then this is not for you. On the other hand if you are interested in Fleming's early work and also a rare minor film then this is worth a look. Try to judge the film on it's merits and appreciate when it was made, then you could find it's a worthwhile look.I give it a 6 and recommend it for a true vintage film buff, especially for fans of "b" movies and Eric Fleming. Also I note that another reviewer states the film did little to advance the careers of the lead actors, this is totally incorrect. Eric Fleming of course achieved TV immortality as Gil Favor in the classic TV western series " Rawhide " and is forever remembered for the classic command, "Head em up move em out" at the end of each episode. Nancy Malone was an extremely prolific actress for many years and then moved successfully onto directing. I think that both these people did have successful careers, however Fleming's was cut short by his tragic, untimely death.
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zebulonguy19 May 2007
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With the two stars basically reading their lines rather than acting them out, what could have scored a "10" here flows way down to just "good" rather than "excellent". The idea itself is excellent, a pre-"Three Faces of Eve"/"Lizzie" drama about an alleged split personality. Eric Fleming at some points is truly acting and at other parts, simply reciting his lines, as a psychiatrist who in the very first reel interferes on the police chase of a wanted murderer who threatens to jump off a roof until Fleming intervenes. It's Fleming's avant garde ways of dealing with various mental disorders that makes him a press darling, and that leads the pretty but bland Nancy Malone to come to see him in need of professional help. But he doesn't want to help her; He wants to date her. In their next scene, he is indeed counseling her, yet still anxious to get her to go out with him in spite of his claims that dating a patient is not a good moral thing for a psychiatrist to do. Today, his pursuit of her might stir up controversy and jeopardize his license, but for the mid 1950's, he seemingly gets away with it, even though part of her suspects dishonorable motives, although they are not obviously of a sexual nature.
Anne, as it turns out, is living the ghostly life of a long dead beauty, the Baroness Mary Vetsera, who had an affair with the married Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, aka "the Mayerling incident", which lead to the murder/suicide of both of them when his emperor father demanded that the lovers break off. The ghostly baroness continues to haunt Fleming, admitting her hatred for Anne and the fact that Fleming is seemingly in love with her, and when Anne/Mary disappears, the police suspect that Fleming has killed her out of unrequited love. Fleming takes the next step he needs in finding the missing Anne to cure her, but utilizing the incarcerated killer he coaxed off the roof to hypnotize him into thinking he's the crown prince, leading to a confrontation between the legal matters of the state prison, Fleming's desire to cure Anne, and Mary's desire to reconcile with her dead lover. It's a haunting story that is well written, but unfortunately weakly acted. It's apparently based upon a play, but I could not find any evidence of its existence. Still an interesting curio, it is interesting independent cinema that could have been a classic today had the leads had more of a spark than they do onscreen. -
kevinolzak12 September 2020Dishwater dull director W. Lee Wilder strikes again with 1956's "Fright," his take on the Bridey Murphy reincarnation hoax, which also inspired Alex Gordon's "The She-Creature," Roger Corman's "The Undead," and even Ed Wood's "The Bride and the Beast." Wilder's Planet Filmplays ("Phantom from Space," "Killers from Space," "The Snow Creature," "Manfish") again produced the final result, working titles including "I Cast No Shadow" and "Spell of the Hypnotist," his son Myles scripting on a real life incident involving the unsolved 1889 death of married Archduke Rudolf of Hapsburg, found alongside the corpse of his teenage lover Baroness Maria Vetsera, either murder/suicide or politically motivated. Eric Fleming plays the central role of New York psychiatrist James Hamilton, displaying an affinity for successfully using hypnosis on highly susceptible patients, as shown in the opening scene featuring escaped murderer George Morley (Frank Marth) quietly acquiescing to authorities at the sound of Hamilton's voice. Also present as a witness is 25 year old Ann Summers (top billed Nancy Malone), revealed to possess the same qualities as Morley but needing to be certain that she's not capable of such crimes. Despite some effort, Hamilton soon finds himself falling in love with his attractive new patient, who admits she has never been to Germany yet can both write and speak the language, soon revealed to have a split personality with Baroness Maria. Ann's sudden disappearance due to an unflattering news story quickly has police wondering if there's a murder case on their hands, the doctor a prime suspect, while Lady Olive Fitzmaurice (Elizabeth Watts) is able to fill Hamilton in on the girl's father and his dalliance with an Austrian nurse. It's totally preposterous and not terribly complicated, the lackluster finale taking place in an office where two hypnotic subjects take part in a fabricated double suicide, typically presented in the director's usual unwavering camera setups and uncinematic presentation. The future star of RAWHIDE, Eric Fleming possesses a magnificent voice but little expression, and after this W. Lee Wilder relocated to Europe for "The Man Without a Body," "Spy in the Sky!," "Bluebeards Ten Honeymoons," and "The Omegans" his legacy never reaching the heights of elder brother Billy Wilder. Incidentally, there is no connection between this instantly forgotten quickie and a more recent "Fright" starring Susan George in 1971.
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rsoonsa23 January 2006Shot in New York City locations, this film, also titled SPELL OF THE HYPNOTIST, opens with escaped murderer George Morley (Frank Marth) being trapped by police officers upon a high bridge, prompting a psychiatrist, Dr. James Hamilton (Eric Fleming) to attempt hypnotising, with the approval of the on-scene police supervisor, the killer whose vicious crimes he has been following through newspaper reports. An onlooker at the scene, Ann Summers (Nancy Malone) is apparently simultaneously also hypnotised and subsequently visits Hamilton at his office, with the doctor, attracted to the young woman, beginning treatments for her in a case that he perceives as an instance of dual personality, Ann's body ostensibly being shared with a reincarnated Austrian, Baroness Maria Vetsera, lover of Hapsburg Crown Prince Rudolph, and co-participant in the infamous sex scandal that culminated in the royal hunting lodge, Mayerling, with their mutual suicide pact in 1889. This manner of theme, that narrating a multiple personality disorder, requires a good deal of cinematic talent to be convincing, but such is not on board here, the film suffering not only from a poorly organised script and weak direction, but also from a particularly wooden Fleming, whose expressivity is nearly completely non-existent, a deadly flaw indeed in a story that is depicting his character as being in love with his patient. Malone tries hard but her lines, as with much of the screenplay's dialogue, are not credibly written, and the pacing of the piece is notably erratic with a result that a viewer will probably feel as little emotional involvement in the action as does the stoical Fleming.
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planktonrules1 September 2009This is a cheaply made "throwaway" movie from the 1950s. It has little going for it other than the kernel of an excellent tale. But, because there are a lot of plot problems, the overall effect is minimized. Too bad, as if it were remade the film could be great entertainment.
The film begins with a psychiatrist coming upon the scene where a wanted murderer is threatening suicide. The cops are totally ineffective but the therapist is able to use his persuasive hypnotic skills to talk the man down. This part isn't psychological mumbo-jumbo, he just is able to use a simple hypnotic induction on an impressionable man to get him to surrender to the police.
Interestingly, in the crowd at this same time is a lady who turns out to be very impressionable as well. In fact, as the psychiatrists makes suggestions to the killer, she also responds. This freaks her out and she tries to make an appointment with the psychiatrist. But, he has no room for new patients and his secretary tells the woman this.
Now, at this point, insane decision #1 occurs. When the psychiatrist goes to his car, this impressionable blonde is waiting in his car for him. Any rational therapist would call the police, but instead the guy takes her on as a patient. Why? Well, because she's hot! In the course of their therapy, the psychiatrist is shocked as the lady seems to understand German and talks as if she were Viennese--but ONLY while under the influence of hypnosis! After a while, it appears that the lady might be the reincarnation of a famous baroness--one who died in a famous murder-suicide (see Wikipedia about the Mayerling affair with Crown Prince Rudolph if you want more information)! Here is the part I really did like and respect. Instead of the therapist automatically assuming that she has multiple personalities or this is a past-life regression (very popular themes in the 1980s due to the proliferation of movies and celebrities who espouse these ideas), he looks for a more rational alternative. This is actually very sound psychologically speaking and competent therapists would applaud the writer for this.
It later turns out that the very impressionable lady was raised when she was young by an Austrian nanny and these ideas of Mayerling and the Baroness were spoken of by the nanny. This explained why the patient understood and spoke poor German--after all, she was quite young at the time and yet had no recollection of the nanny.
However, here comes insane decisions #2 and 3. First, he dates his own patient! Nowadays, this will get your license revoked for unprofessional conduct. Second, the doctor's secretary lets an unknown and pushy guy bully his way into the office when the doctor is out. She tells him the doc isn't taking any new patients and he ignores her--going into the inner office to supposedly wait. Why didn't she call the police and why did she let him shut the door?! The guy turned out to be a reporter and he spent this time rifling through the doctor's stuff--including listening to recordings of his sessions with the impressionable hot lady! And, being a sleazebag reporter, he has the tapes transcribed and runs the story! After all, it sounded as if this lady was the reincarnation of a dead Baroness--a great story for a sleazy rag--especially since this same doctor was famous for the averted suicide weeks earlier! There is a lot more to the story than this. I won't ruin the surprise, but it is both exciting AND unprofessional AND stupid! All in all, some great ideas undone by a clumsy script. The acting isn't bad, however, but the project did little to advance the careers of anyone involved. -
Scarecrow-8827 April 2012"Just relax and we'll have another look at your subconscious."
A hypnotherapist, whose career has risen since he successfully put a serial killer on a bridge in a trance, allowing law enforcement to arrest him without incident, has taken on a new client he is also attracted to. This woman feels she might have criminal sensibilities and reaches out to him for help. It seems she can speak and write in German, quite possibly possessed by another. Dr. James Hamilton (Eric Fleming; Queen of Outer Space, who perished in a drowning accident at age 41) believes Ann Summers (Nancy Malone) is suffering from a dual personality disorder and is also falling in love with her. He needs to uncover what triggered this belief that she is a Baroness from 1889 who committed suicide with an Austrian Prince (who was unhappily married) because they were denied their love due to family disapproval. Cullen (Dean L Almquist) is a newspaper reporter who sneaks into Hamilton's office, listens to his recorded sessions with Ann, and writes what he hears despite the immoral invasion of privacy. When her sessions make front page news, Ann's psyche fractures and the Baroness Maria personality takes full control. Vanishing, the police suspect Hamilton might have killed her, and law enforcement tail the psychiatrist. Hamilton needs to find Ann, find the source behind what caused the disorder to begin with, and free her from Maria. He might have to use convicted murderer, George Morley (Frank Marth), because he is so easily susceptible to the power of suggestion, as a means to "kill" Maria for good.
Talky, sluggishly paced, and not terribly exciting, the mis-titled "Fright" doesn't exactly illicit such a reaction. I think this film was meant to be called something else, to be honest, its being marketed as a chiller/horror is misleading to those who watch it. Fleming just isn't that charismatic, although he's pleasant and dashing as the leading man. Malone, although lovely, isn't exactly a barn-burner, either, to tell you the truth. It's the clunky direction, stiff and rather uninvolving which is too bad because the premise does sound intriguing on paper. Kind of hurt by its thrill-less performances and inability to make a potentially fascinating plot gripping, "Fright" is actually a snoozer. -
ulicknormanowen13 June 2020Once a cattle drover in "rawhide " TV series ,Eric Fleming leaves his cowboy outfit for a suit and becomes a very credible shrink.
"Fright " is a curious thriller ; the psychiatrist has two patients and their stories seem independent ;the screenwriters link them in the last part ,it's a bit far-fetched ,but it's in the grand tradition of the Freudian movies of the forties ,and its main topic (split personality) was original for the time ("psycho" was made in 1960).
The first part looks like a jigsaw puzzle :clues are given to the viewer till he remembers an old tragic story of long ago .....the patient speaks basic German without having learnt it ...Then confused words emerge: I was in love.....the name was Rudy ....but his father did not want us to marry ...Rudy was already married ......A hunting lodge ...We had to change horses ....(the action takes place in the fifties).I was a baroness ....My name was Maria......By cross-checking ,the viewer discovers the heroine's "other her" before the shrink who's got to find help from a scholar !And however ,this event is known around the world and spawned many movies.
The second part is a little disappointing , but it does not spoil the interest.After the first sequence ,a man hunt, the plot is bound to surprise the most psycho-thriller buff. -
myriamlenys17 February 2024Thanks to the efficient intervention of a psychiatrist, an escaped murderer can be recaptured without further violence. Strangely, the hypnotism performed by the psychiatrist has not reached only the intended target. A young woman standing among the spectators also feels shaken and discombobulated. She goes looking for answers...
"Fright" is probably best described as a mix of thriller and horror movie. Sadly, it is not a very good movie. The story advances with jerky, ungainly hops, the direction wavers and the acting is not of a nature to earn Oscars. The soundtrack would have been more suited to one of those movies where square-jawed cosmonauts battle ten-feet-tall tarantulas.
However, there are intriguing ideas to be found which, in the right hands, might have made for a compelling work. This one cries out for a comprehensive remake.
In the meanwhile "Fright" can be used as lesson material by lecturers. The work reads like a long list of deontological infractions : there is a male psychiatrist who makes love to one of his female patients, a journalist who helps himself to confidential medical information, a newspaper editor who splashes the said information all over the front page, etcetera. The finale involves the highly questionable manipulation of a convict on death row. The man is used as a mindless puppet - but that's all right, according to the good doctor, since it takes a murderer to commit a murder.
Like I've said, it's a long and impressive list of deontological failures. One wonders what would have happened if the movie had lasted any longer. Would the prison wardens have sold body parts of the dead convict to sorcerers and magicians ? Would the psychiatrist have started a harem containing "Maria Vetsera", "Marie Curie", "Mary Todd Lincoln" and "Mary, queen of Scots" ? The mind boggles. -
trimbolicelia25 October 2022A little-known mid-50's mild psychological thriller. A psychiatrist helps a woman who seems to have a split personality. Because the doctor publicly helped the police deal with an escaped murderer that puts him in the sights of a yellow journalist and his sleazy tabloid rag. When the hack finds out about the doctor's latest case, he figures there's a headline there. He barrels into the doc's office when the doctor not there, discovers the session tapes with the split personality woman and relays them to his newspaper causing a scandal and risking lawsuits. Now, I have a few problems with just about everyone's behavior in this whole situation. One would expect rag hack to have zero scruples, so his behavior is reprehensible but believable and not surprising. When the hack barges into the doctor's private office why didn't the secretary call the cops to eject him. The newspaper publishing the doctor's private sessions with a patient!? I don't know about then but now that would be violating doctor/patient confidentiality and would be wildly against the law. Wouldn't it? The publisher even mentions lawsuits but lets the editor do whatever he pleases. Lastly and most inappropriate the doctor and his patient develop a romantic relationship. Nowadays that would be definitely against the law. Everybody's behavior in this film is way out of line. Still, it is interesting to see this film play fast and loose with the rules. Or is it that people, as a rule, are out of control. The Alpha Video is adequate quality, but the film Fright needs re-mastering. Being an obscurity, it won't get re-furbished any time soon.
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Psychiatrist Eric Fleming talks a serial killer down from a bridge so the police can capture him. Among the crowd watching is Nancy Malone. While the press makes a fuss over over the doctor, she approaches him to see if he can help her with her general dissatisfaction. He suggests dinner, but she wants a professional appointment, so they wind up doing both. Gradually he comes to realize that she thinks she is the reincarnation of Baroness Mary Vetsera of the Mayerling Incident, in which the lady and her lover, Crown Prince Rudolf killed themselves. He figures out why this is, but then she vanishes and the police come to him with a letter accusing him of wanting to kill her. They aren't fashed about it, just investigating.
Despite its title, W. Lee Wilder's movie isn't frightening, creepy, or anything but the sort of thing someone who was born in Vienna during the Empire might think is interesting when maudlin drunk. Lew Davies offers a score that consists of a warbling theremin and woodwinds in a minor key, and while Miss Malone is ok, Fleming talks like he is a television doctor peddling cigarettes. The script is by Wilder's son Myles, who had more success with television sitcoms. Ned Glass and Sid Raymond have tiny roles. -
stellaarwennicolina1 October 2018When I first saw Fright I was fascinated. Fascinated by an acting apearence I wouldn't have expected like this. Till I watched Fright I knew Eric Fleming only from Rawhide. I had read that he drowned while shooting a ABC-television movie and began to research. I found out, he had appeard in a 1965 movie named Fright, so I searched for it on YouTube. When I found the whole movie I was to frightened to watch it, because I saw it was a 'psychotical-thriller'. All I knew about psycho-thrillers was, they are scary and brutal. After a while I thaught: what could happen? And I watched it. I was thrilled. I would never have thought Eric could act something like this! A hypnotist-psychologist who falls in love with one of his patients. He lives a life like James Bond. Drinks in bars, easy women and so ahead. The only Thing on this movie, really getting on my nerves are the cigarettes! They put a cigaret on, stick it in the mouth one time, just one, and then put it out again! And that's in every single scene!!!!!! But all in all the movie's very nice ans definetly worth to watch it.;-)
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azathothpwiggins12 October 2021Ann Summers (Nancy Malone) starts seeing a psychiatrist (Eric Fleming) after she witnesses him talking a desperate criminal down from a bridge. After a few sessions, the doctor realizes that either Ann has two distinct personalities, or she is the reincarnation of a Baroness who died in 1889.
FRIGHT is a well-made thriller with a solid plot. While the subject matter is questionable, it's presented in a way that allows for the suspension of disbelief. Some nice twists add to the fun, and the finale is quite original...