Laughter in the Dark (film)

Last updated

Laughter in the Dark
Laughter in the Dark FilmPoster.jpeg
Film poster
Directed by Tony Richardson
Screenplay by Edward Bond
Based on Laughter in the Dark
by Vladimir Nabokov
Produced byNeil Hartley
Starring
Cinematography Dick Bush
Edited byCharles Rees
Music by Raymond Leppard
Production
company
Distributed by United Artists (UK)
Release date
  • September 1969 (1969-09)
(UK)
Running time
104 minutes
Countries
  • France
  • United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$780,000 [1]

Laughter in the Dark (French : La Chambre obscure) is a 1969 romantic drama film directed by Tony Richardson and starring Nicol Williamson, Anna Karina and Jean-Claude Drouot. [2] The screenplay was by Edward Bond. It was based on the 1936 novel Laughter in the Dark by Vladimir Nabokov, with the setting changed from 1930s Berlin to 1960s Swinging London.

Contents

The film drew respectable reviews, but for reasons that are unclear, it was subsequently removed from distribution.[ citation needed ]

Plot

Sir Edward More is a wealthy married 40-year-old art dealer who becomes obsessed with young amoral gold-digging cinema usherette Margot and starts an affair with her. When his wife finds out, she leaves him.

At a party thrown for her by More, Margot meets ex-lover Herve Tourace, and they resume their relationship, deciding to exploit More for money. Margot lies to More that his assistant Brian has been making advances to her, and that she fancies him, and suggests he replaces Brian with Tourace, who she says is gay, so won't be a threat. More acquiesces and employs Tourace.

Margot suggests they holiday abroad. At a seaside resort, More bumps into Brian who also happens to be holidaying there. Margot and Tourace make love in a small boat, observed by Brian's wife, who tells More. Furious, More decides that he and Margot will leave immediately. As he drives at speed along a dangerous mountain road, he swerves to avoid oncoming cyclists, and crashes the car. He is blinded.

Margot finds them a villa, and they move in. Unknown to More, so does Tourace, and Margot and Tourace resume their relationship. More gradually becomes suspicious that there is someone else in the house, and eventually attacks the stranger. At the same time, his ex-wife's brother arrives, who says he has just seen Tourace fleeing the villa. More realises what has been going on. When Margot returns from a day trip, he tries to shoot her. He misses, then stumbles and fatally shoots himself. Margot runs from the villa.

Cast

Production

Casting

Nicol Williamson was a very late replacement for Richard Burton, who had already shot several scenes. Richardson had found Burton's lack of punctuality intolerable. To recruit Williamson in a hurry, Richardson sent a search party to comb the bars and bistros of the Cote d'Azur. [3] [4]

Filming locations

The film was shot on location in England and Majorca.

Release

Obscurity

For unknown reasons, the film was removed from distribution.

It has only been shown twice on British television, in 1974 and 1981 on BBC2, [5] and has not been released on any home media format.

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Laughter in the Dark proceeds to transcend content with style in a dazzling display of tender cruelty. ... Richardson throws away just about every opportunity to be subtle in his depiction of the archetypal ménage-a-trois. ... As a tale of blindness in several senses, Laughter in the Dark makes a harsh parable; the film faithfully perpetuates this emphasis, and as faithfully pays due respect to Nabokov's painstaking use of doors as a conscious metaphor. Where it fails is in creating the slightest interest in its trio of repulsive characters – no particular fault of the cast, but Williamson is uselessly young, Karina looks delicious in a mini-skirt but is otherwise a cardboard cut-out with a hideous accent, while Drouot is handsome, blank and instantly forgettable. Nabokov deals with weakness and makes it real, human and tragic. Richardson deals with concupiscence and renders it merely tedious." [6]

Remake

A planned 1986 remake by director Laszlo Papas starring Mick Jagger and Rebecca De Mornay (later replaced by Maryam d'Abo) was abandoned. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vladimir Nabokov</span> Russian-American novelist (1899–1977)

Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin, was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Imperial Russia in 1899, Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian (1926–1938) while living in Berlin, where he met his wife. He achieved international acclaim and prominence after moving to the United States, where he began writing in English. Nabokov became an American citizen in 1945 and lived mostly on the East Coast before returning to Europe in 1961, where he settled in Montreux, Switzerland.

Cecil Antonio Richardson was an English theatre and film director, producer and screenwriter, whose career spanned five decades. He was identified with the "angry young men" group of British directors and playwrights during the 1950s, and was later a key figure in the British New Wave filmmaking movement.

<i>Privates Progress</i> 1956 British film by John Boulting

Private's Progress is a 1956 British comedy film directed by John Boulting and starring Ian Carmichael, Peter Jones, William Hartnell and Terry-Thomas. The script was by John Boulting and Frank Harvey based on the novel of the same name by Alan Hackney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basil Dignam</span> English actor (1905–1979)

Basil Dignam was an English character actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernest Thesiger</span> English actor (1879–1961)

Ernest Frederic Graham Thesiger, CBE was an English stage and film actor. He is noted for his performance as Doctor Septimus Pretorius in James Whale's film Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

<i>Carry On Sergeant</i> 1958 British comedy film by Gerald Thomas

Carry On Sergeant is a 1958 British comedy film about national service starring William Hartnell, Bob Monkhouse and Eric Barker; it is the first in the series of Carry On films, with 31 entries released from 1958 to 1992. The film was based on a play The Bull Boys by R. F. Delderfield and was adapted into a script by Norman Hudis with John Antrobus contributing additional material and replacing the conscripted ballet dancers of the novel with a married couple. It was directed by Gerald Thomas and produced by Peter Rogers, a partnership which would last until 1978. Actors in this film, who went on to be part of the regular team in the series, were Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Connor and Terry Scott. The film was followed by Carry On Nurse 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicol Williamson</span> British actor (1936–2011)

Thomas Nicol Williamson was a British actor. He was once described by playwright John Osborne as "the greatest actor since Marlon Brando". He was also described by Samuel Beckett as "touched by genius" and viewed by many critics as "the Hamlet of his generation" during the late 1960s.

<i>Despair</i> (novel) 1934 novel by Vladimir Nabokov

Despair is the seventh novel by Vladimir Nabokov, originally published in Russian, serially in the politicized literary journal Sovremennye zapiski during 1934. It was then published as a book in 1936, and translated to English by the author in 1937. Most copies of the 1937 English edition were destroyed by German bombs during World War II; only a few copies remain. Nabokov published a second English translation in 1965; this is now the only English translation in print.

<i>Made in U.S.A.</i> (1966 film) 1966 French film

Made in U.S.A is a 1966 French crime comedy film written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard, and starring Anna Karina, László Szabó, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Marianne Faithfull, Yves Afonso, and Jean-Claude Bouillon. It was a loose and unauthorized adaptation of the 1965 novel The Jugger by Richard Stark, and was also inspired by the 1946 Howard Hawks film The Big Sleep.

<i>The Charge of the Light Brigade</i> (1968 film) 1968 British film

The Charge of the Light Brigade is a 1968 British DeLuxe Color satirical war film made by Woodfall Film Productions and distributed by United Artists, depicting parts of the Crimean War and the eponymous charge. It was directed by Tony Richardson and produced by Neil Hartley. Its animated credits and linking passages were created by Richard Williams, drawing on the satirical use of Victorian-era jingoistic images. This film features Richardson's daughters Natasha and Joely in their debuts.

<i>Laughter in the Dark</i> (novel) Nabokov Novel

Laughter in the Dark is a novel written by Vladimir Nabokov and serialised in Sovremennye zapiski in 1932.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond Lovell</span> Canadian actor (1900–1953)

Raymond Lovell was a Canadian actor who performed in British films. He mainly played supporting roles, often somewhat pompous characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Dignam</span> English actor (1909–1989)

Cuthbert Mark Dignam was an English actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyril Raymond</span> British actor (1899–1973)

Cyril William North Raymond MBE was a British character actor. He maintained a stage and screen career from his teens until his retirement, caused by ill health, in the 1960s.

This is a list of works by writer Vladimir Nabokov.

<i>Third Finger, Left Hand</i> 1940 American film

Third Finger, Left Hand is a 1940 American romantic comedy film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring Myrna Loy, Melvyn Douglas and Raymond Walburn. The screenplay concerns a woman who pretends to be married to fend off would-be suitors and jealous wives, then has to live with her deception when she meets an artist who pretends to be her husband.

<i>Lolita</i> 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov

Lolita is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov that addresses the controversial subject of hebephilia. The protagonist is a French literature professor who moves to New England and writes under the pseudonym Humbert Humbert. He describes his obsession with a 12-year-old "nymphet", Dolores Haze, whom he kidnaps and sexually abuses after becoming her stepfather. Privately, he calls her "Lolita", the Spanish diminutive for Dolores. The novel was originally written in English, but fear of censorship in the U.S. and Britain led to it being first published in Paris, France, in 1955 by Olympia Press.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-Claude Drouot</span> Belgian actor

Jean Claude Drouot is a Belgian actor whose career has lasted over a half-century. At the age of twenty-five, he gained widespread fame in the French-speaking world as a result of portraying the title role in the popular television adventure series, Thierry la Fronde.

<i>The Reckoning</i> (1970 film) 1969 British drama film directed by Jack Gold

The Reckoning is a 1969 British drama film released by Columbia Pictures directed by Jack Gold and starring Nicol Williamson, Ann Bell, Rachel Roberts and Zena Walker. It was based on the 1967 novel The Harp that Once by Patrick Hall and features music by Malcolm Arnold.

<i>Innocent Sinners</i> 1958 film

Innocent Sinners is a 1958 British black and white film directed by Philip Leacock and starring Flora Robson, David Kossoff and Barbara Mullen.

References

  1. Tino Balio, United Artists: The Company That Changed the Film Industry, University of Wisconsin Press, 1987 p. 246
  2. "Laughter in the Dark". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  3. Walker, Alexander (1997). Elizabeth: The Life of Elizabeth Taylor. Grove Press. pp. 298–299. ISBN   978-0802137692.
  4. Richardson, Tony (1993). Long Distance Runner – A memoir. London: Faber & Faber. pp. 213–15. ISBN   0-571-16852-3.
  5. "Laughter in the Dark". BBC Programme Index. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  6. "Laughter in the Dark". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 36 (420): 188. 1 January 1969. ProQuest   1305824689 via ProQuest.
  7. Colapinto, John (2 January 2015). "Nabokov and the Movies". The New Yorker. Retrieved 5 January 2015.