The Devil's Daughter (1973 film)

Last updated
The Devil's Daughter
The Devil's Daughter (1973 film).jpg
GenreHorror
Written by Colin Higgins
Directed by Jeannot Szwarc
Starring Shelley Winters
Belinda Montgomery
Robert Foxworth
Jonathan Frid
Music by Laurence Rosenthal
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Producers Edward K. Milkis
Thomas L. Miller
Production locations Pacific Grove, California
Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
CinematographyJ.J. Jones
EditorRita Roland
Running time74 minutes
Production company Paramount Television
Original release
Network ABC
ReleaseJanuary 9, 1973 (1973-01-09)

The Devil's Daughter is a 1973 American made-for-television horror film starring Shelley Winters, Belinda Montgomery and Robert Foxworth. It originally aired as the ABC Movie of the Week on January 9, 1973.

Contents

It was an early screenwriting credit for Colin Higgins. [1]

Plot

Diane is a young woman (played by Belinda Montgomery) who attends the funeral of her mother. One of her mother's old friends, a wealthy woman named Lilith (Shelley Winters), introduces her to a Satanic cult (her mother was part of this cult before leaving it while Diane was a baby). The cult members have been keeping track of Diane (unbeknownst to her) throughout her childhood and teenage years, and believe her to be their "princess of darkness," insisting she take that role, which Diane rejects, horrified. Several strange things happen to Diane and her friends as the cult tries to take control over her. Diane eventually meets Steve, a charming young man (Robert Foxworth), and as she falls in love with him, feels she can defy the cult and live her own life. On her wedding day, Diane learns, to her shock and horror, that there are sinister conditions for the marriage, making her destiny unavoidable when she finds out that Steve is really the demon prince the cult had arranged her to marry.

Cast

Production

The movie was filmed in Pacific Grove, California and Paramount Studios in Hollywood, California. [2]

Reception

The Los Angeles Times said it "had about as much suspense as the Nixon-McGovern race." [3] The New York Times called it "one of the better made for TV movies." [4]

Legacy

Higgins later described the script as "just a job". [5] However producers Milkis and Miller enjoyed working with Higgins and commissioned him to write a Hitchcock style thriller. This became Silver Streak . [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Scott</span> American actress (1912–2003)

Martha Ellen Scott was an American actress. She was featured in major films such as Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956), and William Wyler's Ben-Hur (1959), playing the mother of Charlton Heston's character in both films. She originated the role of Emily Webb in Thornton Wilder's Our Town on Broadway in 1938 and later recreated the role in the 1940 film version, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Remick</span> American actress (1935–1991)

Lee Ann Remick was an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the film Days of Wine and Roses (1962).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shelley Winters</span> American actress (1920–2006)

Shelley Winters was an American film actress whose career spanned seven decades. She won Academy Awards for The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) and A Patch of Blue (1965), and received nominations for A Place in the Sun (1951) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972). She also appeared in A Double Life (1947), The Night of the Hunter (1955), Lolita (1962), Alfie (1966), Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976), and Pete's Dragon (1977). She also acted on television, including a tenure on the sitcom Roseanne, and wrote three autobiographies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Montgomery</span> American actress (1933–1995)

Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery was an American actress whose career spanned five decades in film, stage, and television. She portrayed the good witch Samantha Stephens on the popular television series Bewitched, which earned her five Primetime Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Godunov</span> Russian-American ballet dancer and film actor (1949–1995)

Alexander Borisovich Godunov was a Russian-American ballet dancer and film actor. A member of the Bolshoi Ballet, he became the troupe's Premier danseur. In 1979, he defected to the United States. While continuing to dance, he also began working as a supporting actor in Hollywood films. He had prominent roles in films such as Witness (1985) and Die Hard (1988).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shelley Long</span> American actress and comedian (born 1949)

Shelley Long is an American actress, singer, and comedian. For her role as Diane Chambers on the sitcom Cheers, Long received five Emmy nominations, winning in 1983 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She also won two Golden Globe Awards for the role. Long reprised her role as Diane Chambers in three episodes of the spin-off Frasier, for which she received an additional guest star Emmy nomination. In 2009, she began playing the recurring role of DeDe Pritchett on the ABC comedy series Modern Family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diane Varsi</span> American actress

Diane Marie Antonia Varsi was an American film actress best known for her performances in Peyton Place – her film debut, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award – and the cult film Wild in the Streets. She left Hollywood to pursue personal and artistic aims, notably at Bennington College in Vermont, where she studied poetry with poet and translator Ben Belitt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Foxworth</span> American actor

Robert Foxworth is an American film, stage, and television actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maila Nurmi</span> Finnish-American actress and television personality

Maila Elizabeth Syrjäniemi, known professionally as Maila Nurmi, was an American-Finn actress who created the campy 1950s character Vampira.

<i>The Unholy Wife</i> 1957 American film by John Farrow

The Unholy Wife is a 1957 Technicolor film noir crime film produced and directed by John Farrow at RKO Radio Pictures, but released by Universal Pictures as RKO was in the process of ceasing its film activities. The film features Diana Dors, Rod Steiger, Tom Tryon and Beulah Bondi. The screenplay was written by William Durkee and Jonathan Latimer

<i>The Devils Rain</i> (film) 1975 film by Robert Fuest

The Devil's Rain is a 1975 supernatural horror film directed by Robert Fuest. The ensemble cast includes William Shatner, Tom Skerritt, Ernest Borgnine, Eddie Albert, Ida Lupino and Keenan Wynn. John Travolta made his film debut in a minor role. During filming, Travolta converted to the Scientology religion after co-star Joan Prather gave him a copy of the book Dianetics written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Satanist Anton LaVey is credited as the film's technical advisor and appeared in the film playing a minor role. Although it takes place in an unspecified part of the American Southwest, the movie was shot in Durango, Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin Higgins</span> Australian-American filmmaker (1941–1988)

Colin Higgins was an Australian-American screenwriter, actor, director, and producer. He was best known for writing the screenplay for the 1971 film Harold and Maude, and for directing the films Foul Play (1978) and 9 to 5 (1980).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Arkin</span> American actor

David George Arkin was an American actor, known for his numerous supporting appearances in the films of Robert Altman. These roles were part of Altman's frequent ensemble and included Staff Sergeant Vollmer in M*A*S*H, Harry in The Long Goodbye (1973), Norman in Nashville (1975), and The Mailman/The Police Officer in Popeye (1980).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belinda Montgomery</span> Canadian-American actress

Belinda Montgomery is a Canadian-American actress. She initially attracted notice for playing Cinderella in the 1969 television film Hey, Cinderella! She appeared in films including The Todd Killings (1971), The Other Side of the Mountain (1975) and its sequel The Other Side of the Mountain Part 2 (1978), Stone Cold Dead (1979), and Silent Madness (1984). She starred as Dr. Elizabeth Merrill in the science-fiction series Man from Atlantis (1977–78), and as Katherine Howser, Doogie's mother, in the medical comedy-drama series, Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989-1993).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janice Rule</span> American actress (1931–2003)

Mary Janice Rule was an American actress and psychotherapist, earning her PhD while still acting, then acting occasionally while working in her new profession.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diane McBain</span> American actress (1941–2022)

Diane Jean McBain was an American actress who, as a Warner Brothers contract player, reached a brief peak of popularity during the early 1960s. She was best known for playing an adventurous socialite in the 1960–1962 television series Surfside 6 and as one of Elvis Presley's leading ladies in 1966's Spinout.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucille Lund</span> American actress (1913–2002)

Lucille Lund was an American actress. She is best known for her role in the film The Black Cat (1934).

Letters from Three Lovers is a 1973 made-for-television drama film directed by John Erman. An ABC Movie of the Week and a sequel to The Letters (1973), the film is co-produced by Aaron Spelling, written by Ann Marcus and stars Martin Sheen, Belinda Montgomery, Robert Sterling, June Allyson, Ken Berry and Juliet Mills, among others.

<i>Playmaker</i> (film) 1994 American film

Playmaker is a drama/mystery/thriller film starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Rubin, directed by Yuri Zeltser. The film was released in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diane Chambers</span> Fictional character in the series Cheers

Diane Chambers is a fictional character in the American television situation comedy show Cheers, portrayed by Shelley Long and created by Glen and Les Charles. She is one of two main protagonists in the first five seasons of the series. After her fiancé Sumner Sloan abandons her in the Cheers bar in the pilot episode, Diane works as a bar waitress. She has an on-off relationship with the womanizing bartender Sam Malone and a one-year relationship with Frasier Crane, who later becomes a main character of the series and its spin-off Frasier. When Long left the series during the fifth season, the producers wrote her character out. After that, they added her permanent replacement Rebecca Howe, a businesswoman played by Kirstie Alley, in the sixth season. Shelley Long made a special guest appearance as Diane in the series finale, as well as in Frasier as a one-time figment of Frasier's imagination, and as the actual Diane in the crossover episode "The Show Where Diane Comes Back".

References

  1. OBITUARIES Colin Higgins; Creator of `Harold and Maude' Film: [Home Edition] Los Angeles Times 6 Aug 1988: 28.
  2. "The Devil's Daughter (TV Movie 1973) - IMDb". IMDb .
  3. TV MOVIE REVIEW: Scare Tactics in 'Devils Daughter' Murphy, Mary. Los Angeles Times 9 Jan 1973: f11.
  4. TV: 'Devil's Daughter': Shelley Winters Is Harassed Heroine in A.B.C.'s Witchcraft Thriller Tonight By HOWARD THOMPSON. New York Times 9 Jan 1973: 79.
  5. David Stratton, 'Colin Higgins', Cinema Papers, December 1982 p 534
  6. The Producers: A Varied Bunch Kilday, Gregg. Los Angeles Times 20 Apr 1977: e8.