The Eyes of Annie Jones

Last updated

The Eyes of Annie Jones
The Eyes of Annie Jones (1964 film) Theatrical poster.jpg
Theatrical poster
Directed by Reginald Le Borg
Written by Louis Vittes
Based onstory by Henry Slesar
Produced by Neil McCallum
Jack Parsons
Starring
CinematographyPeter Hennessy
Edited byRobert Winter
Music by Buxton Orr
Production
companies
Jack Parsons-Neil McCallum Productions
Associated Producers Inc
Distributed by 20th Century Fox (US)
Rank Film Distributors (UK) [1]
Release date
  • May 13, 1964 (1964-05-13)
Running time
73 minutes
Countries
  • United States [2]
  • United Kingdom [2]
LanguageEnglish

The Eyes of Annie Jones is a 1964 American-British drama film directed by Reginald Le Borg and starring Richard Conte, Francesca Annis and Joyce Carey. [3] It was written by Louis Vittes. The film tells the story of a sleepwalking young woman involved with a murder. [4]

Contents

The 1978 movie The Eyes of Laura Mars was inspired by The Eyes of Annie Jones. [5]

Plot

Taxi driver Tom Lucas murders wealthy Geraldine Wheeler, with whom he had been having an affair. The victim's Aunt Helen gets in touch with Geraldine's brother David and with Annie Jones, a 17-year-old girl from a nearby orphanage, who is said to have powers of extrasensory perception.

It turns out David has been embezzling from the family and hired Lucas to do the killing. A sleepwalking Annie seems to be possessed by the dead woman's spirit, saying things like, "They won't let me rest." When she approaches a spot where the body is buried, David has to prevent Lucas from killing the girl.

The two men have a falling out over money Lucas is still owed. The police become suspicious of him, and Lucas dies after crashing his speeding car. David is arrested, and the body and soul of Geraldine had not been allowed to rest, now found in the car's trunk.

Cast

Production

A low-budget “B movie,” The Eyes of Annie Jones was filmed “quickly and cheaply” in England. [6]

The picture was among a number of 20th Century Fox “budget program” projects produced by Jack Parsons. Parsons was also responsible for director Terence Fisher’s 1964 The Earth Dies Screaming . [7]

Filming started in March 1963. [8] It was shot in London. [9] Robert L. Lippert tried to persuade Sophia Loren to play the lead. [10]

Release

Film historian Wheeler W. Dixon notes that “the film opened briefly in the United States as supporting feature, and was soon shelved after its initial run.” [11]

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Having cast aside conventional suspense by disclosing the secrets of its murder plot early on, this odd little detective thriller compensates with some rather good characterisation and, on the whole, rather good acting. Unfortunately the film is hamstrung throughout by uninspired direction which plods stolidly and unimaginatively on to the bitter end." [12]

Critic Howard Thompson at the New York Times declares that the film is “a bore from start to finish, consistently inept and transparent.” Thompson names the producer, director and the scriptwriter as the “creative culprits” in the endeavor, adding rhetorically “why did anybody make this picture?” [13]

Retrospective appraisal

Dixon suggests that any merits that The Eyes of Annie Jones might possess have not appeared with age: “The film remains stage-bound in a drab apartment for most of its length, and finally emerges as a plodding police procedural.” [14]

Allowing that Richard Conte, as the “rackish embezzler” seeking his missing sister is “good,” Dixon disparages Francesca Anna’s acting as “flat, monotonous, and does little to enhance the film.” Dixon notes that director Reginald LeBorg did “not do as well as he might have with the material.” [15]

Notes

  1. ↑ "EYES OF ANNIE JONES, The". Monthly Film Bulletin. 31 (360). London: 9. 1 January 1964. ProQuest   1305834337.
  2. 1 2 "The Eyes of Annie Jones (1963)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 25 February 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  3. ↑ "The Eyes of Annie Jones". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  4. ↑ Dixon, 1992 p. 157-158: Directorial Credits
  5. ↑ Dixon, 1992 p. 107: April 8, 1988 LeBorg Interview with Dixon, University of Nebraska - Lincoln’’
  6. ↑ Dixon, 1992 p. 37, p. 107: Director LeBorg categorized the picture as a British “B.”
  7. ↑ Dixon, 1992 p. 37: Fisher’s film “excellent.”
  8. ↑ Scheuer, P. K. (12 March 1963). "History just lark to mayans in film". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest   168260009.
  9. ↑ "FILMLAND EVENTS". Los Angeles Times. 21 June 1963. ProQuest   168326468.
  10. ↑ "FILMLAND EVENTS". Los Angeles Times. 28 February 1963. ProQuest   168190988.
  11. ↑ Dixon, 1992 p. 37:
  12. ↑ "The Eyes of Annie Jones". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 31 (360): 9. 1 January 1964 – via ProQuest.
  13. ↑ Thompson, 1964
  14. ↑ Dixon, 1992 p. 37
  15. ↑ Dixon, 1992 p. 37

Related Research Articles

<i>Diary of a Madman</i> (film) 1963 film by Reginald Le Borg

Diary of a Madman is a 1963 American horror film directed by Reginald Le Borg and starring Vincent Price, Nancy Kovack, and Chris Warfield.

<i>Weird Woman</i> 1944 film by Reginald Le Borg

Weird Woman is a 1944 noir-mystery horror film, and the second installment in The Inner Sanctum Mysteries anthological film series, which was based on the popular radio series of the same name. Directed by Reginald Le Borg and starring Lon Chaney Jr., Anne Gwynne, and Evelyn Ankers. The movie is one of several films based on the novel Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber. Co-star Evelyn Ankers had previously worked with Chaney in Ghost of Frankenstein, where Chaney played the Frankenstein monster, and The Wolf Man, where Chaney played the title role.

Reginald LeBorg was an Austrian-American film director. He directed 68 films between 1936 and 1974.

<i>The Flanagan Boy</i> 1953 film by Reginald Le Borg

The Flanagan Boy is a 1953 British film noir directed by Reginald Le Borg. It was made by Hammer Film Productions and stars Barbara Payton, Tony Wright, Frederick Valk and Sid James. It was based on the 1949 novel of the same name by Max Catto.

<i>Fall Guy</i> (1947 film) 1947 film by Reginald Le Borg

Fall Guy is a 1947 American crime film noir directed by Reginald Le Borg. The drama features Leo Penn, Robert Armstrong and Teala Loring. The film is based on Cornell Woolrich's short story, "Cocaine."

<i>House of the Black Death</i> 1965 American film

House of the Black Death is a 1965 American horror film directed by Harold Daniels, Reginald LeBorg and Jerry Warren. The film was written by Richard Mahoney, based on a novel titled The Widderburn Horror by Lora Crozetti. The movie starred Lon Chaney Jr. and John Carradine, although the two actors shared no scenes in the film.

<i>Joe Palooka in the Counterpunch</i> 1949 film directed by Reginald Le Borg

Joe Palooka in the Counterpunch is a 1949 American film directed by Reginald Le Borg. It was one in the series of Joe Palooka films for Monogram starring Leon Errol. It was co-written by Cy Endfield.

<i>The Flight That Disappeared</i> 1961 film by Reginald Le Borg

The Flight That Disappeared is a 1961 American science fiction film, produced by Robert E. Kent, directed by Reginald Le Borg, that stars Craig Hill, Paula Raymond, and Dayton Lummis. The film was released by United Artists. The film's storyline deals with an alien abduction. When his flight disappears, a rocket scientist finds himself on trial in the future for his part in designing a weapon that has destroyed all life on Earth.

<i>Deadly Duo</i> (film) 1962 film by Reginald Le Borg

Deadly Duo is a 1962 American mystery film directed by Reginald LeBorg and released by United Artists.

<i>Destiny</i> (1944 film) 1944 film by Reginald Le Borg

Destiny is a 1944 American drama film noir directed by Reginald Le Borg and starring Gloria Jean, Alan Curtis, Frank Craven, and Grace McDonald.

<i>Little Iodine</i> (film) 1946 film by Reginald Le Borg

Little Iodine is a 1946 American comedy film directed by Reginald Le Borg and written by Richard H. Landau. The film is based on the comic strip Little Iodine by Jimmy Hatlo. The film stars Jo Ann Marlowe, Marc Cramer, Eve Whitney, Irene Ryan, and Hobart Cavanaugh. Little Iodine was produced by Comet Productions and released on October 20, 1946, by United Artists. All prints of the film were believed to be destroyed after 10 years, effectively making it a lost film.

<i>Susie Steps Out</i> 1946 film by Reginald Le Borg

Susie Steps Out is a 1946 American comedy film directed by Reginald Le Borg, written by Elwood Ullman and Fred Freiberger, and starring David Bruce, Cleatus Caldwell, Nita Hunter, Howard Freeman, Grady Sutton and Margaret Dumont. It was released on December 13, 1946 by United Artists.

<i>The Dalton Girls</i> 1957 film by Reginald Le Borg

The Dalton Girls is a 1957 American Western film directed by Reginald Le Borg and starring Merry Anders, Lisa Davis, Penny Edwards, Sue George and John Russell.

<i>San Diego, I Love You</i> 1944 American comedy film directed by Reginald Le Borg

San Diego, I Love You is a 1944 American comedy film directed by Reginald Le Borg and starring Jon Hall, Louise Allbritton and Edward Everett Horton.

<i>Joe Palooka in Triple Cross</i> 1951 film directed by Reginald Le Borg

Joe Palooka in Triple Cross is a 1951 American film. It was part of the Joe Palooka series and was directed by Reginald Le Borg.

<i>Shes for Me</i> 1943 film by Reginald Le Borg

She's for Me is a 1943 American musical film directed by Reginald LeBorg and starring Grace McDonald and David Bruce.

<i>Models Inc.</i> (film) 1952 film by Reginald Le Borg

Models Inc. is a 1952 American film noir crime film directed by Reginald Le Borg and starring Howard Duff, Coleen Gray and John Howard. The film's sets were designed by the art director Ernst Fegté.The story concerns a corrupt modeling agency which serves as a front for a call-girl service.

So Evil, My Sister is a 1974 American horror film, starring Susan Strasberg and Faith Domergue. It was directed by Reginald Le Borg and produced by Zenith Productions.

<i>Wyoming Mail</i> 1950 film by Reginald Le Borg

Wyoming Mail is a 1950 American Western film directed by Reginald Le Borg and starring Stephen McNally, Alexis Smith.

<i>Philo Vances Secret Mission</i> 1947 film directed by Reginald Le Borg

Philo Vance's Secret Mission is a 1947 American mystery film directed by Reginald Le Borg and starring Alan Curtis, Sheila Ryan and Tala Birell. It was part of a series of films featuring the detective Philo Vance made during the 1930s and 1940s.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.