The Mask of Diijon | |
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Directed by | Lew Landers |
Screenplay by |
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Story by | Arthur St. Claire |
Produced by | Max Alexander Alfred Stern |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Jack Greenhalgh |
Edited by | Roy V. Livingston |
Music by | Karl Hajos |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Producers Releasing Corporation |
Release date |
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Running time | 73 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Mask of Diijon is a 1946 American black-and-white horror noir suspense film released from PRC Studios, directed by Lew Landers and featuring Erich von Stroheim, Jeanne Bates and William Wright. [1]
Diijon, a tired magician, gives up his act to study the power of the mind. His wife Victoria, once supportive, now is struggling to pay bills. She urges her stubborn and older husband to return to the magic field where Diijon was considered one of the greats. He refuses but does reluctantly agree to do a hypnotism nightclub act at Victoria's urging. The act goes bad and he's laughed off the stage. He's convinced this is the handiwork of Victoria's ex-lover Tony Holliday. Later, Diijon finds that he does indeed have the power to control men's minds and begins to take revenge on the people he felt made him look like a fool. He hypnotizes his young wife to kill the man. Unfortunately for Diijon, things go horribly wrong.
The opening of the film features a memorable scene depicting a woman being beheaded, with a guillotine—then revealed to be a magic trick.
TV Guide rated it 1/4 stars and wrote, "Except for von Stroheim, the acting was barely adequate." [2] Writing in Horror Noir, author Paul Meehan said the film "manages to transcend its humble origins primarily through the star power of von Stroheim". [3]
Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim was an Austrian-American director, screenwriter, actor, and producer, most noted as a film star and avant-garde, visionary director of the silent era. His 1924 film Greed is considered one of the finest and most important films ever made. After clashes with Hollywood studio bosses over budget and workers' rights problems, Stroheim found it difficult to find work as a director and subsequently became a well-respected character actor, particularly in French cinema.
The Great Flamarion is a 1945 American film noir mystery film directed by Anthony Mann starring Erich von Stroheim and Mary Beth Hughes. The film, like many films noirs, is shot in flashback narrative. The film was produced by Republic Pictures.
Jeanne Bates was an American radio, film and television actress. After performing in radio serials, she signed a contract with Columbia Pictures in 1942 which began her career in films both in small parts and larger roles in a series of horror films and noirs, including The Return of the Vampire (1943) and Shadows in the Night (1946).
The Wedding March is a 1928 American synchronized sound romantic drama film written and directed by Erich von Stroheim. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The film stars Erich von Stroheim, Fay Wray and ZaSu Pitts. Paramount Pictures forced von Stroheim to create two films from the footage, the second being The Honeymoon. The Honeymoon is now considered lost, the only known copy destroyed in a fire in France in 1959.
June Mathis was an American screenwriter. Mathis was the first female executive for Metro/MGM and at only 35, she was the highest paid executive in Hollywood. In 1926 she was voted the third most influential woman in Hollywood, behind Mary Pickford and Norma Talmadge. Mathis is best remembered for discovering Rudolph Valentino and writing such films as The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), and Blood and Sand (1922).
The Great Gabbo is a 1929 American Pre-Code early sound musical drama film directed by James Cruze, based on Ben Hecht's 1928 short story "The Rival Dummy", and starring Erich von Stroheim and Betty Compson. The film features songs by Lynn Cowan, Paul Titsworth, Donald McNamee and King Zany.
The North Star is a 1943 pro-resistance war film starring Anne Baxter, Dana Andrews, Walter Huston, Walter Brennan and Erich von Stroheim It was produced by Samuel Goldwyn Productions and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. It was directed by Lewis Milestone, written by Lillian Hellman and featured production design by William Cameron Menzies. The music was written by Aaron Copland, the lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and the cinematography by James Wong Howe. The film also marked the debut of Farley Granger.
Alraune, later renamed Unnatural: The Fruit of Evil, is a 1952 West German horror science fiction film, directed by Arthur Maria Rabenalt and starring Hildegard Knef and Erich von Stroheim. The film is based on the 1911 novel Alraune by German novelist Hanns Heinz Ewers. The plot involves a scientist who creates a woman (Knef) who is beautiful yet soulless, lacking any sense of morality.
As You Desire Me is a 1932 American pre-Code film adaptation of the 1929 play by Luigi Pirandello released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was produced and directed by George Fitzmaurice with Irving Thalberg as co-producer. The adaptation was by Gene Markey, the cinematography by William H. Daniels, the art direction by Cedric Gibbons and the costume design by Adrian.
The Merry Widow is a 1925 American silent romantic drama/black comedy film directed and written by Erich von Stroheim. Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film stars Mae Murray, John Gilbert, Roy D'Arcy, and Tully Marshall, with pre-fame uncredited appearances by Joan Crawford and Clark Gable.
Foolish Wives is a 1922 American erotic silent drama film produced and distributed by Universal Pictures under their Super-Jewel banner and written and directed by Erich von Stroheim. The drama features von Stroheim, Rudolph Christians, Miss DuPont, Maude George, and others.
The Emperor's Candlesticks is a 1937 historical drama film starring William Powell and Luise Rainer and directed by George Fitzmaurice. It is based on the 1899 novel of the same name by Baroness Orczy. The story follows the adventures of spies from opposing sides who fall in love while following the eponymous candlesticks—and the papers hidden inside them—all over turn-of-the-20th-century Europe.
Hello, Sister! is a 1933 American pre-Code drama-romance film produced by Fox Film Corporation. It was directed by Erich von Stroheim, Raoul Walsh, Alfred L. Werker, and Edwin Burke, although none of those directors are credited. The film is a re-edited version of von Stroheim's now-lost film Walking Down Broadway.
Friends and Lovers is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film released by RKO Radio Pictures, directed by Victor Schertzinger, and starring Adolphe Menjou, Lili Damita, Laurence Olivier, Erich von Stroheim, and Hugh Herbert.
I Was an Adventuress is a 1940 American drama film directed by Gregory Ratoff, starring Vera Zorina, Richard Greene, Erich von Stroheim, and Peter Lorre. An actress/ballerina works as decoy for two international con artists.
Three Faces East is a 1930 American pre-Code film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Constance Bennett and Erich von Stroheim. Produced by Daryl Zanuck and released by Warner Brothers it is based on a 1918 Broadway play about World War I spies, Three Faces East, by Anthony Paul Kelly. It was filmed as a silent in 1926. A later remake in 1940 starred Boris Karloff and Margaret Lindsay was titled British Intelligence.
The Crime of Dr. Crespi is a 1935 American horror film starring Erich von Stroheim, Paul Guilfoyle, Jeanne Kelly, Dwight Frye, Harriet Russell, and John Bohn. It was released by Republic Pictures.
The Flying Torpedo is a 1916 American silent drama directed by John B. O'Brien and Christy Cabanne. It was produced by the Fine Arts Film Company and distributed by the Triangle Film Corporation. The film was written by John Emerson, Robert M. Baker and D. W. Griffith. The film is now considered lost.
The Unbeliever is a 1918 American silent propaganda film made towards the end of World War I. It was directed by Alan Crosland for the Edison Company towards its last days as a functioning film-making company. It stars Raymond McKee and Marguerite Courtot, who married a few years later, and Erich von Stroheim.
Fugitive Road is a 1934 American comedy drama film directed by Frank R. Strayer and starring Erich von Stroheim, Wera Engels and Leslie Fenton. It is set a border post in Austria following World War I. A variety of different people trying to cross the border end up stranded there, including an American gangster and a naïve young Russian woman hoping to sail to New York to join her brother.