The Monkey's Paw | |
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Directed by | Manning Haynes |
Written by | Lydia Hayward Louis N. Parker (play) |
Based on | "The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs |
Produced by | George Redman |
Starring | Moore Marriott Marie Ault Charles Ashton |
Production company | Artistic Pictures |
Distributed by | Artistic Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 64 minutes [1] |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
The Monkey's Paw is a 1923 British silent horror film directed by Manning Haynes and starring Moore Marriott, Marie Ault, and Charles Ashton. It is an adaptation of W. W. Jacobs's 1902 short story "The Monkey's Paw". The short story was made into a 1907 one-act play by Louis N. Parker, elements of which were also incorporated into this 1923 British film by screenwriter Lydia Hayward. [1] [2]
As described in a film magazine review for an American audience, [3] a traveller tells a family, John White, his wife, and son, weird tales of a magical talisman, a monkey's paw, which has the power of granting its possessor three wishes, but only with hellish consequences as punishment for tampering with fate. The father falls asleep. In his dreams he acquires the paw and requests two thousand dollars. He gets the money but this results in the death of his son Herbert. His wife compels him to wish that her boy was alive again. This is accomplished, but when he appears as a soulless zombie, in his fright Mr. White makes his third and final wish that his son be dead once more, where he may hopefully rest in peace. Awakening, the father wants nothing to do with the magic charm.
"The Monkey's Paw" is a horror short story by English author W. W. Jacobs. It first appeared in Harper's Monthly in 1902, and was reprinted in his third collection of short stories, The Lady of the Barge, later that year. In the story, three wishes are granted to the owner of The Monkey's Paw, but the wishes come with an enormous price for interfering with fate.
George Thomas Moore Marriott was an English character actor best remembered for the series of films he made with Will Hay. His first appearance with Hay was in the film Dandy Dick (1935), but he was a significant supporting performer in Hay's films from 1936 to 1940, and while he starred with Hay during this period he played a character called "Harbottle" that was based on a character Marriott usually played. His character Harbottle was originally created by Hay when he used the character in his "The fourth form at St. Michael's" sketches in the 1920s.
Marie Ault was a British character actress of stage and film.
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