The Vulture | |
---|---|
![]() Theatrical poster. | |
Directed by | Lawrence Huntington |
Written by | Lawrence Huntington |
Produced by | Lawrence Huntington executive Jack O. Lamont |
Starring | Robert Hutton Akim Tamiroff Broderick Crawford Diane Clare |
Edited by | John S Smith |
Music by | Eric Spear |
Production companies | Homeric Films Iliad Films Film Financial Co Ltd |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates | December 23, 1966 (Deming premiere) May 3, 1967 |
Running time | 91 minutes |
Countries | Canada United Kingdom United States |
Language | English |
Budget | £50,000 [1] |
The Vulture is a 1967 American/Canadian/British horror film directed by Lawrence Huntington and starring Robert Hutton, Akim Tamiroff, Broderick Crawford, and Diane Clare. [2]
One stormy night in Cornwall, schoolteacher Ellen West becomes hysterical when she sees a gigantic bird with a human face fly out of the open grave of Francis Real, an 18th-century seaman. Real, buried alive with a huge, murderous bird he had found in the South Pacific, had sworn vengeance on all descendants of Squire Stroud, the man who ordered his interment; nevertheless, Brian Stroud, the present squire, is unconcerned by the prophecy of doom.
American scientist Eric Lutyens, husband of Brian's niece Trudy, is troubled when he finds the mutilated body of a sheep in what appears to be a vulture's nest. He visits Professor Koniglich, a scientist friend of Brian's who believes himself to be a descendant of Real, and correctly surmises that Koniglich had attempted to disintegrate his own body in the grave and reassemble it through nuclear energy; unfortunately, the professor had failed to consider the bird buried there, and a mutation resulted.
Before Eric can warn the Strouds, Brian and his brother Edward are found dead on a cliffside, and Trudy is carried away to the same site by the bird after she is lured to Koniglich's house. At the cliff, Eric finds his wife threatened by the beast with Koniglich's head and screams at her to use the gun he had given her. Trudy shoots the bird and it crashes to its death on the rocks below; Eric then weights it with an anchor, tows it out to sea, and sinks it.
The script was based on an original story by Huntington which was first known as Manutara. He sold it to producer Jack O. Lamont who managed to get some financing from Paramount provided American names were cast in the leads. The remainder of the £50,000 budget was raised from Britain's Homeric Films and NFFC along with Canada's Ihod Productions. [1] The Vulture was written under the title Minotaur. The film was shot in Cornwall in 1965, on a budget of CAD$200,000. [3]
The film was distributed by Paramount Pictures and premiered in Portland, Oregon, on 31 December 1966. The film was shown in black and white in the United States. [4]
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A pitifully stilted horror film, in which the characters stand around either speculating, scoffing or helpfully disbursing yards of background information, and in which the only moment of splendour comes with the appearance of the monster, seen coyly from the waist down as a pair of vast, knobbly-kneed talons. Akim Tamiroff, hobbling about in flowing black cloak as a sort of reincarnation of Dr. Caligari, does his best with some fatuous dialogue: but the rest is ashes." [5]
TV Guide awarded the film one out of four stars, writing " Ridiculous casting makes this one a laugh riot." [6]
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek is a 1944 American screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton, and featuring Diana Lynn, William Demarest and Porter Hall. Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamiroff reprise their roles from Sturges' 1940 film The Great McGinty. Set against the backdrop of World War II-era America, its plot follows a wayward young woman who, after attending a party with soldiers in her small town, awakens to find herself married and pregnant, with no memory of her new suitor's identity.
William Broderick Crawford was an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Willie Stark in the film All the King's Men (1949), which earned him an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Often cast in tough-guy or slob roles, he later achieved recognition for his starring role as Dan Mathews in the crime television series Highway Patrol (1955–1959).
The Great McGinty is a 1940 political satire comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamiroff and featuring William Demarest and Muriel Angelus. It was Sturges's first film as a director; he sold the story to Paramount Pictures for just $10 on condition he direct the film. Sturges received an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
Black Christmas is a 1974 Canadian slasher film produced and directed by Bob Clark, and written by Roy Moore. It stars Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, and John Saxon. The story follows a group of sorority sisters who receive threatening phone calls and are eventually stalked and murdered by a mentally ill killer during the Christmas season.
The Plague of the Zombies is a 1966 British horror film directed by John Gilling and starring André Morell, John Carson, Jacqueline Pearce, Brook Williams, and Michael Ripper. The film's imagery influenced many later films in the zombie genre.
Mommie Dearest is a 1981 American biographical psychological drama film directed by Frank Perry and starring Faye Dunaway, Steve Forrest, Mara Hobel, and Diana Scarwid, with supporting performances from Xander Berkeley in his feature film debut along with Rutanya Alda and Jocelyn Brando. Adapted from Christina Crawford's 1978 autobiography of the same name, the film follows her and her brother Christopher's upbringing under their adoptive mother, actress Joan Crawford, depicting her as abusive, controlling, and manipulative, prioritizing her Hollywood career over her family.
The Black Sleep is a 1956 American independent horror film directed by Reginald LeBorg, and written by John C. Higgins from a story by Gerald Drayson Adams. It stars Basil Rathbone, Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Bela Lugosi, and Akim Tamiroff. Tor Johnson appears in a supporting role. The film was produced by Aubrey Schenck and Howard W. Koch, as part of a four-picture finance-for-distribution arrangement with United Artists.
The Black Cat is a 1941 American comedy horror and mystery film directed by Albert S. Rogell and starring Basil Rathbone. The film was a hybrid of style: being inspired by comedy "Old Dark House" films of the era as well as the 1843 short story "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe. It stars Basil Rathbone as Montague Hartley, the head of a greedy family who await the death of Henrietta Winslow so that they can inherit her fortune. When she is found murdered, an investigation begins into who might be the culprit. Alongside Rathbone and Loftus, the film's cast includes Hugh Herbert, Broderick Crawford, and Bela Lugosi.
For Whom the Bell Tolls is a 1943 American epic war film produced and directed by Sam Wood and starring Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff, Katina Paxinou and Joseph Calleia. The screenwriter Dudley Nichols based his script on the 1940 novel For Whom the Bell Tolls by American novelist Ernest Hemingway. The film is about an American International Brigades volunteer, Robert Jordan (Cooper), who is fighting in the Spanish Civil War against the fascists. During his desperate mission to blow up a strategically important bridge to protect Republican forces, Jordan falls in love with a young woman guerrilla fighter (Bergman).
North West Mounted Police is a 1940 American epic north-western film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gary Cooper and Madeleine Carroll. Written by Alan Le May, Jesse Lasky Jr., and C. Gardner Sullivan, and based on the 1938 novel The Royal Canadian Mounted Police by R. C. Fetherstonhaugh, the film is about a Texas Ranger who joins forces with the North-West Mounted Police to put down a rebellion in the north-west prairies of Canada. The supporting cast features Paulette Goddard, Preston Foster, Robert Preston, Akim Tamiroff, Lon Chaney Jr. and George Bancroft. Regis Toomey, Richard Denning, Rod Cameron, and Robert Ryan make brief appearances in the film playing small roles.
Honeymoon in Bali is a 1939 American romantic comedy film. It is also known by the alternative titles Husbands or Lovers and My Love for Yours. Virginia Van Upp's screenplay was based on the short stories "Our Miss Keane" by Grace Sartwell Mason in The Saturday Evening Post of May 24, 1923, and "Free Woman" by Katharine Brush in Redbook magazine of November–December 1936. In 1936 Paramount announced a film of Our Miss Keane to star Merle Oberon to be produced.
The Graves is a 2009 horror film. Described as a "supernatural survival shocker," it is written and directed by veteran comic book creator Brian Pulido and produced by Mischief Maker Studios, and Ronalds Brothers Productions.
The Liquidator is a 1965 British thriller film directed by Jack Cardiff and starring Rod Taylor, Trevor Howard, and Jill St. John. It was based on The Liquidator (1964) the first of a series of Boysie Oakes novels by John Gardner.
Murders in the Zoo is a 1933 pre-Code horror film directed by A. Edward Sutherland, written by Philip Wylie and Seton I. Miller. Particularly dark, even for its time, film critic Leonard Maltin called the film "astonishingly grisly."
Tony Draws a Horse is a 1950 British comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Cecil Parker, Anne Crawford and Derek Bond. It was adapted from a 1939 play of the same name by Lesley Storm.
The Hand of Night is a 1968 British horror film directed by Frederic Goode and starring William Sylvester, Diane Clare and Aliza Gur. It is also known by the alternative title Beast of Morocco. Its plot concerns a man who encounters a dangerous woman while searching for his friend, a missing archaeologist, in Morocco.
The Witching Hour is a 1921 American silent drama film directed by William Desmond Taylor and written by Julia Crawford Ivers, adapting the 1907 stage play by Augustus E. Thomas. The film stars Elliott Dexter, Winter Hall, Ruth Renick, Robert Cain, A. Edward Sutherland, Mary Alden, and F. A. Turner. The film was released on April 10, 1921, by Paramount Pictures.
Texas Rangers Ride Again is a 1940 American Western film directed by James P. Hogan, written by William R. Lipman and Horace McCoy, and starring Ellen Drew, John Howard, Akim Tamiroff, May Robson, Broderick Crawford, Charley Grapewin, and John Miljan. It was released on December 13, 1940, by Paramount Pictures. It was a sequel to The Texas Rangers.
Woman Trap is a 1936 American drama film directed by Harold Young and written by Brian Marlow and Eugene Walter. The film stars Gertrude Michael, George Murphy, Akim Tamiroff, Sidney Blackmer, Samuel S. Hinds and Dean Jagger. The film was released on March 6, 1936, by Paramount Pictures.
Smile is a 2022 American psychological supernatural horror film written and directed by Parker Finn, based on his 2020 short film Laura Hasn't Slept. The film stars Sosie Bacon as a therapist named Rose Cotter, who, after witnessing the bizarre suicide of a patient, goes through increasingly disturbing and daunting experiences, leading her to believe what she is experiencing is supernatural. It also stars Jessie T. Usher, Kyle Gallner, Kal Penn, and Rob Morgan, as well as Caitlin Stasey playing the same character she played in the short film.