Two on a Guillotine
| Two on a Guillotine | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover |
|
| Directed by | William Conrad |
| Produced by | William Conrad |
| Written by | John Kneubuhl Henry Slesar |
| Starring | Connie Stevens Dean Jones Cesar Romero Parley Baer Virginia Gregg John Hoyt |
| Music by | Max Steiner |
| Cinematography | Sam Leavitt |
| Distributed by | Warner Brothers |
| Release date(s) | 1965 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Two on a Guillotine is a 1965 American horror/thriller film produced and directed by William Conrad. The screenplay by John Kneubuhl and Henry Slesar is based on a story by Slesar.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Plot synopsis
A prologue introduces the audience to John Harley Duquesne, a psychotic magician who accidentally beheads his wife Melinda with a guillotine during a performance. Twenty years later he dies, and his will requires his daughter Cassie (the mirror image of her mother) to spend seven nights in his apparently haunted mansion in order to inherit his estate. Reporter Val Henderson offers to stay with her when he learns Duquesne promised to return in spirit form during Cassie's week-long vigil. As the days pass, the two encounter a number of spooky happenings, leading to a climax in which the not-really-dead Duquesne attempts a recreation of his guillotine trick, this time with his daughter as an unwilling assistant who hopefully won't lose her head.
[edit] Principal cast
- Connie Stevens ..... Cassie/Melinda Duquesne
- Dean Jones ..... Val Henderson
- Cesar Romero ..... John Harley Duquesne
- Parley Baer ..... Buzzy Sheridan
- Virginia Gregg ..... Dolly Bast
- John Hoyt ..... Carl Vickers
[edit] Principal production credits
- Original Music ..... Max Steiner
- Cinematography ..... Sam Leavitt
- Art Direction ..... Art Loel
[edit] Critical reception
In his review in the New York Times, Howard Thompson called the film "a dull, silly, tedious clinker" and "an old-fashioned, haunted-house spooker." [2]
TV Guide rates it two out of a possible four stars, calling it "a standard haunted house thriller." [3]
[edit] Release
The film was released via DVD on 22 June 2010.[4]
