Lady Possessed
6 /10 1 Votes
Director Roy Kellino Music director Nathan Scott Duration Language English | 5.8/10 IMDb Genre Mystery, Romance, Thriller Cinematography Karl Struss Country United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Release date January 26, 1952 (1952-01-26) Writer Pamela Mason (story), Pamela Mason (screenplay), James Mason (screenplay) Directors Roy Kellino, William Spier Genres Romance Film, Thriller, Mystery Cast James Mason (Jimmy Del Palma), June Havoc (Jean Wilson), Stephen Dunne (Tom Wilson), Fay Compton (Mme. Brune), Pamela Mason (Sybil), Steven Geray (Dr. Stepanek)Similar movies James Mason appears in Lady Possessed and Fanny by Gaslight |
Lady Possessed is a 1952 American mystery film directed by Roy Kellino and William Spier starring James Mason, June Havoc and Stephen Dunne. Mason and his wife Pamela produced and wrote the film themselves, based on Pamela's novel Del Palma, (originally published as A Lady Possessed in Britain, 1943). They chose Pamela's ex-husband Roy Kellino, with whom she remained close, to direct the film. It was a critical and commercial failure, losing the Masons much of the money they had invested in it.
Contents
The film's sets were designed by the art director Frank Arrigo.
Plot
While barely conscious, Jean Wilson (June Havoc), a patient in a London hospital, overhears Jimmy Del Palma (James Mason) berating hospital staff for their treatment of his wife, who then dies shortly afterwards. To recuperate following a miscarriage, Jean coincidentally rents the former country home of Del Palma, a famous pianist, and his wife. She starts to fall in love with the absent musician and dreams of taking his dead wife's place, even of being taken over and possessed by her. With the encouragement of her friend Sybil (Pamela Mason), Jean arranges a seance with a medium in an attempt to contact the dead woman.
Cast
Critical reception
Bosley Crowther in The New York Times called it "a bleak little drama of neuroses," concluding, "And since Miss Kellino and Mr. Mason take credit for writing the script, the much celebrated English couple have only themselves to blame. That goes double for Mr. Mason, who also produced the film"; TV Guide wrote, "Neither the performances nor the narrow direction are able to help save this confusing script." and Classic Film Freak wrote, "Lady Possessed is a film that’s hard to find and will most likely stay that way as there isn’t much to recommend it outside of James Mason’s performance, though even that gets overwhelmed by a disjointed plot."
References
Lady Possessed WikipediaLady Possessed IMDb Lady Possessed themoviedb.org