The Tingler (1959)

Director:

William Castle

Writer:

Robb White (written by)

Release Date:

29 July 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

In Screamarama

Plot:

Dr. Warren Chapin is a pathologist who regularly conducts autopsies on executed prisoners at the State prison...

Plot Keywords:

Fear | Scream | Creature | Autopsy | Movie Theater

Cast

Vincent Price	...	Dr. Warren Chapin
Judith Evelyn	...	Mrs. Martha Ryerson Higgins
Darryl Hickman	...	David Morris
Patricia Cutts	...	Isabel Stevens Chapin
Pamela Lincoln	...	Lucy Stevens
Philip Coolidge	...	Oliver 'Ollie' Higgins
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Richard Barthelmess	...	David, in clip from Tol'able David (uncredited) (archive footage)
Gail Bonney	...	Member of Silent Movie Audience (uncredited)
William Castle	...	Prologue Himself - Host (uncredited)
Pat Colby	...	Member of Silent Movie Audience (uncredited)
Amy Fields	...	Member of Silent Movie Audience (uncredited)
Bob Gunderson	...	Ryerson - Screaming Convict (uncredited)
Dal McKennon	...	Projectionist (uncredited)
Clarence Straight	...	Member of Silent Movie Audience (uncredited)
Ernest Torrence	...	Luke Hatburn, in clip from Tol'able David (uncredited) (archive footage)

Directed by
William Castle

Writing credits
Robb White		(written by)

Produced by
William Castle	....	producer

Original Music by
Von Dexter

Cinematography by
Wilfred M. Cline		(director of photography) (as Wilfrid M. Cline)

Film Editing by
Chester W. Schaeffer

Art Direction by
Phillip Bennett		(as Phil Bennett)

Set Decoration by
Milton Stumph

Makeup Department
Hazel Keats	....	hairdresser (uncredited)
Monty Westmore	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Herb Wallerstein	....	assistant director
John Gaudioso	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Robert Pearl	....	second props (uncredited)
Clarence Peet	....	prop master (uncredited)

Sound Department
John P. Livadary	....	recording supervisor (as John Livadary)
Harry D. Mills	....	sound (as Harry Mills)
Eldon Coutts	....	recordist (uncredited)
Cy Harper	....	cable man (uncredited)
Sol Jaffe	....	mikeman (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Charles Franklin	....	grip (uncredited)
Harold Hansen	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Emil Oster	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Arnold L. Rich	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Pat Sutherland	....	grip (uncredited)

Other crew
Dona Holloway	....	associate to producer
Pearl Leiter	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures
• William Castle Productions

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1959) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS) (pan and scn)
• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (1999) (Argentina) (all media) (re-release)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• LK-TEL (1999) (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (1999) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (1999) (Canada) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD) (William Castle Collection)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (199?) (UK) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | American Sign Language

Color:

Color (one scene) | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording) | Stereo (partial)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | USA:Approved | Finland:(Banned) (1961) | UK:15

Company:

Columbia Pictures

Trivia:

The Tingler is a large scale model of velvet worm, also called peripatus. It has its own phylum - Onychophora. It is about half way between and earthworm and an arthropod.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): The title on the book that Warren is reading as he is waiting for Isabel to come home from her date is on the back cover instead of the front cover.

Quotes:

Oliver 'Ollie' Higgins:It isn't as though I'd taken out a pistol and shot her or taken a knife and stabbed her, is it doc?
Dr. Warren Chapin:If you kill anybody deliberately, it's murder. No matter how you do it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Divine Trash (1998)

Classic '50s b-grade surrealism.

William Castle's 'The Tingler' is one of the most extraordinary horror movies ever made. Low budget, silly script, bad dialogue, uneven acting, gimmicky to the extreme (with or without "percepto"), but it STILL manages to amaze. It's a kind of trojan horse, being a cheesy b-grade thriller with a hidden core of surrealism almost worthy of Bunuel or Cocteau.

Memorable performances from horror legend Vincent Price as the scientist obsessed with explaining the strange phenomenon he labels "the tingler", and Judith Evelyn (who had a bit part in Hitchcock's 'Rear Window') as a bizarre deaf mute who owns a silent movie theatre, elevate this above most of Castle's overrated output. The classic acid trip scene (I think the first ever), the memorable short colour sequence, and the William Burroughs-like monster make this something really special. Not to be missed!