Arnold (1973)

User Rating:

4.6/10   

Director:

Georg Fenady

Writers:

Jameson Brewer (writer)
John Fenton Murray (writer)

Release Date:

16 November 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Arnold is a scream!

Plot:

Upon his death, Arnold marries his lover, Karen, in spite of his widow, and leaves deathtraps accompanied by audiotapes and his preserved and articulate corpse for those who cared only for his money.

Plot Keywords:

Corpse | Widow | Hook For Hand | Murder | Inheritance

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Stella Stevens	...	Karen Llewelyn
Roddy McDowall	...	Robert
Elsa Lanchester	...	Hester
Shani Wallis	...	Lady Jocelyn
Farley Granger	...	Evan Lyons
Victor Buono	...	The Minister
John McGiver	...	Governor
Bernard Fox	...	Constable Henry Hooke
Patric Knowles	...	Douglas Whitehead
Jamie Farr	...	Dybbi
Norman Stuart	...	Arnold
Ben Wright	...	Jonesy
Wanda Bailey	...	Flo
Steven Marlo	...	Dart player
Leslie Thompson	...	Dart player

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG

Company:

Bing Crosby Productions

Trivia:

The last film of Patric Knowles.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 2 (1996) (V)

Soundtrack:

ARNOLD

Dr Phibes copy offers some new twists

The Abominable Dr Phibes was quite successful. One of the first films to feature "creative deaths", it was soon followed by a sequel and imitations (Theater of Blood, also with Vincent Price).

Arnold follows the pattern of someone who may or may not be dead getting revenge on those who have wronged him. Here we have a corpse (is it really millionaire Arnold Dewellyn?) who lays in his coffin for the entire movie while tapes of his voice are played at various intervals. Arnold knows his greedy relatives are after his money, but he has a surprise for each of them. Who will survive???

This movie is basically a comedy, with some semi-gruesome murders (tame by today's standards) thrown in. If you like black-comedies (Murder By Death for example) you should enjoy this PG rated Bing Crosby Production (BCP). The cast is great: Stella Stevens, Roddy McDowell, Elsa Lanchester, Victor Buono, Charles Fox.

The movie did hardly any business in 1973. BCP sold the movie to be tacked on to double bills. In 1976 it was paired with Grizzly! In the mid 80's it finally came to television on the Late Show, and then a year later to video.

It is out of print now, and very hard to see (cable TV has NOT embraced it). It is a cult movie waiting to be discovered. It is certainly weird enough!