The Medusa Touch (1978)

Director:

Jack Gold

Writers:

Peter Van Greenaway (novel)
John Briley (screenplay)

Release Date:

1978 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Psychological thriller about a novelist, a telekinetic, who causes disasters simply by thinking about them.

Plot Keywords:

Disaster | Cliff | Investigation | Hospital | Astronaut

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Richard Burton	...	John Morlar
Lino Ventura	...	Brunel
Lee Remick	...	Doctor Zonfeld
Harry Andrews	...	Assistant Commissioner
Alan Badel	...	Barrister
Marie-Christine Barrault	...	Patricia
Jeremy Brett	...	Edward Parrish
Michael Hordern	...	Atropos - Fortune Teller
Gordon Jackson	...	Doctor Johnson
Michael Byrne	...	Duff
Derek Jacobi	...	Townley - Publisher
Robert Lang	...	Pennington
Avril Elgar	...	Mrs. Pennington
John Normington	...	Schoolmaster
Robert Flemyng	...	Judge McKinley
Philip Stone	...	Dean
Malcolm Tierney	...	Deacon
Norman Bird	...	Father
Jennifer Jayne	...	Mother
James Hazeldine	...	Lovelass
Wendy Gifford	...	Receptionist
Shaw Taylor	...	TV Space Reporter
Gordon Honeycombe	...	TV Newscaster
Mark Jones	...	Sergeant Hughes
Maurice O'Connell	...	Sergeant Robbins
Frances Tomelty	...	Nanny
Brook Williams	...	Male Nurse
Victor Winding	...	Senior Police Officer
Anthony Blackett	...	Mounted Police Officer
Denyse Alexander	...	Hospital Doctor
John Flanagan	...	Police Constable
Stanley Lebor	...	Police Doctor
Ian Marter	...	Detective in Street (as Ian Master)
George Innes	...	Van Driver
Cornelius Bowe	...	Young Morlar
Adam Bridges	...	10 Year Old Morlar
Joseph Clark	...	14 Year Old Morlar
Earl Rhodes	...	Parsons
Christopher Burgess	...	Pilot
Matthew Long	...	Co-Pilot
Colin Rix	...	Engineer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jeremy Coote	...	Policeman at Cathedral (uncredited)
Marc Furstenberg	...	Policeman (uncredited)

Directed by
Jack Gold

Writing credits
Peter Van Greenaway		(novel)
John Briley		(screenplay)

Produced by
Anne V. Coates	....	producer
Jack Gold	....	producer
Denis Holt	....	associate producer
Arnon Milchan	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Michael J. Lewis

Cinematography by
Arthur Ibbetson		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Ian Crafford

Casting by
Irene Lamb

Art Direction by
Peter Mullins

Makeup Department
Eric Allwright	....	makeup artist
Ron Berkeley	....	makeup artist: Richard Burton
Mike Jones	....	hair stylist
Martin Samuel	....	hair stylist: Lee Remick

Production Management
Colin Brewer	....	production supervisor
Colin M. Brewer	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Derek Cracknell	....	assistant director
Richard Jenkins	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Albert Blackshaw	....	construction manager
Dave Jordan	....	property master
Ron Quelch	....	production buyer
John Siddall	....	assistant art director
Jack Stephens	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Jonathan Bates	....	sound editor
Gordon K. McCallum	....	dubbing mixer
Ivan Sharrock	....	sound recordist
Ken Weston	....	boom operator
Nigel Galt	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)
Graham V. Hartstone	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)
John Ireland	....	foley supervisor (uncredited)
Nicolas Le Messurier	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Brian Johnson	....	special effects supervisor
Nick Allder	....	special effects supervisor (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Doug Ferris	....	optical effects
Martin Bower	....	model maker (uncredited)

Stunts
Eddie Stacey	....	stunt arranger

Camera and Electrical Department
Steve Claydon	....	camera focus operator
Freddie Cooper	....	camera operator (as Freddy Cooper)
John May	....	electrical supervisor

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Elvira Angelinetta	....	wardrobe mistress
Elsa Fennell	....	wardrober
Mike Jarvis	....	wardrobe master
Jane Robinson	....	costumes: Lee Remick

Editorial Department
Anne V. Coates	....	supervising editor
Jeremy Hume	....	assistant editor
John Nuth	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Michael J. Lewis	....	conductor
John Dankworth	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Other crew
Penny Daniels	....	continuity
Richard Fell	....	medical advisor (as Dr. Richard Fell)
Lew Grade	....	presenter (as Sir Lew Grade)
Elliott Kastner	....	presenter
Chris Kenny	....	location manager
Arnon Milchan	....	presenter
Iris Rose	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Coatesgold
• Incorporated Television Company (ITC)

Distributors

• ITC (1978) (UK) (theatrical)
• Tuschinski Film Distribution (1978) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• CBS/Fox (video)
• Carlton Video (2000) (UK) (DVD)
• Channel 5 Video Distribution (1986) (UK) (VHS)
• Cinema, The (2007) (Japan) (TV)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1981) (USA) (TV)
• Concorde Home Entertainment (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Elephant Films (2004) (France) (all media)
• Kinokuniya (2004) (Japan) (DVD)
• Modern Times (2006) (Greece) (DVD)
• Precision Video (1981) (UK) (VHS) (PAL)
• Rautakirja / Showtime (1980s) (Finland) (VHS)
• Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie (SNC)
• Top Tape (Brazil) (video)
• Warner Bros. Pictures

Other Companies

• Halas and Batchelor Cartoon Films  cartoon footage
• Panavision UK  equipment

Also Known As:

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

France | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | Iceland:16 | Germany:12 | Netherlands:16 | Finland:K-16 (1989) | Australia:M | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Bristol Cathedral, College Green, Bristol, England, UK

Company:

Coatesgold

Trivia:

Filmed hurriedly in the early summer of 1977 so Richard Burton could begin filming The Wild Geese (1978) in South Africa in the late summer.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: As Inspector Brunel watches the TV news a close-up of the screen reveals that the caption saying "Minster Cathedral" is actually stuck on to the TV screen rather than forming part of the TV picture. The letters cast shadows on to the glass.

Quotes:

John Morlar:[his first meeting with Zonfeld] I have a "gift" for disaster.
Doctor Zonfeld:You seem to have survived it.
John Morlar:I don't mean for me, I mean for others.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Siskel & Ebert: Remembering Gene Siskel" (1999)

The Medusa Touch: creepy thriller

The movie is about 105 minutes long in which the story is told about a young boy who have the power to create catastrophes with his mind. The young boy grows up, becomes a frustrated adult (Richard Burton), starts writing creepy occult stories and keeps a diary of his everyday life. He is troubled since being a small boy; when he gets older and has the means to pay for a psychic, he does so. Because he wants to know what is happening to him and why he have this powers. The female psychiatrist (Lee Remick) slowly gets terrified. One evening, after forcing an airplane into a London skyscraper only because he wants that to happen, he is killed by an unknown murderer in his study. Next there is a French police-investigator (Lino Ventura) who is attached to Scotland Yard in some exchange program between British and French police-investigators and ordered to investigate the case. The only reason for this is because the movie is a collaboration between the UK and France, so both the UK and France needed to have a few stars there from either country. It's not really important and the movie works well and not against itself with having these international stars. On the contrary: the French investigator examines the case, becomes entangled in the strange occurrences of which he read about in the victim's diaries (of which parts are shown in flashbacks) and because he is French, he is a stranger towards British life and customs and he is a even more a stranger towards the case than a British Scotland Yard-investigator would ever have been. His foreignness does not help him to solve the case faster, but he is determined to solve it. And he does. Richard Burton is magnificent as the desperate writer who can not control his own abilities anymore. Lee Remick and Lino Ventura are splendid in supporting roles. Harry Andrews, Marie-Christine Barrault, Jeremy Brett, Michael Hordern, Derek Jacobi, Michael Byrne, Gordon Jackson etc. are all very well cast in minor supporting roles. The music score by Michael J. Lewis is exciting and helps to build up the creepy atmosphere. Not wanting to spoil the ending for anybody I am not going to tell, but it is very uneasy to watch and very worthwhile as well as apocalyptic. There is not much blood or gore, nor CGI. These things were not in abundance in movies made in 1978 (and this movie can surely do without and still make an efficient thriller).