I Walked with a Zombie (1943)

A nurse is hired to care for the wife of a sugar plantation owner, who has been acting strangely, on a Caribbean island.

Director:

Jacques Tourneur

Writers:

Curt Siodmak (screenplay), Ardel Wray (screenplay)

Stars:

Frances Dee, Tom Conway, James Ellison

3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
James Ellison	...	Wesley Rand
Frances Dee	...	Betsy Connell
Tom Conway	...	Paul Holland
Edith Barrett	...	Mrs. Rand
James Bell	...	Dr. Maxwell
Christine Gordon	...	Jessica Holland
Theresa Harris	...	Alma - Maid (as Teresa Harris)
Sir Lancelot	...	Calypso Singer
Darby Jones	...	Carrefour
Jeni Le Gon	...	Dancer (as Jeni LeGon)

Storyline

Young Canadian nurse Betsy comes to the West Indies to care for Jessica, the wife of a plantation manager Paul Holland. Jessica seems to be suffering from a kind of mental paralysis as a result of fever. When she falls in love with Paul, Betsy determines to cure Jessica even if she needs to use a voodoo ceremony, to give Paul what she thinks he wants.

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Plot Keywords:

zombie | voodoo | cult director | cult film | haiti | 

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Taglines:

SEE This strange and startling story of a woman to whom it all happened!

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

The legal disclaimer at the end of the credits, which roll at the start of the film, makes light of the film's subject. The disclaimer states: "The characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictional. Any similarity to actual persons, living, dead, or possessed, is purely coincidental."

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Goofs

When Besty goes to talk with Wes on the porch about an hour into the film, they are both lit by light coming through the louvered door to the left. But, in the next closer shot, that striped lighting pattern disappears.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Betsy Connell: [narrating] I walked with a zombie.
[laughs]
Betsy Connell: It does seem an odd thing to say. Had anyone said that to me a year ago, I'm not at all sure I would have known what a zombie was. Oh, I might have had some notion that they were strange and frightening - even a little funny. It all began in such an ordinary way...

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Crazy Credits

At the beginning, in small letters at the bottom of the screen is this disclaimer: The characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictional. Any similarity to any persons, living, dead, OR POSSESSED, is entirely coincidental.

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Connections

Referenced in Pretty Little Liars: The Lady Killer (2012)

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Soundtracks

Etude in E Op.10 No.3
(1829-32) (uncredited)
Written by Frédéric Chopin
Played on piano by Tom Conway

User Reviews

An atmospheric film of quiet horror

Except for a single scream, no one speaks above a hard whisper. Wind rustles through sugar cane fields guarded by a pop-eyed, nearly skeletal zombie who stands as lifeless and stick-shouldered as a scarecrow. A dead rabbit hangs in a tree. Voodoo drums thrum the night air.

"I Walked with a Zombie" is a movie of such voluptuous atmosphere that if you surrender yourself to it, it almost seems as if you've been transported to another world. It's a horror movie of suggestion, inference, punctuated with the occasional visual just sharp enough to prick through the feeling of dread and send a chill up the spine.

All performances low-key and excellent (Frances Dee notably good), the dialog crisp, but it's the lighting, sets and camera work that make the movie what it is, a gorgeous vision of shadows that haunts the mind days later.

And it's only 69 minutes long.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 April 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

I Walked with a Zombie

Filming Locations:

RKO Studios - 780 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

69 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1