An egocentric artillery Captain and his venomous wife engage in savage unremitting battles in their isolated island fortress off the coast of Sweden at the turn of the century. Alice, a ...
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Title: The Dance of Death (1969)
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Cast
| Cast overview: | |||
| Laurence Olivier | ... | Edgar | |
| Geraldine McEwan | ... | Alice | |
| Robert Lang | ... | Kurt | |
| Janina Faye | ... | Judith | |
 |
Malcolm Reynolds | ... | Allan |
|
|
Jeanne Watts | ... | Old Woman |
|
|
Peter Penry-Jones | ... | Lieutenant |
|
|
Maggie Riley | ... | Karen |
| Carolyn Jones | ... | Jenny | |
|
|
Frederick Pyne | ... | Sentry |
|
|
Barry James | ... | Sentry |
| David Ryall | ... | Sentry | |
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
An egocentric artillery Captain and his venomous wife engage in savage unremitting battles in their isolated island fortress off the coast of Sweden at the turn of the century. Alice, a former actress who sacrificed her career for secluded military life with Edgar, reveals on the occasion of their 25th wedding anniversary, the veritable hell their marriage has been. Edgar, an aging schizophrenic who refuses to acknowledge his severe illness, struggles to sustain his ferocity and arrogance with an animal disregard for other people. Sensing that Alice, together with her cousin and would-be lover, Kurt, may ally against him, retaliates with vicious force. Alice lures Kurt into the illusion of sharing a passionate assignation and recruits him in a plot to destroy Edgar. Written by alfiehitchie
Plot Keywords:
marriage | island | foreign language adaptation | sea captain | husband wife relationship |Taglines:
Sir Laurence Olivier in his supreme achievementGenres:
DramaParents Guide:
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Details
Country:
UKLanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
August 1969 (UK) See more »Also Known As:
Haláltánc See more »Filming Locations:
England, UKCompany Credits
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Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
Color (Technicolor)
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Alice: For not dying twenty-five years ago! For not dying before I was born!
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Did You Know?
Trivia
While playing Edgar onstage in the National Theater, Olivier became ill and had to be replaced for a while. His replacement, who received high praise from critics and Olivier himself, was the young Anthony Hopkins. See more »Quotes
Edgar: She's mad at me for not dying yesterday.Alice: For not dying twenty-five years ago! For not dying before I was born!
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Olivier awards the viewer with one of his most impressive, fiery performances ever, and playing the type of character that suited him best - a seedy, vulgar, egotistical elderly man (once a mediocre sea captain that was never able to hold the title of major) who takes enormous pleasure in destroying the lives of everyone that surrounds him, including his wife (once an also mediocre lady performer), to whom he has shared 25 five years of sheer hate and disgust. The latest victim of his fiendish intrigues is a distant cousin of hers, assigned to become head of the local Quarentene office, on the Island, somewhere in Eastern Europe, where they live, and to whom Alice - the shrewish wife - shared ( and shares ) a rather strange relationship. August Strindberg's play is captured beautifully on screen by the National Theater , with the help of strong, fiercely intense performances, by both leading lady and gentleman. The only misfire of this sadly underrated motion picture is the editing, that could be better, even though the beautiful images of the Island that are intertwined with the gloomy, dreary atmosphere of Olivier and McEwan's residence, are absolutely fascinating. Thoroughly a classic, thought-provoking, character study of both emotional and mental bankruptcy. Post - Scryptum - If you would like to see Sir Olivier do an equally repelling part, do see 'The Entertainer' as well.