Crescendo (1970)

A young American woman Susan Roberts goes to the south of France to do her thesis research on a recently deceased composer, staying with his eccentric relatives.

Director:

Alan Gibson

Writers:

Jimmy Sangster (screenplay), Alfred Shaughnessy (screenplay)

Stars:

Stefanie Powers, James Olson, Margaretta Scott

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Stefanie Powers	...	Susan Roberts
James Olson	...	Georges Ryman / Jacques Ryman
Margaretta Scott	...	Danielle Ryman
Jane Lapotaire	...	Lillianne
Joss Ackland	...	Carter
Kirsten Lindholm	...	Catherine (as Kirsten Betts)

Storyline

New York based graduate student Susan Roberts has just arrived in France to do research for her Masters thesis on the works of the late composer, Henry Ryman. She is staying indefinitely at the rural isolated estate of Ryman's widow, Danielle Ryman, on her invitation. There, Susan will have access to Henry's materials. Beyond Danielle, Carter the valet, and Lillianne the maid, the only other person living at the estate is Henry and Danielle's son, Georges Ryman. Georges is wheelchair-bound from an accident suffered six years ago, which ended what looked to be the start of a promising tennis career. Georges admits that he probably disappointed his parents by not being musically inclined like most people in their family. Susan learns that she has a strong resemblance to Georges' ex-girlfriend Catherine, who left him after the accident. Susan can see that Georges suffers both from physical and emotional pain, the latter more than just the emasculation he admits he feels from being in a ...

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Plot Keywords:

murder of a nude woman | nudity | giallo | bikini giallo | psychotronic film | 

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Taglines:

And . . . for Lovers of the Macabre

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Italian censorship visa # 56664 delivered on 24 September 1970.

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Alternate Versions

After being released with an "R" rating, film was edited and re-rated "PG" for wider release.

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Connections

Referenced in Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (1989)

User Reviews

Lesser Hammer film

Around this time, the type of movies that Hammer was most famous for were becoming out of style, so the studio desperately tried to tackle some other kind of movies, this being one of them. Few of these new efforts were successful financially or critically, and "Crescendo" was not an exception. There are two main problems with this movie. The first being that the movie unfolds at an extremely slow pace. In the first half hour of the movie, for example, pretty much nothing of significance happens. Eventually things do start to happen, but the movie not only still suffers from a glacial pace, there is the second problem with the movie. That being that the story is often head-scratching. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and even though the movie tries at the end to have a big surprise revelation, there are still plenty of unanswered questions as the end credits start to roll. I will say that the movie is decently produced, from the nice looking sets to the work with the camera, but that did little to stop me from starting to nod off long before the movie reached its end.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English French

Release Date:

29 November 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Concierto inacabado

Filming Locations:

Associated British Elstree Studios, Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hammer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1