The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970)

Harold Pelham encounters a duplicate of himself in the aftermath of a car crash. After that moment, his life is upset.

Director:

Basil Dearden

Writers:

Anthony Armstrong (based on "The Case of Mr. Pelham" by), Basil Dearden (screenplay)

Stars:

Roger Moore, Hildegard Neil, Alastair Mackenzie

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Roger Moore	...	Pelham
Hildegard Neil	...	Eve
Alastair Mackenzie	...	Michael
Hugh Mackenzie	...	James
Kevork Malikyan	...	Luigi
Thorley Walters	...	Bellamy
Anton Rodgers	...	Alexander
Olga Georges-Picot	...	Julie
Freddie Jones	...	Psychiatrist
John Welsh	...	Sir Charles Freeman
Edward Chapman	...	Barton
Laurence Hardy	...	Mason
Charles Lloyd Pack	...	Jameson
Gerald Sim	...	Morrison
Ruth Trouncer	...	Pelham's Secretary

Storyline

While driving one evening, Harold Pelham appears possessed and has a car accident. While on the operating table, there even appears to be two heartbeats on the monitor. When he awakens, Pelham finds his life has been turned upside-down. He learns that he now supports a merger that he once opposed, and that he apparently is having an affair. People claim they have seen him in places that he has never been. Does Pelham have a doppelganger, or is he going insane?

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Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | car | car accident | accident | doppelganger | 

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Taglines:

You will live every shattering moment of terror with... The Man Who Haunted Himself.

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Genres:

Thriller

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Certificate:

GP

Did You Know?

Trivia

Two stills from the movie, one showing Harold Pelham (Sir Roger Moore) reaching across for his seat belt, and the other showing a close-up of his hand fastening the seat belt buckle, were used as part of a road safety campaign to persuade people always to wear their seat belts.

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Goofs

Near the beginning of the film as Pelham is driving erratically in the Rover 3.0 Ltr saloon, the section of motorway is different depending on whether shots are taken at the rear of the car or the front of the car. This can be seen by the presence or absence of white lines (separating the lines of traffic) respectively.

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Quotes

The Doppelganger: [on the phone] This is Pelham speaking, who is this?
Harold Pelham: I'm Pelham I'm speaking from my office... Who are you?
The Doppelganger: I told you, I am Pelham.

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Crazy Credits

"(By permission of The Royal Shakespeare Co.)" underneath Hildegard Neil's name in the end credits.

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Connections

Referenced in The Passions of Carol (1975)

User Reviews

Carried by Moore's good performance(s)

Harold Pelham is a steady executive type who drives carefully, wears the same tie everyday and is a thoroughly dependable sort of chap. One day he is driving home when he has a car crash, he is rushed to hospital where his heart stops and he is saved by a medical team. Back at work after recovering he begins to suffer from memory losses – people tell him he played snooker last night but he can't remember etc. He begins to suspect that someone is impersonating him and is starting to live his life – but that's crazy, isn't it?

Moore of the period will always be remembered for being Bond more than any other role he played. The downside of this is that he is seen as the weaker Bond the one who become more about innuendo and jokes than anything else. This film though, shows that Moore is a great actor – one who is capable of lifting a film and making it better than it was on paper. The plot here could easily have spun wildly out of control and indeed, at times, it comes very close to being unintentionally funny. However the film keeps it's air of mystery well – even when we are sure that there is a doppelganger on the loose the film still won't let us see more than his back or his hand etc. By doing this it actually makes the scene where the two meet to be quite effective. Of course it's all nonsense but it's well played nonsense.

The main reason it works is Moore's increasingly unhinged performance – as the final hour goes by you can actually see him come apart like he was an old woollen sweater! It is difficult not to buy into the film because he is so convincing. His alter ego is also pretty good but it is the descent into desperation that he undergoes that makes this watchable. As a result I didn't really notice the input of the support cast – they were all quite solid but it was easily Moore's film. However, being a man, I did get distracted by Georges-Picot – waltzing around in sexy underwear in several scenes and I also thought Jones' psychiatrist looked like Dr Strangelove!

Overall this deserves to have a cult following if it doesn't already, The visual effects are poor and the plot is absurd. Were it not for the brilliant Moore then this film would have been better played for laughs. Happily he carries it and holds the audience in his hand. The only weak point was the ending which, although clever, was a bit of an anticlimax – in fact the final 10 minutes didn't quite match the suspense that had been created in the build up.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

1970 (Argentina)

Also Known As:

Ein Mann jagt sich selbst

Filming Locations:

Monument to the Great Fire of London, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

GBP400,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

EMI Films, Associated British Productions (ABP), Excalibur Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1