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{{
{{Infobox film
| name = The Tomb of Ligeia
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| alt =
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| native_name
| director = [[Roger Corman]]
| producer = Pat Green{{sfn|P.J.D.|1964|p=173}}
| screenplay = [[Robert Towne]]{{sfn|P.J.D.|1964|p=173}}
| based_on = {{Based on|"[[Ligeia]]"|[[Edgar Allan Poe]]}}
| starring = {{plainlist|
* [[Vincent Price]] * [[Elizabeth Shepherd]]}}
| music = [[Kenneth V. Jones]]{{sfn|P.J.D.|1964|p=173}}
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| color_process = [[Eastmancolor]]
| studio = [[American International Pictures|Alta Vista Productions]]{{sfn|P.J.D.|1964|p=173}}
| distributor = {{plainlist|
* [[Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors|Anglo-Amalgamated]] * [[Warner-Pathé]]{{sfn|P.J.D.|1964|p=173}}
}}
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}}
'''''The Tomb of Ligeia''''' is a 1964 American-British [[horror film]] directed by [[Roger Corman]].<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=The Tomb of Ligeia |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150056912 |access-date=19 August 2024 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref> Starring [[Vincent Price]] and [[Elizabeth Shepherd]], it tells of a man haunted by the spirit of his dead wife and her effect on his second marriage. The screenplay by [[Robert Towne]] was based upon the short story "[[Ligeia]]" by American author [[Edgar Allan Poe]] and was the last in his series of films loosely based on the works of Poe. ''Tomb of Ligeia'' was filmed at [[Castle Acre Priory]] and other locations with a mostly
==Plot==
A funeral takes place at the side of [[Castle Acre Priory]]. The casket has a window allowing the face of a beautiful young woman to be seen. A black cat jumps on the coffin and seems to steal the soul of the woman.
The widower, Verden Fell
By accident, back at the graveside, he meets a headstrong young woman, Rowena
The climax of the film takes place when Fell has a showdown with Ligeia, now in the form of a cat. Fell is blinded by Ligeia, but gets the upper hand and strangles the cat, while the tomb around him burns down, due to an accident. Fell and Ligeia perish and Gough and Rowena start a new life together.
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* [[Richard Vernon]] as Dr. Vivian
* [[Frank Thornton]] as Peperel the butler
* [[Ronald Adam (actor)|Ronald Adam]] as
* Denis Gilmore as
* Penelope Lee as
}}
==Production==
===Script===
Because the original story was so short, Towne read all of Poe's work and decided to expand on Poe's themes, particularly [[mesmerism]] and [[necrophilia]]. The film would be about a woman who had hypnotised the protagonist
===Casting===
Roger Corman was initially reluctant to use Vincent Price in the lead role,
Towne later said the film "was a little dull. I think it would have been better if it had been with a man who didn't look like a necrophiliac to begin with... I love Vincent. He's very sweet. But, going in, you suspect that Vincent could bang cats, chickens, girls, dogs, everything. You just feel that necrophilia might be one of his Basic Things. I'd felt the role called for an almost unnaturally handsome guy who the second wife could easily fall in love with. There should also be a sense of taboo about the close tie he had with his first wife – as though it was something incestuous, two halves of the same person."{{sfn|Brady|1981|p=392}}
However, Price's casting was a condition of AIP investing in the film, and Corman relented. Robert Towne had specifically requested Price not be cast, and when Corman broke the news he told the screenwriter, "Don't worry, Bob, I've got [[Marlene Dietrich]]'s make-up man!"<ref name="roger"/> Corman ended up giving Price a wig and using more makeup on him than usual to make him look younger. Nevertheless, he later remarked that Price's casting still "did change the orientation of the film quite a bit."<ref name="roger"/>
==Release==
''The Tomb of Ligeia'' was released in the United Kingdom
Corman later gave [[Martin Scorsese]] permission to use a clip from the film in ''[[Mean Streets]]''.<ref name="roger"/>
== Reception ==
===Critical===
''[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' wrote: <blockquote>Though Corman's admirers are unlikely to be too disappointed by his new film, one may still regret the loss of narrative clarity which featured so strongly in ''[[The Masque of the Red Death (1964 film)|The Masque of the Red Death]]''. The crowded metamorphoses of the last ten minutes make for a confused climax. Moreover the blinding of Fell, the destruction of the abbey by fire, the blood-stained embraces of the doomed man and his ghostly beloved, are all too reminiscent of earlier Corman films – too much, in fact, of a formulary, melodramatic hotchpotch. Luckily there are ample compensations. The earlier intimations of horror are put over casually and briskly, notably where the black cat is concerned. Much of the incident is genuinely strange – the cat climbing the bell-tower with Fell's dark glasses gripped between its teeth; the dream in which Rowena is smothered by Ligeia's black tresses. Technically the film is less accomplished than ''The Masque of the Red Death'', but it is still better – certainly more serious and naturalistic – than Corman's Hollywood Poe cycle. Price is a solemn, rather pained Verden Fell; Elizabeth Shepherd, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Honor Blackman, is more mature, positive and husky than any previous Corman heroine. She also doubles adequately for the sinister Ligeia who, the film hints, must have been around at the time the Pyramids were built. The chances are she's still around. At the end of the film one doesn't give a penny for Christopher's chances of a happy future with a girl who only looks like Rowena.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1964 |title=The Tomb of Ligeia |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305824190/2E41C28E516941D3PQ/1 |journal=[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]] |volume=31 |issue=360 |pages=173 |via=ProQuest}}</ref></blockquote>Howard Thompson in ''[[The New York Times]]'' of 6 May 1965 wrote:
<blockquote>Mr Corman at least cares about putting Mr Poe — or at least some of the master's original ideas — on the screen. If they are frankly made to be screamed at, they are not to be sneezed at. Mr Price still hams it up, front and center, but these low-budget shockers generally evoke a compelling sense of heady atmosphere and coiled doom in their excellent Gothic settings, arresting color schemes and camera mobility ... Mr Corman has made stunning, ambient use of his authentic setting, an ancient abbey in Norfolk, England, and the lovely countryside. The picture is not nearly as finished as ''
Roger Corman later said he thought the film was "one of the best Poe pictures and Vincent's performance in the film was very good. It was simply a matter of age."<ref name="roger"/>
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==Notes==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite magazine|magazine=[[Monthly Film Bulletin]]|title=Tomb of Ligeia, The|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|date=December 1964|issue=371|volume=31|author=P.J.D.}}
* {{cite book|first=John|last=Brady|title=The Craft of the Screenwriter|url=https://archive.org/details/craftofscreenwri00joh_2tu|url-access=registration|year=1981}}
* {{cite book|title=Vincent Price|chapter=The Tomb of Ligeia (1964)|last=Lampley|first=Jonathan Malcolm|editor1-last=Swehla|editor2-first=Gary J.|editor2-last=Svehla|editor1-first=Susan|year=2009|isbn=978-1887664219|publisher=Midnight Marquee Press, Inc.}}
{{refend}}
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{{Wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title|0059821|The Tomb of Ligeia}}
* {{
* [http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/161105|0/The-Tomb-of-Ligeia.html ''Tomb if Ligeia''] at [[Turner Classic Movies]]
* [http://trailersfromhell.com/tomb-of-ligeia-2/ ''Tomb of Ligeia''] at [[Trailers from Hell]]
{{Roger Corman}}
{{Robert Towne}}
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[[Category:1964 films]]
[[Category:1964 horror films]]
[[Category:British historical horror films]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films based on short fiction]]
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[[Category:British ghost films]]
[[Category:Films produced by Roger Corman]]
[[Category:1960s British films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Kenneth V. Jones]]
[[Category:English-language horror films]]
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