The Tomb of Ligeia (1964)

Country of Origin: UK
Year of Production: 1964
Running Times: 81 mins
Format: colour     35mm      Colorscope
Ratio: 2.35:1
Sound: mono

PRODUCTION
Production Companies: Alta Vista Productions / Anglo-Amalgamated Productions
Producers: Samuel Z. Arkoff, Pat Green

SCRIPT
Script: Robert Towne
Story: Edgar Allan Poe

DIRECTION
Director: Roger Corman
Assistant Director: David Tringham

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Arthur Grant
Camera Operator: Moray Grant

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Alfred Cox

MUSIC
Music: Kenneth V. Jones

SOUND
Sound Recordists: John Aldred, Bert Ross
Sound Editors: Don Ranasinghe, Les Wiggins
Sound Mix: Westrex

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: George Blackler
Hair: Pearl Orton
Wardrobe Supervisor: Mary Gibson

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Ted Samuels

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Directors: Colin Southcott, Daniel Haller
Title Designer: Francis Rodker

MISCELLANEOUS
Assistant to the Producer: Paul Mayersberg
Cat Trainer: John Holmes

CAST
Vincent Price (Verden Fell)
Elizabeth Shepherd (Lady Ligeia Fell / Lady Rowena Trevanion)
John Westbrook (Christopher Gough)
Derek Francis (Lord Trevanion)
Oliver Johnston (Kenrick)
Richard Vernon (Dr Vivian)
Frank Thornton (Peperel)
Ronald Adam (minister at graveside)
Denis Gilmore (livery boy)
Penelope Lee (Rowena's maidservant)

PLOT SUMMARY

Verden Fell is obsessed with his late wife, Ligeia and begins to wonder if she's really as dead as he thinks she is. His new wife, Rowena, soon starts to show signs of having been possessed by a vengeful Ligeia.

Easily the best looking of the Corman Poe adaptations, Ligeia again features Vincent Price on top form and boasts some effectively spooky passages. The use of real locations rather than the usual sets gives it a realistic tone absent from the rest of the series, a realism that's beautifully shot by Arthur Grant.

UK
Video Distributor: Thorn EMI

USA
Theatrical Distributor: American International Pictures
Video Distributor: Home Box Office Home Video; Sinister Cinema
Laserdisc Distributor: Image Entertainment (ID 3333 OR; includes - commentary by David Del Valle and Elizabeth Shepherd); Image Entertainment (ID 7659 HB - on double bill with Witchfinder General (1968))

Finland
Rating: K-16

Sweden
Rating: 15

USA
Rating: unrated

1964
October
Day Unknown: UK - theatrical release

1967
September
4: Sweden - theatrical release

1973
September
7: Finland - theatrical release

1977
May
13: UK - television broadcast (on BBC1)

1991
January
30: USA - laserdisc release (Image Entertainment (ID 7659 HB - on double bill with Witchfinder General (1968)))

1997
May
28: USA - laserdisc release (Image Entertainment (ID 3333 OR))

2001
January
3: UK - television broadcast (on ITV)

Even on her wedding night she must share the man she loved with the "female thing" that lived in the Tomb of the Cat!

CAT or WOMAN or a Thing Too Evil to Mention?

Das Grab der Lygeia - German title
Das Grab des Grauens - German title
Grobowiec Ligei - Polish title
Last Tomb of Ligeia
Ligeia
Mannen i vaxkabinettet - Swedish title
Mies vahakabinetissa - Finnish title
Tomb of the Cat
La tumba de Ligia - Venezuelan title
La tomba di Ligeia - Italian title

MAGAZINES

Daily Cinema no.8988 (9 November 1964) p.3 (UK)
review

Film and TV Technician vol.32 no.256 (July / August 1996) (UK)
credits

Hollywood Reporter vol.183 no.50 (20 January 1965) p.3 (USA)
credits, review

Kine Weekly no.2965 (30 July 1964) p.11 (UK)
note

Kine Weekly no.2980 (12 November 1964) p.16 (UK)
review

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.31 no.371 (December 1964) p.173 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review

Variety 20 January 1965 (USA)
credits, review

Video Watchdog no.24 (August 1994) pp.48-63 (USA)
illustrated interview

BOOKS

Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror (2nd edition) p.167
credits, review

KEYWORDS

book into film, revenge, possession, hypnotism, cats

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008