A French police detective on an exchange posting in London is assigned to look into the apparent murder of novelist John Morlar. At the scene he discovers that the victim is still alive, and he begins piecing together Morlar's past from his journals and from the psychiatrist who had been treating him. The memories reveal a string of disasters and sudden deaths that seem to have no rational explanation.

How it was made

A British-French co-production directed by Jack Gold, adapted by John Briley from Peter Van Greenaway's 1973 novel. The cast includes Richard Burton, Lino Ventura and Lee Remick, and Harry Andrews took a role originally intended for Trevor Howard, whose exit is attributed to an incident at a dinner. Some exteriors were shot at Bristol Cathedral, which stands in for a fictional London cathedral, and in Kent, where the protagonist's childhood scenes were filmed.

Reception and legacy

The Monthly Film Bulletin praised the film's intriguing premise but found it dissolving into an escalating run of increasingly ludicrous disasters, and it criticized Burton's overwrought performance. Its most lasting footprint has been in popular culture: the Manic Street Preachers borrowed a line of Burton's dialogue for their 1998 song "Ready for Drowning".

Stills

Trailer

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Trivia

A replaced actor

Trevor Howard was meant to play the role that went to Harry Andrews. The change followed an incident involving Howard at a dinner.

A reused line

A sample of Burton's dialogue appeared in the Manic Street Preachers' 1998 song "Ready for Drowning".

More films by Jack Gold

Aces High1976

Little Lord Fauntleroy1980

Original Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.