''Laughter in the Dark'' (french: La Chambre obscure) is a 1969 French-British

romantic drama Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

film directed by

Tony Richardson Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director and producer whose career spanned five decades. In 1964, he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film ''Tom Jones (1963 film ...

and starring

Nicol Williamson Thomas Nicol Williamson (14 September 1936 – 16 December 2011) was a Scottish actor, once described by playwright John Osborne as "the greatest actor since Marlon Brando". He was also described by Samuel Beckett as "touched by genius" and view ...

and

Anna Karina Anna Karina (born Hanne Karin Blarke Bayer; September 22, 1940 – December 14, 2019)

. It was based on the novel of the same name by

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bo ...

Plot

For the film, the story's setting was changed from 1930s

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

to the Swinging London of the 1960s. A wealthy married 40-year-old art critic called Sir Edward More (Nicol Williamson) falls in love with a sixteen-year-old girl called Margot (Anna Karina). However, she later infidelity, cheats on him with another man (Jean-Claude Drouot) which eventually leads to him losing his eyesight while they argue in his car about it and crash into another car when he finds out about it. She continues with the affair but as Edward is now blind, she can have it right in front of him. Eventually, he finds out about the still ongoing affair and confronts her with a gun. But she fatally shoots him with it and then runs off while his dead body lies on the floor.

Cast

as Sir Edward More *

Anna Karina Anna Karina (born Hanne Karin Blarke Bayer; September 22, 1940 – December 14, 2019)

as Margot * Jean-Claude Drouot as Herve Tourace * Peter Bowles as Paul * Siân Phillips as Lady Elizabeth More * Sebastian Breaks as Brian * Kate O'Toole (actress), Kate O'Toole as Amelia More * Edward Gardner as Driver * Sheila Burrell as Miss Porly * Willoughby Goddard as Colonel * Basil Dignam as Dealer * Philippa Urquhart as Philippa

Production

Casting

was brought in as a very late replacement for Richard Burton, who had already shot several scenes. The director,

, found Burton's lack of punctuality intolerable.

Filming

The film was shot on location in England and Majorca.

Release

The film drew respectable reviews, but for reasons that are unclear, it was subsequently removed from distribution. The film has only been shown twice on British television, (in 1974 and 1981 on BBC2), and has not been released on any home video format.

Cancelled remake

Laszlo Papas was slated to direct a 1986 remake of the film which would have starred Mick Jagger as Axel Rex and Rebecca De Mornay as the young seductress; De Mornay was replaced by Maryam d'Abo after disagreements with the director, but ultimately the project went nowhere and the film was never made.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Laughter In The Dark 1969 films 1969 drama films French drama films British drama films Films directed by Tony Richardson Films based on works by Vladimir Nabokov Films with screenplays by Edward Bond Films produced by Elliott Kastner 1960s English-language films 1960s British films 1960s French films