''The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake'' is a 1959 American
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
written by
Orville H. Hampton
Orville H. Hampton (May 21, 1917 – August 8, 1997) was an American screenwriter who worked mostly in low-budget films, particularly for producers Robert E. Kent and Edward Small. A screenplay that he and Raphael Hayes wrote for ''One Potato, T ...
and directed by
Edward L. Cahn
Edward L. Cahn (February 12, 1899 – August 25, 1963) was an American film director.
Early life and education
Cahn was born in Brooklyn, New York. He went to work at Universal Pictures in 1917 while still a student at UCLA.
Career
...
. It was one of a series of films they made in the late 1950s for producer
Robert E. Kent
Robert E. Kent (August 31, 1911 in Canal Zone, Panama – December 11, 1984 in Los Angeles) was an American film writer and film producer.
Career
Kent began as a rapid screenwriter for Sam Katzman at Columbia. For seven years he worked as a ...
on contract for distribution by
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...
. The film stars
Eduard Franz
Eduard Franz Schmidt (October 31, 1902 – February 10, 1983) was an American actor of theatre, film and television. Franz portrayed King Ahab in the 1953 biblical low-budget film ''Sins of Jezebel'', Jethro in Cecil B. DeMille's ''The Ten C ...
,
Valerie French,
Grant Richards, and
Henry Daniell
Charles Henry Pywell Daniell (5 March 1894 – 31 October 1963) was an English actor who had a long career in the United States on stage and in cinema. He came to prominence for his portrayal of villainous roles in films such as '' Camille'' (1 ...
. Set in the present day (i.e. 1959), it tells the story of a curse placed on the Drake Family by the
witch doctor
A witch doctor (also spelled witch-doctor) was originally a type of Folk healer, healer who treated ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. The term is now more commonly used to refer to Alternative medicine, healers, particularly in region ...
of the
Jivaro, a tribe of indigenous people in Ecuador, following a 19th century massacre led by Capt. Wilfred Drake. Since that time, for three generations, all the Drake men have died at age 60, after which they were decapitated, and their
heads shrunken by persons unknown.
The film was made as a package deal with ''
Invisible Invaders
''Invisible Invaders'' is a 1959 science fiction film starring John Agar, Jean Byron, John Carradine and Philip Tonge. It was produced by Robert E. Kent, directed by Edward L. Cahn and written by Samuel Newman. The monster costume from 1958's ''It ...
''. Both were released theatrically as a
double bill
The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown.
Opera use
Opera ho ...
on May 15, 1959, with ''Drake'' being the first shown.
Plot
As professor Jonathan Drake contemplates a shrunken head, he has a vision of three floating skulls. After recoiling in fear, he instructs his adult daughter Alison to dispatch a telegram to his 60-year-old brother Kenneth, to say that he will visit Kenneth on Thursday.
But before Jonathan can arrive, Kenneth sees a shrunken head outside his window. A tall man with long hair and his lips sewn closed, like a shrunken head's, pokes Kenneth with a bamboo
stiletto, barely breaking the skin. Kenneth dies. The man, Zutai, attempts to behead Kenneth but is interrupted.
Police Lt. Jeff Rowan is called. He meets Dr. George Bradford - Kenneth's physician - and sinister archaeologist Dr. Emil Zurich, a friend of Kenneth's. Not knowing of the attack on Kenneth, Bradford determines the cause of death of be
cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, h ...
. But he casually mentions that three generations of Drake men have died from cardiac problems at age 60. Jeff asks if there is a connection between the shrunken head and the death. Bradford doesn't think so. However, Zurich, apparently not saddened by Kenneth's sudden demise, proudly calls the shrunken head a "particularly fine specimen."
At Kenneth's, Jonathan learns of his death and demands that his closed coffin be opened. The body inside has no head, Zutai having finished the task. Zutai brings Kenneth's head to Zurich, who calls it "payment for the evils of your ancestors" and begins the process of shrinking it. He says that once he has Jonathan's head, "the curse will be finished."
At the family
crypt
A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics.
Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...
, Jonathan tells Alison that all the Drake men are entombed there except Capt. Wilfred Drake, who in 1873 led an expedition to Ecuador. There, the Jivaro tribe killed Wlifred's "Swiss agent" and as revenge, Wilfred massacred the Jivaro men and boys. Wilfred also died. He was 60. The tribal witch doctor, Zutai, cursed the male Drakes. Jonathan says that each Drake in the crypt died at 60 and each body is headless. The crypt's locked closet contains two skulls. Neither he nor Alison know how they got there.
After Zurich sends Zutai to the crypt to deposit the third skull, Kenneth's, Alison explains the curse to Jeff. He is skeptical. At the crypt, Alison and Jeff discover the third skull. Zutai attacks Jonathan. He pokes Jonathan but is again interrupted and can't behead him. Jeff sees Zutai fleeing and shoots at him, but Zutai escapes. Bradford declares Jonathan dead. But Jeff has a sample of Jonathan's blood analyzed at the crime lab, where Lee Coulter finds
curare
Curare ( /kʊˈrɑːri/ or /kjʊˈrɑːri/; ''koo-rah-ree'' or ''kyoo-rah-ree'') is a common name for various alkaloid arrow poisons originating from plant extracts. Used as a paralyzing agent by indigenous peoples in Central and South ...
in it. Jeff tells Bradford to administer an antidote, which revives Jonathan. He has another vision of floating skulls, but instead of the three he saw earlier, he sees four.
Lee dusts the three skulls in the crypt for fingerprints. The prints are the same person's - even though Jonathan's grandfather, father and brother died many years apart - and each print contains a tiny picture of a skull. Alison clears up the tiny skull mystery by showing Jeff a book about "The Cult of Headless Men", who achieved immortality and branded their fingertips with images of skulls. As the immortals needed no food or oxygen, they had their lips sewn closed.
Jeff goes to Zurich's to interview him, although he still discounts Zurich's suggestion of supernatural involvement. After Jeff leaves, Zurich and Zutai go off to kill Jonathan. But they can't as Jonathan has been taken to hospital after again seeing a vision of four skulls. Jeff surreptitiously returns to Zurich's house, finds his secret laboratory, and discovers Dr. Bradford's head. Bradford had gone to Zurich's to discuss the unusual occurrences.
Lee discovers that Zurich was the "Swiss agent" on the 1873 expedition but somehow still lives. Zurich kidnaps Alison. He displays the now-shrunken head of Bradford and says that Jonathan is next. Jonathan unexpectedly leaves hospital and, arming himself, goes to Zurich's lab. He reveals that Zurich is a creature with a "white" head attached to a "brown" Jivaro body. Jonathan raises his revolver to his head to kill himself so that his soul will escape from his skull, thus breaking the curse.
Jonathan and Zutai grapple for the pistol. Jeff bursts in and during a fight flings Zutai into an open flame. Zutai explodes. But Jonathan has Zutai's curare-laden stiletto and tells Jeff to poke Zurich with it. Jeff does and Zurich dies. Jonathan decapitates Zurich, forever ending the curse. Zurich's body turns to dust ... but leaves behind the intact fourth skull.
Cast
*
Eduard Franz
Eduard Franz Schmidt (October 31, 1902 – February 10, 1983) was an American actor of theatre, film and television. Franz portrayed King Ahab in the 1953 biblical low-budget film ''Sins of Jezebel'', Jethro in Cecil B. DeMille's ''The Ten C ...
as Jonathan Drake
*
Valerie French as Alison Drake
*
Grant Richards as Lt. Jeff Rowan
*
Henry Daniell
Charles Henry Pywell Daniell (5 March 1894 – 31 October 1963) was an English actor who had a long career in the United States on stage and in cinema. He came to prominence for his portrayal of villainous roles in films such as '' Camille'' (1 ...
as Dr. Emil Zurich
*
Lumsden Hare
Francis Lumsden Hare (17 October 1874 – 28 August 1964) was an Irish-born film and theatre actor. He was also a theatre director and theatrical producer.
Early years
Hare studied at St. Dunstan's College in London.
Career
Hare appeared ...
as Rogers
*
Howard Wendell
Howard David Wendell (January 25, 1908 – August 11, 1975) was an American actor.
Wendell's Broadway credits include ''Make a Wish'' (1951), ''The Curious Savage'' (1950), ''Arms and the Man'' (1950), ''The Show Off'' (1950), and ''The Great ...
as Dr. George Bradford
*
Paul Wexler as Zutai
*
Paul Cavanaugh as Kenneth Drake
*
Frank Gerstle
Francis M. Gerstle (September 27, 1915 – February 23, 1970) was an American character actor who appeared in supporting roles in numerous films, radio programs and TV shows following World War II.
Biography
Gerstle's notable appearances inc ...
as Lee Coulter
Production
''The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake'' was produced at
Paramount Sunset Studios
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
during early November 1958. It was copyrighted by
Vogue Pictures
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
on 8 May 1959.
The poster for the US theatrical release is headlined "Written, Produced and Directed To Scare The Daylights Out Of You!"
Distribution
In the US, the film was shown on its opening day, May 15, 1959
at, for example, the Kingston Federal Theater in Kingston NY on a double feature with ''
Invisible Invaders
''Invisible Invaders'' is a 1959 science fiction film starring John Agar, Jean Byron, John Carradine and Philip Tonge. It was produced by Robert E. Kent, directed by Edward L. Cahn and written by Samuel Newman. The monster costume from 1958's ''It ...
''. It played later in 1959, as a "new first showing", at the Monroe Theater in the
Chicago Loop
The Loop, one of Chicago's 77 designated community areas, is the central business district of the city and is the main section of Downtown Chicago. Home to Chicago's commercial core, it is the second largest commercial business district in Nort ...
starting on September 3 of that year. The film was on the drive-in theater circuit a few years later. It ran at the Hi-Way Drive-In Theater in Ft. Lauderdale FL on August 2, 1963 as part of what was advertised as "4 Horror Hits 4" and "The Fright Show of the Year". The complete program was, in order, ''
The Screaming Skull
''The Screaming Skull'' is a 1958 independently made American black-and-white horror film, produced by John Kneubuhl and directed by Alex Nicol, starring John Hudson, Peggy Webber, Russ Conway, Tony Johnson, and Nicol. ''The Screaming Skull'' ...
'' (1958), ''
The Brain Eaters
''The Brain Eaters'' is a 1958 independently made American black-and-white science fiction-horror film, produced by Ed Nelson (and Roger Corman, uncredited), and directed by Bruno VeSota. The film stars Nelson, Alan Jay Factor, and Joanna Lee ...
'' (1959), ''The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake'', and ''
Brainwashed'' (1960).
For its UK theatrical release, ''The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake'' was assigned an X-certificate by the
British Board of Film Censors
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of fi ...
on 23 April 1959. At the time, this meant that the film could not be shown to anyone under the age of 16.
Following its theatrical release, the film went into US television syndication as part of
United Artist Association's 58-title "Science Fiction-Horror-Monster Features" package, which was released to TV stations on May 15, 1963. It became a "staple on the late-night
Vcircuit", as well as being shown during the day more than a decade after its initial theatrical release; e.g. on
WNEW-TV
WNYW (channel 5) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Secaucus, New Jersey–licensed MyNetworkTV flagship ...
in New York City at 1:30 pm ET on Saturday May 3. 1975.
''The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake'' has been revived for individual theatrical showings in the 21st century. It ran on October 30, 2014 as part of "The Thursday Horror Picture Show" series at the Carolina Asheville Theater in Asheville NC and as a double feature with ''
The Black Sleep
''The Black Sleep'' is a 1956 American independent horror film directed by Reginald LeBorg, and written by John C. Higgins from a story by Gerald Drayson Adams. It stars Basil Rathbone, Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Bela Lugosi, and Akim Tamiro ...
'' (1956) at the Bristol Historical Society in Bristol CT on April 28 and 29, 2017 as a benefit fund-raiser for BHS.
Home media
Shout Factory
Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
first issued the film as a DVD double feature with ''
Voodoo Island
Voodoo Island is a 1957 American horror film directed by Reginald Le Borg and written by Richard H. Landau. The film stars Boris Karloff, with a cast including Elisha Cook Jr., Beverly Tyler and Rhodes Reason. It is set in the South Pacific and w ...
'' (1957) on September 20, 2005. On October 1, 2013, the same company released ''The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake'' as one of the
feature film
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
s on its "Horror 4 You: Timeless Horror" boxed DVD set, which also includes ''
The Face of Marble
''The Face of Marble'' is a 1946 American horror film directed by William Beaudine and starring John Carradine, Claudia Drake and Robert Shayne.
Plot
A doctor and his assistant attempt to bring back to life ones who have recently died. The ho ...
'' (1946), ''
The Snake Woman
''The Snake Woman'' (a.k.a. ''The Terror of the Snake Woman'') is a low budget black-and-white 1961 British horror film produced by George Fowler and directed by Sidney J. Furie. It stars Susan Travers and John McCarthy. The film was shown o ...
'' (1961), and ''
I Bury the Living
''I Bury the Living'' is a 1958 horror film directed by famed B movie director Albert Band and starring Richard Boone and Theodore Bikel. It was written by Louis A. Garfinkle and produced by Garfinkle and Band.
Plot
Robert Kraft is the newly a ...
'' (1958). Shout Factory again released the film as a single
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
on June 27, 2017.
Reception
A contemporary review in ''BoxOffice'' magazine is rather lukewarm. The anonymous reviewer notes that "There are enough frightening shots of skulls and head-shrinking in this Vogue Pictures programmer to satisfy avid horror fans in the neighborhood and action houses." The review says that Cahn "gets the required shudders from the material at hand, especially the closeups of poisoned stilettos in the necks of the victims." The sources consulted on a weekly basis by ''BoxOffice'' did not find ''The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake'' to be a particularly good film. ''BoxOffice'' itself, ''
Film Daily
''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informatio ...
'', the ''
Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
'', and the ''
New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
'' all rated it as "fair," while ''
Harrison's Reports
''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City-based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publisher ...
'', ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'', and ''
Parents' Magazine'' called it "poor."
Along similar lines, in ''The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia'', academic
Peter Dendle
Peter Dendle is a professor of English at Penn State Mont Alto, teaching classes on folklore, 20th and 21st century representations of the Middle Ages, Old and Middle English (language and literature), and the monstrous (in film, folklore, and s ...
sees Zurich as a metaphor for the "awkward blend of native Indian and European" and Zutai as "a walking parable of the silenced and subservient New World slave," but one who is nonetheless "more enigmatic and compelling than Zurich." Dendle also writes of Zutai that "Though fully sentient and emotive as far as we can tell, he doesn't exhibit any volition independently of Zurich's orders. Curiously, though, he does explode when kicked into a fire.".
British critic Phil Hardy is more favorable about the film. He calls it a "preposterous but lively confection," and notes that "Cahn's direction is pedestrian, but he manipulates the paraphernalia of skulls and shrunken heads to eerie effect, while Daniell and Wexler (the latter's zombie unnervingly possessing the sewn lips of a shrunken head) made superbly sinister presences."
Wheeler Winston Dixon
Wheeler Winston Dixon (born March 12, 1950) is an American filmmaker and scholar. He is an expert on film history, theory and criticism.Bill Goodykoontz, December 23, 2012, USA TodayDefining Tarantino Accessed Aug. 25, 2013, Quote = "...long, invo ...
, in ''
A History of Horror
''A History of Horror'' (also known as ''A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss'') is a 2010 three-part documentary series made for the BBC by British writer and actor Mark Gatiss. It is a personal exploration of the history of horror film, inspir ...
'', is also favorable. He writes that the film is one of a number made during the 1950s that "managed to sneak through the cracks of the country's postwar complacency, all of them sharing an air of claustrophobic fatalism," something enhanced by ''The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake'' having been shot in "moody black and white on a few spartan sets." He also points out that "What sets ''Four Skulls'' apart is Cahn's absolute seriousness in the film's execution."
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...
gives the film 2 out of 4 stars, describing it as "Acceptable horror fare involving centuries-old voodoo curse upon family and contemporary scientist who puts an end to the weird goings-on." Film historians Ted Okuda and Mark Yurkiw give the movie the same rating, but instead of stars, award it 2 of 4 skulls. They note that "The low-budget thriller made a stronger impact on impressionable young minds back in the day, but it remains acceptably creepy fare."
Craig Butler of
Allmovie.com is disappointed in ''The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake''. He writes that Cahn "maintains an eerie, slightly disturbed atmosphere" with a "dependable performance from Henry Daniell and the unique 'mouth sewn shut' disfigurement of his henchman." The director's "maintenance of atmosphere is good, but it comes at the expense of lively pacing and the ability to build tension and suspense." Butler concludes that the movie "ends up a fairly dull film." The Allmovie website gives it 2 of 5 stars; a "user rating" based on two votes awards it a slightly better 2½ stars of a possible 5.
See also
*
List of American films of 1959
The American films of 1959 are listed in a table of the films which were made in the United States and released in 1959. The film '' Ben-Hur'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture, among winning a record-setting eleven Oscars.
A–B
C–D ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Four Skulls Of Jonathan Drake, The
1959 films
1959 horror films
1950s English-language films
American supernatural horror films
American black-and-white films
Films directed by Edward L. Cahn
American zombie films
Films scored by Paul Dunlap
American films about revenge
American exploitation films
1950s supernatural horror films
1950s American films
Films about witch doctors
Films about curses