''The Mephisto Waltz'' is a 1971 American

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, apo ...

about an

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism ...

-murder mystery. It was directed by Paul Wendkos and starred

Alan Alda Alan Alda (; born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; January 28, 1936) is an American actor, screenwriter, and director. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the war come ...

, Jacqueline Bisset, Barbara Parkins, Bradford Dillman and Curd Jürgens. The name of the film is taken from the piano work by

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

of the same title (see Mephisto Waltzes). Ben Maddow adapted his screenplay from the novel of the same title by Fred Mustard Stewart. The film was the only big-screen work of veteran television producer Quinn Martin.

Plot

Myles Clarkson, long ago frustrated in his hope for a career as a concert

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, j ...

, is now a music journalist and interviews Duncan Ely, perhaps the world's greatest piano virtuoso. At first annoyed by Myles' presence, Duncan notices that Myles' hands seem perfect for the piano. From that point, Duncan and his adult daughter, Roxanne, strongly pursue a friendship with Myles and wife Paula. Paula does not much like Duncan and especially dislikes Roxanne. While Paula is disturbed by the level of attention being paid to them, Myles is honored to be considered a friend by Duncan, who is dying of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

. Unbeknownst to them, Duncan and Roxanne are Satanists. As Duncan's physical body nears its end, father and daughter perform an

ritual that transfers Duncan's consciousness into Myles' body while Myles’ consciousness is transferred into the body of Duncan as he dies. Myles' ensuing change in personality, which includes his now being able to play the piano as well as had Duncan, is noticed by Paula, but she is initially unsuspecting of the cause. Though confused by the change in her husband, she also finds his new persona exciting and attractive. Myles soon is pursuing a career as a pianist and is so successful that he is able to take over Duncan's concert schedule. Paula has a nightmare in which she envisions Duncan telling her that he must kill Abby, her and Myles' young daughter. Duncan tells her that he does not want to harm the girl, but that his Master has insisted upon it as "part of the bargain". Immediately after the dream, in which a blue substance is placed on Abby's forehead, Paula finds the blue substance actually on her daughter's skin. Abby gets ill and dies. Abby's death sparks in Paula a further suspicion of Roxanne. As Myles seems to drift away from her into his new career, Paula investigates Roxanne's background. This includes visiting Roxanne's ex-husband, Bill, and a romantic relationship begins to form between the two. Paula eventually becomes convinced that Duncan and Roxanne struck a deal with Satan to enable them to pursue an

incest Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity ( marriage or stepfamily), ado ...

uous relationship, that they have placed Duncan's consciousness into her husband's body, and that they are responsible for Abby's death. Paula falls asleep and Bill dies in an apparent accident, though he too has the blue substance on his forehead. Paula nearly meets a similar "accidental" fate, which leaves her certain that Roxanne and Duncan (in Myles' body) killed Bill, and fearful that they will try to eliminate her. She resolves that, regardless of who is inhabiting her husband's body, she wants to be with that man. As a result, she turns to Satanism and strikes her own bargain with the Devil. She then attacks Roxanne, knocks her unconscious, and employs the same dark magic that Duncan and Roxanne had used against Myles. Paula transfers her own consciousness into Roxanne's body, leaving her own body dead in the bath, an apparent

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

. In Roxanne's body, Paula returns to Duncan/Myles, who happily informs her of Paula's suicide. Without telling him who she really is, she embraces him, enthralled with the excitement of the beginning of their new relationship.

Cast

Production

Exteriors were shot on location along the

Pacific coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the P ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

; the book took place in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. The film, which was a Quinn Martin Production, was originally given a cinematic release by 20th Century-Fox.

Reception

The film was noted for its stylistic imagery and soundtrack by

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the ''Rambo'' franch ...

. ''

All Movie Guide AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cul ...

'' noted Alan Alda's performance as the film's only weak point, praising the "offbeat cinematography", "truly shocking setpieces", and Jacqueline Bisset's "chillingly effective" performance, stating that these elements build a pervading sensation of doom. Noted film critic

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the movie 2 stars, commenting:

If a horror movie is to be taken seriously, it has to pretend to take horror seriously. And this one doesn't. It reduces magic to a simpleminded ritual that anyone can perform: all our heroine has to do is steal some funny blue stuff and read pig Latin out of a book. The magic works for her, too.
... The casting (Alan Alda, Jacqueline Bisset, Barbara Parkins, Curt Jurgens) is expensive, and so is the production. But you get the notion that the people who made the film didn't take magic seriously enough. I don't mean they should believe in it; but they should have made a film that pretended to.

Soundtrack

Varèse Sarabande issued an album of

's score in 1997, paired with a suite from his score for ''

The Other In phenomenology, the terms the Other and the Constitutive Other identify the other human being, in their differences from the Self, as being a cumulative, constituting factor in the self-image of a person; as acknowledgement of being real; he ...

''. # Twentieth Century Fox Fanfare, 1953 version –

Alfred Newman Alfred Newman (March 17, 1900 – February 17, 1970) was an American composer, arranger, and conductor of film music. From his start as a music prodigy, he came to be regarded as a respected figure in the history of film music. He won nine Acad ...

(:14) # Main Title (2:27) # The Library (1:38) # A New Miles (5:12) # The Funeral (3:26) # A Night In Mexico (2:16) # Part Of The Bargain (3:41) # The Hospital (2:18) # The Latest Victim (5:14) # Dogfight (2:07) # Roxanne's Demise (1:37) # End Title (3:45) #

: Suite (22:02)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mephisto Waltz, The 1971 films 1971 horror films 20th Century Fox films American supernatural horror films Body swapping in films Films scored by Jerry Goldsmith Films about pianos and pianists Films based on American horror novels Films directed by Paul Wendkos Films set in Los Angeles Films about Satanism Films about witchcraft Films about cancer Incest in film 1970s English-language films 1970s American films