Arnold is a 1973 American horror comedy film directed by Georg Fenady and starring Stella Stevens, Roddy McDowall, Elsa Lanchester, Shani Wallis, Farley Granger, Victor Buono, John McGiver, Bernard Fox, Patric Knowles, Jamie Farr and Norman Stuart. The film was released by Cinerama Releasing Corporation on November 16, 1973.[2][3][4]

Arnold
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGeorg Fenady
Written byJameson Brewer
John Fenton Murray
Produced byAndrew J. Fenady
Charles A. Pratt
StarringStella Stevens
Roddy McDowall
Elsa Lanchester
Shani Wallis
Farley Granger
Victor Buono
John McGiver
Bernard Fox
Patric Knowles
Jamie Farr
Norman Stuart
CinematographyWilliam B. Jurgensen
Edited byMelvin Shapiro
Music byGeorge Duning
Production
companies
Fenady Associates
Bing Crosby Productions
Distributed byCinerama Releasing Corporation
Release date
  • November 16, 1973 (1973-11-16)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.4 million[1]

In the film, a deceased lord is posthumously married to his lover, as part of a scheme that would allow her to inherit his estate. The deceased lord's family is not happy with this arrangement, and the various members seek ways to challenge his will. They are unaware that the lord wanted them dead, and that he has prepared deathtraps for his potential heirs.

Plot

edit

Lord Arnold Dwellyn (Norman Stuart) and his lover Karen (Stella Stevens) have just been married. However, this is no ordinary marriage ... because Arnold is a recent corpse. There are also interesting conditions: Arnold is not to be buried. His body will remain in the family mansion and Karen, in order to inherit his estate, must remain by him in the mansion permanently.

Not everyone is pleased by this arrangement, including Arnold's wastrel younger brother Robert (Roddy McDowall) (with whom Karen has been having a secret affair), his widow Lady Jocelyn (Shani Wallis) and his solicitor cousin Douglas Whitehead (Patric Knowles); in fact, the only one who is happy with the situation is Arnold's sister Hester (Elsa Lanchester).

When everybody starts trying to find ways of breaking Arnold's will and trying to find a huge sum of cash hidden somewhere on the family estate, mysterious deathtraps, apparently planned by Arnold well in advance of his death and tailored to each of the victims, begin dealing with the greedy claimants ... and all this while the local constable (Bernard Fox) is investigating the mysterious deaths in a less than effective manner.

Cast

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 297. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada
  2. ^ "Arnold". afi.com. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  3. ^ "Arnold". AllMovie. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  4. ^ "Arnold". TCM.com. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
edit