To view Theatre of Blood click here.
“It was a marvelous role because I got to play eight Shakespearean parts in it, which is a feast for any actor. And I got to knock off eight critics. It was a story dear to the heart of any old actor. It was a dream to make and very real to me. I really understand the man who is doing his very best and yet is unrecognized.” – Vincent Price, discussing his starring role in Theatre of Blood (1973) from The Price of Fear: The Film Career of Vincent Price, In His Own Words by Joel Eisner
In 1970 Vincent Price became discouraged by the state of his career. He was acting regularly, writing cookbooks, appearing on stage and in a variety of television programs while generously supporting the arts as a member of the Royal Society of Arts, the Arts Council of UCLA and the Fine Arts Committee of the White House, but he agonized over his reputation. According to his daughter Victoria Price and author of Vincent Price: A Daughter’s Biography, her father worried that he wasn’t taken seriously by his fellow actors due to his career choices. The lack of respect from his peers encouraged the 60-year-old actor to embrace the monstrous roles he had made famous. From mad doctors to witch hunters and a plethora of Poe villains and antiheroes, Price had perfected the role of a sympathetic scoundrel.
To nurture his waning pride, Price embarked on an impressive college lecture tour titled “The Villains Still Pursue Me” where he discussed the various literary villains of Shakespeare, Poe and Shaw along with his film roles. He approached the subject as a Yale scholar (Price graduated from Yale with a degree in art history in 1933) and a fan, praising the type of characters that had made him a household name while analyzing their appeal. Price hoped his lecture would cultivate critical admiration for his unsung talents, particularly among youth who were more generous in their attitudes towards horror cinema. It might seem gratuitous for an aging actor to launch what was basically a self-promotional tour as he reluctantly marches into his twilight years but it illustrates how significant and influential criticism can be. If critics had lavished praise as well as awards on the Grand Guignol films made by Universal Studios and creatives like William Castle, Roger Corman and Michael Reeves, would Vincent Price have felt the need to go on tour to salvage his reputation? Probably not. For better or worse, critics wield power and they’ve never been particularly fond of horror movies. In turn, many of our best filmmakers, as well as the actors they work with, have had to fight for respect in an industry that too often neglects them.
A few years after his lecture tour, Price challenged critics in a much more direct and amusing way while making Theatre of Blood (1973). In this pitch black British horror comedy currently streaming on FilmStruck as part of “The Lives of Actors “ theme, Price plays a Shakespearean actor named Edward Lionheart. When a critic’s group refuses to acknowledge Lionheart’s talents, the aggrieved thespian seeks revenge with help from his daughter (Diana Rigg) and a band of vagrants called “Meths Drinkers.” Together they dispatch of the critics by enacting gruesome scenes inspired by the Bard’s plays.
Theatre of Blood is aided by a razor-sharp script written by Anthony Greville-Bell (Perfect Friday [1970], The Strange Vengeance of Rosalie [1972], The God King [1974]) packed full of puns and innuendoes. The jokes allow Price’s jovial personality to shine and he hams things up quite a bit but there is a pathos at play accentuated by the film’s melancholy theme composed by Michael J. Lewis (The Man Who Haunted Himself [1970], Julius Caesar [1970], Unman, Wittering and Zigo [1971]). The neo-Elizabethan soundtrack, with its weeping mandolin chords and sweeping orchestration, keeps viewers mindful of the tragedy underscoring the gallows humor. We laugh with Edward Lionheart while being appalled by his behavior but he demands our empathy as well. Who among us hasn’t been hurt by criticism and wanted to lash out at the offending party? Thankfully most of us don’t end up committing murder, but many viewers will be able to sympathize with Lionheart’s desire for revenge and the creative execution of his crimes.
The film was directed by Douglas Hickox, an underrated talent who helmed a batch of quirky, smart and entertaining films between 1960 and 1980 including The Giant Behemoth (1959), Les bicyclettes de Belsize (1969), Entertaining Mr. Sloane (1970), Sitting Target (1972) and Sky Riders (1976). Theatre of Blood benefits from Hickox’s ability to tackle dark comedy mixed with biting social commentary. I hope FilmStruck will make more of his films available in the future because the director deserves to be better known outside of Britain and many of his best films are not available on video or DVD in the US. A double feature of Theatre of Blood paired with Entertaining Mr. Sloane would be very welcome. Both films are unapologetically campy and loaded with edgy barbs.
Although there is plenty of talent behind the camera, Theatre of Blood is particularly noteworthy for the talent on screen. The cast is made up of great British stage actors including Jack Hawkins and Robert Coote who appeared in The League of Gentlemen (1960), which I spotlighted a few weeks ago along with Michael Hordern (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold [1965], Anne of the Thousand Days [1969], Barry Lyndon (1975]), Robert Morley (Major Barbara {1941], The African Queen [1951], Oscar Wilde [1960]), Harry Andrews (Moby Dick [1956], The Agony and the Ecstasy [1965], Entertaining Mr. Sloane [1970]), Ian Hendry (Room at the Top [1959], Repulsion [1965], Get Carter [1971]), Dennis Price (Kind Hearts and Coronets [1949], School for Scoundrels [1960], Victim (1961]), Milo O’Shea (Ulysses [1967], Romeo and Juliet [1968], Barbarella [1968]) and Coral Browne (Auntie Mame [1958], Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone [1961], The Ruling Class [1972]). In an interesting turn of events, Vincent Price and Coral Browne reportedly fell in love on the set of Theatre of Blood after being formally introduced by their young costar, Diana Rigg (The Avengers [1965-1968], A Midsummer Night’s Dream [1968], On Her Majesty’s Secret Service [1969]). At the time, Price was married to costume designer Mary Grant but the two were divorced after Theatre of Blood was released. Price married Coral Browne soon afterward and the two remained together until her death in 1991.
While watching Theatre of Blood it’s easy to fall into the trap of imagining the career Vincent Price could have had on stage. He delivers Shakespeare’s eloquent lines with ease and his appreciation for the language is undeniable. I am always moved by his interpretation of Hamlet’s “To Be or Not To Be” soliloquy and Price makes an impressive Shylock but why focus on what ‘could have been’ when there’s so much to enjoy in this 104-minute feature? The film may not have earned Price much critical praise when it was released and it never won any awards but it does contain one of the actor’s finest and most robust performances. He occasionally referred to it as his favorite role and it’s easy to understand why. In a career that lasted more than 50-years, Price had many memorable parts but Theatre of Blood gave him the opportunity to directly address his critics while having fun at their (and his) expense.
Kimberly Lindbergs