cinema history class (extracurricular edition): withfinder general

After we watched The Magnificent Obsession of Michael Reeves in our cinema history class (my review of that class is here), I found I had a renewed interest in Reeves' last film, Witchfinder General. Keith had already shown us  WG (twice, in fact), but I had never really appreciated its significance in the history of British cinema. I don't recall what rating I gave it when we saw it (and that was before this blog, so I can't go and look it up), but I doubt that it was very high. Magnificent Obsession, which was a documentary about Michael Reeves did a good job of putting WG in its historical context, and made me wish I had appreciated it more.

When discussing the documentary Keith mentioned that WG had been rereleased, all cleaned up, on Blu-Ray. And I offhandedly mentioned that it would be interesting to see it. And so, during this long break between classes, Keith invited Ethan and me for a watch. Seeing the movie in its cleaned up form with vivid color and crisp sound gave me a whole new appreciation for the film. On blu it's a pleasure to watch in a way that the 16M print isn't.

I'm not a huge Vincent Price fan, but this is possibly the best performance of his career. Instead of the ham I'm used to seeing, this was a serious Price. And I loved every hateful moment he was onscreen.

Which is noteworthy since Reeves didn't even want Price for the film; he had Donald Pleasance in mind. But he wanted AIP funding, and a casting compromise was the price he had to pay. And the working relationship between Reeves and Price was unpleasant, but Reeves managed to get a great performance out of his star -- a fact which he would eventually acknowledge in a letter he wrote to the director.

Despite the violence and gore of the movie, there are some good solid interpersonal dynamics built in that help elevate it. Of particular note is the ambivalent relationship between Hopkins and Stearne (as portrayed by Price and Robert Russell). They need each other and benefit from their working relationship, but there is little respect and no affection. Watching them snipe at each other reminded me of two curs competing to be alpha. It's hard to figure who's worse. I don't quite know how I missed that dynamic the first two times I saw the movie, but I did.

In addition, the ending is disturbing. After spending so much time on his quest, motivated by his love for Sarah, we see Marshal finally lose sight of that love and get overtaken by his thirst for revenge. And hate conquers all.