Night of the Eagle
| Night of the Eagle | |
|---|---|
British original poster
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| Directed by | Sidney Hayers |
| Produced by |
Julian Wintle Leslie Parkyn executive: Samuel Z. Arkoff Albert Fennell Nat Cohen Stuart Levy |
| Screenplay by |
Charles Beaumont Richard Matheson George Baxt |
| Based on |
Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber |
| Starring |
Peter Wyngarde Janet Blair Margaret Johnston Anthony Nicholls Colin Gordon |
| Music by | William Alwyn |
| Cinematography | Reginald Wyer |
| Edited by | Ralph Sheldon |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by |
Anglo-Amalgamated (UK) American International Pictures (United States) |
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Release date
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May 1962 (UK) 25 April 1962 (United States) |
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Running time
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87 min |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £50,000 |
Night of the Eagle is a 1962 British-U.S. horror film directed by Sidney Hayers. The script by Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson and George Baxt was based upon the 1943 Fritz Leiber novel Conjure Wife. The film was retitled Burn, Witch, Burn! for the US release (not to be confused with the 1932 novel of the same name by Abraham Merritt).
Norman Taylor (Peter Wyngarde) is a psychology professor lecturing about belief systems and superstition. After a scene in which his wife searches frantically and finds a poppet left by a jealous work rival, He discovers that his wife, Tansy (Janet Blair), is practising obeah, referred to in the film as "conjure magic," which she learned in Jamaica. She insists that her charms have been responsible for his rapid advancement in his academic career and for his general well-being. A firm rationalist, Norman is angered by her acceptance of superstition. He forces her to burn all of her magical paraphernalia.
Almost immediately, things start to go wrong: a female student (Judith Stott) accuses Norman of rape, her boyfriend (Bill Mitchell) threatens him with violence, and someone tries to break into the Taylors' home during a thunderstorm. Tansy, willing to sacrifice her life for her husband's safety, almost drowns herself and is only saved at the last minute by Norman giving in to the practices he despises.
Tansy attacks him with a knife while in a trance, but Norman disarms her and locks her in her room. Her limping walk during the attack gives Norman a clue to the person responsible for his ill luck: university secretary Flora Carr (Margaret Johnston), the wife of Lindsay whose career had stalled in favour of Norman's. Flora uses witchcraft to set fire to the Taylor home with Tansy trapped inside.
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Wikipedia