Forty years ago, again on May 23, the long forgotten film classic, "The Other", opened at the now defunct Coronet Theater, in Manhattan. I did not see it, until sometime in June, but I had been spellbound by the book by Thomas Tryon. (It is still one of my faves, and I own a hardback edition of it!!!!), and I had high expectations for the film, which, when I saw it, at the tender age of 17, swept me off my feet, and into a world of fancy I still look back on today.
The film had the kind of credentials that today would make us drool, as who could account among us such talent today. It was directed by Robert Mulligan, always to be remembered for "To Kill A Mockingbird," and deservedly so; although that film seemed to overshadow the quality of his later work, like here! It had a dream cast, but how much so could not have been known at the time--stage actress Uta Hagen, (whom I, at the time, had never heard of) making her screen debut as Grandmother Ada Vendrenya, TV actress Diana Muldaur, with stunning 30s looks (the film was set in 1935 Connecticut) as Perry mother, Alexandra (who was Ada's daughter!!!), Barry Sullivan's daughter, Jenny, as adopted, now grown daughter, Torrie Perry, a young man, and Tex Ritter's son, John Ritter, as Torrie's husband, Rider Gannon, and two relatively well known character actors--Lou Frizzell, from television, as Uncle George Perry, the now patriarch of the clan, and Portia Nelson as neighborly busybody and murder victim, Old Lady Rowe--I mean, Mrs. Rowe.
Most remarkably, this film marked the first and only time that two young boys, then from the town of Westfield, New Jersey, jointly appeared on film. They were actually twins, named Chris and Martin Udvarnoky, and they found their way to the project by way of Uta Hagen, with whom they, and/or their father, had been studying, who recommended them. She proved to be right for both, but especially Chris, in the role of Niles, who proved remarkable, and, while their work was praised, I thought it of award calibre, and that it never got the recognition that it should. Same with Miss Hagen.
But, though cinematographer Robert Surtees brought a bucolic, poetic feel that belied the tale of Gothic horror the story actually was, this may have been why the film was not taken as seriously at the time.
At the time, I was obsessed with what I considered intense, dramatic acting. I nursed ambitions of such in me (I saw myself, back then, in the role of Edmond Tyrone in "Long Day's Journey Into Night"), and this film offered up a veritable feast of such that I could watch, and, I felt, learn from. Which is why I saw this film again.........and again......and again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sadly, Time has not been kind to "The Other". In the face of more visually arresting films as "The Exorcist" and "The Omen," it seemed to get lost in the shuffle. It had hardly a breathing life on videocassette, and, darlings, I am telling you, what I had to go through to get my copy on DVD!!!! You better believe I am hanging on to that!!!!!
Moreover, in the 40 year interim, so many of its cast members have left us. Director Robert Mulligan, Uta Hagen, Lou Frizzell, Portia Nelson, Victor French (another TV luminary, who portrayed the farm hand, Leno Angelini), Norma Connolly (Aunt Vee), Loretta Leversee (who played housekeeper Winnie), not to mention actor-novelist-screenwriter Thomas Tryon, who created it all.
Saddest of all, however was the passing of one who went on to become a genuine TV superstar, John Ritter, who left us on September 11 (!!!!) 2003, at the rather untimely age of 54!!!! Sadder still was the passing, on October 25, 2010, of Perry twin Niles, Chris Udvarnoky. His death, from the inherited illness of polycystic kidney disease, at 49, sent shock waves throughout the small community of fans devoted to "The Other." After all, fifty six years have passed since the movie "The Bad Seed" (not to mention fifty eight since the Broadway show) and that child, Patty McCormack, is still very much alive.
I can only be grateful that, 40 years later, I am still here to remember, and chronicle, "The Other." I am glad I can be the one to do so, to remind those of us who care about the film, how good it was, and to stir, in those of you who have not seen it, an interest in seeing it again!!!!!!
While I would never change a single frame of the film that exists, I do wish, and did so from the first, that the filmmakers had retained Tryon's original gimmick--though how to do so on film without spoiling the surprise would be quite a challenge. The novel is told by an adult narrator, in flashback, looking back at the Perry farm and what took place there. Only till one gets to the end, does the reader realize the narrator has been Niles (whose personality has been taken over by his twin, Holland, just as Mrs. Bates' took over Norman's) from the permanent confines of a mental institution.
"Holland, where is the baby?" I'll never tell, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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