The 1940 Tod Slaughter grand guignole "Crimes at Dark House". The lavish 1948 Warner Brothers American version. The Andrew Lloyd Webber British musical which had a brief run on Broadway. I've seen these three versions prior, and now this 1997 British TV version. Each one completely different, not all of them containing the same characters, and in some cases, mixing it up so they aren't even recognizable. The 1940 cheapy George King movie is so campy you can't believe what you're seeing on screen. The 1948 Warner Brothers version is so overflowing with the top stars of the day that you are distracted by their presence that you don't notice how different it is from the novel. I would say that this is the closest to the musical that I saw, with Simon Callow's chaming but sinister Dr. Fosco nearly identical down to the white mice he keeps as pets. All four versions are enjoyably stylish yet melodramatic, and in seeing another version, I realize that this is probably one of the most Gothic of all. Novels, perhaps one that can't be successfully recreated faithfully even though various writers have kept on trying.
The novel is definitely one of the most complex, spooky stories, dealing with half sisters who become victims to sinister men obviously after control of the estate, willing to do anything to get it, from committing people to mental institutions or driving them to suicide, or pretending that it's suicide when it really was murder. Sisters Tara Fitzgerald and Justine Waddell are victimized by the evil Calllow and James Wilby (the youngest Sir Percival I recall ever seeing), with Andrew Lincoln as the young teacher who seeks to protect them and Susan Vidler the ghostly Anne, the title character who is actually a minor presence in the story. This creates the need for the viewer to focus 100% to collect all the details, as if one is not seen, the story could become messy when other details developed from previous details are revealed. There are various dream sequences and flashbacks that makes the viewer wonder what is actually real and what is fantasy. It is beautifully done but often drags a bit, and if watched correctly, it won't come together until near the conclusion where everything begins to make perfect sense. The Brontes, Dickens and later Daphne DuMaurier had better luck in having stories that the reader could easily follow, so Wilkie's novel, while well known, is probably the most obscure even though it has been filmed or staged just as much as those other author's best known works. Even if this does get a little involved, it's a very moody version that is aided by its beautiful filming, and of course the magnificent cast who play their parts convincingly.
The novel is definitely one of the most complex, spooky stories, dealing with half sisters who become victims to sinister men obviously after control of the estate, willing to do anything to get it, from committing people to mental institutions or driving them to suicide, or pretending that it's suicide when it really was murder. Sisters Tara Fitzgerald and Justine Waddell are victimized by the evil Calllow and James Wilby (the youngest Sir Percival I recall ever seeing), with Andrew Lincoln as the young teacher who seeks to protect them and Susan Vidler the ghostly Anne, the title character who is actually a minor presence in the story. This creates the need for the viewer to focus 100% to collect all the details, as if one is not seen, the story could become messy when other details developed from previous details are revealed. There are various dream sequences and flashbacks that makes the viewer wonder what is actually real and what is fantasy. It is beautifully done but often drags a bit, and if watched correctly, it won't come together until near the conclusion where everything begins to make perfect sense. The Brontes, Dickens and later Daphne DuMaurier had better luck in having stories that the reader could easily follow, so Wilkie's novel, while well known, is probably the most obscure even though it has been filmed or staged just as much as those other author's best known works. Even if this does get a little involved, it's a very moody version that is aided by its beautiful filming, and of course the magnificent cast who play their parts convincingly.