Competent but nothing special The Poe stories most often adapted for movies or TV are the horror tales ;his pioneering detective stories featuring the somewhat dessicated C August Dupin are less often tackled .Indeed ,it is only The Murders in The Rue Morgue ,that has drawn movie makers on a regular basis .This particular version is a TV movie and is polished and proficient rather than atmospheric in the way the classic early 30's Bela Lugosi version was
George C Scott plays Dupin ,once the most respected police detective in Paris not living in embittered and impoverished retirement following a clash with the new Prefect of Police -played with suitable oily panache by the ever dependable Ian McShane He emerges from his torpor to investigate a brutal double slaying in the Rue Morgue where 2 women are hacked to pieces;the police are baffled and,in need of a quick arrest they sieze on Dupin's daughters fiancee as the killer .Aided by a young and callow looking Val Kilmer he sets out to prove the innocence of the young man
Scott is fine and tends to overshadow the younger actors like Rebecca de Mornay as his daughter -she never rises above the wooden .Kilmer is fine in a thankless role as a rather dogged but colourless youngster
The climax is rushed but overall this is s decent job of translating the tale to the screen
A tale told one too many times I love E.A. Poe. Have always adored Ian McShane, whose monster talent goes to waste here. A super cast of the legendary George C. Scott, with a then rising Val Kilmer and Rebecca Demornay. What more could you want? Some emotion for one thing. The cast seems to muddle through a story, with nice locations and super costumes, but as much feeling as if they were doing a rehearsal.
It's flat. I watch it for McShane, who is never flat. Could have been so much more.
Truly amazing For english, we watched this and i thought it quite different from other mysteries ive heard. Though it was astonishing none the less. I was quick to assume the killer, but wrong in my detection. This movie is quite unlike the actual writings of Edgar Allan Poe, but great anyhow.
George C. Scott is fantastic...but everything else suffers George C. Scott does a superb job portraying a recently retired detective who is dissilusioned with his life and sulks in his study playing chess with himself. But a series of grissly murders in town and the subsequent arrest of his daughter's fiance lead him into his own private investigation.
The movie is based on the famous story by Edgar Allen Poe. Like all of Scott's later films, his acting is great, but everything else can't seem to live up to it. Scott has such a great appreciation for the power of words and subtle facial expressions and gestures (he probably aquired this from his theatre training). However, most of the other actors seem plastic and unconvincing. His daughter does a particularly horrible job. She plays her role lik a 1980's teenager living in the 19th century. Val Kilmer (very young looking) does a decent job with his role but nothing spectacular. I think it had to do more with the script than his acting abilities. The ending of the film is very bad. I won't give away any secrets, but the word is "corny". I think a better script and editing would have helped immensly.
Teacher Resource This film is not a fabulous, but it is entertaining. Val Kilmer played a great role as Phillipe, but George C. Scott left something to be desired in his portrayal of the clever August Dupin. As a teacher of American Literature I have no problems showing this as a supplement to our study of Edgar A. Poe. However, to the average movie watcher, this one might put them to sleep.
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