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The Dance of Death (1948 film)

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The Dance of Death
Directed byMarcel Cravenne
Written byMichel Arnaud
Jacques-Laurent Bost
Marcel Cravenne
August Strindberg (play)
Erich von Stroheim
StarringErich von Stroheim
Denise Vernac
Palau
CinematographyRobert Lefebvre
Edited byMadeleine Bagiau
Music byGuy Bernard
Production
companies
Alcina
Ardea Film
Distributed byAtlantis Film
Gaumont
Release date
  • 8 December 1948 (1948-12-08)
Running time
88 minutes
CountriesFrance
Italy
LanguageFrench

The Dance of Death (French: La danse de mort, Italian: La prigioniera dell'isola), is a 1948 French-Italian drama film directed by Marcel Cravenne and starring Erich von Stroheim, Denise Vernac and Palau.[1] It is based on August Strindberg's The Dance of Death. It was shot at the Titanus Studios in Rome and the Icet Studios in Milan. The film's sets were designed by Georges Wakhévitch.

Plot

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An egocentric artillery Captain and his venomous wife engage in savage unremitting battles in their isolated island fortress off the coast of Sweden at the turn of the century. Alice, a former actress who sacrificed her career for secluded military life with Edgar, reveals on the occasion of their 25th wedding anniversary, the veritable hell their marriage has been. Edgar, an aging schizophrenic who refuses to acknowledge his severe illness, struggles to sustain his ferocity and arrogance with an animal disregard for other people. Sensing that Alice, together with her cousin and would-be lover, Kurt, may ally against him, retaliates with vicious force. Alice lures Kurt into the illusion of sharing a passionate assignation and recruits him in a plot to destroy Edgar.

Cast

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References

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  1. ^ Lennig, Arthur (2003-04-18). Stroheim. University Press of Kentucky. p. 473. ISBN 978-0-8131-9044-0.
  2. ^ a b c Palacio, Manuel; Türschmann, Jörg (2013). Transnational Cinema in Europe. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 66. ISBN 978-3-643-90478-2.
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