Classic British Movie: The Man Who Haunted Himself
THE MAN WHO HAUNTED HIMSELF
Genre: Psychological horror
Based on the book: The Strange Case Of Mr Pelham by Anthony Armstrong
Director: Basil Dearden.
Production: Filmed at Elstree Studios and on Location in London in 1969.
Theatrical Release: 1970
Cast: Roger Moore, Hildegarde Neil, Anton Rogers, Freddie Jones and Thorley Walters
When cautious business man Harold Pelham is involved in a car crash, he momentarily “dies” on the operating table. A decidedly more assertive and sauve doppelganger emerges and when Pelham recovers he finds his life and work being influenced by “another” man. He discovers to his horror… it’s him!
One of Roger Moore’s best movies. A chilling thriller which clearly was once achingly contemporary, yet now is very much a period piece. A cornucopia of late sixties/early seventies sights and sounds, the film is a real nostalgic treasure trove. Writing in his 2008 autobiography Roger Moore describes the film as one of his favourite roles with some genuine acting to be savoured. Forget Bond, this is Moore at his best!
Trivia: Look out for a young Jockey Wilson in a pub scene. The book was also made as a televsion play in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Chilling Postscript: Just weeks after the film wrapped, director Basil Dearden was tragically killed in a car crash… on the very same stretch of road as Harold Pelham has his accident in the film.
A fuller review…
The Man who haunted himself is one of those classy 70s films I just love to watch for the period settings. On top of that, it just so happens to have the uber classy Roger Moore in it and any guy worth his salt has a secret desire to be this man, such is his coolness and absolute Englishness personified. Roger does not let us down, the film starts out with him looking every inch the dignified city executive with the picture postcard English house, a top quality car he drives to work every day (although I’d love to see him try that nowadays) and finally a rather pretty wife and 2 sons.
But alas, all is not well and our Roger has perhaps a secret yearning to uncover other parts of his personality. I’ll not say any more, but following a car crash, Roger then has to come to grips with the life he knew being less secure than it was previously. People claim to have seen him, spoken to him and tell him he did things that were so strangely out of character that we begin to wonder is he leading a secret double life, simply mad following the accident or, more sinisterly, does he have a double who looks like him yet acts his exact opposite in so many ways?
Aside from watching the story unfold, there’s plenty of opportunity to do some location-spotting, as well as ogling 70s girls, who, to my mind, seem somewhat sexier than many of the modern matchsticks we see on films these days. Okay, perhaps just personal taste that one, but I’d be interested to know what other red-blooded males think. All in all, this film is a classic and well deserving of a watching. Interestingly, it straddled the period between Moore finishing on The Saint and getting the James Bond role, and includes a rather classy piece of prediction as Moore makes a joke about James Bond on Her Majesty’s secret service. Ah, not only is the bloke handsome, classy, popular with the ladies and quintessentially English, he can also predict the future. Some guys certainly do get all the luck! So give yourself over to this little masterpiece for 90 minutes or so, you won’t be disappointed!
