Portrait in Terror

William Campbell if remembered today will go down in history for two things, being the former husband of JFK mistress Judith Campbell Exner and a pair of episodes from Star Trek prime. He also appeared in some good films of the 50s like Backlash, The High And The Mighty and Man Without A Star. z

But certainly not for this film shot in Yugoslavia in the early 60s. In this one Campbell plays a failed painter, descendant from a good one who has it in his head that a classic painting done by his ancestor said to be enchanted will bring him good fortune and luck in the art world. With some regular art thieves going after same it isn't magic he gets, but a lot of grief.

Since it's not even in color you can't truly appreciate the nice Adriatic scenery captured on film. The film moves as the snail does.

Poor William Campbell, at least he's part of the Star Trek mythology.

1963's "Portrait in Terror" is a title (81 minutes) that many are familiar with from footage that ended up in Roger Corman's 1966 release "Track of the Vampire" (AKA "Blood Bath," 78 minutes), but which far fewer people have actually seen. The release date is always given as 1965, but it never had any theatrical exposure, turning up only on television for the next two decades. Shot in Yugoslavia off the Adriatic coast of Dubrovnik, the original title, "Operation Titian," was a far less melodramatic, yet entirely more apt description, essentially a straight crime thriller with a couple of macabre touches. Corman became involved and added cast members William Campbell and Patrick Magee, fresh from co-starring in both "The Young Racers" and "Dementia 13," on location in Ireland (Francis Coppola, writer-director of the latter, apparently came along as well). Campbell stars as jealous, drunken artist Tony, whose girl (Anna Pavane) has just become engaged to someone else. He vividly describes an infamous ancestor whose lovely bride had been captured on canvas by Titian, a portrait supposedly tainted by the husband's tears, as he resorted to murder upon discovering her faithlessness. Magee, who played the investigator in "Dementia 13," here is cast somewhat against type as international thief and hit man Mauricio Zaroni, who is hired to steal the very painting described by Tony, but first has to bump off its rightful owner, Tony's elderly invalid uncle Hugo. Once the Titian is revealed to be a fake, Mauricio goes after Tony, and this is where the film completely falls apart. Magee is very good, introduced as he cuts off the top of an exotic dancer (who later sleeps with him, smooth operator!), and sparking intrigue each time he appears, but halfway in the focus shifts away from the villains and on to the drab, endless investigation. All momentum is irretrievably lost, and the twist ending is foreshadowed by the fact that we never see the murderer's face as he dispatches the not so devious dancer, whose underwater fate reminds one of Luana Anders in "Dementia 13," and several Ronald Stein cues are also cribbed from the Coppola feature, along with music familiar to anyone who has seen Larry Buchanan's Texas-filmed Azalea pictures. Perhaps of more interest if seen on a double bill with "Track of the Vampire," which did see a theatrical release in 1966 (billed with "Planet of Blood"), under the title "Blood Bath," consisting of mostly new footage shot in California by Corman directors Jack Hill and Stephanie Rothman (a total of just over 9 minutes was cribbed from this film). While Campbell agreed to shoot new scenes for Jack Hill, Magee's greatly reduced role consisted entirely of archive footage, overdubbed with new dialogue that now recasts the exotic dancer as his wife!

One of four versions of the same movie (thanks to trickster master Mr. Corman). If it wasn't for some inspired "mise en scène" and a very Welles' ending this would have been tedious.

Portrait in Terror (1965)

** (out of 4)

Ugo Bonacic (Vjekoslav Afric) is murdered in the still of the night and it appears to have been done due to a painting that he owned. As the police investigate his murder there's an American (William Campbell) who might have some sort of connection to the painting.

In 1963 Roger Corman helped produce OPERATION TICIJAN but before long he realized that it wasn't going to be marketable in America so it was sold as a TV package. The film had a running time of 95 minute so it also had to be cut down to fit a time slot so the film was edited to 81 minutes. Video Watchdog's Tim Lucas has done a terrific video essay about the entire production and history of this film, which can give much better details about it but I will add that this television edit is slightly better than the original film.

The original film, which you can read my review for on its page, was an okay movie that simply ran on way too long and obviously that portion of things are improved by chopping off nearly fifteen minutes. A lot of the footage that is missing actually helps the pacing of the film and I think this short version plays much better because of this. The opening sequences to both versions are completely different and this one here jumps right into the action, although it does miss a great closing shot of the striptease.

The performances are decent for the most part and I'd argue that there's some fancy camera-work at times. If you're a die-hard or just slightly curious then you can watch both the original version as well as this television version but if you only want to view one then I'd recommend this one. Of course, the history doesn't stop here because this film would be edited a third time for BLOOD BATH and it too would be edited and added to for TRACK OF THE VAMPIRE.

British criminal Patrick Magee (the old guy Malcom McDowell beats up in "A Clockwork Orange") and weirdo artist William Campbell (the weirdo alien Trelane on that one episode of "Star Trek") plot to steal a valuable painting, but like most heist films everything goes wrong. Low budget, but a bit more stylishly directed than I would have expected, although the script, photography, and just about everything else seemed a bit below average.