Review of The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970) by Stuart K — 05 Sep 2012
After he left The Saint, but before The Persuaders! and James Bond. Roger Moore went for this paranoid thriller directed by Basil Dearden (The Smallest Show on Earth (1957), The League of Gentlemen (1960) and The Assassination Bureau (1969)), based on The Strange Case of Mr Pelham by Anthony Armstrong.
It's one of the best thrillers of the early 1970's, and it shows what a good actor Moore can be with the right material. One day, while driving home from work, Harold Pelham (Moore) has an out of body experience, which causes him to crash his car.
While on the operating table, he briefly dies, but he comes back to life and two heartbeats are shown on the monitor, which is put down to a glitch. It turns out to be more than a glitch when Harold returns to work, and he discovers a merger he once opposed before his crash has gone ahead, now approved by him.
His wife Eve (Hildegarde Neil) claims to have seen Harold places he never was, and he's apparantly having an affair with Julie Anderson (Olga Georges-Picot), which he isn't, all this drives him to insanity.
It's a good paranoid thriller with Moore going from posh businessman to disheveled paranoid in the space of a few minutes, and one moment of movie magic beats Dead Ringers (1988) by 18 years. Moore gives a great performance, with support from Anton Rodgers, Thorley Walters and Freddie Jones.
This review of The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970) was written by Stuart K on 05 Sep 2012.
The Man Who Haunted Himself has generally received positive reviews.
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