Several reference books mention this film, supposedly a Mexican production, based on a story by the great William Irish [Cornell Woolrich], and starring German Robles and Abel Salazar...
All these informations came from the same source, a reader's letter in one of the rivals of "Famous Monsters of Filmland", many years ago. Happily enough, he was very precise in his description on the movie, and being an avid collector of the works of Irish/Woolrich, I identified the source story as "If I Should Die Before I Wake". For those unfamiliar with the story, it's about a little boy whose father is a police detective. Some little girls have disappeared without leaving traces. One day, at school, the boy learns that his best friend, a little girl, has received some sweets from a "gentle stranger". He is a little jealous, but the girl gives him some of the sweets. Then, a day, she disappears. The following year, the boy has another friend, and one day, she speaks of a mysterious stranger...
The reader of the monstermagazine described precise scenes of the film, for instance a merry-go-round sequence, and a curious nightmare, specific to the film as these elements are not in Woolrich's story.
He was so enthusiastic in his description than for years I tried to get this mysterious movie.
Then, one day, I heard about an Argentinian movie, made in 1952 by one of the great directors of the country, Carlos Hugo Christensen. It was called "Si muero antes de despertar", which is the exact translation of "If I Should Die Before I Wake". One television channel of Buenos-Aires just showed the movie, so I asked to an Argentinian friend if he could get the movie for me.
When I got the VHS, it became an evidence that it was the same movie described by the reader of the monster mag, as the two elements added to the original story, the nightmare and the merry-go-round, were in the film. Perhaps "El vampiro acecha" was the Mexican release title, but not the original one, as this film was Argentinian.
And furthermore, neither German Robles nor Abel Salazar were in it...
But, - what a movie! this wonderful adaptation of a William Irish story, in my opinion, is one of the better ever made, almost a horror movie. It ranks among the best ones, Hitchcock's "Rear Window", Tetzlaff's "The Window", Siodmak's "Phantom Lady", or Tourneur's "The Leopard Man", all of them being adaptations of the same author. It's a shame than Carlos Hugo Christensen's works are practically unknown outside of Argentina, Chile, or Brazil (he made movies in these three countries). One of his movies, many years ago, got a Prize at Cannes Festival. Another, "La muerte camina en la lluvia" ("Death Walks in the Fog"), was an adaptation of Stanislas-André Steeman's "L'assassin habite au 21", also adapted by Henri-Georges Clouzot in France. Another one was an adaptation of two other Cornell Woolrich story. And in Chile, he made the suspenseful "La dama de la muerte", from "The Suicide Club" by Robert-Louis Stevenson. If you have seen the atrocious "Curse of the Stone Hand" by Jerry Warren, well, you have seen portions of this great movie, but totally destroyed by Warren's cutting and US inserts (the other segment in "Curse" was an abridged version of another Chilean movie, "La casa esta vacia" ("The House was Empty"), directed by Carlos Schlieper).
Carlos Hugo Christensen died in 1997.
All these informations came from the same source, a reader's letter in one of the rivals of "Famous Monsters of Filmland", many years ago. Happily enough, he was very precise in his description on the movie, and being an avid collector of the works of Irish/Woolrich, I identified the source story as "If I Should Die Before I Wake". For those unfamiliar with the story, it's about a little boy whose father is a police detective. Some little girls have disappeared without leaving traces. One day, at school, the boy learns that his best friend, a little girl, has received some sweets from a "gentle stranger". He is a little jealous, but the girl gives him some of the sweets. Then, a day, she disappears. The following year, the boy has another friend, and one day, she speaks of a mysterious stranger...
The reader of the monstermagazine described precise scenes of the film, for instance a merry-go-round sequence, and a curious nightmare, specific to the film as these elements are not in Woolrich's story.
He was so enthusiastic in his description than for years I tried to get this mysterious movie.
Then, one day, I heard about an Argentinian movie, made in 1952 by one of the great directors of the country, Carlos Hugo Christensen. It was called "Si muero antes de despertar", which is the exact translation of "If I Should Die Before I Wake". One television channel of Buenos-Aires just showed the movie, so I asked to an Argentinian friend if he could get the movie for me.
When I got the VHS, it became an evidence that it was the same movie described by the reader of the monster mag, as the two elements added to the original story, the nightmare and the merry-go-round, were in the film. Perhaps "El vampiro acecha" was the Mexican release title, but not the original one, as this film was Argentinian.
And furthermore, neither German Robles nor Abel Salazar were in it...
But, - what a movie! this wonderful adaptation of a William Irish story, in my opinion, is one of the better ever made, almost a horror movie. It ranks among the best ones, Hitchcock's "Rear Window", Tetzlaff's "The Window", Siodmak's "Phantom Lady", or Tourneur's "The Leopard Man", all of them being adaptations of the same author. It's a shame than Carlos Hugo Christensen's works are practically unknown outside of Argentina, Chile, or Brazil (he made movies in these three countries). One of his movies, many years ago, got a Prize at Cannes Festival. Another, "La muerte camina en la lluvia" ("Death Walks in the Fog"), was an adaptation of Stanislas-André Steeman's "L'assassin habite au 21", also adapted by Henri-Georges Clouzot in France. Another one was an adaptation of two other Cornell Woolrich story. And in Chile, he made the suspenseful "La dama de la muerte", from "The Suicide Club" by Robert-Louis Stevenson. If you have seen the atrocious "Curse of the Stone Hand" by Jerry Warren, well, you have seen portions of this great movie, but totally destroyed by Warren's cutting and US inserts (the other segment in "Curse" was an abridged version of another Chilean movie, "La casa esta vacia" ("The House was Empty"), directed by Carlos Schlieper).
Carlos Hugo Christensen died in 1997.
