One Can be Too Good a Host

There are dangers to being too polite, as John Hurt discovers when he allows Alan Bates to invite himself into his home in 1978's The Shout. Directed by Jerzy Skolimowski, much of this film is effectively unsettling. Some of it is a little silly.

A framing story introduces us to Crossley (Bates) at a cricket match on the grounds of an asylum. A young man (Tim Curry) has come to talk to him and Crossley recalls his experiences with one of the cricket players, Anthony (John Hurt).

We go back some time to find Anthony is a musician. He plays the church organ for a living and creates experimental music in his spare time. He finds Crossley outside his home one day, claiming not to have eaten in days and telling Anthony he ought to invite him to dinner.

A situation rapidly devolves from Anthony and his wife, Rachel (Susannah York), feeling forced to accommodate Crossley for the sake of courtesy to somehow Crossley magically seducing Rachel. Some of it is a bit hard to swallow. Some people can be pretty spineless but it's hard to imagine a couple allowing a guy like Alan Bates walk all over them. There is magic involved but Bates' performance, maybe, lacks something to impress me with the gravity of his magic.

John Hurt and Susannah York are both really good, though, and there are times when the film's blurring between reality and dream is really effective.

The Shout is available on The Criterion Channel.

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