A GUILLOTINE BUILT FOR TWO

"I thought the script was stupid."

- Connie Stevens on Two on a Guillotine

One of a longish list of "mad magician" movies, TWO ON A GUILLOTINE was a 1965 black and white potboiler from Warner Bros. in an attempt to duplicate the financial successes that the low-budget horror fare showman William Castle pulled out of his hat for Columbia Pictures. It was the first of three films produced by Warner that had similar suspense and psychological horror themes. Two more quickies followed: MY BLOOD RUNS COLD and BRAINSTORM (both in 1965). "The Thing at the Door"was planned as a fourth film, but never made it to the screen. Interestingly, Henry Slesar used it as a title for his suspense novel published in 1974 and even might have been from a treatment he wrote for the failed production.

In 1965, movie studios were enjoying box office blockbusters such as THE SOUND OF MUSIC, DR. ZHIVAGO, and my favorite Bond movie, THUNDERBALL. But that didn't stop them from trolling the waters for even more profits by distributing a slew of low-budget domestic and foreign horror movies like THE BEACH GIRLS AND THE MONSTER, BLOODY PIT OF HORROR, MONSTER A GO-GO, NIGHTMARE CASTLE, and everybody's favorite Nudie Cutie, ORGY OF THE DEAD.

Theatrical poster.

Released on January 13, 1965, TWO ON A GUILLOTINE was produced and directed by William Conrad. Making his name in movies, radio and later television, Conrad is probably best known for his TV shows CANNON, JAKE AND THE FATMAN and NERO WOLFE, and, because of his distinctive voice, he narrated many films and TV shows, such as TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED, HOW THE WEST WAS WON and the original THE FUGITIVE TV series. Genre fans may also recognize his name from the jungle horror film, THE NAKED JUNGLE, based on the 1938 much-anthologized short story by Carl Stephenson, "Leningen Versus the Ants".

Filming locations:

• Pacific Ocean Park - an amusement park in Santa Monica, California.
• Hollywood Bowl - 2301 N. Highland Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California (reading of the will).
• Benedict Castle - 5445 Chicago Avenue, Riverside, California, USA (Duquesne mansion exteriors).
• Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California.
• Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery - 1831 W. Washington Boulevard, Los Angeles, California (funeral).

Benedict Castle, Riverside CA.

Vivacious Connie Stevens has top billing playing in a dual role as Cassie/Melinda Duquesne in the credits, which didn't roll until about six minutes in (!). Miss Stevens gained popularity in her many comedy films, as well as her role as Cricket Blake in the TV show, HAWAIIAN EYE, also produced by Warner Bros. She was famously (and briefly) married to singer/actor Eddie Fisher, who is also known for tying the knot with Debbie Reynolds (they bore a daughter, Carrie Fisher) and Elizabeth Taylor, among others.

Stevens had a second career as a pop singer. In TWO ON A GUILLOTINE, she sings Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing Called Love?" from a tape recorder as her character roams the "haunted estate". After the film was released, Stevens voiced her displeasure over appearing in it and vowed never to accept a role in a horror film again. She returned to starring in her much more successful romantic comedies.

Dean Jones plays reporter Val Henderson. Jones was another that swore off horror films after this and signed a long-term contract with Disney, where he was admittedly better suited.

Handsome Cesar Romero (aka "The Latin From Manhattan") was cast as the villainous magician, John Harley Duquesne. Starring in a very long list of films and television shows, Romero is no doubt best remembered as the Joker in the BATMAN TV series, the first live actor to play the onscreen role. Romero also has the distinction of being listed as one of the 60 nastiest villains of all time in a 2003 issue of TV GUIDE.

Veteran composer Max "King Kong" Steiner wrote a boatload of film scores, including those for CASABLANCA, NOW VOYAGER, THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE and A SUMMER PLACE. This was his last work for Warner Bros.

My biggest disappointment is that the mediocre story treatment and co-scriptwriter was by a favorite mystery author of mine, Henry Slesar. Of course, it's entirely possible that Warner execs did a fair share of meddling with more of an eye on promotion than presentation in mind. In any case, the trade publication MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR labeled it "a fast moving chiller", and it does have that going for it.

Despite a capable cast and media saturation, TWO ON A GUILLOTINE was beheaded at the box office, and bombed along with their other two horror efforts released in the same year.

A vacuform lobby display ((60" X 23" X 6").

A comic book adaptation of the movie was published as a Dell Movie Classic (cover date April-June 1965) with cover art by Dick Giordano and Vince Colletta. Paul S. Newman wrote the script and John Tartaglione and Colletta respectively penciled and inked the interiors.

[Image source: Heritage Auctions, Dallas TX.]

It was promoted in the pressbook:

Read the comic book adaptation of TWO ON A GUILLOTINE HERE.

LOBBY CARDS

STILLS AND PHOTOS

TWO ON A GUILLOTINE was heavily promoted by Warner Bros. with a movie herald and a lengthy pressbook.

MOVIE HERALD

PRESSBOOK

(NOTE: Some of these pages have been edited because it appears that whoever owned this was an exhibitor and used the order blanks for advertising material!)