Confessions of an Opium Eater also known as Souls for Sale and Evils of Chinatown[1] is a 1962 American crime film produced and directed by Albert Zugsmith. It is loosely based on the 1821 autobiographical novel Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, written by Thomas De Quincey. After circulating for years as a bootleg, it was released on DVD as part of the Warner Archive Collection in 2012.[2]
| Confessions of an Opium Eater | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Albert Zugsmith |
| Written by | Seton I. Miller |
| Screenplay by | Robert Hill (film writer) |
| Based on | Confessions of an English Opium-Eater 1821 story in London Magazine by Thomas De Quincey |
| Produced by | Albert Zugsmith |
| Starring | Vincent Price Linda Ho Richard Loo Philip Ahn |
| Narrated by | Vincent Price |
| Cinematography | Joseph F. Biroc |
| Edited by | Robert S. Eisen Roy V. Livingston Edward Curtiss |
| Music by | Albert Glasser |
Production company | Photoplay |
| Distributed by | Allied Artists Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
This film stars Vincent Price as Gilbert de Quincey, a nineteenth-century adventurer who becomes involved in a tong war in San Francisco. Price also narrated the film, whose evocative cinematography resembles a nightmare. The film was something of a departure for Price; the prolific actor never performed another role that involved so much physical action.[3]
Plot
editIn 1902, adventurer Gilbert De Quincey, a descendant of Thomas De Quincey, is hired by the editor of a Chinese newspaper to stop auctions of trafficked Chinese women to be the brides of Chinese men resident in the United States. The community is split down the middle between those feeling the traditional practice is the only way for overseas Chinese to obtain brides, and those who regard the practise as indecent.
Cast
edit- Vincent Price as Gilbert De Quincey
- Linda Ho as Ruby Low
- Richard Loo as George Wah
- June Kyoto Lu as Lotus (as June Kim)
- Philip Ahn as Ching Foon
- Yvonne Moray as the midget girl with sing-sing voice
- Caroline Kido as Lo Tsen
- Terence De Marney as Englishman in opium den
Reception
editIn 1998, Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader included the film in his unranked list of the best American films not included on the AFI Top 100.[4]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Confessions of an Opium Eater (1962) - IMDb". IMDb.
- ^ "Confessions of an Opium Eater (Aka Souls for Sale) | WBshop.com | Warner Bros". www.wbshop.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-28.
- ^ Nortz, Sean (May 27, 2014). "Could You Spare Me a Nightmare? The World of Confessions of an Opium Eater (1962)". brightlighrsfilm.com. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
- ^ Rosenbaum, Jonathan (June 25, 1998). "List-o-Mania: Or, How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love American Movies". Chicago Reader. Archived from the original on April 13, 2020.
External links
edit- Confessions of an Opium Eater at IMDb
- Confessions of an Opium Eater at AllMovie
- Confessions of an Opium Eater at the TCM Movie Database
- Confessions of an Opium Eater at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
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