Main Cast: John Bromfield, Lon Chaney, Jr., Victor Jory, Barbara Nichols, Tessa Prendergast
Release Year: 1956
Country: US
Run Time: 76 minutes
Plot
Edgar Allan Poe's The Gold Bug and The Tell-Tale Heart were updated and woven together into a single narrative in the ultra-cheap adventure yarn Manfish. John Bromfield, Lon Chaney Jr. and Victor Jory head the cast as three fortune hunters, combing the West Indies in search of buried treasure. The heavy of the piece is Jory, who murders Bromfield, weighs down the body and throws it overboard, with consequences not unlike those suffered by Poe's Tell-Tale Heart protagonist. Poor, simple-minded Chaney ends up coming out the winner, if only by default. The feminine angle is handled by Barbara Nichols (bad, brassy blonde) and Tessa Pendergast (good, dark-skinned native lass). Because of a handful of West Indian song interludes, Manfish was rerealeased as Calypso, in hopes of cashing in on the then-popular musical craze. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
W. Lee Wilder - Director, Grant K. Smith - Editor, Albert Elms - Composer (Music Score), W. Lee Wilder - Producer, Myles Wilder - Screenwriter, Myles Wilder - Book Author, Edgar Allan Poe - Short Story Author
Manfish is an adventure film, released by United Artists in 1956. Filmed in Jamaica, it was released in Great Britain as Calypso. It was based on the stories "The Gold-Bug" and "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe. Actor John Bromfield starred as Captain Brannigan and Lon Chaney Jr. played the role of Swede. The leading female star was Tessa Prendergast, who played Alita. The film features three deep-sea divers who are involved in a murder during a search for a lost treasure. The film was released into the public domain after the breakup of United Artists in 1992.
