As I was watching the movie, I got the idea that the big reveal towards the end where Lionheart's daughter removes her wig was supposed to be a surprise. But all the stuff I read about the movie now seem to indicate that the audience knows that it's his daughter all along. Did I just miss something, or is the twist so obvious that everyone assumes it isn't a twist at all?
What's the spanish for drunken bum?
The 'twist' is pretty obvious, and it doesn't help that she is shown helping her dad earlier in the film, directly involved in the Merchant of Venice piece.
Veni, vidi, vermicelli
I came, I saw, I had pasta
in Shakespeare's plays Twelfth Night, As You Like it, and The Merchant of Venice, gender swapping is a key part of the stories. It plays on the conventions of the time -- all the girls parts in Shakespeare's time would have been played by boys. Usually, there is a big "reveal" in the story, but the audience has really known all along.
Edwina's disguise is meant to fool the characters in the movie, more than its meant to fool the viewer who is presumed to be in on the joke.
Oddly the very first time that I saw this film in about 1975, I did not expect the 'Jason King' lookalike Stage manager to be also ashis daughter until the reveal,they seemed to be different characters.
The trick does not work so well now, and is obviously lifted from William Castle's Homicidal but works mainly because Diana Rigg plays it so well.
Secondly because at the time I actually argued with my mother, who saw the film with me, that it was Melvyn Hayes playng the part, he was a very familliar TV star at the time and had appeared in a number of horror films (notably the Hammer version of Frankenstien where he plays the Young Peter Cushing)Dianna Rigg copies his voice and manner beautifully especially in the Hector Snipe scene.
LOTS OF DRIED FROG PILLS
I spent a while totally convinced that it was Jeff Lynn from ELO!! LoL
shareYes!!! Especially during the 'Joan of Arc' hairdressing death scene when she puts on a Brummie accent! Diana Rigg.....Mmmmmmmmm :-)
shareI can't remember if I was fooled by Diana Rigg's performance as a man the first time I saw this or not. It's pretty clear, though, that Edwina is helping her father in other scenes.
I think the previous poster made a good point about this being a Shakespearean device. I think that's why it's in the movie.
I just saw this for the first time last night. Unfortunately the moment the character spoke, I knew it was Diana Rigg. Her voice is just too distinctive! I blame hours of watching The Avengers, and The Worst Witch!! LOL!
shareIt's been a LONG time since I first saw it, but I believe I WAS taken in by Diana's "dual" role. Yeah, I WAS surprised when she took off the wig. No, I'm not gay, but I found myself sexually attracted to her alter ego. Maybe I should've gone with my instincts!
"You want the truth? You can't HANDLE the truth!" Jack Nicholson, "A Few Good Men."
Funny! That's who Rigg reminded me of in that disguise!
shareGuilty on that too, I also believed that it was really a man and was surprised when it was revealed it was Diana Rigg.
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As a blonde, I thought Diana Rigg looked a lot like her character from the stage play "Jumpers."
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I first heard of Theatre of Blood by reading a notice and publicity still in the daily newspaper that showed Diana Rigg in close-up wearing her stage manager wig, glasses, and moustache. It mentioned that under that disguise was Diana Rigg dressed as a man for the movie Theatre of Blood. It hardly seems the producers were going out of their way to conceal that little "plot twist." It seemed like they were going out of their way to promote it!
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Diana Rigg was seen at least twice before sporting men's facial hair during The Avengers (in a hallucination scene in the episode "Silent Dust," and in the tag scene for the episode "Dead Man's Treasure.")
Thats a good point mhearn,and Im convinced you're absolutely right!
But,having viewed this horror classic repeatedly through the years,Im still a little puzzled as to why Edwina maintains her hippy disguise when she is in the confines of the derelict theatre,with only her father and the meth's drinkers and none of the critics/victims present.
For example,when Lionheart is reciting his Julius Ceasar soliloquy in costume and when the vagrants start heckling he immediately summons the stage manager,and when they are doing a dress rehearsal for Cymballine(excuse me if I have spelt it incorrectly).
"I'm still a little puzzled as to why Edwina maintains her hippy disguise when she is in the confines of the derelict theatre,with only her father and the meth's drinkers and none of the critics/victims present."
Hee. Her dad may have loathed Method acting, but Edwina apparently was a devotee. One of its tenets is that you stay in character practically 24/7...live your part, as it were. ;)
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I always supposed the audience knew but the characters did not. I kinda had a theory that the reason the redhead meth-bumette kills her at the end may have been she was attracted to Rigg as a man & when she was revealed it made her just a little more bugnuts.
shareI knew it was Dame Diana from the get-go. I dunno about how obvious it was intended to be,...but I was just so familiar with her from The Avengers. Plus her "male" voice was the same voice she used during the tag scene at the end of The Avengers episode The Living Dead.
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