The Sign of the Ram
Release date: 1948-03-03
Votes: 11
Genres: Drama, Thriller
A wheelchair-bound woman manipulates her family to a point where they suspect she may be unhinged.
Reviews
John Chard
The Tremerrion Tribulations. The Sign of the Ram is directed by John Sturges and adapted to screenplay from Margaret Ferguson's novel. It stars Susan Peters, Alexandev Knox, Phyllis Thaxter, Peggy Ann Garner, Ron Randell, Dame May Witty and Allene Roberts. Music is by Hans J. Salter and cinematography by Burnett Guffey. Wheelchair bound Leah St. Aubyn (Peters) manipulates everybody around her... "It's the sign of the ram. People born under this sign are endowed with a strong will power and obstinacy of purpose" The setting is a cliff top mansion, a lighthouse is nearby, its purpose is to steer ships out of the fog and away from harms way. This is the fictitious Cornish place known as Tremerrion, and our play unfolds in the mansion known as Bastions. It's film that has proved to be a bit illusive to pin down, for whatever reasons, and that is a shame because there are plenty things for fans of such devilish dramas to be excited about. The backstory of the leading lady is itself tragic, for Susan Peters would be paralysed from the waist down after a freak hunting accident, this would see her appear in her last film. She gave up on life, tortured by pain and the loss of her ability to walk, she would starve to death and pass away four years later. Thankfully, and it's not sympathetic praise here, she's excellent and leaves film fans a fitting farewell to the movie world. "Haven't you sensed it? The undertone, like a warning drumbeat" Stripped down it's the story of a woman who manipulates everyone close to her, cunningly so, her reasons deliberately shaded in grey, and the question constantly gnaws away as to just how come her family and confidants can't see it?. Sooner or later something is going to give, and it's the waiting that gives the pic an edginess that's most appealing. This woman has no shame, we are told by her loyal spouse that she's not bitter about her accident, but she so is, but wears it well. She's not only spell bindingly pretty, but she's pretty spell bindingly devious too. The fog rolls in, the waves crash against the coast to marry up with the psychological discord being set loose in Bastions. Salter's music swirls and bites, while genius cinematographer Guffey turns in some class frames (one scene involving criss cross shadows is film noir nirvana). "They will stop at nothing to accomplice their purpose - and sometimes meet a violent death" Pulsing with jealousies, betrayals, suspicions and a whole host of devious machinations, this be a crafty old devil, a pic deconstructing the human condition with malicious glee. 7/10
Movie Recommendation
Il coraggio1955-12-24A wealthy trader saves the life of a poor suicidal man who then decides that his savior has the responsibility of taking care of him and his family.More...
Tremors 3: Back to Perfection2001-10-02Survivalist Burt Gummer returns home to Perfection, to find that the little town has been shaken up again by morphing, man-eating Graboids.More...
Holiday on the Buses1973-05-19Due to a female passenger falling out of her top whilst running for the bus Stan is distracted and crashes the bus resulting in the depot managers car being written off. As a result Stan, Jack and Blakey are fired. Stan and Jack soon get new jobs as a bus crew at a Pontins holiday resort but discover that Blakey has also gotten a job there as the chief security guard.More...
Muriel, or the Time of Return1963-10-01In the seaside town of Boulogne, no one seems to be able to cope with their past, least of all Hélène, an antique furniture saleswoman, her stepson Bernard, and her former lover Alphonse.More...
Everything Everything Nothing Nothing2012-11-30Cetto and its city council were arrested, but in prison the conspiratorial former mayor makes no earning name as the gratitude of the powerful secretary. These decide to replace some MPs mysteriously killed precisely with Cetto and two other characters: Rodolfo Favaretto and Frengo StopMore...
Goodbye My Friend1987-05-28Two friends Marzouk and Barakat, work with street vendor Batta on her cart in the melon trade. Al-Gayiar who works in the trade of stolen cars admires them, they work with him till they become his competitors. He decides to get rid of them after they've become a treat.More...
The Wild Chicks and Life2009-01-29The Wild Chicks are slowly growing out of their youthful gang years and have to face the worries of growing up on the sidelines of a big class trip before graduation.More...
Re-Kill2015-10-16Five years after a zombie outbreak, the men and women of R-Division hunt down and destroy the undead. When they see signs of a second outbreak, they fear humanity may not survive.More...
Five Dolls for an August Moon1970-03-14A wealthy playboy gathers a group of bourgeois friends at his isolated beach house for a weekend of relaxation. When bodies start pilling up, they realize they’re trapped with a killer in their midst, sending them in a frenzy to figure out who amongst them is killing the others before they are killed next.More...
Main Krishna Hoon2013-01-25In answer to an orphan boy's prayers, the divine Lord Krishna comes to Earth, befriends the boy, and helps him find a loving family.More...
Three Bedrooms, One Corpse: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery2016-06-12While Aurora "Roe" Teagarden searches for her piece of the American dream, she decides to test the waters of the family business - real estate sales. Only thing is there's a dead body in the first house she shows. When a second body shows up in another home, Roe realizes there's more to real estate than she thought.More...
Divers at Work on the Wreck of the "Maine"1898-01-01Divers go to work on a wrecked ship (the battleship Maine that was blown up in Havana harbour during the Spanish-American War), surrounded by curiously disproportionate fish.More...
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: Acquaintance1980-03-22Dr. Watson, who served in the English armed forces and was in the Afghan war, retires and returns to his homeland, in England. Since the financial situation of the doctor is very precarious, his long-time friend Mr. Stamford offers him to rent a room in the house at 221-B Baker Street, which is rented by an elderly lady - Mrs. Hudson. The second rented room is already occupied by another gentleman - the mysterious Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Holmes makes an ambiguous impression on Watson. He conducts complex chemical experiments with blood, plays the violin, has the deepest knowledge about cigar ash, London dirt and criminal law, but at the same time demonstrates complete ignorance of well-known truths (for example, the fact that the Earth revolves around the Sun), does not read fiction, as well as books on history and philosophy. At the same time, very strange visitors constantly come to Holmes, and on the table he has portraits of personalities of a disgusting appearance.More...
Head in the Clouds2004-04-29Gilda Bessé shares her Paris apartment with an Irish schoolteacher, Guy Malyon, and Mia, a refugee from Spain. As the world drifts toward war, Gilda defiantly pursues her hedonistic lifestyle and her burgeoning career as a photographer. But Guy and Mia feel impelled to join the fight against fascism, and the three friends are separated.More...
The Cave of the Golden Rose 31993-12-20The powerful evil wizard Tarabas gets knowledge about a prophecy that a king's child will defeat him. So he sends out his army of dead soldiers to kidnap all royal children. When the soldiers attack Fantaghiro's castle to steal the babies of her sisters, the battle seems to be lost until she discovers the secret to defeat the solders but by doing that she loses Romualdo. Now Fantaghiro must find the evil wizard Tarabas and convince him to break the spell and bring back Romualdo.More...
Sanam Re2016-02-12A story about the man who is confused with his love life finds solace in his birthplace with his childhood love.More...
Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem - A Klok Opera2013-10-27While Toki and Abigail remain in the clutches of Magnus Hammersmith and the Metal Masked Assassin, the remaining members of Dethklok carry on with their lives while pretending not to care. But as their guilt mounts and their fans become increasingly restless with Toki's absence, they realize that they must find a way to rescue their brother.More...
Scooby-Doo! Haunted Holidays2012-10-16Scooby-Doo and the gang participate in a toy store's holiday parade where they discover the abandoned haunted clock tower with a troubled past. A sinister snowman haunts the streets and accompanied with a large blizzard, threatens to close down the toy store for good.More...
Return of the Seven1966-10-19Chico, one of the remaining members of The Magnificent Seven, now lives in the town that they (The Seven) helped. One day someone comes and takes most of the men prisoner. His wife seeks out Chris, the leader of The Seven for help. Chris also meets Vin another member of The Seven. They find four other men and they go to help Chico.More...
RoboCop 21990-06-22After a successful deployment of the RoboCop Law Enforcement unit, OCP sees its goal of urban pacification come closer and closer, but as this develops, a new narcotic known as "Nuke" invades the streets led by God-delirious leader Cane. As this menace grows, it may prove to be too much for Murphy to handle. OCP tries to replicate the success of the first unit, but ends up with failed prototypes with suicidal issues... until Dr. Faxx, a scientist straying away from OCP's path, uses Cane as the new subject for the RoboCop 2 project, a living God.More...
Similar Movies
Original Sin
1992-10-20Based on a novel by Bo Nishimura, the film is about an extramarital affair between the wife of an estate agent and a 22 year old man.Dr. No
1962-10-07Agent 007 battles mysterious Dr. No, a scientific genius bent on destroying the U.S. space program. As the countdown to disaster begins, Bond must go to Jamaica, where he encounters beautiful Honey Ryder, to confront a megalomaniacal villain in his massive island headquarters.From Russia with Love...
1963-10-10Agent 007 is back in the second installment of the James Bond series, this time battling a secret crime organization known as SPECTRE. Russians Rosa Klebb and Kronsteen are out to snatch a decoding device known as the Lektor, using the ravishing Tatiana to lure Bond into helping them. Bond willingly travels to meet Tatiana in Istanbul, where he must rely on his wits to escape with his life in a series of deadly encounters with the enemy.Goldfinger
1964-09-20Special agent 007 comes face to face with one of the most notorious villains of all time, and now he must outwit and outgun the powerful tycoon to prevent him from cashing in on a devious scheme to raid Fort Knox -- and obliterate the world's economy.The Tin Drum
1979-05-02In 1924, Oskar Matzerath is born in the Free City of Danzig. At age three, he falls down a flight of stairs and stops growing. In 1939, World War II breaks out.Ben-Hur
1959-11-18In 26 AD, Judah Ben-Hur, a Jew in ancient Judea, opposes the occupying Roman empire. Falsely accused by a Roman childhood friend-turned-overlord of trying to kill the Roman governor, he is put into slavery and his mother and sister are taken away as prisoners.You Only Live Twice
1967-06-13A mysterious spacecraft captures Russian and American space capsules and brings the two superpowers to the brink of war. James Bond investigates the case in Japan and comes face to face with his archenemy Blofeld.On Her Majesty's Secr...
1969-12-18James Bond tracks his archnemesis, Ernst Blofeld, to a mountaintop retreat in the Swiss alps where he is training an army of beautiful, lethal women. Along the way, Bond falls for Italian contessa Tracy Draco, and marries her in order to get closer to Blofeld.Out of the Past
1947-11-25The peaceful life of a gas station owner is disrupted when a man from his past arrives in town and forces him to return to the dark world he had tried to escape.The Man with the Gold...
1974-12-04Cool government operative James Bond searches for a stolen invention that can turn the sun's heat into a destructive weapon. He soon crosses paths with the menacing Francisco Scaramanga, a hitman so skilled he has a seven-figure working fee. Bond then joins forces with the swimsuit-clad Mary Goodnight, and together they track Scaramanga to a Thai tropical isle hideout where the killer-for-hire lures the slick spy into a deadly maze for a final duel.Contact
1997-07-11A radio astronomer receives the first extraterrestrial radio signal ever picked up on Earth. As the world powers scramble to decipher the message and decide upon a course of action, she must make some difficult decisions between her beliefs, the truth, and reality.The Bridges of Madiso...
1995-06-02Photographer Robert Kincaid wanders into the life of housewife Francesca Johnson for four days in the 1960s.The Spy Who Loved Me
1977-07-07Russian and British submarines with nuclear missiles on board both vanish from sight without a trace. England and Russia both blame each other as James Bond tries to solve the riddle of the disappearing ships. But the KGB also has an agent on the case.Manhattan
1979-04-25Manhattan explores how the life of a middle-aged television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.Moonraker
1979-06-26After Drax Industries' Moonraker space shuttle is hijacked, secret agent James Bond is assigned to investigate, traveling to California to meet the company's owner, the mysterious Hugo Drax. With the help of scientist Dr. Holly Goodhead, Bond soon uncovers Drax's nefarious plans for humanity, all the while fending off an old nemesis, Jaws, and venturing to Venice, Rio, the Amazon...and even outer space.Finding Forrester
2000-12-21Gus Van Sant tells the story of a young African American man named Jamal who confronts his talents while living on the streets of the Bronx. He accidentally runs into an old writer named Forrester who discovers his passion for writing. With help from his new mentor Jamal receives a scholarship to a private school.Murder She Said
1961-09-26Miss Marple believes she's seen a murder in a passing-by train, yet when the police find no evidence she decides to investigate it on her own.Murder at the Gallop
1963-05-09Miss Marple and Mr. Stringer are witnesses to the death by heart attack of elderly, rich Mr. Enderby. Yet they have their doubts about what happened. The police don't believe them, thus leading Miss Marple to yet again investigate by herself.Murder Most Foul
1964-03-01A murderer is brought to court and only Miss Marple is unconvinced of his innocence. Once again she begins her own investigation.GoodFellas
1990-09-12The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.