Confessions of an Opium Eater

Confessions of an Opium Eater is a 1962 American crime film produced and directed by Albert Zugsmith. It is loosely based on the 1822 autobiographical novel, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, 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.[1]

Confessions of an Opium Eater
Directed byAlbert Zugsmith
Produced byAlbert Zugsmith
Written byThomas De Quincey (book)
Robert Hill (film writer)
StarringVincent Price
Linda Ho
Richard Loo
Philip Ahn
Narrated byVincent Price
Music byAlbert Glasser
CinematographyJoseph F. Biroc
Edited byRobert S. Eisen
Roy V. Livingston
Production
company
Photoplay
Distributed byAllied Artists Pictures
Release date
  • June 20, 1962 (1962-06-20) (United States)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The film was something of a departure for Price; the prolific actor never performed another role that involved so much physical action.[2]

Plot

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.

Cast
  • 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 Child
  • Caroline Kido as Lo Tsen
  • Terence De Marney as Scrawny Man
  • Geri Hoo as 2nd Dancing Girl
  • Gerald Jann as Fat Chinese
  • Vivianne Mankie as Catatonic Girl

Reception

In 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.[3]

Trivia

James Hong was given a script in 1962. He thought it was terrible – "all the roles were the opium dope people and the prostitutes and so forth." He and an organized group approached Albert Zugsmith to make a case for a rewrite. Unfortunately, Zugsmith was not convinced that the movie supports xenophobia.[4]

See also

References
  1. http://www.wbshop.com/product/confessions+of+an+opium+eater+aka+souls+for+sale+1000347310.do
  2. http://brightlightsfilm.com/71/71confessions_nortz.php#.UnrXLfmshzs
  3. 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.
  4. Yim, Trisha Gopal, Dominique Turner and David. "He's probably been in more movies than any actor in Hollywood history". CNN. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
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