FAQ

Cast a Dark Shadow is based on a 1952 play titled 'Murder Mistaken by British playwright Janet Green. The play was adapted for the film by John Cresswell.

Edward 'Teddy' Bare (Dirk Bogarde) marries a much older woman, Monica 'Monnie' MacIntosh (Mona Washbourne) for her money. When he learns that Monnie is making out a will, he kills her so that he will inherit the money, only to discover that her previous will left her millions to her sister Dora, who lives in Jamaica, and that her new will was going to name Teddy as her sole heir. Teddy quickly remarries Freda Jeffries (Margaret Lockwood), a rich but low-class widow who intends to keep her money to herself, forcing Teddy to come up with another 'get rich' scheme.

Teddy, or 'Ed' as Freda calls him, sends her and Emmie to stay at the bungalow while he remains at the estate. While he's lolling around, Charlotte Young (Kay Walsh) enters the house looking for Freda. While she's going from room to room, Teddy goes out to her car. When Charlotte finds no one at home, she opens the front door to leave and sees Teddy standing there, holding the purse that she left in the car. On the pretext of needing someone to talk to, Teddy invites her back in and then begins to confess what he did to Monnie, finishing his confession with 'I killed your sister, DORA!' Charlotte/Dora frantically looks for Freda again while Teddy stands there laughing. Teddy repeatedly orders her out of his house, but Dora refuses to leave, intent on finding out why Teddy is so adamant about getting her to leave. Just then, Freda and Emmie return home, Emmie having gotten sick on the way to the bungalow. When Freda sees Charlotte in the house, she orders her to leave. Charlotte confesses that she's really Monnie's sister and leaves. Teddy watches her drive away and laughs. He confesses to Freda that he cut the line to her hydraulic brakes and that he expects she'll go off the cliff at Sunrise Hill when she finds that she can't stop the car. Suddenly, Philip Mortimer (Robert Flemyng) steps into the room, having heard everything. Dora enters from the patio, having been stopped by Philip as she drove away. Philip says he's going to phone the police, and Teddy breaks down, crying in Freda's arms. Suddenly, he jumps up and rushes outside. He jumps into his car and tries to drive away but the gate is blocked by Philip's and Dora's cars. He leaps out of his car and into one of the other cars and drives off, only to discover that he's driving Dora's car. When he comes to Sunrise Hill and the brakes fail, he goes over the side, crashing down the hill, and the car explodes in flames. In the final scene, Philip and Dora leave the house. Freda sadly says to herself, 'The only time in my life my heart ruled my head,' and exits the parlour, leaving Monnie's chair slowly rocking.