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''Mr. Sardonicus'' is a 1961 horror film produced and directed by William Castle. It tells the story of Sardonicus, a man whose face becomes frozen in a horrifying grin while robbing his father's grave to obtain a winning lottery ticket. Castle cited the film in his memoir as one of his favorites to produce.〔 ==Plot summary== In 1880, in the fictional central European country of Gorslava, prominent London physician Sir Robert Cargrave (Ronald Lewis) has come to visit the mysterious Baron Sardonicus (Guy Rolfe) at the urgent request of Cargrave's former love, Maude (Audrey Dalton), now the Baron's wife. Sir Robert becomes apprehensive when his inquiries about Sardonicus are met with fear. When Sir Robert arrives at Castle Sardonicus, his fears are quickly justified: one of his first sights is that of Sardonicus' servant Krull (Oskar Homolka, credited as "Oscar Homolka") torturing one of the Baron's servants by placing leeches on her face. Maude herself is fearful of what will happen if Sir Robert is not willing to do as Sardonicus asks of him. Even Krull is not immune to the Baron's cruelty as he is missing an eye, thanks to Sardonicus's anger. Sardonicus tells Sir Robert his story. Once he was Marek Toleslawski, a farmer like his father Henryk (Vladimir Sokoloff). Marek and his wife Elenka (Erika Peters) lived a humble life, but Elenka and Henryk wanted more. Henryk bought a ticket for the national lottery, but died in his sleep that night. Marek and Elenka learned that the ticket was a winner but could only claim the prize if they had the ticket, which was buried with Henryk. Elenka pressed Marek to retrieve the ticket so he could, as she said, prove his love to her. Marek opened the grave and was horrified to see his father's skull seemingly grinning at him. After screaming and running away, he went back and retrieved the ticket. When he returned home, he and Elenka realized something was wrong: Marek could not speak. Elenka lit a candle and saw Marek's face contorted into a fixed terrifying grin, similar to Henryk's skull. The prize money allowed Marek to buy a title and castle; but Elenka committed suicide soon after seeing his face for the first time, so she was unable to share the riches with him. Marek renamed himself "Sardonicus" (after the medical term ''Risus sardonicus'', Latin for "sardonic smile", used for tetanus victims) and learned to speak all over again with the help of some of the greatest diction experts in the world. His own subsequent experiments on young women were intended to find a cure for his condition, but he has had no success. Since Sardonicus's new wife Maude had mentioned Sir Robert as a great doctor specializing in paralysis, he had hoped Sir Robert would help restore his face. (He had tried several other great doctors before, with no success). Sir Robert agrees to try. Sir Robert's efforts at restoring Sardonicus's face have no effect. Sardonicus demands he try new and experimental treatments and, when Sir Robert refuses, threatens to mutilate Maude's face to match his own. Sir Robert sends for equipment and supplies, including a deadly South American plant which he uses to experiment on dogs. When Sardonicus then has Maude and Sir Robert see the open upright coffin of Henryk Toleslawski which he'd brought to the castle, Sir Robert conceives an idea: he will inject Sardonicus with a diluted plant extract, then recreate the event that led to Sardonicus' condition. Though Sardonicus is skeptical, he agrees. The injection is made, the room darkened, and a light shined on the skull. Sardonicus screams in agony, imagining Henryk's flesh has been restored. Sir Robert comes into the room to find Sardonicus' face is back to normal, though Sir Robert advises him to not speak until his facial muscles have had time to adjust. The Baron writes a note to Maude annulling their marriage, and a note to Sir Robert, asking his fee. Sir Robert tells Sardonicus, "You owe me nothing", and Sardonicus lets them both go. At the train station for the trip back to London, Sir Robert and Maude are confronted by a frightened Krull, who tells them Sardonicus not only cannot speak, he cannot open his jaw or lips at all. They must return and help him. But Sir Robert tells Krull that the injection was only water, that the plant extract would have been lethal even in a small dose. What happened was all psychological, and once Sardonicus realizes that, he will be all right and able to speak and eat. (At this point, director Castle gives his "punishment poll", resulting in Sardonicus getting more punishment.) The story resumes with Krull returning to the castle, and lying to the Baron, telling him that he just missed Sir Robert (presumedly Krull's revenge for Sardonicus's cruelty to him). This dooms Sardonicus to death by starvation, while Krull cruelly sits down to eat his lavish dinner in front of the Baron. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mr. Sardonicus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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