Speaking of which, it seems obvious that Toby Dammit was meant to be a bit of an homage to Fellini’s friend and fellow director, Mario Bava. In fact, the only person who seems to truly capture Toby’s attention is that little girl with the ball. The few times that he does talk to other people, he does so without looking at them. When he is on a talk show or at an awards show, Toby still seems to be isolated from all of the adoring people around him. When he sits in his limo, the world outside looks like the ruins of some sort of apocalyptic hellscape. Everything is filmed slightly off-center, mirroring Toby’s hazy view of existence. I imagine he certainly was acquainted with plenty of actors who were just like the brilliant but self-destructive Toby Dammit. If Malle and Vadim both seemed detached from their segments, Fellini knew the world that he was depicting. I think it helps that, unlike Roger Vadim and Louis Malle, Fellini updated Poe’s story to the 20th Century and set it in the international film world. Toby Dammit is the only unqualified success among the three short films that make up S pirits of the Dead. However, Toby can’t spend too much time worrying about the little girl. (Interestingly enough, that’s how Poe portrayed the Devil in the original short story.) Instead, he sees the devil as being a little girl with a ball. He says that he doesn’t see the devil as being a demon with horns or an old man. On a talk show, Toby is asked how he visualizes the devil. Is she real or is she a figment of Toby’s alcohol-addled brain? And what are we to make of the fact that Toby’s normally noise-filled world goes silent whenever he sees the girl? Interestingly, Fellini always frames the girl so that, like Toby, we only seem to be seeing her out of the corner of our eye. She bounces a white ball and whenever Toby sees her, a truly evil smile cross her face. The only thing that worries Toby is the little girl that he keeps seeing out of the corner of his eye. He just wants to get the Ferrari that the film’s producers promised him. While he sits in the back set of a limo, a fortune teller looks at his palm and gets a worried look on her face. (Judging from what the people around him say, it appears to be a biblical epic and Toby will be playing Jesus.) While Toby floats through the city in an alcoholic haze, sycophants and fans surround him. He doesn’t seem to be quite sure what the film is about or what role he’ll be playing. Toby has come to Rome, to work on a film. It was written by Robert Sellers and it makes for very interesting reading. (If you’re wondering how I came to be an expert on British alcoholics, might I recommend a short but informative book called Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O’Toole & Oliver Reed. With his Shakespearean background, it’s tempting to assume that Toby is meant to be a stand-in for Richard Burton but he actually bears a greater resemblance to Richard Harris. As we watch him stumble through this film, alternatively bitter and flamboyant, we’re reminded of the stories of other British thespians who were legendary drinkers: Oliver Reed, Trevor Howard, David Hemmings, Peter O’Toole, and others. As is quickly established, Toby is an alcoholic. Terrence Stamp plays Toby Dammit, a former Shakespearean actor turned dissolute film star. While Toby Dammit may be based on Poe’s story, it’s definitely Fellini’s film. ![]() It seems appropriate that Fellini was the only director to rename his adaptation. Toby Dammit was based on N ever Bet The Devil Your Head. Directed by Federico Fellini, Toby Dammit was the third and final part of the 1968 anthology movie, Spirits of the Dead.Īll three parts of Spirits of the Dead were based on a short story by Edgar Allan Poe.
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