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{{Use British English|date=October 2016}}
{{Infobox television
| image          = Schalcken the Painter DVD cover.jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = DVD Cover
| director       = [[Leslie Megahey]]
| producer       = 
| screenplay     = Leslie Megahey<br>Paul Humfress
| based_on       = {{Based on|Strange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter|[[Sheridan Le Fanu]]}}
| starring       = [[Jeremy Clyde]]<br>[[Maurice Denham]]<br>[[Cheryl Kennedy]]<br>[[John Justin]]<br>Ann Tirard<br>[[Anthony Sharp]]
| music          = 
| cinematography = John Hooper
| editor         = Paul Humfress
| company        = [[BBC]]
| network        = [[BBC]]
| released       = {{Start date|1979|12|23|df=y}}
| runtime        = 68 minutes
| country        = United Kingdom
| language       = English
| budget         = 
}}

'''''Schalcken the Painter''''' is a 1979 British television [[gothic film|gothic]] [[horror film]] based on the 1839 story ''Strange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter'' by [[Sheridan Le Fanu]], and stars [[Jeremy Clyde]] as [[Godfried Schalcken]] and [[Maurice Denham]] as [[Gerrit Dou]].<ref name=painter2/> It aired on the [[BBC]] as an episode of [[Omnibus (UK TV series)|''Omnibus'']] on 23 December 1979, following in the tradition of ''[[A Ghost Story for Christmas]]''.<ref name=BFI/>

==Plot==
The painter [[Godfried Schalcken]] sees his true love, Rose, the niece of the artist [[Gerrit Dou]], wedded by contract for a large sum of money to Vanderhausen of [[Rotterdam]], a strange and ghostly figure. Filled with dread, Rose begs Schalcken to run off with her to save her from the marriage, but he is cowardly and ambitious and wants to continue his studies with Dou; instead he says he will buy back the marriage contract when he is successful.

The marriage goes ahead as agreed, and nothing is heard of Rose until she escapes some time later and returns home distraught and starving and begging for protection, but she is pursued by her ghostly husband and disappears.

On the death of Dou a melancholy Schalcken lingers in the church after the funeral service, where a terrifying encounter with his former love leaves his senses reeling.<ref name=painter2>Angelini, Sergio  {{Screenonline TV title|id=1154981|title=Schalcken The Painter}}. Retrieved 2014-11-10.</ref><ref name=Film>[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1154981/synopsis.html Synopsis of ''Schalcken the Painter''] – [[British Film Institute]] website</ref><ref name=painter/>

==Cast==
*[[Charles Gray (actor)|Charles Gray]] as the narrator
*[[Jeremy Clyde]] as [[Godfried Schalcken]]
*[[Maurice Denham]] as [[Gerrit Dou]]
*[[Cheryl Kennedy]] as Rose
*[[John Justin]] as Vanderhausen
*[[Anthony Sharp]] as Gentleman
*[[Roy Evans (actor)|Roy Evans]] as Coachman
*[[Ann Tirard]] as Brothel Madam
*[[Val Penny]] as Lesbia
*[[Victor Dear]] as Manservant
*[[Rosemary Jenner]] as Maidservant
*[[Eric Francis (actor)|Eric Francis]] as Goldsmith
*[[Amanda Carlson]] as Francoise
*[[Helena Clayton]] as Hendrijke
*[[Charles Stewart (Greek-English actor)|Charles Stewart]] as [[Rembrandt]]

==Production==
[[File:Jan Vermeer - The Art of Painting - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|160px|right|Vermeer's ''[[The Art of Painting|Art of Painting]]'' or ''The Allegory of Painting'' – one of the inspirations for the film.]]
A fictional tale woven round the lives of actual historic figures,<ref name=painter2/><ref name=Film/> the television film is a 70-minute-long adaptation of [[Sheridan Le Fanu|Le Fanu]]'s 1839 gothic tale "Strange Event in the Life of Schalken {{sic}} the Painter", directed and adapted by [[Leslie Megahey]].<ref name=painter>''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286049/ Schalcken The Painter]'' at the [[Internet Movie Database]]. Retrieved 2014-11-10</ref> When Megahey was offered the opportunity to oversee ''[[Omnibus (UK TV series)|Omnibus]]'', the BBC’s long-running arts documentary series, he accepted on condition that he could make ''Schalcken the Painter''. He shot the film in the style of a [[docudrama]], using a minimum of dialogue. Megahey has stated that he was influenced in the making of the film by the Polish director [[Walerian Borowczyk]], whose 1971 film ''[[:fr:Blanche (film, 1971)|Blanche]]'' also shows the fate of a young woman being decided by rich men, without consideration of her feelings or opinions.<ref name=BFI/>

Like the earlier ''[[Whistle and I'll Come to You (1968 film)|Whistle and I'll Come to You]]'', ''Schalcken the Painter'' was listed as an episode of ''Omnibus''.<ref name=painter2/> It aired on 23 December 1979, filling the slot traditionally taken in previous years by the BBC’s ''[[A Ghost Story for Christmas]]''.<ref name=BFI>[https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/why-i-love-schalcken-painter Fuller, Graham 'Why I love... Schalcken the Painter'] – the [[British Film Institute]] website – 29 April 2014</ref>

The actor [[Vincent Price]] was initially considered for the Narrator but it was decided his voice would be "too camp", and [[Peter Cushing]] turned down the role as being too dark. Finally the actor [[Charles Gray (actor)|Charles Gray]] was cast. [[Arthur Lowe]] of ''[[Dad's Army]]'' fame was considered for the role of [[Gerrit Dou]], but he was unavailable and the role went instead to [[Maurice Denham]].<ref name=Interview>Interview with [[Leslie Megahey]] on the ''Schalcken the Painter'' DVD extras</ref>

The sets and atmospheric lighting used in the film are based on the backgrounds of the paintings by [[Johannes Vermeer|Vermeer]].<ref name=Interview/> Paintings by Schalcken showing young women holding candles in dark rooms are used throughout the drama, but the final image, again showing a young candlelit woman, but this time with a man in the shadowy background drawing his sword, was created for the film, based on the style of Schalcken.<ref name=Interview/>

Megahey subsequently used the same narrative device of combining historical figures with the paintings of the lead subject on the 1987 production ''[[Giovanni Cariani#Cariani and the Courtesans|Cariani and the Courtesans]]'', which Gray also narrated.

==See also==
* [[List of ghost films]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0286049}}
*[http://www.theartsdesk.com/film/dvd-schalcken-painter 'Schalcken the Painter: A much sought after BBC horror tale matches its sinister reputation' – The Arts Desk – 28 October 2013]

{{A Ghost Story for Christmas}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schalcken the Painter}}
[[Category:1979 in British television]]
[[Category:1979 television films]]
[[Category:1979 films]]
[[Category:1979 horror films]]
[[Category:British television films]]
[[Category:British supernatural television shows]]
[[Category:1979 British television series debuts]]
[[Category:1979 British television series endings]]
[[Category:BBC television dramas]]
[[Category:British ghost films]]
[[Category:1979 English-language films]]
[[Category:1979 British films]]
[[Category:English-language horror films]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=Schalcken the Painter|access_date=2026-03-05}}