End of the Road

Synopsis
Feature film adapted from the novel by John Barth. Jacob Horner (Keach) is an emotionally disturbed young college professor who enters a catatonic state and undergoes therapy from an unorthodox psychologist, Doctor D. (Jones), and has a destructive affair with Rennie Morgan (Tristan) the wife of a colleague. There are several references to Shakespeare during the therapy including a recitation of Macbeth’s ‘tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow’ speech. Later Morgan, suicidal, masturbates while reciting ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy.
Language
English
Country
United States
Medium
Film
Technical information
Colour / Sound
Year of release
1969
Duration
110 mins

Credits

Director
Aram Avakian
Producer
Stephen F. Kesten; Terry Southern
Cinematographer
Gordon Willis
Screenplay
Aram Avakian; Dennis McGuire; Terry Southern
Music
Teo Macero
Art Direction
Robert Hamlin
Cast
Dorothy TristanRennie Morgan
Harris YulinJoe Morgan
James Earl JonesDoctor D.
Stacy KeachJakob Horner

Additional Details

Production type
Fiction Films
Plays
Hamlet; Macbeth
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Reviews
Pellow, Ken, and Rita Hug. ‘The Curious History of End of the Road." Literature Film Quarterly 27.1 (1999): 38 (7pp). Discusses the film, and surveys Life magazine’s criticism of it at the time of its release. The authors also discuss the ‘difficulties of transforming philosophical [works] into good films’, and the ‘characteristics of a novel for adaptational purposes’.

Production Company

Name

Allied Artists Pictures Corporation

Online Retailer

Name

amazon.com

Web
http://www.amazon.com External site opens in new window

How to cite this record

Shakespeare, "End of the Road". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/av67723 (Accessed 26 Nov 2024)