Please Help Me Identify This Old Horror Movie (1 Viewer)

[Randy A Salas]

A reader has asked me to help her identify an old horror movie, but I've come up empty. It sounds like a Hammer film, but I haven't had any luck finding it. Below is her detailed description.

Any ideas?

it is about a ring. one that, initially, it bought in a shop (pawn?). it is passed around in the movie from character to character. who ever wears the ring can 'tell the future.' or, rather, if the ring is on and the person wearing it sees an "X" on the forehead of a person, that marked person will die. (the ring has the "X" on it.)

the scenes i remember distinctly (i was about 10 when i saw it) were a train on a platform with a group of children piling on for a trip. the one wearing the ring saw the 'X' on all of the children's heads and tried to alert the authorities, to no avail. the train pulled out and down the track, you can hear the train derailing and crashing.

the other scene is the last one. an old couple is in a house. it is dark and there is an air raid going on. the sirens go off and the couple heads for the shelter. then, one of them, who is wearing the ring, sees the 'x' on his spouse's forehead. she takes the ring, puts it on and sees the 'x' on his head. they decide to fool the ring and not go down to the basement. the last scene is a huge explosion on the house. one assumes that they are killed AND that the ring, finally, is destroyed.

i think it was in black and white. i can't be sure, but i think it was a foreign film, (british?). the scenes were in europe. my mom and dad and i saw a lot of movies in those days, so a think it was in a theatre. BUT, we also had a small b&w tv about then (early fifties), so perhaps it was on tv, but i don't think so (if so, it would have been REALLY old since movies on tv then were/had to be at least 20 years old to be allowed on tv). i recall the big scene.

 

[Randy A Salas]

One more try...

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Randy,
I did about 20 minutes of Google searches (X Ring movie, prediction of death movie, etc.) and could come up with NADA!
Sorry!
But if you do manage to figure out the title of this one, please post it here...as it's driving me crazy now.
Another person you could ask is 'Greywizard' over at www.UnknownMovies.com . He's kind of an expert on this sort of thing.

 

[TonyD]

you could call mr movie on sat night.
if you can get 1210 am out of philly on sat from 10-1 pm eastn.
http://thebigtalker.com/personalities/mrmovie.shtml
these are the numbers, not the ones in that link.
Philadelphia: (215) 839-1210
Suburbs: (610) 664-1210
New Jersey: (856) 541-1210
he says this is his favorite type of call.

 

[Brett_B]

I had been searching IMDB.com for this because it had my curiousity going, but based on the description provided I think I may have stumbled across the movie:
Flickan från tredje raden (1949)
Is man's existence really meaningful and hopeful? As a reply to Ingmar Bergman's _Faengelse (1949)_ , this movie claims that it is. A ring passes between a lot of different people, giving the bearer, or someone close, a new meaning to life. Actors, embezzlers, old ladies and cheated husbands all seem to gain temporary hope from misery and disillusionment.
So, from the original description:
- "it is about a ring. one that, initially, it bought in a shop (pawn?). it is passed around in the movie from character to character."
- Black & White film
- Foreign film
- possibly early fifties
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be available on video in any format (according to IMDB).

 

[Simon_Lepine]

Have you tried IMDB's I Need to Know boards? These types of queries are usually answered fast there.

 

[Brian W.]

But, Randy... are you sure this is a movie and not a recovered memory?

 

[TheNit]

Did anyone ever determine the film name? I remember that film as well (back in fifties) and I still remember how it scared the hell out of me. I just made a similar post on IMDB but have not got an answer.
I vividly remember seeing X's on all the foreheads of children getting on a train, knowing the train was going to crash. Seeing that I was a kid at the time, I had nightmares about it.

 

[TonyD]

Yikes bringing it back from long long ago.
Hi Dave welcome to The Home Theater Forum.

 

[TonyD]

Also, I know were Scott is but what happened to Randy?

 

[Greg_S_H]

He's still writing for the Star Tribune.

 

[Ruz-El]

This is driving me crazy! How can we not figure this out?!?!?! Only thing it sounds like to me is that episode of Twilight Zone where the soldier can see the face of death in his fellow soldiers.

 

[disctrip]

I also remember this show(it's hard to forget) from when I was a small boy. Seems to me it was an episode from the 1954 series 'Inner Sanctum". I could be wrong .Hope we can solve this mystery.

 

[TheNit]

Checked all of the Inner Sanctum (non-radio) shows and films on Wikipedia and there wasn't one that described this.