The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake

The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake is a 1959 American black-and-white horror film written by Orville H. Hampton and directed by Edward L. Cahn. It was one of a series of films they made in the late 1950s for producer Robert E. Kent on contract for distribution by United Artists. The film stars Eduard Franz, Valerie French, Grant Richards, and Henry Daniell. Set in the present day (i.e. 1959), it tells the story of a curse placed on the Drake Family by the witch doctor of the Jivaro, a tribe of indigenous people in Ecuador, following a 19th century massacre led by Capt. Wilfred Drake. Since that time, for three generations, all the Drake men have died at age 60, after which they were decapitated, and their heads shrunken by persons unknown. The film was made as a package deal with Invisible Invaders. Both were released theatrically as a double bill on May 15, 1959, with Drake being the first shown. Plot While contemplating a shrunken head, professor Jonathan Drake has a vision of three floating skulls. Recoiling in fear, he instructs his daughter Alison to dispatch a telegram to his 60-year-old brother Kenneth, saying he will visit Kenneth on Thursday.