Specter of the Rose

Specter of the Rose
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ben Hecht
Produced by	Ben Hecht
Screenplay by	Ben Hecht
Starring	Judith Anderson Michael Chekhov Ivan Kirov Viola Essen Lionel Stander
Music by	George Antheil
Cinematography	Lee Garmes
Edited by	Harry Keller
Production company	Republic Pictures
Distributed by	Republic Pictures
Release date	July 5, 1946 (1946-07-05) (United States)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Specter of the Rose is a 1946 film noir thriller film written and directed by Ben Hecht and starring Judith Anderson, Ivan Kirov, Viola Essen, Michael Chekhov, and Lionel Stander, with choreography by Tamara Geva, and music by George Antheil.

A male ballet superstar (Kirov) is suspected of murdering his first wife (his former ballet partner) and now possibly threatening his new wife and ballet partner (Essen). Anderson plays an embittered ballet teacher, and Chekhov plays an impresario.

Excerpts from the ballet Le Spectre de la Rose, which uses Carl Maria von Weber's piano piece Invitation to the Dance as orchestrated by Hector Berlioz, are featured in the film.

The screenplay was adapted for the radio series Inner Sanctum Mysteries on August 19, 1946. Ben Hecht appeared and the script was adapted by the playwright and Broadway stage actor Robert Sloane.

When the film was released, Variety magazine gave the film a mixed review. The staff wrote, "Ben Hecht, to say the least, has done the expected by coming up with the unusual. Specter of the Rose was obviously a conscious attempt by Hecht to prove on how small a budget he could produce an acceptable picture. Reports are that it cost in the neighborhood of $160,000. The serious defect production wise is a general lack of polish that is at times disturbing ... Hecht’s direction and dialog give the acting a stylized artificiality that grows on the spectator as the picture progresses. Satire of the characterizations makes many of the film’s people virtually caricatures."