I am always left wondering at the end whether it is the true Pelham that survives the second accident? I seem to think that he does. At the end of the 1955 Hitchcock tv episode of the story, the double takes over Pelham's life. While the true Pelham is committed to an asylum, pronounced mad. But 'The Man Who Haunted Himself' never makes it absolutley clear which Pelham has been left to carry on Pelham's life. Which Pelham do you think survives?
shareI think the "true" Pelham survives. The "other" one disappeared as the car went over the bridge and the Pelham on the bridge started to feel dizzy and I think he resumed his true identity. Does that make sense?
SkiesAreBlue
Re Pelham "resumed his true identity." That is the way that I see it. But I always wonder when we see Pelham feel his side on that bridge. It could be a dizzy spell as you say. But is it the double feeling the tue Pelham entering into him so that the two become one again? And then Pelham has to continue with a split personality as in his mad car driving scene at the beginning of the film? A very thought-provoking ending.
shareThat is thought provoking. What triggered him off in the beginning to act so irrationally? Was he a Dr Jeckle and Mr Hyde complex? Was the psychiatrist right about him? I might have to watch it again to figure out the answers.
SkiesAreBlue
Re Pelham's possible Jekyl and Hyde complex. It doesn't really seem to be explored that much in the film as far as I can see. But there is just a hint that you could well be right. This is when Pelham finally confronts his double and demands to know who he, the double, is. The double tells him 'I am you.' So it seems that we are left to wonder if Pelham has a split personality. And perhaps to wonder if he will ever really be free of 'the double.'
share"The Pelham on the bridge started to feel dizzy and I think he resumed his true identity".
Or maybe he was going to die, too, for he couldn't exist without the "original" Pelham - and he 'was' clinically dead when the doppelgänger was created. Just a speculation though; I guess if he was meant to die, it would have been shown.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
I never cared for the ending. It seemed like a sloppy, rushed way to bring things to a conclusion. I couldn't understand why good Pelham drives off in a frenzy or where he thought he was going to. But even more perplexing was why bad Pelham chases after him. Bad Pelham clearly wanted to be the dominant personality and might just have allowed good Pelham to slink off and defeated lay down in a corner and die. However, after reading the last couple of posts on this thread I'm reconsidering things a little. It's possible both Pelhams had an unconscious urge to recreate the events at the beginning of the film and reunite as the Pelham before the crash. I often describe The Man Who...as ludicrous, but watchable - briskly and at times eccentrically directed with a rare opportunity for Roger Moore to employ some genuine acting skill which he does so admirably. So as goofy as the film is, it's not without intelligence and has appeal to those who like to have some fun with foundation course metaphysics. I'll continue to recommend The Man...but I still don't like the ending.
shareThe two Pelhams merged back into one person, so in a very real sense they both survived.
However whether that meant the "evil" Pelham was forced back down into his subconscious, I guess we'll never know until the sequel comes out.
At the moment we can but speculate he kept both his wife and mistress satisfied with his more daring, animalistic nature now living alongside the boring businessman. Sorry, businessperson...