A major new book about the history of Hammer films has just been published. One of Cinema Retro's London correspondents, Adrian Smith, was at the star-studded London book launch and brings you the inside story.
On the 27th October 2007 a crowd of Hammer
film fans gathered at the Cine Lumiere in South Kensington,
a stone’s throw from The Natural History Museum and the V&A. The occasion
was the launch of The Hammer Story by
film historians Marcus Hearn and Alan Barnes, and to celebrate a number of
Hammer alumni were gathered to meet fans and sign autographs, along with the
screening of three films rarely shown and not available commercially: A Case for P.C. 49 (1951), The Two Faces of Doctor Jekyll (1960)
and Never take Sweets From a Stranger
(1960).
Amongst the guests was Jimmy Sangster, who not only
directed and produced some films but also wrote several of those considered
classics, including The Curse of Frankenstein,
The Mummy and Dracula (aka Horror of Dracula). The latter film is
currently being screened theatrically all around the UK following a restoration by the
British Film Institute. Sangster has been kept busy with interviews for the
last couple of weeks with the likes of Jonathon Ross and The Today Programme,
but still found time to talk to Cinema Retro:
“I’m amazed (about the re-release of Dracula)! It’s a film we made fifty
years ago. When we were making it it was just another movie. I’m very pleased! I
don’t think Hammer are still going though are they? I haven’t seen the new film
(Beyond the Rave). Why didn’t they
ask me to write it? They should give me a call!â€
Also attending was Janina Faye, who was especially
pleased that Never take Sweets From a Stranger
was being screened. Faye starred in this controversial child abuse drama
when she was only ten, having already taken smaller roles with Hammer in Dracula and The Two Faces of Doctor Jekyll. Its depiction of a small town
protecting a known paedophile was too shocking for audiences at the time, and
it was given an X certificate, despite having support from various national
agencies such as The National council of Women, who said “it should be seen by
all parentsâ€. It did not do well commercially, and was banned in several
countries, including France
and Ireland.
When asked about the film, Faye enthused,
“It was such a huge change from what Hammer used to
do. They had tremendous problems from the BBFC whilst shooting the film. In the
courtroom scene we had to change the dialogue because they weren’t allowed to
say rape. To keep the drama within the cast the director (documentary maker
Cyril Frankel) didn’t tell us what was going on, or what happened to any of us.
I wasn’t allowed to see the film, and didn’t see it until they showed it at the
Barbican (in 2004). I think it’s still an incredible film. It’s so powerful.â€
Cinema Retro agrees wholeheartedly, and wishes the
film were available on DVD. DD Home Entertainment have announced an R2 release
in late 2007, but this is currently looking unlikely due to financial
difficulties. We remain hopeful!
One unexpected guest excited the fans as they queued for autographs
between screenings. It was none other than Ray Harryhausen, whose
connection with Hammer goes back to One Million Years
BC. For this Cinema Retro correspondent and many other fans, it was an
honour to meet one of the legends of cinema. This is the man who made those
skeletal warriors battle Sinbad and brought the Medusa to life with such terrifying
effect! He looked frail but happy to be there and chatted to fans and posed for
photographs.
Also present signing autographs and chatting to fans
was Kenneth Cope (The Damned), Barry
Lowe (Quatermass II), Geoffrey
Bayldon (Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed),
John Cater (Captain Kronos: Vampire
Hunter), Brian Croucher (TV series Hammer
House of Horror) and Pauline Harlow (continuity and script supervisor on
many Hammer films).
The day was a terrific success, organised again by the
filmmaker Don Fearney, who has put together many Hammer events in the last ten
years and has also produced documentaries including a recent film about the
Hammer vampires. If only every area of cult cinema had such a hard-working
supporter! He has dropped hints about another event next year at Bray Studios,
the home of Hammer, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the release of Dracula. (See the upcoming issue of CR
for details of his last event at Bray studios).
And what of the book itself? This new edition of The Hammer Story: The Authorised History of
Hammer Films is a wonderful book for any Hammer fan or film enthusiast,
containing many rare photos (in colour!) and a huge amount of information on
the films, the personnel and of course the stars. As well as this new hardback
edition it is also available in a limited leather-bound edition featuring the
autographs of Martine Beswick, Valerie Leon, Caroline Munro, Ingrid Pitt,
Barbara Shelley and Madeline Smith. Copies of this were selling out fast, and
Cinema Retro raised an eyebrow at several fans who seemed to have bought two or
three copies, which at £60 each made us wish we had their incomes!
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