Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classic horror characters such as Baron Victor Frankenstein, Count Dracula, and the Mummy, which Hammer reintroduced to audiences by filming them in vivid colour for the first time. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies, as well as, in later years, television series.
The Quatermass Xperiment is a 1955 British science fiction horror film from Hammer Film Productions, based on the 1953 BBC Television serial The Quatermass Experiment written by Nigel Kneale. The film was produced by Anthony Hinds, directed by Val Guest, and stars Brian Donlevy as the titular Professor Bernard Quatermass and Richard Wordsworth as the tormented Carroon. Jack Warner, David King-Wood, and Margia Dean appear in co-starring roles.
Val Guest was an English film director and screenwriter. Beginning as a writer of comedy films, he is best known for his work for Hammer, for whom he directed 14 films, and for his science fiction films. He enjoyed a long career in the film industry from the early 1930s until the early 1980s.
Suzan Maxine Farmer was an English film and television actress. She was regularly cast in movies produced by Hammer Films.
Bray Film Studios is a British film and television facility in Water Oakley near Bray, Berkshire. It is best known for its association with Hammer Film Productions.
Nightmare is a 1964 British horror film directed by Freddie Francis and starring Jennie Linden. It was written by Jimmy Sangster, who also produced the film for Hammer Films. The film focuses on a young girl in a finishing school who is plagued by nightmares concerning her institutionalized mother.
The Abominable Snowman is a 1957 British fantasy-horror film directed by Val Guest and starring Forrest Tucker, Peter Cushing, Maureen Connell and Richard Wattis. It was written by Nigel Kneale based on his 1955 BBC television play The Creature, which also starred Cushing. It was produced by Aubrey Baring for Hammer Films.
Moira Redmond was an English actress.
Maniac is a 1963 British psychological thriller film directed by Michael Carreras and starring Kerwin Mathews, Nadia Gray and Donald Houston.
Anthony Frank Hinds, also known as Tony Hinds and John Elder, was an English screenwriter and producer.
The Man Who Could Cheat Death is a 1959 British horror film, directed by Terence Fisher and starring Anton Diffring, Hazel Court, and Christopher Lee. Jimmy Sangster adapted the screenplay from the play The Man in Half Moon Street by Barré Lyndon, which had been previously filmed in 1945. The Man Who Could Cheat Death was produced by Michael Carreras and Anthony Nelson Keys for Hammer Film Productions. It was released in the US on 19 August 1959 and in the UK on 30 November 1959.
Helen Mary Cherry was an English stage, film and television actress. She was born in Worsley, Lancashire, and brought up in Harrogate, West Riding of Yorkshire.
Ring of Spies is a 1964 British spy film directed by Robert Tronson and starring Bernard Lee, William Sylvester and Margaret Tyzack. It is based on the real-life case of the Portland Spy Ring, whose activities prompted "Reds under the bed" scare stories in the British popular press in the early 1960s.
Hugh Patrick McDermott was a Scottish professional golfer turned actor who made a number of film, stage and television performances between 1936 and 1972. He specialised in playing Americans, so much so that most British film fans had no idea that he was actually Scottish.
Mantrap, released in the United States as Man in Hiding, is a 1953 British second feature whodunit directed by Terence Fisher, starring Paul Henreid and Lois Maxwell.
Murder by Proxy is a 1954 British 'B' film noir crime drama film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Dane Clark, Belinda Lee and Betty Ann Davies. The film was based on the 1952 novel of the same name by Helen Nielsen. It was produced by Hammer Films, and released in the United States by Lippert Pictures.
Hammer the Toff is a 1952 British second feature crime film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring John Bentley and Patricia Dainton. The film was based on the 1947 novel of the same name by John Creasey, the 17th in the series featuring upper-class sleuth Richard Rollinson, also known as "The Toff".
Katharine Blake was a British actress, born in South Africa with an extensive career in television and films. She was married to director Charles Jarrott. She had two daughters, each by different fathers, Jenny Kastner, with her first husband, actor Anthony Jacobs, and Lindy Greene, with her second husband, actor/director David Greene. She was estranged from both daughters at the time of her death.
Bill Luckwell was a British film producer and screenwriter. He founded Bill Luckwell Productions to make supporting features.
Five Days is a 1954 British second feature ('B') film noir directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Dane Clark, Paul Carpenter and Thea Gregory. It was written by Paul Tabori and produced by Anthony Hinds for Hammer Film Productions. It was released in the United States by Lippert Pictures.
