Hell Is Empty | |
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Directed by | John Ainsworth Bernard Knowles |
Screenplay by | John Ainsworth |
Based on | a screenplay by Bernard Knowles & George Fowler; and the novel Hell Is Empty by J.F. Straker (1958) |
Produced by | Michael Eland |
Starring | Anthony Steel Shirley Anne Field James Robertson Justice Jess Conrad Martine Carol |
Cinematography | Sasa Hunka Jan Stallich |
Edited by | Jim Connock |
Music by | Georges Garvarentz |
Production company | Dominion Films |
Distributed by | Rank Film Distributors (UK) |
Release date |
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Running time | 109 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Hell is Empty is a 1967 British crime film directed by Bernard Knowles and John Ainsworth, and starring Martine Carol, Anthony Steel, Shirley Anne Field and James Robertson Justice. [1] [2]
Filming began in 1965 under the direction of Bernard Knowles, but was suspended on the death of Martine Carol. Production was later resumed with John Ainsworth as director. [3]
On the run from the police, thieves stumble upon an abandoned mansion on a deserted island. [4]
The film was made by Absorbing Films, which had been set up by Michael Eaton-Eland, a prominent London figure[ citation needed ], who wanted to move into filmmaking. Filming started in December 1965 on the isle of Capri. It was Martine Carol's first movie in three years [5] and one of a number of films Steel made in Europe. [6]
The film was shot in Italy and Yugoslavia. However several of the actors and technicians claimed they had not been paid. Filming came to a halt. Carole married Eaton-Eland in June 1966, at which stage the film had not been completed. [7]
Carol died of a heart attack in February 1967. [8] Production resumed under director John Ainsworth.
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The nonsensical story, which ten years ago might at least have had an overtone of reality within a small budget black-and-white framework, has here exploded into sumptuous colour, extravagant locations and a gimcrack way with camera zooms. But beneath the reconditioned exterior, the old-fashioned gears set up an awful grinding: the crooks are a coarse lot, their robbery is by modern standards very rudimentary, and their hostages make a determined English parlour setting out of their indeterminate foreign locale. James Robertson Justice's Shakespearian authority is as tedious as his usual blustery impersonations; but no one could be expected to perform any miracles with the dilapidated dialogue, and no one does. " [9]
The year 1967 in film involved some significant events. It is widely considered one of the most ground-breaking years in American cinema, with "revolutionary" films highlighting the shift towards forward thinking European standards at the time, including: Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Cool Hand Luke, The Dirty Dozen, In Cold Blood, In the Heat of the Night, The Jungle Book and You Only Live Twice.
The Metaphysical Society was a famous British debating society, founded in 1869 by James Knowles, who acted as Secretary. Membership was by invitation only, and was exclusively male. Many of its members were prominent clergymen, philosophers, and politicians.
Martine Carol was a French film actress. She frequently was cast as an elegant blonde seductress. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, she was the leading sex symbol and a top box-office draw of French cinema, and she was considered a French version of America's Marilyn Monroe. One of her more famous roles was as the title character in Lola Montès (1955), directed by Max Ophüls, in a role that required dark hair. However, by the late 1950s, roles for Carol had become fewer, partly because of the introduction of Brigitte Bardot.
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Bernard Knowles was an English film director, producer, cinematographer and screenwriter. Born in Manchester, Knowles worked with Alfred Hitchcock on numerous occasions before the director emigrated to Hollywood.
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Doctor at Large is a 1957 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas starring Dirk Bogarde, Muriel Pavlow, Donald Sinden, James Robertson Justice and Shirley Eaton. It is the third of the seven films in the Doctor series, and is based on the 1955 novel of the same title by Richard Gordon.
Sailor Beware! is a 1956 British comedy film directed by Gordon Parry and starring Peggy Mount, Shirley Eaton and Ronald Lewis. It was released in the United States by Distributors Corporation of America in 1957 as Panic in the Parlor.
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Sumuru is a female supervillain created by Sax Rohmer, author of the Fu Manchu series of novels. She first appeared in a 1945-1946 BBC radio serial, which was rewritten as a novel in 1950. Four more novels were published between 1951 and 1956. Two movies were then made in the 1960s and one more in 2003.
Sabine Sun was a French actress. She appeared in more than 40 films from 1964, including several by director Terence Young. Sun died in Gimont on 13 may 2014, at the age of 81.
The Vagliano Trophy is a biennial women's amateur golf tournament. It is co-organised by The R&A and the European Golf Association and is contested by teams representing "Great Britain and Ireland" and the "Continent of Europe". It is played in odd-numbered years; the Curtis Cup being played in even-numbered years.
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Night After Night After Night, also known as Come Nightfall, He Kills Night after Night after Night, and The Night Slasher, is a 1969 British thriller film directed by Lindsay Shonteff and starring Jack May, Justine Lord and Gilbert Wynne.