The Hellfire Club | |
---|---|
Directed by | Robert S. Baker Monty Berman |
Written by | Leon Griffiths Jimmy Sangster |
Produced by | Robert S. Baker Monty Berman |
Starring | Keith Michell Adrienne Corri |
Cinematography | Robert S. Baker Monty Berman |
Edited by | Frederick Wilson |
Music by | Clifton Parker |
Distributed by | Regal Films International (UK) Embassy Pictures (US) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 94 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Hellfire Club is a 1961 British film directed by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman and starring Keith Michell, Miles Malleson and Francis Matthews, with Peter Cushing in a cameo role. [1] It was written by Leon Griffiths and Jimmy Sangster.
Lady Netherden's husband is the leader of the infamous eighteenth century Hellfire Club. She deserts him, taking with her their son Jason. After her death in a coaching accident, Jason is raised in a circus by a family retainer. Fifteen years later Jason returns to claim his inheritance, to find that after his father's death his cousin Thomas, now in charge of the Hellfire Club, has usurped his title. Thomas has Jason thrown into prison, but he is rescued by his circus friends and with the assistance of the Prime Minister ultimately regains his rightful title.
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "All the old clichés are revived, without a trace of distinction in either writing or direction, in this broad, ribald, and ingenuous costume melodrama. Keith Michell plays the brash Jason with unflagging Fairbanksian energy and good humour; unfortunately his determination to see the joke (his pose as an effeminate French peer is altogether too much of a good thing) is shared only too readily by the majority of the cast, to an extent which prejudices the audience's willing participation. The debaucheries of the Hellfire Club strike an extremely jaded note, Kai Fischer's hoydenish heroine is peculiarly resistible, and only Adrienne Corri's two-faced Lady Isobel makes a creditable impression." [2]
Kine Weekly wrote: "The picture, gamy stuff made from a popular recipe, is served piping hot against lush interiors and exteriors. Keith Michell, whose athletic prowess evokes happy memories of Douglas Fairbanks, Snr., contributes a tireless performance as Jason, Kai Fischer, sporting a daringly low neckline, is a tantalising, though steadfast, Yvonne. Adrienne Corri scores in contrast as the haughty, two-faced Isobel, Peter Arne makes a thoroughly evil Thomas and Bill Owen introduces some down-to-earth humour as Martin. The scenes during which Jason poses as a French marquis are a bit much, but the events that lead up to them, including the break from Newgate and the goings-on in the Hellfire Club, where, possibly striptease was invented, are gloriously uninhibited, and the finale has everything." [3]
Leslie Halliwell said: "Sprightly historical romantic melodrama alightly based on the nefarious activities of the real Hellfire Club; energetic and entertaining if slightly too jokey." [4]
Glenn Erickson claims that the film did good box-office when released in America, on the back of publicity (such as a Playboy photo-spread) that suggested more nudity and adult content than actually appeared in any U.S. prints. [5]
In a 2012 review, Time Out called the film "Surprisingly light on debauchery and occasionally perhaps too jocular for its own good" but rated Michell's performance as "suitably energetic". [6]
The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "Depravity, debauchery and devil worship? There's nothing of the sort in this would-be horror flick, in which such sins are sadly bleached of any lurid content." [7]
Devil Girl from Mars is a 1954 British second feature black-and-white science fiction film, produced by the Danziger Brothers, directed by David MacDonald and starring Patricia Laffan, Hugh McDermott, Hazel Court, Peter Reynolds, and Adrienne Corri. It was released by British Lion, and released in the United States the following year. A female alien is sent from Mars to acquire human males to replace their declining male population. When negotiation, then intimidation, fails she must use force to obtain co-operation from a remote Scottish village where she has landed her crippled flying saucer.
Kiss of the Vampire is a 1963 British vampire film directed by Don Sharp and starring Edward de Souza and Jennifer Daniel. It was written by producer Anthony Hinds and made by Hammer Film Productions.
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Adrienne Corri was a Scottish actress.
Keith Joseph Michell was an Australian actor who worked primarily in the United Kingdom, and was best known for his television and film portrayals of King Henry VIII. He appeared extensively in Shakespeare and other classics and musicals in Britain, and was also in several Broadway productions. He was an artistic director of the Chichester Festival Theatre in the 1970s and later had a recurring role on Murder, She Wrote as the charming thief Dennis Stanton. He was also known for illustrating a collection of Jeremy Lloyd's poems Captain Beaky, and singing the title song from the associated album.
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Kai Fischer is a German film actress. She appeared in more than 50 films between 1955 and 1999.
Violent Playground is a black and white 1958 British film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Stanley Baker, Peter Cushing, and David McCallum. The film, which deals with the genre of juvenile delinquent, has an explicit social agenda. It owes much to U.S. films of a similar genre.
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Revenge is a 1971 British thriller film directed by Sidney Hayers and starring Joan Collins, James Booth and Sinéad Cusack. The screenplay was by John Kruse. It was released in the United States in May 1976 as Inn of the Frightened People.
The Man in the Back Seat is a 1961 British second feature crime film, directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Derren Nesbitt and Keith Faulkner. It was written by Malcolm Hulke and Eric Paice based on an Edgar Wallace story.
And the Same to You is a 1960 British boxing-themed comedy film directed by George Pollock and starring Brian Rix and William Hartnell. It was written by John Paddy Carstairs, John Junkin and Terry Nation based on the stage farce The Chigwell Chicken by A.P. Dearsley.
Child in the House is a 1956 British drama film directed by Cy Endfield and starring Phyllis Calvert, Eric Portman and Stanley Baker. It is based on the novel A Child in the House by Janet McNeill. A girl struggles to cope with her uncaring relatives.