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The Oblong Box (film)
''The Oblong Box'' is a 1969 British gothic horror film directed by Gordon Hessler, starring Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Alister Williamson. This was the first film to star both Price and Lee. Taking its title from the 1844 short story " The Oblong Box", it explores and combines several themes typical to the work of Edgar Allan Poe, such as premature burial and masked figures, with the non-Poe theme of voodoo ritual killings. Plot The film takes place in England in 1865. Having been grotesquely disfigured in an African voodoo ceremony for a transgression against the native populace, Sir Edward Markham (Alister Williamson) is kept locked in his room by his guilt-ridden brother, Julian (Vincent Price). Tiring of his captivity, Sir Edward plots to escape by faking his death. With the help of the crooked family lawyer, Trench (Peter Arne), they hire witchdoctor N'Galo ( Harry Baird) to concoct a drug to put Sir Edward into a deathlike trance. Before Trench has time to act, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gordon Hessler
Gordon Hessler (12 December 1925 – 19 January 2014) was a German-born British film and television director, screenwriter, and producer. Biography Early Years Born in Berlin, Germany,Ephraim Katz, Katz, Ephraim. ''The Film Encyclopedia'', Harper Perennial, 1994, 2nd Edition, pg. 622. he was raised in England and studied at the University of Reading. While a teenager, he moved to the United States and directed a series of short films and documentaries.McGee, Mark Thomas. ''Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures'', McFarland & Company, Inc., 1996, pgs. 278–281. Television Universal Studios hired Hessler as a story publisher's reader, reader for the ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' television series. He became story editor for two seasons (1960–1962) for that series, then served as the associate producer for ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'' from 1962 until its cancellation in 1965. He also directed episodes of that series. Hessler ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hilary Dwyer
Hilary Dwyer (6 May 1945 – 30 March 2020), also known as Hilary Heath, was an English actress, businessperson, and film producer. She was best known for her acting roles in films such as '' Witchfinder General'' (1968) and ''Wuthering Heights'' (1970). She also performed on the London stage. In 1974, she married the talent agent Duncan Heath, with whom she had two children, and helped to found Duncan Heath Associates, which was later bought by ICM Partners. They divorced in 1989. Later in her career, under her married name, "Hilary Heath", she produced the feature film ''An Awfully Big Adventure'' (1995), as well as TV remakes of Daphne du Maurier's ''Rebecca'' (1997) and Tennessee Williams's '' The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone'' (2003). Her final producing role was the 2014 miniseries '' Jamaica Inn''. Early life Born on 6 May 1945, in Liverpool, England, Hilary Dwyer was the daughter of Frederick Dwyer, a South African-born orthopaedic surgeon noted for his pioneering calcan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Reeves
Michael Reeves (17 October 1943 – 11 February 1969) was an English film director and screenwriter. He is best remembered for the 1968 film ''Witchfinder General'' (known in the US as ''Conqueror Worm''). A few months after the film's release, Reeves died in London at the age of 25 from an accidental alcohol and barbiturate overdose. History ''Witchfinder General'' It is for his third and final movie, ''Witchfinder General'', that Reeves is best known. He was only 24 years old when he co-wrote and directed it. In 2005, ''Total Film'' magazine named ''Witchfinder General'' the 15th-greatest horror film of all time. Made on a modest budget in East Anglia and adapted from the novel by Ronald Bassett, ''Witchfinder General'' tells the story of Matthew Hopkins, the lawyer-turned-witchhunter who blackmails and murders his way across the countryside. Reeves imbues the film with a powerful sense of the impossibility of behaving morally in a society whose conventions have broken ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Witchfinder General (film)
''Witchfinder General'' (titled onscreen as ''Matthew Hopkins: Witchfinder General'') is a 1968 British period horror film directed by Michael Reeves and starring Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy, Hilary Dwyer, Robert Russell and Rupert Davies. The screenplay by Reeves and Tom Baker was based on Ronald Bassett's novel of the same name. The film is a heavily-fictionalised account of the murderous witch-hunting exploits of Matthew Hopkins (Price), a lawyer who falsely claimed to have been appointed as a " Witch Finder Generall" by Parliament during the English Civil War to root out sorcery and witchcraft. The plot follows Roundhead soldier Richard Marshall (Ogilvy), who relentlessly pursues Hopkins and his assistant John Stearne (Russell) after they prey on his fiancée Sara (Dwyer) and execute her priestly uncle John Lowes (Davies). Made on a low budget of under £100,000, the film was produced by Tigon British Film Productions. In the United States, where it was distributed by Ameri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zeph Gladstone
Zephyrine Frances "Zeph" Gladstone (20 September 1937 - 28 October 2002) was an English television actress, from Norwood in south London. She was best known for her role as the "tart with a heart" hairdresser Vera Downend on the soap opera ''Crossroads'', a role she played from 1970 to 1977. Gladstone started her television career in ''ITV Play of the Week'' in 1964. She moved on to a permanent part on the series ''Dixon of Dock Green''. She also appeared in 'The Baron' as a revolutionary in 'Evening of Hunter', with future 'Crossroads' star Sue Lloyd, in her role on ''Crossroads'' that was most enduring. Gladstone started on the series in June 1970, playing an experienced hairdresser setting up a salon business in the Crossroads Motel. Despite a rough veneer and bad choices, Gladstone's character, Vera Downend, was essentially a "positive" character and developed favourable fan reaction. Gladstone was signed to a contract, which she kept until her departure in October 1977. Gladst ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Wyldeck
Martin Wyldeck (11 January 1914 – 29 April 1988) was an English actor who played a wide range of parts over many years on stage, screen and TV. He also appeared in the first episode of the TV series ''Fawlty Towers'', as Sir Richard Morris. Selected filmography * ''Operation Diamond'' (1948) - Hugo * ''My Wife's Lodger'' (1952) - Policeman * ''Time Bomb'' (1953) - Sergeant Collins * ''Deadly Nightshade'' (1953) - M.I.5 Man (uncredited) * '' Street Corner'' (1953) - Desk Sgt. Forbes (uncredited) * '' Will Any Gentleman...?'' (1953) - Commissionaire * ''Knights of the Round Table'' (1953) - John (uncredited) * '' The Embezzler'' (1954) - 2nd Police Sergeant (uncredited) * ''Timeslip'' (1955) - Dr. Preston * '' Now and Forever'' (1956) - Master of Ceremonies (uncredited) * '' My Wife's Family'' (1956) - (uncredited) * ''The Counterfeit Plan'' (1957) - (uncredited) * '' The Devil's Pass'' (1957) - Young Master * '' The Hypnotist'' (1957) - Doctor Bradford * ''Carry on Sergeant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colin Jeavons
Colin Abel Jeavons (born 20 October 1929) is a retired British television actor. Career Jeavons' earliest television role was as Jules Neraud in an episode of the 1956 anthology series of teleplays ''Nom-de-Plume''. Broadcast live, it is unknown if any recordings of the production exist. He began an association with Dickens productions on BBC Television in 1959 with ''Bleak House'' as Richard Carstone, and '' Great Expectations'' (for the first time) as Herbert Pocket. The same year he played Prince Hal/Henry V in the BBC's ''The Life and Death of Sir John Falstaff''. In 1963 he played the extremely reluctant hero Vadassy forced into espionage in '' Epitaph for a Spy'' for BBC Television. Jeavons portrayed Uriah Heep in the BBC's ''David Copperfield'' (1966). Only one episode featuring him (episode 11, "Umble Aspirations") is known to exist. He appeared in a host of 1960s and 1970s TV programmes including '' Doctor Who'' (in "The Underwater Menace"), ''Adam Adamant Lives!'' a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Wentworth (actor)
John Wentworth (1908–1989) was a British television actor. He starred in the ITV television series ''The Main Chance'' in which he played the role of Henry Castleton a traditionalist Leeds-based lawyer. Selected filmography Film * ''The Last Shot You Hear'' (1969) - Chambers * '' The Oblong Box'' (1969) - Parson Television * '' The Massingham Affair'' (1964) - Colonel Deverel * ''Angel Pavement'' (1967) - Mr. Pearson * ''The Prisoner'' (1967) - Sir Charles * ''The Main Chance'' (1969-1975) - Henry Castleton * '' Germinal'' (1970) - Monsieur Gregoire * ''The Last of the Mohicans'' (1971) - Tamenund * '' The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes'' (1971) - Thaxted * ''The Onedin Line'' (1974-1980) - Dawkins / Mr. Dawkins / Mr. Wallace * ''Ripping Yarns ''Ripping Yarns'' is a British television adventure comedy anthology series. It was written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones of Monty Python fame. It was transmitted on BBC 2. Following an initial pilot episode in January 1976, it ran for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Balfour (actor)
Michael Creighton Balfour (11 February 1918 – 24 October 1997) was an English actor, working mainly in British films and TV, following his TV debut in the BBC's ''The Marvellous History of St Bernard'', in 1938. He was a recognisable face, often in small character parts and supporting roles, in nearly two hundred films and TV shows, from the 1940s to the 1990s, often playing comical villain, heavies or otherwise shady characters notable for their "loud" clothes, sometimes convincingly cast as an American. He worked for a roll call of film directors, including Tony Richardson, Pete Walker (director), Pete Walker, Billy Wilder, Lewis Gilbert, Roman Polanski, Leslie Norman (director), Leslie Norman, Tim Burton, John Frankenheimer, François Truffaut, John Gilling, Stanley Donen, Ken Annakin, Alberto Cavalcanti, Cavalcanti, Lance Comfort, Terence Young (director), Terence Young, Gerald Thomas, Pasolini, John Paddy Carstairs, Terence Fisher, Val Guest, Frank Launder, John Huston, Ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ivor Dean
Ivor Donald Dean (21 December 1917 – 10 August 1974) was a British stage, film and television actor. Biography With his lugubrious demeanour he was often cast as world-weary police officers or butlers, and indeed it is for the role of Chief Inspector Claud Eustace Teal in the 1960s series ''The Saint (TV series), The Saint'', opposite Roger Moore, that he is best remembered. Dean played Teal for almost the entire run of the series, except three instances in early episodes where other actors were used. It was on the third occasion, in an episode called ''Starring The Saint'' which featured Dean in another role, that the producers saw the ideal actor for the part. Dean proved the ideal foil for Moore's Simon Templar, invariably one step behind and allegedly hoping for the day when he could pin something on the Saint. Dean's character however seemed to have a respect for his adversary nonetheless. Dean reprised the role in all but name in ''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'' (1968â ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Barrie (actor)
John Barrie (6 May 191724 March 1980) was an English actor who appeared in a number of television shows and films. He became well known for playing the title character on the police series ''Sergeant Cork'' from 1963–1968 and playing Detective Inspector Hudson on ''Z-Cars'' from 1967–1968. He was born in New Brighton, Cheshire in 1917 and made his screen debut in the 1954 film ''Yankee Pasha''. He retired from acting in the 1970s, and latterly owned a number of grocery shops around York. Selected filmography * '' Yankee Pasha'' (1954) - Hayseed Townsman (uncredited) * ''Victim'' (1961) - Det.Inspector Harris * ''Life for Ruth'' (1962) - Mr. Gordon * ''The Wild and the Willing'' (1962) - Mr. Corbett * ''Lancelot and Guinevere'' (1963) - Sir Bevidere * '' The Oblong Box'' (1969) - Supt. Sloane * ''The File of the Golden Goose'' (1969) - Franklin * ''Patton'' (1970) - Air Vice-Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham * ''Song of Norway'' (1970) - Mr. Hagerup Selected television appearanc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Godfrey James
Godfrey James (16 April 1931 – 29 October 2019) was an English actor. His film appearances include: '' Séance on a Wet Afternoon'' (1964), ''Witchfinder General'' (1968), '' The Oblong Box'' (1969), ''Cry of the Banshee'' (1970), ''The Blood on Satan's Claw'' (1970), ''Villain'' (1971), ''Hide and Seek'' (1972), '' The Land That Time Forgot'' (1974), '' At the Earth's Core'' (1976), '' Camille'' (1984), '' Out of Order'' (1987) and ''Piccolo Grande Amore'' (1993). In the 1970's British police drama '' The Sweeney,'' episode ''Big Spender,'' James appeared as hard man Charley Smith, part of an organized crime family who involve themselves with two dishonest employees of a car park company in an elaborate fraud. His television credits include: '' The Avengers'', ''Dixon of Dock Green'', '' Department S'', ''Z-Cars'', ''UFO'' (the 1970 episode "The Square Triangle"), ''The Onedin Line'', '' Space: 1999'', '' The Lotus Eaters'', ''The Carnforth Practice'', ''Special Branch'', ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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