''Hell is Empty'' is a 1967 British crime film. It began filming in 1965 under the direction of

Bernard Knowles Bernard Knowles (20 February 1900 – 12 February 1975) 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 H ...

. Filming was suspended and later resumed by John Ainsworth after Martine Carol's death. It also starred Anthony Steel,

Shirley Anne Field Shirley Anne Field (born Shirley Broomfield; 27 June 1938) is an English actress who has performed on stage, film and television since 1955, prominent during the British New Wave. Early life Broomfield was born in Forest Gate, Essex (now in ...

and

James Robertson Justice James Robertson Justice (15 June 1907 – 2 July 1975) was a British actor. He is best remembered for portraying pompous authority figures in comedies including each of the seven films in the '' Doctor'' series. He also co-starred with Greg ...

Premise

On the run from the police, thieves stumble upon an abandoned mansion on a deserted island.

Cast

* Martine Carol as Martine Grant * Anthony Steel as Major Morton *

as Angus McGee *

as Shirley McGee *

Isa Miranda Isa Miranda (born Ines Isabella Sampietro; 5 July 1909 – 8 July 1982) was an Italian actress with an international film career. Biography Miranda was born Ines Isabella Sampietro in Milan, the daughter of atreet car conductor in Mian. When s ...

as Isa Grant *

Carl Möhner Carl Martin Rudolf Möhner (11 August 1921 – 14 January 2005) was an Austrian film actor, director, screenwriter and painter. He appeared in more than 40 films between 1949 and 1976. His most famous roles were as Jo "le Suédois" in the 19 ...

as Carl Schultz *

Robert Rietti Robert Rietti, (born Lucio Rietti; 8 February 1923 – 3 April 2015), was an actor, and Oscar-nominated director of Anglo-Italian descent. With over 200 credits to his name, he had a highly prolific career in the American, British and Ita ...

as Robert Grant *

Jess Conrad Jess Conrad (born Gerald Arthur James; 24 February 1936) is an English stage and screen actor and singer. As a boy he was nicknamed "Jesse" after American outlaw Jesse James; as there was already an actor named "Gerald James" in Actors' Equity, a ...

as Jess Shepherd * Anthony Dawson as Paul Grant *

Catherine Schell Catherine Schell (born Katherina ''Freiin'' Schell von Bauschlott, 17 July 1944) is a Hungarian-born actress who came to prominence in British film and television productions from the 1960s. Her notable roles include the Bond girl Nancy in ''O ...

as Catherine Grant (as Catherine von Schell) *

Irene von Meyendorff Irene von Meyendorff (6 June 1916 – 28 September 2001) was a Russian-born German-British actress. Biography Irene von Meyendorff was of Baltic German origin, born in 1916 in Tallinn (then Reval, Russia), Estonia as the eldest child of a German ...

as Helen McGee * Patricia Viterbo as Patricia * Anna Gaël as Anna *

Eugene Deckers Eugene Francis Deckers (22 October 1917, in Antwerp – 1977, in Paris, France) was a Belgian actor. Career After establishing himself on the British stage, Deckers made his first English language film appearance in 1946. Formerly a romantic l ...

as Counsel *

Sheila Burrell Sheila Mary Burrell (9 May 1922 – 19 July 2011) was a British actress. A cousin of Laurence Olivier, she was born in Blackheath, London, the daughter of a salesman. She attended St John's, Bexhill-on-Sea and the Webber Douglas Academy of Dram ...

as Judge

Production

The film was made by a new company, Absorbing Films, which had been set up by Michael Eaton-Eland, a prominent London figure, 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. It was one of a number of films Steel made in Europe. 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. Carol died of a heart attack in February 1967. Production resumed under another director.

Reception

The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' criticised its "nonsensical story".HELL IS EMPTY Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 37, Iss. 432, (Jan 1, 1970): 226.

References

Bibliography

* Chibnall, Steve & Murphy, Robert. ''British Crime Cinema''. Routledge, 2005.

External links

*
Hell is Empty
at Letterbox DVD
''Hell is Empty''
at BFI 1967 films Films directed by Bernard Knowles British crime films 1960s crime films Films set in Prague Films shot in Prague 1960s English-language films 1960s British films {{1960s-UK-film-stub