''Mother Riley Meets the Vampire'', also known as ''Vampire Over London'' or ''My Son, the Vampire'', is a 1952 British

horror comedy Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three types: "black comedy, parody and spo ...

film directed by

John Gilling John Gilling (29 May 1912 – 22 November 1984) was an English film director and screenwriter, born in London. He was known for his horror film, horror movies, especially those he made for Hammer Films, for whom he directed ''The Shadow of the ...

, starring

Arthur Lucan Arthur Lucan (born Arthur Towle; 16 September 1885 – 17 May 1954) was an English actor who performed the drag act Old Mother Riley on stage, radio and screen, with a series of comedy films from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Early life ...

and

Bela Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...

that was filmed at

Nettlefold Studios Walton Studios, previously named Hepworth Studios and Nettlefold Studios, was a film production studio in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England.Old Mother Riley Old Mother Riley is a fictional character portrayed from about 1934 to 1954 by Arthur Lucan and from 1954 to the 1980s by Roy Rolland as part of a British music hall act. Old Mother Riley (full comedy name: Daphne Bluebell Snowdrop Riley) is an ...

film series A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. This article explains what film series are ...

, and did not feature Lucan's wife and business partner

Kitty McShane Kathleen "Kitty" McShane (19 May 1897 – 24 March 1964) was an Irish actress, best known as the wife and acting partner of Arthur Lucan, with whom she appeared in a series of ''Old Mother Riley'' stage shows and films from the 1930s to the ...

, from whom he had separated in 1951. The film was later released in the U.S. in 1963 as ''My Son, the Vampire''.

Plot

Von Housen seeks to dominate the world from his headquarters in London with an army of 50,000 radar-controlled robots that are powered by uranium. He believes himself to be a vampire and has several young women abducted, most recently Julia Loretti, who has a map to a uranium mine that he needs for his robot army. At the moment, Von Housen only has one functional robot which is supposed to be shipped to him but, through a mistake, is shipped to Old Mother Riley's store instead, with Mother Riley's package sent to Von Housen. Seeing Mother Riley's address in the label, Von Housen sends his robot to abduct Mother Riley and take her to his headquarters.

Cast

Old Mother Riley Old Mother Riley is a fictional character portrayed from about 1934 to 1954 by Arthur Lucan and from 1954 to the 1980s by Roy Rolland as part of a British music hall act. Old Mother Riley (full comedy name: Daphne Bluebell Snowdrop Riley) is an ...

as Von Housen *María Mercedes as Julia Loretti *

Dora Bryan Dora May Broadbent, (7 February 1923 – 23 July 2014), known as Dora Bryan, was a British actress of stage, film and television.Richard Wattis Richard Wattis (25 February 1912 – 1 February 1975) was an English actor, co-starring in many popular British comedies of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Richard Cameron Wattis was born on 25 February 1912 in Wednesbury, Staffordshire, the ...

as PC Freddie *

Graham Moffatt Graham Victor Harold Moffatt (6 December 1919 – 2 July 1965) was an English comedic character actor. He is best known for a number of films where he appeared with Will Hay and Moore Marriott as 'Albert': a plump cheekily insolent street-savv ...

as the yokel *Roderick Lovell as Douglas *

David Hurst David Hurst (born Heinrich Theodor Hirsch; 8 May 1926 – 15 September 2019) was a German actor, best known for his role in the film ''Hello Dolly! (film), Hello, Dolly'' as Rudolph the headwaiter. Biography Early life and career Hurst grew ...

as Mugsy *

Judith Furse Judith Furse (4 March 1912 – 29 August 1974) was an English actress. Career A member of the Furse family, her father was Lieutenant-General Sir William Furse and mother Jean Adelaide Furse. Her brother, Roger, became a stage designer and ...

as Freda * Ian Wilson as Hitchcock, the butler *

Hattie Jacques Hattie Jacques (; born Josephine Edwina Jaques; 7 February 1922 – 6 October 1980) was an English comedy actress of stage, radio and screen. She is best known as a regular of the ''Carry On'' films, where she typically played strict, no-non ...

as Mrs. Jenks *

Dandy Nichols Dandy Nichols (born Daisy Sander; 21 May 1907 – 6 February 1986) was an English actress best known for her role as Else Garnett, the long-suffering wife of the character Alf Garnett who was a parody of a working class Tory, in the BBC sit ...

as Mrs. Mott *

Cyril Smith Sir Cyril Richard Smith (28 June 1928 – 3 September 2010) was a prominent British politician who after his death was revealed to have been a prolific serial sex offender against children. A member of the Liberal Party, he was Member of ...

as Mr. Paine, the rent collector *

Lawrence Naismith Laurence Naismith (born Lawrence Johnson; 14 December 1908 – 5 June 1992) was an English actor. He made numerous film and television appearances, including starring roles in the musical films '' Scrooge'' (1970) and the children's ghost fil ...

as police sergeant *

Bill Shine William Shine (born July 4, 1963) is a former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications in the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. He spent most of his career as a producer and executive at Fox News. Most recently, he was c ...

as Mugsy's assistant *

John Le Mesurier John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation co ...

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

officer (uncredited)

Production

On the suggestion of producer Richard Gordon, Bela Lugosi had travelled to the UK to appear in a stage play of ''Dracula'', which failed. He needed money to return to the US. Gordon persuaded fellow producer

George Minter James George Minter, was a British film producer and screenwriter born in Islington, London. He established the company Renown Pictures. Few pictures seem to remain of Minter - though he is pictured at a wedding at https://theminters.co.uk/showmed ...

to use Lugosi in a movie in London. Arthur Lucan had starred in a sequence of Old Mother Riley movies and it was felt that Lugosi's presence in the cast might give it a chance of success outside Britain.John Hamilton, ''The British Independent Horror Film 1951–70'' Hemlock Books 2013 p 16-21 Lugosi was paid $5,000 for his role. The plot was taken from ''

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein ''Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein'' is a 1948 American horror comedy film directed by Charles Barton. The film features Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) who has become partners with Dr. Sandra Mornay (Lenore Aubert), as Dracula requires a "simp ...

''.Tom Weaver, "My Son the Vampire", ''The Astounding B Monster''
accessed 18 March 2014 Gordon says that although John Gilling was credited as producer, George Minter was the real producer. Filming took four weeks. Richard Gordon recalled that there were plans to shoot additional scenes with Lugosi and without Arthur Lucan for the American market, but the idea was never put into motion. Gordon also stated that the film emphasised that Lugosi's character was not a real vampire so that it would get a U certificate allowing children, who were Old Mother Riley's biggest audience, to see it. Lucan's understudy

Roy Rolland Roy Rolland (29 June 1921 – 16 August 1997) was an English comedian and stage actor who was the understudy for Arthur Lucan as Old Mother Riley and who took over the role following the death of Lucan in 1954, playing it until about 1977. Biog ...

stood in for him in the more physical stunts in the film.

Release

''Mother Riley Meets the Vampire'' was released in the United Kingdom in July 1952. The film was not a success in the box-office and was not released in the US until 1963. The American distributors originally planned to retitle the film ''Vampire Over London'', and prints do exist with that title, although it is not clear if they were ever distributed. Later it was to have been changed to ''Carry On, Vampire'' for its American release but

Anglo-Amalgamated Anglo-Amalgamated Productions was a British film production company, run by Nat Cohen and Stuart Levy, which operated from 1945 until roughly 1971 (after which it was absorbed into EMI Films). Low-budget and second features, often produced at M ...

(the producers of the popular British ''Carry On'' film series) successfully sued, with the title finally being changed to ''My Son, the Vampire'' as a tie-in to American comedian Allan Sherman's ''My Son, the Folksinger'' hit comedy record. It featured an introductory sequence with a song by

Allan Sherman Allan may refer to: People * Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker * Allan (footballer, born 1989) (Al ...

called "My Son, the Vampire". Lugosi was offered the lead in a proposed 1953 sequel to the Mother Riley film produced by J. Arthur Rank, on the condition that Lugosi had to travel back to England to appear in it, but he was too ill to travel. Producer Alex Gordon proposed inserting newly filmed Hollywood footage of Lugosi into the 1951 film to create an extended version of it to be titled ''King Robot'', but that project was also abandoned since by 1953, Lugosi's physical appearance failed to match the earlier footage of himself.

Reception

From a contemporary reviews, a reviewer in the ''

Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' dismissed the film, simply declaring it "Stupid, humourless and repulsive."

Notes

References

* Frank J. DelloStritto and Andi Brooks, ''Vampire Over London: Bela Lugosi in Britain'' (Cult Movies Pr; 1st Edition, September 2000) *

External links

* {{John Gilling 1952 films 1952 horror films 1950s comedy horror films Films directed by John Gilling British comedy horror films 1952 comedy films British black-and-white films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films