The First Leading Lady of British Horror

by Kimberly Lindbergs | November 27, 2009

Categories | British Cinema, Actresses, Hammer Horror, Barbara Shelley, Hammer Glamour, Terence Fisher

Barbara Shelley in Quatermass and the Pit (1967)

Like many of my fellow Americans I’m enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday so I’ve been distracted by family, good food and drink. But I wanted to take a moment to shine a spotlight on The First Leading Lady of British Horror, Barbara Shelley.

Barbara starred in no less than eight Hammer films that I’m aware of including Mantrap (1953), The Camp on Blood Island (1958), Shadow of the Cat (1961), The Gorgon (1964), The Secret of Blood Island (1964) Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966) and Quatermass and the Pit (1967). She’s easily one of the most talented actresses that worked with the studio during the ’60s but her name isn’t as well known as many of her female costars. Her earthy beauty, seductive voice, natural grace and impressive acting abilities made her standout among her contemporaries and it’s surprising that she didn’t become a bigger and better known star. She was terrific in the horror films she made for Hammer as well as other studios which earned her the title of “The First Leading Lady of British Horror.” And she also appeared in some of Britain’s best television shows such as Danger Man, The Avengers, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Dr. Who but it’s a shame that she’s not better known outside of the UK.

My favorite Barbara Shelley performance can be found in the 1966 Hammer film Dracula: Prince of Darkness. In the movie Barbara plays a prim and proper British lady who turns into a bloodthirsty vampire. In an effort to keep the Hammer Glamour activities alive and well here at Cinebeats I thought I’d repost a link to my lengthy appreciation of Barbara’s standout performance in the film that I wrote back in 2007 called The Lady Is a Vamp.

Barbara Shelley in . . .
Top: The Secret of Blood Island (1964)/Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)
Bottom: Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966)/Quatermass and the Pit (1967)

Barbara Shelley is still alive and well but she retired from acting in the late ’80s. She seemed rather reserved in the recent Hammer Glamour book, but most recently she participated in the DVD commentary for the British horror film Ghost Story which I wrote about earlier this month. I wish Barbara Shelley would follow in Raquel Welch’s footsteps and consider writing her own memoirs. During her lengthy acting career Barbara appeared in films with such celebrated actors as Gloria Swanson and George Sanders. She also worked with other important genre directors like Val Guest and Sergio Corbucci. During her years with Hammer studio Barbara worked almost exclusively with director Terence Fisher and appeared in films with popular Hammer stars Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing so I’m sure her insights and commentary on “The Studio That Dripped Blood” would prove invaluable to horror fans.

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Ghost Story (1974) Comes to DVD

by Kimberly Lindbergs | November 6, 2009

Categories | News, Horror, British Cinema, Marianne Faithfull, Barbara Shelley

Marianne Faithfull

Horror film lovers and Marianne Faithfull fans can rejoice! Stephen Weeks’ spooky British thriller Ghost Story (1974) is finally coming to DVD on November 16th from Nucleus Films in the UK. Unfortunately it will only be available in Britain as a Region 2 PAL disc but if you happen to own an all-region DVD player like myself, I recommend getting yourself a copy. Hopefully the film will be released in the US soon.

The new DVD is loaded with terrific extras including an all-new 60 minute featurette that contains interviews with director Stephen Weeks, composer Ron Geesin, actors Larry Dann, Murray Melvin and the fabulous British horror icon Barbara Shelley. Other extras include the film’s original theatrical trailer, an alternate opening credit sequence and 7 of Stephen Weeks’s previously unseen early short films. The film is presented in widescreen for the first time and undoubtedly looks much better than the awful VHS print that I watched when I reviewed the film two years ago.

My only complaint is where is the interview with Marianne Faithfull? I’d love to see what she had to say about the film so it’s a shame that Nucleus Films wasn’t able to convince Marianne to share her thoughts about the production.

It seems like I’ve spent an incredible amount of time focused on Marianne Faithfull here at Cinebeats in the past year but I’m not the only person with Marianne on my mind. Britain’s Q Magazine recently named Marianne the “Icon of the Year” during their annual awards ceremony in October. She’s also been doing a lot of interviews with the British press. I always enjoy reading what Marianne Faithfull has to say because she’s one of the few women in show business who has aged gracefully and is still making great records at age 65.

Last but not least, here are a few links that I thought other Faithfull fans might enjoy including a link to my review of Ghost Story written in 2007.

- My review of Stephen Weeks’ Ghost Story (1974)
- Official Nucleus Films site where you can order the DVD
- Marianne Faithfull is Q Magazine’s Icon of the Year
- A recent Interview with Marianne Faithfull

* Nov. 6th Update: Nucleus Films was kind enough to contact me and let me know that they tried to get in touch with Marianne Faithfull but weren’t able to. I suspected as much but I hope Marianne realizes how wonderful she was in the film and is able to do some kind of promotional interview about Ghost Story once the DVD is released.

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The Eyes Have It

by Kimberly Lindbergs | December 10, 2008

Categories | Rants & Raves, Actresses, Elizabeth Taylor, Pamela Franklin, Brigitte Bardot, Claudia Cardinale, Julie Christie, Carroll Baker, Isabelle Adjani, Delphine Seyrig, Ursula Andress, Barbara Shelley, Barbara Steele, Ingrid Pitt, Marisa Mell, Florinda Bolkan, Bette Davis, Ava Gardner, Gene Tierney, Ann-Margret, Natalie Wood, Monica Vitti, Meiko Kaji, Anna Karina, Catherine Deneuve, Edwige Fenech

My blogging buddy Peter Nellhaus over at Coffee, Coffee and more Coffee has asked me to contribute my own list of “20 Favorite Actresses” to a new film meme making the rounds of the blogosphere. Frankly I was just going to blow him off and ignore his request because these meme things tend to make me nuts but Peter is too nice a guy to ignore. I tried to throw caution to the wind and just quickly put together a list of 20 of my favorite actresses, but as usual I spent way too much time thinking about this and managed to give myself a headache in the process. This meme madness must end! But at least it gave me an excuse to post a bunch of fabulous photos of some of my favorite actresses.

Naturally I ignored the rules and decided to post a list of 23 40 favorite actresses instead of limiting myself to only 20. My list could have been even longer and I’m sure I’ll regret forgetting to include a few more favorites but over time I felt the need to keep adding to the list and finally just doubled the size. Some of these talented and lovely women were never offered the better roles they so richly deserved, while others are acclaimed Academy Award winners and celebrated Hollywood legends. They do have a couple of things in common though; they’ve appeared in a lot of great movies and I never get tired of watching them!

So without further blabbering, here are 20 40 Women I Love Watching . . .

Elizabeth Taylor

Monica Vitti

Sarah Miles

Julie Christie

Barbara Steele

Charlotte Rampling

Kim Novak

Anna Karina

Carroll Baker

Meiko Kaji

Catherine Deneuve

Isabelle Adjani

Brigitte Bardot

Natalie Wood

Deborah Kerr

Sophia Loren

Gene Tierney

Glenda Jackson

Ava Gardner

Ursula Andress

Delphine Seyrig

Ann-Margret

Edwige Fenech

Ingrid Pitt

Judy Garland

Florinda Bolkan

Marisa Mell

Katharine Hepburn

Soledad Miranda

Barbara Shelley

< a href="http://cinebeats.blogsome.com/category/bette-davis/">Bette Davis

Pamela Franklin

Barbra Streisand

Claudia Cardinale

Anita Ekberg

Paula Prentiss

Geneviève Bujold

Marlene Clark

Diana Rigg

Jenny Agutter

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Stephen Weeks’ Ghost Story (1974)

by Kimberly Lindbergs | November 18, 2007

Categories | Movie Reviews, Horror, British Cinema, Marianne Faithfull, Barbara Shelley

Marianne Faithfull in Ghost Story (1974)

Ghost Story (aka Madhouse Mansion) is an interesting low-budget independent horror film made in 1974 by the British director Stephen Weeks. The film tells the story of a small group of privileged young men in the 1930s that gather together for a weekend in the country at a sprawling British estate. As soon as they arrive, personality clashes, petty arguments and the gloomy environment start to wear on everyone’s nerves. To make matters worse, the estate’s owner (Murray Melvin) neglects to mention that the place might be haunted. When evening comes one of the men (Larry Dann) begins having strange dreams and visions involving a creepy doll and the ghost of a beautiful young woman (Marianne Faithfull). As the story progresses the tenuous ties that bind the men together begin to unravel and the strange visions become more and more vivid until they threaten to drive one of the men mad.

The film suffers from its low-budget, Stephen Weeks’ somewhat lackluster direction and a distracting score by composer Ron Geesin who some viewers might know from his work with Pink Floyd and Roger Waters. Weeks is capable of creating an unsettling mood, but he seems to have trouble sustaining it for any substantial period of time.

Besides its numerous problems, I still think Ghost Story is an entertaining supernatural thriller with a fascinating premise. It contains some truly eerie moments and dabbles in all sorts of interesting topics including incest, madness and the arcane arts but unfortunately it never fully explores any of them.

Top: Larry Dann and Murray Melvin
Bottom: Vivian Mackerall and Leigh Lawson

My favorite thing about Ghost Story was Marianne Faithfull’s wonderful performance as a ghostly apparition. I adore Marianne Faithfull and she’s perfectly cast here as the tortured, yet lovely and effervescent Sophy. Marianne does a wonderful job of injecting the film with some much needed vitality and charm. The rest of the cast is good but they often seem uncommitted to the material. The talented actress and Hammer regular Barbara Shelley also has a small role as the matron of a madhouse but she’s never given enough screen time.

Marianne Faithfull had just overcome a rough patch in her personal life when she made Ghost Story. After her relationship with Mick Jagger ended she lost custody of her son and became addicted to heroin. Thankfully she managed to pull herself together with the help of some friends and started acting again in television. Before making Ghost Story Marianne had appeared in numerous stage productions and had memorable roles in films like Made in U.S.A. (Jean-Luc Godard; 1960), I’ll Never Forget What’s ‘is Name (Michael Winner; 1967) and The Girl on a Motorcycle (Jack Cardiff; 1968).

Director Stephen Weeks had only made a few films before making Ghost Story in 1974, including the entertaining Amicus production I, Monster (1971), which starred Christopher Lee and was based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic horror novel Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. The independently made Ghost Story has a much more adult script, but it lacks the raw energy found in I, Monster. Both of the director’s horror films are well worth seeking out if you enjoy British thrillers with a gothic sensibility and period setting.

Unfortunately Ghost Story is only available on video at the moment and the print seems damaged and distorted. I, Monster is available on DVD from Image Entertainment, but the quality isn’t much better. Both films would really benefit from being restored and I’m sure I would enjoy them more if I was able to see them under better circumstances. Hopefully that will happen in the future.

Recommended Link:
- The Official Website of Marianne Faithfull

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The Lady is a Vamp!

by Kimberly Lindbergs | July 7, 2007

Categories | Actresses, Blogathons, Hammer Horror, Barbara Shelley, Hammer Glamour, Terence Fisher

Hammer Studios created some of the greatest horror films ever made, but many critics wouldn’t consider the acting in them noteworthy and that’s a shame. Believe me when I say that you can find plenty of impressive performances in many of Hammer’s horror films if you go looking for them and one of my favorites is Barbara Shelley’s performance as Helen in Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966).

Dracula: Prince of Darkness was Terence Fisher’s incredibly creepy and effective sequel to Hammer’s Dracula (a.k.a. The Horror of Dracula, 1958). It begins when a group of British travelers find themselves lost in the Carpathian Alps and end up at an eerie castle that is home to Dracula. One of these travelers is the extremely prim and proper Helen as played by the lovely Barbara Shelley. Helen has embarked on a trip to Romania in order to experience the world and discover new things but she’s much too worried about keeping up appearances to relax and enjoy her trip.

Helen senses something isn’t right the minute she sets foot on Romanian soil and when she finally meets her fate in the arms of Christopher Lee it’s not too surprising. What’s impressive about Barbara Shelley’s noteworthy performance is the way she transforms from the uptight Helen into a sexy and lustful member of the undead. Shelley is one of the greatest female vampires to ever appear on screen and she delivers a screen stealing performance in Dracula: Prince of Darkness that leaves the rest of the cast in the dust.

Her female vampire has no scruples and doesn’t hesitate to try and seduce Diana (Suzan Farmer), the other female in the group who she seems to be harbouring secret feelings for, much to Count Dracula’s distress. When Helen’s not trying to bite another woman on the neck she’s busy going after the woman’s husband, her brother-in-law Charles (Francis Matthews), in some of the creepiest bloodsucking scenes ever conjured up by Hammer.

I first saw Dracula: Prince of Darkness when I was only about 10 or 11 years old and I’ve never forgotten Barbara Shelley’s incredible performance as Helen. Her first onscreen entrance after being turned into a vampire continues to give me chills and I still have nightmares from watching Helen beg Diana to open her bedroom window so she can feast on her innocent neck. And who can forget Barbara Shelley’s death scene? It takes a small army of monks to constrain her and Barbara Shelley’s final screams of agony are still unnerving today.

Watching Dracula: Prince of Darkness when I was a kid was an extremely memorable experience because the movie scared me silly and Barbara Shelley made me realize that it’s important to pay attention to the lesser credited actors in any production. They might secretly be the real stars of the film. I still consider Shelley’s performance as Helen to be one of the greatest moments in the history of Hammer horror. Before I saw Barbara’s unforgettable turn as Helen I had assumed that no one could upstage the iconic Christopher Lee, but I was wrong. Shelley not only upstages Lee, she literally wipes the set with the entire cast.

Barbara Shelley has appeared in many good films including Cat Girl (1957), Village of the Damned (1960), The Gorgon (1964) and Quatermass and the Pit (1967). She’s undoubtedly one of Britain’s greatest “Scream Queens” and she will always be one of my favorite actresses thanks to her amazing performance as Helen in Dracula: Prince of Darkness, which also happens to be one of the finest sequels ever made.

In an issue of the much missed magazine Hammer Horror there is an excellent article about the making of Dracula: Prince of Darkness with this terrific anecdote about the great Barbara Shelley:

“3rd May 1965 was spent shooting Ludwig’s cell on stage 4, where Barbara Shelley’s vampirised Helen would be staked on the table. In the middle of one take, Shelley struggled so violently that she managed to swallow one of her stuck-on fangs. There was no replacement available. Not wishing to hold up shooting for a day, Shelley swallowed salt water until she regurgitated the offending canine.”

That is the act of a truly dedicated performer! This is my contribution to The Performance That Changed Your Life Blog-a-thon.

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Hammer Thrills & Chills

by Kimberly Lindbergs | May 24, 2006

Categories | News, British Cinema, Hammer Horror, Amicus Productions, Freddie Francis, Peter Cushing, Barbara Shelley, Oliver Reed, Bette Davis, Terence Fisher

The official Hammer Films website has been bustling with activity lately. As a long time lover of Hammer films, it’s been nice to see the site alive and kicking again. You can also find Hammer news at their new Myspace page.

Hammer has recently announced the release of lots of new offical movie related merchandise such as a nice looking t-shirt line available from Razamataz.com as well as upcoming board games, poker chips and playing cards. Besides releasing new merchandise, Hammer has also been busy signing a deal to make Majestic Films (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Icon Entertainment) its exclusive sales agent. What does that mean for Hammer fans? According to the Hammer Films website:

“In recent years Hammer has licensed a package of 20 leading video and DVD titles in a number of major territories. Majestic will continue this work, packaging other titles from the Hammer catalogue and targeting the hitherto unsold territories.”

Christopher Lee and Stephanie Beacham in Dracula A.D. 1972
Hopefully this new deal with Majestic will lead to a lot more Hammer films being released on DVD in the next few years. Late last year Hammer fans in the US were rewarded with the release of the very groovy Dracula A.D. 1972 on DVD and the wonderful Hammer Horror Series DVD Collection which featured some of Hammer’s best films including Brides of Dracula, Curse of the Werewolf, Phantom of the Opera, Paranoiac, Nightmare, Kiss of the Vampire, Night Creatures and The Evil of Frankenstein. While the quality of the Universal DVD release left a lot to be desired and came with no bonus materials, it was still a great treat for Hammer fans since many of the movies in the set had never been officially released on DVD in the US before.

The most recent Hammer DVD has been the nice widescreen release of The Anniversary from Anchor Bay. This unusual black comedy from Hammer stars the great Bette Davis in one of her most interesting roles and comes with some really nice bonus materials such as Audio Commentary with Director Roy Ward Baker, the original Trailer & TV Spot, Poster & Still Gallery and Talent Bios. Hopefully Anchor Bay will continue to release more Hammer films as part of their ongoing Hammer Collection series.

Next week on May 30th, Hammer fans can expect the release of the Hammer Film Noir Collector’s Set, Vol. 1-3. This nice collection from VCI Entertainment contains six rarely seen Hammer crime films made during the 1950s including Bad Blonde, Man Bait, Stolen Face, Blackout, The Gambler and the Lady and Heat Wave. Many of them are directed by the talented Terence Fisher who is most well known as the man behind some of Hammer’s best horror films. It’s nice to see his non-horror work for Hammer getting some attention now.

Next Month Hammer fans in Southern California can look forward to the exciting three-week retrospective The Golden Age of British Horror: 1955-1975 taking place at the Egyptian theatre in Los Angeles June 8-25th. This impressive event will feature screenings of many great Hammer horror films sourced from brand new prints including films still not offically available on DVD in the US such as The Gorgon, The Stranglers of Bombay, The Nanny, The Quatermass Xperiment and The Two Faces of Dr Jekyll. Other Hammer films playing in the festival include The Revenge of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula and Taste the Blood of Dracula. On June 17 the festival will even hold a Memorial Tribute to the recently deceased director Val Guest (1911-2006) who made many great films for Hammer.

The other two big British horror studios of the same era (Amicus & Tigon) will also be well represented at the festival. Some terrific films will be shown from both studios including The Skull (Amicus) and Corruption (Tigon). Both films star the late great horror legend Peter Cushing and have never been released on DVD. I wish I could move to Los Angeles for a month just to attend this incredible event!

Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in The Gorgon
British horror fans might be able to look forward to future DVD releases of the movies playing at the festival. There are many great Hammer films besides the titles I mentioned above that have still not gotten offical DVD releases yet and that’s a real shame. Many of these movies are made by great British directors like Terence Fisher, Freddie Francis, Joseph Losey and Seth Holt. These films also feature stellar performances from many talented actors such as Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Bette Davis, Oliver Reed, Michael Ripper, Dennis Price and Barbara Shelley. If The Golden Age of British Horror festival is a success it might encourage studios like Sony and Anchor Bay to finally release many of these films. If you’re a local, don’t miss it!

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