General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast

38 - Nigel Kneale's - The Quatermass Xperiment / AKA The Creeping Unknown


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Tonight, we complete the Hammer Quatermass trilogy (albeit out of order) with The Quatermass Xperiment (a.k.a. The Creeping Unknown in the US) is a 1955 British science fiction horror film from Hammer Film Productions, based on the 1953 BBC Television serial written by Nigel Kneale. Produced by Anthony Hinds, one of the of 37 films he made for Hammer. Hinds wrote a number of films under the  pseudonym 'John Elder' which he adopted after Her couldn't afford a screenwriter for The Curse of the Werewolf). It is directed by Val Guest, writer and director of the Cannon and Ball vehicle, Boys in Blue and Confessions of a Window Cleaner. (and of course director of Quatermass 2) The film stars Oscar Nominee, Brian Donlevy in his fist of 2 portrayals as the eponymous Professor Bernard Quatermass. 

Richard Wordsworth, Who feature as a sinister taxidermist with James Stewart in Alfred Hitchcock's second version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, as well as appearing in British TV dramas such as Huntingtower and The Tripods, and notablble in other Hammer films - The Revenge of Frankenstein and The Curse of the Werewolf, plays the tormented astronaut Carroon. 

Jack Warner plays Inspector Lomax (insanely famous in his time as the titular Dixon of Dock Green appearing in 432 episodes on tv from 1955 to 1976) 

Margia Dean plays Judith Carroon. Dean only passed away, sadly, this June. 

We also briefly see Thora Hird in one scene as 'Rosie'. Thora lived so long and did achieved so much, she was the subject of 'This is your Life' Twice. The Quatermass Experiment was originally a six-part TV serial broadcast by BBC Television in 1953. It was an enormous success with critics and audiences alike, later described by film historian Robert Simpson as "event television, emptying the streets and pubs". 

Among its viewers was the forementioned Hammer Films producer, Anthony Hinds, who was immediately keen to buy the rights for a film version. Nigel Kneale also saw the potential for a film adaptation and, at his urging, the BBC touted the scripts around a number of producers. Kneale met with Sidney Gilliat to discuss the scripts but Gilliat was reluctant to buy the rights as he felt any film adaptation would inevitably receive an 'X' Certificate from the British Board of Film Censors. Hammer's offer met some resistance within the BBC, with one executive expressing reservations that The Quatermass Experiment was not suitable material for the company, but the rights were nevertheless sold for an advance of £500. 

Kneale was a BBC employee at the time, which meant that his scripts were owned entirely by the BBC. He received no extra payment for the sale of the film rights. This became a matter of some resentment on Kneale's part, and when his BBC contract came up for renewal he demanded and secured control over any future film rights for his work. Kneale remained bitter over the affair until the BBC made an ex-gratia payment of £3,000 to him in 1967, in recognition of his creation of Quatermass.  


We also include the concept Album 'Victor Caroon', available on Soundcloud here:


https://soundcloud.com/victor-caroon







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General Witchfinders: The British Horror PodcastBy Ross, Jon & James | Exploring Cult British Horror Films, TV & Books

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