The Camp on Blood Island – 1958

A Hammer production released by Columbia Pictures
Copyright MCMLVII by Hammer Film Productions Ltd. – Ail rights reserved
MPAA Approved Certificate No. 18790
All characters and incidents portrayed and the names used are fictitious
RCA Sound Recording

Black & White 81 Mins
Megascope

Storyline

Opening title:- “This is not just a story – it is based on the brutal truth”. In Japanese-occupied Malaya, the World War II prisoner-of-war camp on the aptly named Blood Island is governed by the brutally sadistic regime of Colonel Yamamitsu, who has sworn that, if Japan loses the war, then he will slaughter every single prisoner in both the men’s and the neighbouring women’s camps. When Colonel Lambert, the senior officer among the prisoners, learns through their secret communications system that the war is over and the Allies are victorious, it becomes imperative for the truth to be kept from Yamamitsu long enough for the liberating troops to arrive…..

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Crew


Function	Credited	Age at Release	Birth	Death	Age	Hammer Credits
Art Director	John Stoll	44	13 Dec 1913	25 Jun 1990	76	5
Assistant Director	Robert Lynn	39	9 Jun 1918	15 Jan 1982	63	6
Associate Producer	Anthony Nelson-Keys	46	13 Nov 1911	19 Mar 1985	73	41
Camera Operator	Len Harris	41	19 May 1916	21 Feb 1995	78	52
Conducted	John Hollingsworth	41	20 Mar 1916	29 Dec 1963	47	36
Continuity	Doreen Dearnaley	29	20 Nov 1928	3 Feb 1992	63	13
Directed by	Val Guest	46	11 Dec 1911	10 May 2006	94	29
Director of Photography	Jack Asher, BSc	41	29 Mar 1916	1 Apr 1991	75	14
Editor	Bill Lenny	30	1928	2002	74	10
Executive Producer	Michael Carreras	30	21 Dec 1927	19 Apr 1994	66	83
Hairdresser	Henry Montsash	52	17 Sep 1905	29 Sep 1974	69	16
Make-up	Tom Smith	37	15 Aug 1920	3 Apr 2009	88	5
Music Composed by	Gerard Schurmann	33	10 Jan 1924	24 Mar 2020	96	2
Produced by	Anthony Hinds	35	18 Sep 1922	30 Sep 2013	91	84
Production Manager	Arnold Brettell	44	18 Dec 1913	5 Nov 2006	92	1
Property Master	Tom Money	41	1917	1974	57	1
Re-recording	Ken Cameron	42	1 Dec 1915	8 Aug 2000	84	8
Screenplay by	John Manchip White	33	23 Jun 1924	31 Jul 2013	89	2
Screenplay by	Val Guest	46	11 Dec 1911	10 May 2006	94	29
Sound Recordist	Jock May	53	1905	8 Jan 1991	86	29
Supervising Editor	James Needs	38	17 Oct 1919	2003	83	111
Wardrobe	Molly Arbuthnot	49	19 Dec 1908	1 Nov 2001	92	48

Cast


Character	Actor	Age at Release	Birth	Death	Age	Hammer Appearances
Betts	Barry Lowe	33	1925	12 Dec 2011	86	6
Captain Sakamura	Marne Maitland	43	18 Dec 1914	1992	77	8
Colonel Lambert	Andre Morell	48	20 Aug 1909	28 Nov 1978	69	9
Colonel Yamamitsu	Ronald Radd	28	22 Jan 1929	23 Apr 1976	47	2
Cyril Beattie	Walter Fitzgfrald	61	18 May 1896	20 Dec 1976	80	1
Davis	Michael Brill	30	1928	13 Apr 2011	83	2
Dr Keiller	Richard Wordsworth	42	19 Jan 1915	21 Nov 1993	78	4
Driver	Michael Ripper	44	27 Jan 1913	28 Jun 2000	87	34
Dutch	Carl Mohner	36	11 Aug 1921	14 Jan 2004	82	1
Father Anjou	Michael Goodliffe	43	1 Oct 1914	20 Mar 1976	61	5
First Prisoner	Jack McNaughton	52	22 Dec 1905	22 Feb 1990	84	1
Hallam	Max Butterfield	26	10 Jun 1931	1991	59	2
Helen Beattie	Mary Merrall	67	5 Jan 1890	31 Aug 1973	83	1
Interpreter	Wolfe Morris	32	5 Jan 1925	21 Jul 1996	71	5
Jap Officer	Lee Montague	30	16 Oct 1927	Living	93	2
Kate Keiller	Barbara Shelley	26	13 Feb 1932	4 Jan 2021	88	8
Lieutenant Bellamy	Phil Brown	41	30 Apr 1916	9 Feb 2006	89	2
Major Dawes	Edward Underdown	49	3 Dec 1908	15 Dec 1989	81	1
Mala	Lillian Sottane	24	1934	12 Jun 2015	81	2
Nurse	Jan Holden	26	9 May 1931	11 Oct 2005	74	3
Sergeant	Edwin Richfield	36	11 Sep 1921	2 Aug 1990	68	10
Shields	Michael Gwynn	41	30 Nov 1916	29 Jan 1976	59	4
Sick Prisoner	Jacqueline Curtis	20	30 May 1937	Living	83	1
Thornton	Peter Forbes-Robertson	30	16 Jan 1927	7 Dec 1995	68	1
Woman Prisoner	Grace Denbeigh-Russell	68	1890	28 Jan 1969	79	2
Woman Prisoner	Betty Cooper	47	1 May 1910	3 Feb 1979	68	3
Woman Prisoner	Barbara Lee	19	4 Nov 1938	6 Apr 1997	58	1
Woman Prisoner	Anne Ridler	27	8 Feb 1930	2 Feb 2011	80	1

Footnotes

Publicised as Hammer’s 50th film, this graphic depiction of the brutal ill-treatment of POWs by their Japanese captors sparked considerable controversy on its release, coming so soon after the events portrayed.
These days the film is rarely given an airing, probably for similar reasons. Hammer eventually (in 1965) produced a sequel, “The Secret of Blood Island”, which is now equally rarely seen.

Details were complied viewing the actual film.
Source of viewing copy – The Hammer Graveyard Collection