Taste of Fear – 1961

A Hammer Film production released by Columbia Pictures
Copyright MCMLXI by Falcon Film, Limited – All rights reserved MPAA Approved Certificate No. 19519

The characters and incidents portfayed and the name, used herein are fictitious, and any similarity to the name, character, or history of any person is entirely accidental and unintentional

RCA Sound Recording
Produced at Associated British Elstree Studios, England
Black and White 77 mins

Storyline

Confined to a wheelchair following a childhood riding accident, Penny Appleby returns home to the South of France to visit her father, only to be told by her stepmother, Jane, that he has gone away for a few days. That night, she sees a light in the summer house and goes to investigate. To her horror, she is confronted by the corpse of her father, sitting in a chair, his dead eyes staring straight at her!

Watch the trailer on YouTube

Crew


Function	Credited	Age at Release	Birth		Death	Age	Hammer Productions
	Click a link for more info						Credited	Uncredited	Total
Assistant Director	David Tomblin	30	18 Oct 1930		20 Jul 2005	74	1		1
Camera Operator	Desmond Davis	34	24 May 1926		3 Jul 2021	95	1		1
Casting	Stuart Lyons	33	1 Jan 1928		23 Feb 1998	70	8		8
Continuity	Pamela Mann	34	26 Mar 1927		23 Aug 2020	93	1		1
Director	Seth Holt	37	21 Jun 1923		14 Feb 1971	47	3		3
Director of Photography	Douglas Slocombe	48	10 Feb 1913		22 Feb 2016	103	2		2
Editor	Eric Boyd-Perkins	44	1 Jan 1917		4 Dec 2014	97	10		10
Executive Producer	Michael Carreras	33	21 Dec 1927		19 Apr 1994	66	82	3	85
Hair Stylist	Eileen Bates						3		3
Make-up Artist	Basil Newall	36	17 May 1924		Nov 1991	67	2		2
Music Composer	Clifton Parker	56	5 Feb 1905		2 Sep 1989	84	1		1
Musical Supervisor	John Hollingsworth	45	20 Mar 1916		29 Dec 1963	47	36	2	38
Producer	Jimmy Sangster	33	2 Dec 1927		19 Aug 2011	83	65	2	67
Production Designer	Bernard Robinson	48	28 Jul 1912		2 Mar 1970	57	46	3	49
Production Manager	Bill Hill	39	1 Jun 1921			101	3		3
Sound Editor	James Groom	36	1 Jan 1925		17 May 2016	91	13	3	16
Sound Recordist	E. Mason	32	26 Nov 1928	26.11.1928		94	1		1
Sound Recordist	Len Shilton	50	30 Apr 1910		Jun 1985	75	4	1	5
Sound Recordist	Les Hammond	52	6 Jun 1908				8		8
Supervising Editor	James Needs	41	17 Oct 1919		4 Feb 2003	83	110	1	111
Wardrobe Mistress	Dora Lloyd						2		2
Writer	Jimmy Sangster	33	2 Dec 1927		19 Aug 2011	83	65	2	67
Uncredited
Art Director	Thomas Goswell	70	28 Mar 1891					5	5
Assistant Art Director	Bill Constable							1	1
Assistant Editor	Jim Crome	21	22 Oct 1939			82		1	1
Camera Op: 2nd Unit	Len Harris	44	19 May 1916		21 Feb 1995	78	52	1	53
Camera: Second Unit	Harry Oakes	40	16 Jan 1921		11 Dec 2012	91		53	53
Clapper Loader	Alan McDonald	23	1938			84		14	14
Clapper Loader	Ray Andrew	21	1940			82		3	3
Plainclothes Sergeant	Frederick Rawlings	45	19 Aug 1915		2003	87	1	3	4
Publicist	Colin Reid							6	6
Publicity Director	Dennison Thornton	51	23 Aug 1909		1977	67		9	9
Second Ast. Director	Terry Lens	27	1 Aug 1933		2008	74		2	2
Special Effects	Les Bowie	47	10 Nov 1913		27 Jan 1979	65	32	11	43
Special Effects Ast.	Ian Scoones	21	20 Feb 1940		20 Jan 2010	69	13	9	22
Still Photographer	George Higgins							3	3
Underwater Camera	Egil S. Woxholt	34	21 May 1926		Apr 1991	64		1	1
Underwater Camera	John Jordan	35	12 Apr 1925		16 May 1969	44		1	1

Cast


Character	Actor	Age at Release	Birth		Death	Age	Hammer Productions
	Click a link for more info						Credited	Uncredited	Total
Bob	Ronald Lewis	32	11 Dec 1928		11 Jan 1982	53	3		3
Dr Gerard	Christopher Lee	38	27 May 1922		7 Jun 2015	93	22		22
Inspector Legrand	John Serret	44	1917		1997	80	1		1
Jane Appleby	Ann Todd	54	24 Jan 1907		6 May 1993	86	1		1
Marie	Anne Blake	52	4 Nov 1908		27 Jan 2000	91	3		3
Mr Appleby	Fred Johnson	61	6 Aug 1899		4 Dec 1971	72	6	2	8
Penny Appleby	Susan Strasberg	22	22 May 1938		21 Jan 1999	60	1		1
Spratt	Leonard Sachs	51	26 Sep 1909		15 Jun 1990	80	2		2
Uncredited
Gendarme	Bernard Browne							1	1
Plainclothes Officer	Frederick Schrecker	69	10 Jan 1892		13 Jul 1976	84		1	1
Plainclothes Officer	Heinz Brenard	37	22 Dec 1923		18 Dec 1994	70		1	1
Plainclothes Officer	Brian Jackson	29	6 Apr 1931		2 Jul 2022	91		1	1
Plainclothes Sgt.	Richard Klee	30	14 Aug 1930		16 Aug 1994	64		1	1
Policeman	Gordon Sterne	38	16 Jan 1923		4 Apr 2017	94		1	1
Policeman	Rodney Burke	28	13 Jul 1932	13.07.1932		90		4	4
Swiss Air Hostess	Madame Lobegue							1	1

Production


FILMING BEGAN	24 October 1960
UK RELEASE	4 April 1961
STUDIO	Associated British Elstree Studios, Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England
LOCATION	Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England

Footnotes

This was the first of Hammer’s “just who is who and what on earth is really going on?” psychological thrillers, which they made as an alternative to their more visceral horror output.

Christopher Lee, as in “The Man Who Could Cheat Death” (1959), plays a character called Doctor Gerard. The main difference is that in this film he has developed an outrageous French accent!

Actor Ronald Lewis appeared for Hammer again as the eponymous “Brigand of Kandahar” (1965).

Underwater Cameraman, John Jordan, while filming You Only Live Twice (1967), was leaning out of a helicopter to get a better shot. Another helicopter was caught in a gust of wind and was blown closer. The rotor blade cut Johnny’s leg which had to be amputated. Three years later, he was filming Catch-22 (1970) over the Gulf of Mexico when another plane passed close by. He was sucked out of the open doorway and fell 2,000 feet to his death. He had always refused to wear a safety harness and with his artificial leg wasn’t as agile as he used to be.

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