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 Credits |
Assistant Director | David Tomblin | 30 | 18 Oct 1930 | 20 Jul 2005 | 74 | 1 |
Camera Operator | Desmond Davis | 34 | 24 May 1926 | Living | 94 | 1 |
Casting | Stuart Lyons | 33 | 1928 | 23 Feb 1998 | 70 | 8 |
Continuity | Pamela Mann | 33 | 26 Mar 1927 | Living | 93 | 1 |
Directed by | Seth Holt | 37 | 21 Jun 1923 | 14 Feb 1971 | 47 | 3 |
Director of Photography | Douglas Slocombe | 47 | 10 Feb 1913 | 22 Feb 2016 | 103 | 2 |
Editor | Eric Boyd-Perkins | 44 | 1917 | 4 Dec 2014 | 97 | 10 |
Executive Producer | Michael Carreras | 33 | 21 Dec 1927 | 19 Apr 1994 | 66 | 83 |
Hair Stylist | Eileen Bates | 3 | ||||
Make-up Artist | Basil Newall | 36 | 17 May 1924 | 1 Nov 1991 | 67 | 2 |
Music Composed by | Clifton Parker | 55 | 5 Feb 1905 | 2 Sep 1989 | 84 | 1 |
Musical Supervisor | John Hollingsworth | 44 | 20 Mar 1916 | 29 Dec 1963 | 47 | 36 |
Producer | Jimmy Sangster | 33 | 2 Dec 1927 | 19 Aug 2011 | 83 | 65 |
Production Designer | Bernard Robinson | 48 | 28 Jul 1912 | 2 Mar 1970 | 57 | 46 |
Production Manager | Bill Hill | 39 | 1 Jun 1921 | Living | 99 | 3 |
Sound Editor | James Groom | 36 | 1925 | 17 May 2016 | 91 | 9 |
Sound Recordist | E. Mason | 1 | ||||
Sound Recordist | Len Shilton | 50 | 30 Apr 1910 | 1 Jun 1985 | 75 | 4 |
Sound Recordist | Les Hammond | 52 | 1 Jun 1908 | 8 | ||
Supervising Editor | James Needs | 41 | 17 Oct 1919 | 2003 | 83 | 111 |
Wardrobe Mistress | Dora Lloyd | 2 | ||||
Writer | Jimmy Sangster | 33 | 2 Dec 1927 | 19 Aug 2011 | 83 | 65 |
Cast
Character | Actor | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Appearances |
Bob | Ronald Lewis | 32 | 11 Dec 1928 | 11 Jan 1982 | 53 | 3 |
Dr Gerard | Christopher Lee | 38 | 27 May 1922 | 7 Jun 2015 | 93 | 22 |
Inspector Legrand | John Serret | 44 | 1917 | 1997 | 80 | 1 |
Jane Appleby | Ann Todd | 51 | 24 Jan 1909 | 6 May 1993 | 84 | 1 |
Marie | Anne Blake | 52 | 4 Nov 1908 | 27 Jan 2000 | 91 | 3 |
Mr Appleby | Fred Johnson | 61 | 6 Aug 1899 | 4 Dec 1971 | 72 | 6 |
Penny Appleby | Susan Strasberg | 22 | 22 May 1938 | 2 Jan 1999 | 60 | 1 |
Spratt | Leonard Sachs | 51 | 26 Sep 1909 | 15 Jun 1990 | 80 | 2 |
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).
Details were complied viewing the actual film.
Source of viewing copy – The Hammer Graveyard Collection