The Curse of the Werewolf – 1961

A Hammer Film production released by Universal Pictures
Copyright MCMLXI by Universal Pictures Company Inc. – All rights reserved
MPAA Approved Certificate
The characters and incidents portrayed and the names used herein are fictitious and any similarity to the names characters or history of any person is entirely accidental and unintentional

RCA Sound Recording
Produced at Bray Studios England
Technicolor 88 mins

Storyline

Spain: A wandering beggar falls foul of the sadistic Marques Siniestro and is flung into a dungeon, where he remains for years, virtually forgotten. Then a young mute servant girl also upsets the Marques and, to teach her a lesson, she is put in the cell with the beggar, who rapes her and promptly dies. The girl kills the Marques and escapes, but now she is pregnant by the beggar. It seems that her baby will be born on Christmas Day and local legend has it that there is only one fate in store for an unwanted child conceived in such circumstances and born on the Lord’s birthday…

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Crew


Function	Credited	Age at Release	Birth		Death	Age	Hammer Productions
	click a link for more info						Credited	Uncredited	Total
Art Director	Don Mingaye	32	1 Jan 1929		8 Nov 2017	88	26	14	40
Associate Producer	Anthony Nelson-Keys	49	13 Nov 1911		19 Mar 1985	73	41		41
Ast. Director	John Peverall	30	1 Jan 1931		3 Oct 2009	78	21		21
Based on the novel by	Guy Endore	60	4 Jul 1900		12 Feb 1970	69	1		1
Camera Operator	Len Harris	44	19 May 1916		21 Feb 1995	78	52	1	53
Casting	Stuart Lyons	33	1 Jan 1928		23 Feb 1998	70	8		8
Continuity	Tilly Day	58	1903		1994	91	13	1	14
Director	Terence Fisher	57	23 Feb 1904		18 Jun 1980	76	31		31
Director of Photog.	Arthur Grant BSc	46	1915		1972	56	30		30
Editor	Alfred Cox	36	1 Jan 1925		1 Jan 2005	80	21	4	25
Executive Producer	Michael Carreras	33	21 Dec 1927		19 Apr 1994	66	82	3	85
Hair Stylist	Frieda Steiger	57	29 Dec 1903		19 Aug 1993		28		28
Make-up Artist	Roy Ashton	52	16 Apr 1909		10 Jan 1995	85	36	4	40
Music Composed by	Benjamin Frankel	55	31 Jan 1906		12 Feb 1973	67	3		3
Producer	Anthony Hinds	38	18 Sep 1922		30 Sep 2013	91	84	1	85
Production Designer	Bernard Robinson	48	28 Jul 1912		2 Mar 1970	57	46	3	49
Production Manager	Clifford Parkes	34	1927		2014	87	12		12
Screenplay	Anthony Hinds	38	18 Sep 1922		30 Sep 2013	91	84	1	85
Sound Editor	Alban Streeter	31	1 Jan 1930	01.01.1930		93	7		7
Sound Recordist	Jock May	56	1 Jan 1905		8 Jan 1991	86	30	1	31
Special Effects	Les Bowie	47	10 Nov 1913		27 Jan 1979	65	32	11	43
Supervising Editor	James Needs	41	17 Oct 1919		4 Feb 2003	83	110	1	111
Wardrobe Mistress	Molly Arbuthnot	52	19 Dec 1908		31 Oct 2001	92	48	4	52
Uncredited
Art Direction	Thomas Goswell	70	28 Mar 1891		1982	90		5	5
Charge-hand Props	Peter Allchorne	36	1925	01.01.1925		98		9	9
Clapper Loader	Alan McDonald	23	1938	01.01.1938		85		14	14
Composer: Stock Music	Leonard Salzedo	39	24 Sep 1921		6 May 2000	78	7	1	8
Construction Manager	Arthur Banks						18	29	47
Focus Puller	Harry Oakes	40	16 Jan 1921		11 Dec 2012	91		53	53
Gargoyles	Margaret Robinson	41	31 Jan 1920		3 Oct 2016	96		4	4
Make-up	Colin Garde	45	16 Jul 1915		Dec 1990	75	1	3	4
Second Ast. Director	Dominic Fulford	41	19 Aug 1919		23 Apr 2007	87	1	5	6
Set Rigger	Ronald Lenoir	37	1924		1998	74		4	4
Still Photog.	Tom Edwards				1999			26	26
Stunts	Jack Cooper	38	1923		2010	87	1	5	6

Cast


Character	Actor	Age at Release	Birth		Death	Age	Hammer Productions
	click a link for more info						Credited	Uncredited	Total
Alfredo	Clifford Evans	49	17 Feb 1912		9 Jun 1985	73	2		2
Beggar	Richard Wordsworth	46	19 Jan 1915		21 Nov 1993	78	4		4
Chef	Charles Lamb	60	20 Nov 1900		19 Mar 1989	88	4		4
Cristina	Catherine Feller	22	1 Jan 1939	01.01.1939		84	1		1
Dominique	George Woodbridge	54	16 Feb 1907		31 Mar 1973	66	9	1	10
Don Enrique	Peter Sallis	40	1 Feb 1921		2 Jun 2017	96	2		2
Don Fernando	Ewen Solon	43	7 Sep 1917		7 Jul 1985	67	5	1	6
Footman	Desmond Llewelyn	46	12 Sep 1914		19 Dec 1999	85	2	2	4
Gaoler	Denis Shaw	40	7 Apr 1921		28 Feb 1971	49	4	3	7
Isabel	Joy Webster	27	1 Jan 1934	01.01.1934		89	2		2
Jose	Martin Matthews						1		1
Leon	Oliver Reed	23	13 Feb 1938		2 May 1999	61	9		9
Marques Siniestro	Anthony Dawson	44	18 Oct 1916		8 Jan 1992	75	1		1
Marquesa	Josephine Llewellyn						1		1
Old Soak	Michael Ripper	48	27 Jan 1913		28 Jun 2000	87	34	2	36
Pepe Valiente	Warren Mitchell	35	14 Jan 1926		14 Nov 2015	89	4	1	5
Priest	John Gabriel	46	27 Sep 1914		28 May 1998	83	1		1
Rico Gomez	David Conville	31	4 Jun 1929		24 Nov 2018	89	2		2
Rosa Valiente	Anne Blake	52	4 Nov 1908		27 Jan 2000	91	3		3
Senora Zumara	Serafina Di Leo	48	7 May 1912		23 Oct 2007	95	1		1
Servant Girl	Yvonne Romain	23	17 Feb 1938	17.02.1938		85	3		3
Teresa	Hira Talfrey	34	14 Sep 1926		3 Oct 2011	85	1		1
Vera	Sheala Brennan	30	1 Jan 1931	01.01.1931		92	1		1
Young Leon	Justin Walters	9	1952		1978	26	1		1
Yvonne	Renny Lister	26	24 May 1934	24.05.1934		88	1		1
Uncredited
1st Customer	Rodney Burke	28	13 Jul 1932	13.07.1932		90		4	4
2nd Customer	Alan Page	38	3 May 1922		5 Jul 1987	65		1	1
2nd Footman	Gordon Whiting	42	9 May 1918		21 Feb 2002	83		1	1
3rd Customer	Richard Golding							1	1
Angry Mob	Hubert Hill					0		3	3
Angry Villager in Mob	Fred Wood	39	26 Oct 1921		25 Jan 2003	95		19	19
Another Farmer	Stephen Scott	33	8 Feb 1928	08.02.1928		95		1	1
Bar Customer	John Adams							4	4
Bearded Customer	Francis De Wolff	48	7 Jan 1913		18 Apr 1984	71	3	1	4
Cantina Patron	Victor Harrington	51	27 Aug 1909		23 Jul 1980	70		7	7
Cheeky Farmer	Max Butterfield	29	10 Jun 1931		1991	59	2	1	3
Cook	Emille Stemmler	50	1911					6	6
Farmer in Cantina	Michael Peake	42	13 Oct 1918		1 Apr 1967	48	2	3	5
Gardener	Frank Sieman	52	7 Aug 1908		9 Mar 1992	83	1	1	2
Irate Farmer	Howard Lang	50	20 Mar 1911		11 Dec 1989	78		2	2
Landlord	Hamlyn Benson	50	1911		11 Feb 1968	57		1	1
Midwife	Kitty Atwoood	59	28 Jun 1901		1991	89		2	2
Official	Ray Browne							1	1
Page	Michael Lewis							1	1
Patron	Bill Rooney							3	3
Policeman	John Bennett	32	8 May 1928		11 Apr 2005	76		2	2
Policeman	Alister Williamson	42	17 Jun 1918		19 May 1999	80	3	1	4
Servant Girl as Child	Loraine Carvana							1	1
Stunts	Joe Dunne	25	27 Oct 1935		14 Jan 2022	86		2	2
Villager	George Spence							4	4
Villager	Jimmy Charters							7	7

Production


FILMING BEGAN	12 October 1960
UK RELEASE	1 May 1961
STUDIO	Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England
LOCATION	Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England
	Callow Hill Sandpit, Virginia Water, Surrey, England
	Sand and Gravel Quarry, Wapseys Wood, Gerrard's Cross, Buckinghamshire, England

Footnotes

Before this film was made, Hammer planned to make one about the Spanish Inquisition, but there were rumours that the Catholic Office would take a very dim view of such a movie and try to have it banned. The project was therefore abandoned, but not before Bernard Robinson’s sets had been constructed. Not a company to waste resources, Hammer transferred the action of Guy Endore’s novel “The Werewolf of Paris” to Spain and Anthony Hinds wrote the script for “The Curse of the Werewolf”, the first of many screenplays written by him under the pseudonym John Elder.

Welsh actor Clifford Evans returned to Hammer in 1963 to star as the vampire-killer in “The Kiss of the Vampire”.

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