The Shadow of the Cat – 1961

A John Penington Production presented by B.H.P.Films
Copyright MCMLXI by B.H.P. Films Ltd. All rights reserved
MPAA Approved
All characters and incidents portrayed, and the names used herewith are ficticious and the similarity to any names, characters or history of any person is entirely accidental and unintentional
Westrex Sound System
A B.H.P. Film produced at Bray Studios, England
Black & White 86 mins
Storyline
A female house cat sees her mistress murdered by her husband and two servants, and becomes ferociously bent on revenge.
Crew
Function | Credited | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Credits | |
Art Director | Don Mingaye | 32 | 1929 | 8 Nov 2017 | 88 | 25 | |
Assistant Director | John Peverall | 30 | 1931 | 3 Oct 2009 | 78 | 21 | |
Camera Operator | Len Harris | 44 | 19 May 1916 | 21 Feb 1995 | 78 | 52 | |
Casting | Stuart Lyons | 33 | 1928 | 23 Feb 1998 | 70 | 8 | |
Cat trained by | John Holmes | 48 | 1 Jan 1913 | 13 Sep 2000 | 87 | 1 | |
Directed by | John Gilling | 48 | 29 May 1912 | 22 Nov 1984 | 72 | 21 | |
Director of Photography | Arthur Grant, BSc | 46 | 1915 | 1972 | 57 | 30 | |
Editor | John Pomeroy | 40 | 1921 | 1979 | 58 | 1 | |
Hair Stylist | Frieda Steiger | 28 | |||||
Make Up | Roy Ashton | 51 | 16 Apr 1909 | 10 Jan 1995 | 85 | 36 | |
Music Composed and Conducted by | Mikis Theodorakis | 35 | 29 Jul 1925 | 2 Sep 2021 | 96 | 1 | |
Produced by | Jon Penington | 38 | 30 Mar 1922 | 13 Apr 1997 | 75 | 1 | |
Production Designer | Bernard Robinson | 48 | 28 Jul 1912 | 2 Mar 1970 | 57 | 46 | |
Production Manager | Don Weeks | 56 | 15 Nov 1904 | 1 Mar 1988 | 83 | 30 | |
Sound Editor | Alban Streeter | 31 | 30 Nov 1929 | 92 | 7 | ||
Sound Recordist | Jock May | 56 | 1905 | 8 Jan 1991 | 86 | 30 | |
Sound Recordist | Ken Cameron | 45 | 1 Dec 1915 | 8 Aug 2000 | 84 | 8 | |
Special Effects | Les Bowie | 47 | 10 Nov 1913 | 27 Jan 1979 | 65 | 32 | |
Wardrobe Supervisor | Molly Arbuthnot | 52 | 19 Dec 1908 | 31 Oct 2001 | 92 | 48 | |
Written by | Geoge Baxt | 37 | 11 Jun 1923 | 28 Jun 2003 | 80 | 1 |
Cast
Character | Actor | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Appearances |
Andrew, the Butler | Andrew Crawford | 43 | 24 Oct 1917 | 18 Mar 1994 | 76 | 1 |
Beth Vanable | Barbara Shelley | 28 | 13 Feb 1932 | 3 Jan 2021 | 88 | 8 |
Clara, the Maid | Freda Jackson | 53 | 29 Dec 1907 | 20 Oct 1990 | 82 | 2 |
Edgar Venable | Richard Warner | 49 | 24 May 1911 | 14 Jan 1989 | 77 | 3 |
Ella Venable | Catherine Lacey | 56 | 6 May 1904 | 20 Sep 1979 | 75 | 3 |
Inspector Rowles | Alan Wheatley | 53 | 19 Apr 1907 | 30 Aug 1991 | 84 | 4 |
Jacob Venable | William Lucas | 35 | 14 Apr 1925 | 8 Jul 2016 | 91 | 3 |
Louise Venable | Vanda Godsell | 38 | 17 Nov 1922 | 2 Apr 1990 | 67 | 3 |
Michael Latimer | Conrad Phillips | 35 | 13 Apr 1925 | 13 Jan 2016 | 90 | 4 |
The Grandfather | Kynaston Reeves | 67 | 29 May 1893 | 5 Dec 1971 | 78 | 2 |
Walter Venable | Andre Morell | 51 | 20 Aug 1909 | 3 Dec 1978 | 69 | 9 |
Production
FILMING BEGAN | 1 November 1960 | |
UK RELEASE | 1 May 1961 | |
STUDIO | Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England |
Footnotes
Although Hammer do not appear in the credits, this was clearly a Hammer Production. Not only was it filmed at Bray Studios, but many of the production crew were Hammer faithfuls, and all but one of the credited cast (Andrew Crawford) had worked (or were to work) for the company in a combined total of 28 other productions.
Alan Wheatley played the Sheriff of Nottingham in ITC’s series “The Adventures of Robin Hood” (1960’s), he also played Temmosus in BBC TV’s Doctor Who (1964), becoming the first character to be killed by a Dalek!
Music composer Mikis Theodorakis also produced the score for Twentieth Century Fox’s 1964 film “Zorba the Greek”.
Details were complied viewing the actual film.
Source of viewing copy – The Hammer Graveyard Collection