The Pirates of Blood River – 1962

A Hammer film production released by Columbia Pictures Copyright MCMLXI Hammer Film Productions – 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
Made at Bray Studios, England
Eastmancolour 84 mins
A Hammerscope production photographed in Megascope
Storyline
Opening titles:- “At the end of the seventeenth century, men, women, and children voyaged far from their mother country seeking some haven from persecution. They were known as Huguenots. They found their haven and called it the Isle of Devon and gave thanks to God for their deliverance. But in the years to come, the just laws of the Colony began to yield to greed and tyranny. Happiness became an echo of the past. Freedom – just a memory.” When he escapes from the prison compound, Jonathan Standing runs into a gang of bloodthirsty pirates led by the cunning La Roche, who is convinced that the little community is hiding a treasure in gold.
Watch the trailer on YouTube
Crew
Function | Credited | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Credits |
Art Director | Don Mingaye | 33 | 1929 | 8 Nov 2017 | 88 | 25 |
Assistant Director | John Peverall | 31 | 1931 | 3 Oct 2009 | 78 | 21 |
Camera Operator | Len Harris | 45 | 19 May 1916 | 21 Feb 1995 | 78 | 52 |
Casting | Stuart Lyons | 34 | 1928 | 23 Feb 1998 | 70 | 8 |
Continuity | Tilly Day | 59 | 1 Jan 1903 | 1 Jan 1994 | 91 | 12 |
Directed by | John Gilling | 49 | 29 May 1912 | 22 Nov 1984 | 72 | 21 |
Director of Photography | Arthur Grant, BSc | 47 | 1915 | 1972 | 57 | 30 |
Editor | Eric Boyd-Perkins | 45 | 1917 | 4 Dec 2014 | 97 | 10 |
From a story by | Jimmy Sangster | 34 | 2 Dec 1927 | 19 Aug 2011 | 83 | 65 |
Hair Stylist | Frieda Steiger | 28 | ||||
Horse Master and Master at Arms | Bob Simmons | 39 | 31 Mar 1922 | 21 Oct 1987 | 65 | 2 |
Make-up Artist | Roy Ashton | 52 | 16 Apr 1909 | 10 Jan 1995 | 85 | 36 |
Music Composed by | Gary Hughes | 39 | 21 Mar 1922 | 25 Apr 1978 | 56 | 5 |
Musical Supervisor | John Hollingsworth | 45 | 20 Mar 1916 | 29 Dec 1963 | 47 | 36 |
Produced by | Anthony Nelson-Keys | 50 | 13 Nov 1911 | 19 Mar 1985 | 73 | 41 |
Production Designer | Bernard Robinson | 49 | 28 Jul 1912 | 2 Mar 1970 | 57 | 46 |
Production Manager | Clifford Parkes | 12 | ||||
Screenplay by | John Gilling | 49 | 29 May 1912 | 22 Nov 1984 | 72 | 21 |
Screenplay by | John Hunter | 51 | 23 Aug 1911 | 8 Sep 1984 | 73 | 4 |
Sound Editor | Alfred Cox | 1925 | 2005 | 80 | 21 | |
Sound Recordist | Jock May | 57 | 1905 | 8 Jan 1991 | 86 | 30 |
Special Effects | Les Bowie | 48 | 10 Nov 1913 | 27 Jan 1979 | 65 | 32 |
Supervising Editor | James Needs | 42 | 17 Oct 1919 | 2003 | 83 | 110 |
Wardrobe Mistress | Rosemary Burrows | 36 | ||||
Wardrobe Supervisor | Molly Arbuthnot | 53 | 19 Dec 1908 | 31 Oct 2001 | 92 | 48 |
Cast
Character | Actor | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Appearances | |
Bess | Marla Landi | 28 | 16 Apr 1933 | 89 | 2 | ||
Blacksmith | David Lodge | 40 | 19 Aug 1921 | 18 Oct 2003 | 82 | 10 | |
Brocaire | Oliver Reed | 23 | 13 Feb 1938 | 2 May 1999 | 61 | 9 | |
Godfrey Mason | Jack Stewart | 48 | 22 Mar 1913 | 2 Jan 1966 | 52 | 4 | |
Hench | Peter Arne | 41 | 29 Sep 1920 | 1 Aug 1983 | 62 | 1 | |
Henry | Glenn Corbett | 28 | 17 Aug 1933 | 16 Jan 1993 | 59 | 1 | |
Jason Standing | Andrew Keir | 35 | 3 Apr 1926 | 5 Oct 1997 | 71 | 7 | |
Jonathan Standing | Kerwin Matthews | 35 | 8 Jan 1926 | 5 Jul 2007 | 81 | 2 | |
La Roche | Christopher Lee | 39 | 27 May 1922 | 7 Jun 2015 | 93 | 22 | |
Mac | Michael Ripper | 48 | 27 Jan 1913 | 28 Jun 2000 | 87 | 34 | |
Martha Blackthorne | Lorraine Clewes | 44 | 12 Nov 1917 | 1 Dec 1996 | 79 | 1 | |
Penal Colony Master | Jerold Wells | 53 | 8 Aug 1908 | 19 Jul 1999 | 90 | 4 | |
Timothy | Dennis Waterman | 13 | 24 Feb 1948 | 8 May 2022 | 74 | 3 |
Production
FILMING BEGAN | 3 July 1961 | |
UK RELEASE | 13 August 1962 | |
STUDIO | Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England | |
LOCATION | Black Park Lake, Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England | Blood River |
Burnham Beeches, Buckinghamshire, England | Jungle | |
Callow Hill Sandpit, Virginia Water, Surrey, England | Penal Colony |
Footnotes
Michael Carreras formally left Hammer in 1961 to pursue projects elsewhere and, although he came back for the occasional film, he did not return full-time until 1971. Carreras’s departure seems to have provided Anthony Nelson Keys with a promotion opportunity and this is his first film as Producer.
A very young Dennis Waterman appears here. Later famous for his roles in Thames TV’s “The Sweeney” and “Minder” series, he also worked for Hammer in “Scars of Dracula”( 1969 ).
John Gilling’s other credits for Hammer as director are “The Scarlet Blade” (1963), “The Brigand of Kandahar”(1965), “The Plague of the Zombies” {1966), The Reptile (1966) and The Mummy’s Shroud (1966).
Details were complied viewing the actual film.
Source of viewing copy – The Hammer Graveyard Collection