The Devil-Ship Pirates – 1964

A Hammer film production released by Columbia Pictures
Copyright MCMLXIII Hammer film Productions Ltd. – All rights reserved
MPAA Approved Certificate

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

RCA Sound Recording
Megascope
Produced at Bray Studios, England
Eastmancolour by Pathe 86 mins

Storyline

Opening titles:- “July 1588: In the English Channel the British Fleet has been battling for two days against the mighty Spanish Armada….Badly damaged, with half their crews killed, the ships of Spain battle their way on up the Channel. And in the thickest part of the fighting is one of the smallest Spanish ships – the licensed privateer ‘Diablo’.”
Robeles, the pirate captain of the Diablo, puts in for repairs and convinces the local villagers that the English fleet has been defeated….

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
Art Director	Don Mingaye	35	1 Jan 1929		8 Nov 2017	88	26	14	40
Ast. Director	Bert Batt	34	25 Apr 1930		6 Nov 2011	81	13		13
Camera Operator	Alan Hall	35	1929		2012	82	1		1
Continuity	Pauline Harlow (Wise)	26	1 Jan 1938	01.01.1938		85	11	3	14
Director	Don Sharp	43	19 Apr 1921		14 Dec 2011	90	4		4
Director of Photog.	Michael Reed	35	7 Jul 1929		15 Dec 2022	93	5	2	7
Fight Arranger	Peter Diamond	34	10 Aug 1929		27 Mar 2004	74	4	23	27
Hair Stylist	Frieda Steiger	60	29 Dec 1903		19 Aug 1993	89	28		28
Make-up Artist	Roy Ashton	55	16 Apr 1909		10 Jan 1995	85	36	4	40
Music Composer	Gary Hughes	42	21 Mar 1922		25 Apr 1978	56	5		5
Musical Supervisor	John Hollingsworth	48	20 Mar 1916		29 Dec 1963	47	36	2	38
Producer	Anthony Nelson-Keys	52	13 Nov 1911		19 Mar 1985	73	41		41
Production Designer	Bernard Robinson	52	28 Jul 1912		2 Mar 1970	57	46	3	49
Production Manager	Don Weeks	59	15 Nov 1904		Mar 1988	83	30		30
Sailing Master Capt.	R.C.S. Garwood CBE. DSO. RN						1		1
Screenplay	Jimmy Sangster	36	2 Dec 1927		19 Aug 2011	83	65	2	67
Sound Editor	Roy Hyde	44	15 Feb 1920		28 Jun 1985	65	30	1	31
Sound Recordist	Ken Rawkins	46	Jan 1918		1971	52	18		18
Special Effects	Les Bowie	50	10 Nov 1913		27 Jan 1979	65	32	11	43
Supervising Editor	James Needs	44	17 Oct 1919		4 Feb 2003	83	110	1	111
Wardrobe Mistress	Rosemary Burrows						36	5	41
Uncredited
Ast. Editor	Chris Barnes	26	1 Jan 1938		5 Jun 2009	71	21	12	33
Clapper Loader	Anthony B. Richmond	22	7 Jul 1942	07.07.1942		80		3	3
Construction Manager	Arthur Banks						18	29	47
Second Ast. Director	Hugh Harlow	25	17 Jun 1939	17.06.1939		84	3	28	31

Cast


Character	Actor	Age at Release	Birth		Death	Age	Hammer Productions
	Click a link for more info						Credited	Uncredited	Total
Angela	Suzan Farmer	22	16 Jun 1942		17 Sep 2017	75	4		4
Antonio	Charles Houston	33	1931		2006	75	5		5
Bosun	Duncan Lamont	46	17 Jun 1918		19 Dec 1978	60	7		7
Bragg	Harry Locke	51	10 Dec 1912		7 Sep 1987	74	2		2
Captain Robeles	Christopher Lee	42	27 May 1922		7 Jun 2015	93	22		22
Don Jose	Joseph O'Conor	54	14 Feb 1910		21 Jan 2001	90	2		2
Grande	Michael Peake	45	13 Oct 1918		1 Apr 1967	48	2	3	5
Gustavo	Barry Linehan	38	23 Sep 1925		8 Jun 1996	70	3		3
Harry	John Cairney	34	16 Feb 1930		7 Sep 2023	93	1		1
Jane	Natasha Pyne	18	9 Jul 1946	09.07.1946		77	1		1
Mandrake	Jack Rodney	48	18 Dec 1915		20 Feb 1967	51	1		1
Manuel	Barry Warren	31	12 Jul 1933		22 Feb 1994	60	3		3
Meg	Annette Whiteley	18	28 Jun 1946	28.06.1946		77	1		1
Miller	Philip Latham	35	17 Jan 1929		20 Jun 2020	91	4		4
Mrs Blake	June Ellis	38	1 Jan 1926		26 Jun 2011	85	2		2
Pablo	Johnny Briggs	28	5 Sep 1935		28 Feb 2021	85	2		2
Pedro	Bruce Beeby	42	21 Oct 1921		20 Oct 2013	91	1	1	2
Pepe	Michael Ripper	51	27 Jan 1913		28 Jun 2000	87	34	2	36
Quintana	Leonard Fenton	38	29 Apr 1926		29 Jan 2022	95	2		2
Sir Basil Smeeton	Ernest Clark	52	12 Feb 1912		11 Nov 1994	82	1		1
Smiler	Michael Newport	11	23 Sep 1952	23.09.1952		70	1		1
The Vicar	Peter Howell	44	25 Oct 1919		20 Apr 2015	95	2		2
Tom	Andrew Keir	38	3 Apr 1926		5 Oct 1997	71	7		7
Uncredited
Pirate	Bill Brandon							5	5

Production


FILMING BEGAN	19 August 1963
UK RELEASE	9 August 1964
STUDIO	Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England
LOCATION	Maidenhead, Berkshire, England

Footnotes

Actor Johnny Briggs has a very small role in this film. He is now well-known to millions of television viewers as Mike Baldwin in Granada TV’s ”Coronation Street”.

Another British soap star appears here – Leonard Fenton. He went on to play Dr Harold Legg in BBC TV’s “Eastenders”.

Regular Assistant Director Bert Batt joins Hammer with this production. In 1969, he wrote the story (with Anthony Nelson Keys) and the screenplay for “Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed”.

Director Don Sharp made two more films for Hammer – “The Kiss of the Vampire” (1963) and “Rasputin – the Mad Monk” (1966). His other credits include “Witchcraft” (1964, with Lon Chaney, Jr,), “The Face of Fu Manchu” (1965), “The Brides of Fu Manchu” (1966, both with Christopher Lee) and “Jules Verne’s Rocket to the Moon” (1967).

The title boat Diablo capsized during shooting and about 30 people ended up in the water along with camera, sound equipment, props etc. It was caused during a scheduled tea break in shooting, when the tea boat came alongside and everyone rushed to that side of the boat. The Diablo was so badly damaged they decided to set fire to the actual boat in the final scenes, rather than use a model as planned.

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