What the Butler Saw – 1950

Edward J. Mason’s popular B.B.C. Feature. A Hammer Films Production

A Hammer Film production released by Exclusive Films
From an original story by Roger and Donald Good

Black & White 61 minutes

Storyline

Comedy. An elderly earl returns with his butler, Bembridge, to his stately home in the English countryside after ten years away in the South Pacific. But, they have brought with them an unexpected piece of luggage in the shape of a young and beautiful princess, Lapis. She is in love with Bembridge, but her efforts to win him over, together with some of the strange native ways she has brought with her, soon cause outrage and chaos in the disapprovingly snooty, upper-crust household.

Watch the full film on YouTube

Crew


Function	Credited	Age at Release	Birth		Death	Age	Hammer Productions
	Click a link for more info						Credited	Uncredited	Total
Ast. Director	Jimmy Sangster	22	2 Dec 1927		19 Aug 2011	83	65	2	67
Camera Operator	Peter Bryan	30	28 Sep 1919		Sep 1972	52	22		22
Casting	Prudence Sykes						11	2	13
Continuity	Renee Glynne	24	3 Aug 1926		6 Apr 2022	95	38	3	41
Director	Godfrey Grayson	37	2 Aug 1913		1 Jun 1998	84	11		11
Director of Photog.	Walter Harvey BSc	47	9 Feb 1903		1979	75	34		34
Editor	James Needs	30	17 Oct 1919		4 Feb 2003	83	110	1	111
Hair Stylist	Monica Hustler	24	1 Jan 1926	01.01.1926		97	18		18
Make-up	Phil Leakey	42	4 May 1908		26 Nov 1992	84	48		48
Musical Director	Frank Spencer	39	19 Jun 1911		Feb 1975	63	21	1	22
Producer	Anthony Hinds	27	18 Sep 1922		30 Sep 2013	91	84	1	85
Production Manager	Arthur Barnes	64	1886		1956	69	20		20
Recordist	Edgar Vetter	37	27 Jan 1913		15 Dec 1988	75	15		15
Screenplay	A.R. Rawlinson	56	9 Aug 1894		20 Apr 1984	89	4		4
Screenplay	Edward J Mason	38	8 May 1912		3 Feb 1971	58	1		1
Uncredited
Boom Operator	Percy Britten	30	1 Oct 1919		1996	76		21	21
Clapper Loader	Harry Oakes	29	16 Jan 1921		11 Dec 2012	91		53	53
Construction	Michael Lyons							10	10
Electrician	Jack Curtis						3	23	26
Property Buyer	Jim Day							2	2
Property Master	Tom Money	33	1917		1974	56	2	20	22
Second Ast. Director	Bill Shore						5	2	7
Sound Camera Operator	Gordon Everett	27	1923		1991	68		5	5
Still Photog.	John Jay	29	14 Nov 1920		29 Apr 2005	84	13	22	35

Cast


Character	Actor	Age at Release	Birth	Death	Age	Hammer Productions
						Credited	Uncredited	Total
Bembridge	Henry Mollison	45	21 Feb 1905	Jul 1985	80	1		1
Bill Fenton	Peter Burton	29	4 Apr 1921	27 Nov 1989	68	1		1
Elaine	Anne Valery	24	24 Feb 1926	29 Apr 2013	87	1		1
Gerald	Michael Ward	41	9 Apr 1909	8 Nov 1997	88	5		5
Lady Mary	Eleanor Hallam	52	5 Sep 1898	1996	97	1		1
Lapis	Mercy Haystead	20	2 Feb 1930	11 Jan 2015	84	1		1
Mrs Thimble	Tonie MacMillan					1		1
The Earl	Edward Rigby	71	5 Feb 1879	5 Apr 1951	72	1		1

Production


FILMING BEGAN	January 1950
UK RELEASE	11 September 1950
STUDIO	Oakley Court Hotel, Oakley Green, Windsor, Berkshire

Footnotes

High-camp character actor Michael Ward appeared in numerous films, perhaps most notably as the Egyptian Queen’s High Priest Archimedes in “Carry on Cleo” (1965). He was also in Hammer’s “Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell” (1973), in which he played a transvestite lunatic! His last appearance for the Company was in “Man About the House” (1974).

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