Life with the Lyons – 1954

A Hammer production released by Exclusive Films
Copyright 1953 by Exclusive Films Ltd.
RCA Sound Recording
Produced at Southall Studios, England
Black & White 81 minutes
Storyline
Fast-moving, and very noisy, comedy. The accident-prone Lyons family move into their new rented house in London, but they have not yet been given the lease. Their efforts to impress the landlord, Mr. Hemmingway, are not altogether successful and result in a catalogue of misunderstandings, chaos and destruction!



Crew
Function | Credited | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Productions | |||
Click a link for more info | Credited | Uncredited | Total | ||||||
Art Director | Wilfred Arnold | 51 | 12 Feb 1903 | 9 Jun 1970 | 67 | 5 | 5 | ||
Ast. Director | Harold Buck | 35 | 1 Jan 1919 | 1 | 1 | ||||
Camera Operator | Len Harris | 38 | 19 May 1916 | 21 Feb 1995 | 78 | 52 | 1 | 53 | |
Continuity | Splinters Deason | 41 | 1 Jan 1913 | 11 Oct 2001 | 88 | 3 | 3 | ||
Director | Val Guest | 42 | 11 Dec 1911 | 10 May 2006 | 94 | 29 | 29 | ||
Editor | Douglas Myers | 44 | 15 Jan 1910 | 1962 | 51 | 3 | 3 | ||
Form the Radio Series | Bob Block | 32 | 20 Jul 1921 | 17 Apr 2011 | 89 | 2 | 2 | ||
Form the Radio Series | Bill Harding | 4 | 23 Jun 1949 | 73 | 2 | 2 | |||
Form the Radio Series | Bebe Daniels-Lyon | 53 | 14 Jan 1901 | 16 Mar 1971 | 70 | 1 | 1 | ||
Hair Stylist | Nina Broe | 1993 | 10 | 10 | |||||
Make-up | Phil Leakey | 46 | 4 May 1908 | 26 Nov 1992 | 84 | 48 | 48 | ||
Music | Arthur Wilkinson | 34 | 3 Sep 1919 | 1968 | 48 | 1 | 1 | ||
Photog. | Walter Harvey BSc | 51 | 9 Feb 1903 | 1979 | 75 | 34 | 34 | ||
Producer | Robert Dunbar | 39 | 6 Jun 1914 | 29 Apr 2000 | 85 | 5 | 5 | ||
Production Manager | Arthur Barnes | 68 | 1886 | 1956 | 69 | 20 | 20 | ||
Recordist | Bill Salter | 1983 | 17 | 17 | |||||
Screenplay | Val Guest | 42 | 11 Dec 1911 | 10 May 2006 | 94 | 29 | 29 | ||
Screenplay | Robert Dunbar | 39 | 6 Jun 1914 | 29 Apr 2000 | 85 | 5 | 5 | ||
Uncredited | |||||||||
Ast. to Producer | Freddie Pearson | 1993 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
Focus Puller | Harry Oakes | 33 | 16 Jan 1921 | 11 Dec 2012 | 91 | 53 | 53 | ||
Stock Music | Jack Beaver | 54 | 27 Mar 1900 | 10 Sep 1963 | 63 | 1 | 1 |
Cast
Character | Actor | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Productions | ||
Credited | Uncredited | Total | ||||||
Aggie | Molly Weir | 44 | 17 Mar 1910 | 28 Nov 2004 | 94 | 3 | 3 | |
Barbara Lyon | Barbara Lyon | 22 | 1 Sep 1931 | 10 Jul 1995 | 63 | 2 | 2 | |
Bebe Daniels-Lyon | Bebe Daniels-Lyon | 53 | 14 Jan 1901 | 16 Mar 1971 | 70 | 1 | 1 | |
Ben Lyon | Ben Lyon | 53 | 6 Feb 1901 | 22 Mar 1979 | 78 | 2 | 2 | |
Florrie | Doris Rogers | 59 | 16 Feb 1895 | 5 Mar 1975 | 80 | 2 | 2 | |
Mr. Hemmingway | Hugh Morton | 50 | 28 Jun 1903 | 11 Jul 1984 | 81 | 4 | 4 | |
Mrs Wimple | Gwen Lewis | 66 | 21 Jan 1888 | 19 Jan 1966 | 77 | 2 | 2 | |
Richard Lyon | Richard Lyon | 19 | 8 Oct 1934 | 16 Oct 2013 | 79 | 2 | 2 | |
Slim Cassidy | Arthur Hill | 31 | 1 Aug 1922 | 22 Oct 2006 | 84 | 1 | 1 | |
Violet | Belinda Lee | 18 | 15 Jun 1935 | 12 Mar 1961 | 25 | 2 | 2 | |
Wimple | Horace Percival | 68 | 1 Jan 1886 | 9 Nov 1961 | 75 | 2 | 2 | |
Uncredited | ||||||||
Party Guest | Martin Lyder | 31 | 30 Sep 1922 | 12 Jan 2003 | 80 | 4 | 4 | |
With | Arthur Mullard | 43 | 19 Sep 1910 | 11 Dec 1995 | 85 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Production
FILMING BEGAN | 1 December 1953 | |
UK RELEASE | 25 May 1954 | |
STUDIO | Southall Studios, Southall, Middlesex, England |
Footnotes
The Lyons family were immensely popular with radio audiences in their heyday and the success of this film led to a sequel, “The Lyons in Paris” (1955), also from Hammer.
This was the first film for Hammer directed by Val Guest, whose later work for them includes “The Quatermass Xperiment” (1955), “Quatermass 2” (1957), “The Abominable Snowman” (1957) and “When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth” (1969).
Actress Belinda Lee was killed in a road accident at the age of 25.
Musician Arthur Wilkinson died of a heart attack at the age of 48.
Details were complied viewing the actual film.
Source of viewing copy – The Hammer Graveyard Collection