X The Unknown

In the remote Scottish highlands, army exercises are disturbed by violent earth tremors and an explosion which kills one soldier and badly burns another. Scientists are called in to investigate the great chasm left by the explosion and soon discover that an enormous blob of radioactive slime lurks within it. But worse is to come – the slime is capable of movement and begins to venture out above ground in search of more radioactivity, threatening to destroy anything and anyone in its path!

Original trailer

Production Details

A Hammer film production released by Exclusive films (UK)I and Warner Brothers (USA)

Opening credit: – The Producers wish to acknowledge the co-operation received Irom the War Office during the production of this film

RCA Sound System
Black & White 75 mins

Filming dates: January 9, 1956 – February 1956
UK Release: 5th November 1956

Studio:
Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire

Locations:
Gerrard’s Cross, Buckinghamshire
Beaconsfield Gravel Pits, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire

Stills from film

Click an image for enlarged slideshow

Cast & Crew

Cast – Verified complete
Crew – Believed complete

CREW	NAME	CREDITED	AGE AT RELEASE	BIRTH	Hidden	DEATH	AGE	CREDITS	UNCREDITED	TOTAL HAMMER
Art Director	Ted Marshall	No						7	1	8
Assistant Director	Christopher Sutton	Yes	25	1 Sep 1931			94	7		7
Associate Producer	Mickey Delamar	No	48	1908		1971	63	10	1	11
Boom Operator	Jim Perry	No							9	9
Camera Operator	Len Harris	Yes	40	19 May 1916		21 Feb 1995	78	63	2	65
Casting	Joseph Losey	No	47	14 Jan 1909		22 Jun 1984	75	2	1	3
Clapper Loader	Mike Rutter	No	21	1935		6 Mar 2021	86		3	3
Continuity	June Randall	Yes	29	26 Jun 1927		18 Jan 2015	87	6		6
Director	Leslie Norman	Yes	45	25 Feb 1911		18 Feb 1993	81	1	1	2
Director of Photography	Gerald Gibbs	Yes	48	7 Nov 1907		23 Jan 1990	82	3		3
Draughtsman	Don Mingaye	No	27	1929		8 Nov 2017	88	28	15	43
Draughtsman	Tom Woollard	No	24	3 Sep 1932			93		1	1
Editor	James Needs	Yes	37	17 Oct 1919		4 Feb 2003	83	113	1	114
Executive Producer	Michael Carreras	Yes	28	21 Dec 1927		19 Apr 1994	66	98	11	109
First Assistant Editor	William Bouvet	No							1	1
Focus Puller	Harry Oakes	No	35	16 Jan 1921		11 Dec 2012	91	3	56	59
Make-up and Special Make-up Effects	Phil Leakey	Yes	48	4 May 1908		26 Nov 1992	84	50		50
Master Plasterer	Arthur Banks	No						19	29	48
Music Composer	James Bernard	Yes	31	20 Sep 1925		12 Jul 2001	75	25	1	26
Musical Director	John Hollingsworth	Yes	40	20 Mar 1916		29 Dec 1963	47	37	3	40
Producer	Anthony Hinds	Yes	34	18 Sep 1922		30 Sep 2013	91	8.790	3	89
Production Manager	Jimmy Sangster	Yes	28	2 Dec 1927		19 Aug 2011	83	66	2	68
Production Secretary	Margaret Quigley	No							1	1
Publicist	Bill Batchelor	No	57	3 May 1899		23 Sep 1990	91		3	3
Second Assistant Director	John S Smith	No							1	1
Second Assistant Director	Roy Stevens	No	22	12 Mar 1934		29 Mar 2006	72		3	3
Second Assistant Editor	Henry Richardson	No	20	13 Jan 1936		31 Jul 2017	81	4	7	11
Second Camera Operator	John Reid	No							2	2
Sound Camera Operator	Michael Sale	No							9	9
Sound Editor	Alfred Cox	Yes	31	1925		2005	80	21	4	25
Sound Maintenance	Charles Bouvet	No	50	27 Oct 1906		1978	71		8	8
Sound Mixer	Jock May	Yes	51	1905		8 Jan 1991	86	31	1	32
Sound Recordist	Cliff Sandall	No	53	24 Apr 1903		1988	84	3	1	4
Special Effects	Les Bowie	No	42	10 Nov 1913		27 Jan 1979	65	30	13	43
Special Effects	Vic Margutti	No	43	1913		1980	67		6	6
Special Effects	Jack Curtis	Yes						3	24	27
Special Effects Assistant	Brian Johnson	No	17	29 Jun 1939			86	3	7	10
Special Effects Assistant	Ray Caple	No	18	5 Jan 1938		1993	54		7	7
Special Effects Assistant	Roy Field	No	24	19 Aug 1932		23 May 2002	69		4	4
Still Photographer	Tom Edwards	No				1999			27	27
Story and Screenplay	Jimmy Sangster	Yes	28	2 Dec 1927		19 Aug 2011	83	66	2	68
Third Assistant Director	Hugh Harlow	No	17	17 Jun 1939			86	6	34	40
Wardrobe	Molly Arbuthnot	Yes	47	19 Dec 1908		31 Oct 2001	92	48	5	53
CAST
1st Soldier	Brian Peck	No	26	24 Oct 1930		3 Apr 2021	90	1	1	2
2nd Soldier	Edward Judd	No	24	4 Oct 1932		24 Feb 2009	76	1	1	2
Burned Soldier	Edwin Richfield	Yes	35	11 Sep 1921		2 Aug 1990	68	10		10
Dr Kelly	Robert Bruce	No	38	1 Jan 1918		Sep 1967	49		1	1
Dr Royston	Dean Jagger	Yes	52	7 Nov 1903		5 Feb 1991	87	1		1
Elliott	Edward Chapman	Yes	55	13 Oct 1901		9 Aug 1977	75	1		1
Gateman	Anthony Sagar	No	36	19 Jun 1920		24 Jan 1973	52	1	1	2
Gerard	Lawrence James	No	29	7 Apr 1927		21 Feb 1986	58		1	1
Haggis	Ian McNaughton	Yes	30	30 Dec 1925		10 Dec 2002	76	1		1
Hospital Director	Max Brimmell	No	29	27 Apr 1927		15 Feb 1993	65	1	1	2
Hospital Porter	Patrick Halpin	No	55	4 Mar 1901		21 May 1971	70		6	6
Ian Osborne	Frazer Hines	Yes	12	22 Sep 1944			81	1		1
Inspector McGill	Leo McKern	Yes	36	16 Mar 1920		23 Jul 2002	82	2		2
Jack Harding	Jameson Clark	Yes	49	1907		4 Jan 1984	77	1		1
Jeep Driver	Arthur Howell	No	36	5 Jan 1920		Aug 1993	83		6	6
Jerry	John Stone	No	32	26 May 1924		2007	82		1	1
Lancing	Kenneth Cope	Yes	25	14 Apr 1931		11 Sep 2024	93	2		2
Lt Bannerman	Peter Hammond	Yes	32	15 Nov 1923		12 Oct 2011	87	1		1
Major Cartwright	John Harvey	Yes	45	27 Sep 1911		19 Jul 1982	70	12	1	13
Old Tom	Norman MacOwan	Yes	79	2 Jan 1877		31 Dec 1961	84	2		2
PC Williams	French Taylor	No							1	1
Peter	William Lucas	Yes	31	14 Apr 1925		8 Jul 2016	91	3		3
Police Car Driver	John Stirling	No							2	2
Police Radio Operator	Shaw Taylor	No	32	26 Oct 1924		17 Mar 2017	92		1	1
Police Sergeant	Jack Lambert	No	56	29 Dec 1899		13 Mar 1976	76	1	1	2
Private Webb	Anthony Newley	Yes	25	24 Sep 1931		14 Apr 1999	67	1		1
Reporter	John Stevenson-Lang	No	50	28 Feb 1906		1961	54		1	1
Russell	Neil Wilson	No	40	24 Jun 1916		24 Jan 1975	58	2	2	4
Security Man	Philip Levene	No	30	9 Jun 1926		25 Mar 1973	46		1	1
Sergeant Grimsdyke	Michael Ripper	Yes	43	27 Jan 1913		28 Jun 2000	87	34	2	36
Sgt Yeardye	Archie Duncan	No	42	26 May 1914		24 Jul 1979	65		2	2
Soldier in Trench	Barry Steele	No	35	3 Mar 1921		30 Sep 1982	61		2	2
Technician	Roy Everson	No				1 Apr 2001			3	3
Technician at Research Centre	Alan Beaton	No	56	10 Jul 1900		Mar 1977	76		3	3
Unwin	Neil Hallett	Yes	32	30 Jun 1924		5 Dec 2004	80	1		1
Vi Harding	Jane Aird	Yes	46	12 Jul 1910		26 May 1979	68	2	1	3
Vicar	Brown Derby	No	42	5 May 1914		17 Jul 2000	86		1	1
Willie Harding	Michael Brook	Yes	14	1942		8 Jun 2014	72	1		1
Willies Room Nurse	Stella Kemball	No	30	28 Apr 1926		24 Nov 2001	75	1	1	2
With	Angela Crow	No	20	13 Dec 1935		3 Mar 2022	86		2	2
With	Raymond Dudley	No	12	1944	1 Jan 1944		81		1	1
Zena, the Nurse	Marianne Brauns	Yes	38	1918				1		1

Original Poster

Click to enlarge

Footnotes

A very young Frazer Hines appears in this film. He later played Jamie alongside Patrick Troughton in BBC TV’s Doctor Who, as well as Joe Sugden in the Yorkshire TV soap opera Emmerdale Farm.

Director Leslie Norman is the father of film critic Barry Norman.

Uncredited Shaw Taylor is best known for presenting the long-running five-minute crime programme Police 5.

1956 BBFC Cert. “X”

Production Details

Stills from film

Cast & Crew

Original Poster

Footnotes

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