The Terror of the Tongs

In the year of 1910, Hong Kong members of the secret Red Dragon Tong crime family protect their identities by murdering Helena Sale, the daughter of Captain Jackson Sale, a British sea officer who vows revenge and defies the spread of fear created by the tongs. Helped by a mysterious beggar and a young serving girl named Lee, Sale discovers there is an inside traitor who has been giving vital information to the tongs, thus making them one step ahead of Sale’s findings…

Original Trailer

Production Details

Columbia Pictures Corporation Presents – A Hammer film production
Copyright MCMLX by Merlin Film Company – 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
Eastmancolor by Pathe 86 mins

Filming dates: 19th April – 30th May 1960
UK Release: 29th September 1961

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

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
Accountant	Ken Gordon	No							10	10
Art Direction	Thomas Goswell	No	70	28 Mar 1891		1982	90	1	6	7
Assistant Art Director	Don Mingaye	Yes	32	1929		8 Nov 2017	88	28	15	43
Assistant Continuity	Pauline Harlow (Wise)	No	23	1938		Sep 2024	86	11	3	14
Assistant Costume Designer	Yvonne Blake	No	21	17 Apr 1940		17 Jul 2018	78		3	3
Assistant Director	John Peverall	Yes	30	1931		3 Oct 2009	78	21		21
Assistant Editor	Chris Barnes	Yes	23	1938		5 Jun 2009	71	21	13	34
Assistant Editor	Paul Smith	No							2	2
Assistant Make-up Artist	Colin Garde	No	46	16 Jul 1915		Dec 1990	75	1	3	4
Assistant Wardrobe	Rosemary Burrows	No						36	5	41
Associate Producer	Anthony Nelson-Keys	Yes	49	13 Nov 1911		19 Mar 1985	73	43		43
Boom Operator	Jim Perry	No							9	9
Camera Operator	Len Harris	Yes	45	19 May 1916		21 Feb 1995	78	63	2	65
Cashier	Peter Lancaster	No	26	16 Aug 1935		10 Dec 2004	69		1	1
Casting	Dorothy Holloway	No	63	7 Mar 1898		1972	73	4	6	10
Chief Accountant	W.H.V. Able	No	66	1895		1975	80		4	4
Chief Electrician	Jack Curtis	No						3	24	27
Clapper Loader	Alan McDonald	No	23	1938	1 Jan 1938		87		14	14
Construction Manager	Arthur Banks	No						19	29	48
Continuity	Tilly Day	Yes	58	1903		1994	91	14	1	15
Director	Anthony Bushell	Yes	57	19 May 1904		2 Apr 1997	92	1		1
Director of Photography	Arthur Grant	Yes	46	1915		1972	57	34		34
Editor	Eric Boyd-Perkins	Yes	44	1917		4 Dec 2014	97	10		10
Executive Producer	Michael Carreras	Yes	33	21 Dec 1927		19 Apr 1994	66	98	11	109
Floor Props Chargehand	Peter Allchorne	No	36	1925	1 Jan 1925		100		9	9
Focus Puller	Harry Oakes	No	40	16 Jan 1921		11 Dec 2012	91	3	56	59
Grip	Albert Cowlard	No	38	1923	1 Jan 1923		102	1	10	11
Hair Stylist	Frieda Steiger	Yes	57	29 Dec 1903		19 Aug 1992	88	28		28
Make-up Artist	Roy Ashton	Yes	52	16 Apr 1909		10 Jan 1995	85	36	4	40
Master Carpenter	Charles Davis	No							9	9
Master Painter	Lawrence Wren	No							12	12
Master Plasterer	Stan Banks	No							6	6
Music	James Bernard	Yes	36	20 Sep 1925		12 Jul 2001	75	25	1	26
Musical Supervisor	John Hollingsworth	Yes	45	20 Mar 1916		29 Dec 1963	47	37	3	40
Producer	Kenneth Hyman	Yes	32	11 Dec 1928			96	1	2	3
Production Designer	Bernard Robinson	Yes	49	28 Jul 1912		2 Mar 1970	57	46	4	50
Production Manager	Clifford Parkes	Yes	32	10 Jul 1928		20.11.2014	87	12		12
Production Secretary	Ann Skinner	No	24	1 Feb 1937			88	1	3	4
Property Buyer	Eric Hillier	No	41	1920		1975	55		17	17
Property Master	Tom Money	No	44	1917		1974	57	2	21	23
Publicist	Colin Reid	No							6	6
Second Assistant Director	Hugh Harlow	No	22	17 Jun 1939			86	6	34	40
Second Assistant Director	Joe Levy	No							1	1
Sound Assistant	Maurice Smith	No							2	2
Sound Camera Operator	Alan Thorne	No						1	8	9
Sound Camera Operator	Michael Sale	No							9	9
Sound Editor	Alban Streeter	Yes	31	1930	1 Jan 1930		95	7		7
Sound Maintainence	Charles Bouvet	No	54	27 Oct 1906		1978	71		8	8
Sound Recordist	Jock May	Yes	56	1905		8 Jan 1991	86	31	1	32
Still Photographer	Tom Edwards	No				1999			27	27
Studio Manager	Arthur Kelly	No							8	8
Stunt Performer	Joe DOrazio	No	39	27 Jul 1922		9 Mar 2022	99		2	2
Stunts	Peter Diamond	No	32	10 Aug 1929		27 Mar 2004	74	4	25	29
Supervising Editor	James Needs	Yes	41	17 Oct 1919		4 Feb 2003	83	113	1	114
Third Assistant Director	Dominic Fulford	No	42	19 Aug 1919		23 Apr 2007	87	1	6	7
Wardrobe Mistress	Molly Arbuthnot	Yes	52	19 Dec 1908		31 Oct 2001	92	48	5	53
Writer	Jimmy Sangster	Yes	33	2 Dec 1927		19 Aug 2011	83	66	2	68
CAST
Anna Chang - Housekeeper	Bandana Das Gupta	No				1965			2	2
Beamish	Tom Gill	No	45	26 Jul 1916		22 Jul 1971	54	4	1	5
Captain Jackson Sale	Geoffrey Toone	Yes	50	15 Nov 1910		1 Jun 2005	94	1		1
Chinese Fighter	Peter Diamond	No	32	10 Aug 1929		27 Mar 2004	74	4	25	29
Chung King	Christopher Lee	Yes	39	27 May 1922		7 Jun 2015	93	22		22
Confucius	Ric Young	No	17	1 Jun 1944			81		1	1
District Commissioner Harcort	Brian Worth	Yes	47	14 Jul 1914		25 Aug 1978	64	1		1
Dr. Fu Chao	Charles Lloyd-Pack	Yes	58	10 Oct 1902		22 Dec 1983	81	8		8
Girl	Anne Scott	No							1	1
Guardian	Milton Reid	No	44	29 Apr 1917		1987	69	1	3	4
Helena Sale	Barbara Brown	Yes	21	27 Apr 1940			85	1		1
Inspector Bob Dean	Richard Leech	Yes	38	24 Nov 1922		24 Mar 2004	81	1		1
Lee	Yvonne Monlaur	Yes	25	15 Dec 1935		18 Apr 2017	81	2		2
Lee Chung	Andy Ho	No	48	2 Jul 1913		1992	78		1	1
Mr Ming	Burt Kwouk	Yes	31	18 Jul 1930		24 May 2016	85	4		4
Mya	Marie Burke	Yes	66	18 Oct 1894		21 Mar 1988	93	3	1	4
Priest at Annas House	Michael Hawkins	No	32	26 Nov 1928		26 Oct 2014	85	1	1	2
Su Yen	Michael Peake	No	42	13 Oct 1918		1 Apr 1967	48	2	3	5
Tang Hao	Roger Delgado	Yes	43	1 Mar 1918		18 Jun 1973	55	4	1	5
Tang Hoe	Ewen Solon	Yes	44	7 Sep 1917		7 Jul 1985	67	5	1	6
The Beggar	Marne Maitland	Yes	46	18 Dec 1914		Mar 1992	77	9		9
Tong Room Girl	Katy Cashfield	No	24	6 Apr 1937			88		1	1
Tong Room Girl	Ruth Calvert	No	45	15 Mar 1916		26 Jan 2004	87		1	1
Tong Room Girl	June Barry	No	26	15 Jun 1935		2 May 2020	84		1	1
Tong Room Girl	Marialla Capes	No				1983			1	1
Tong Room Girl	Audrey Burton	No							1	1
Tong Room Girl	Barbara Smith	No							1	1
Tong Room Girl	Hazel Gardner	No							1	1
Tong Room Girl	Julie Shearing	No							1	1
Tong Room Girl	Louise Dickson	No							1	1
Tong Room Girl	Mary Rose Barry	No							1	1
Tong Room Girl	Patty Dalton	No							1	1
Tong Room Girl	Pauline Dukes	No							2	2
Tong Room Girl	Valerie Holman	No							1	1
Tong Room Girl	Valerie Shevaloff	No							1	1
Tong Room Patron	Alf Casha	No	62	26 Feb 1899		Mar 1979	80		4	4
Tong Room Patron	Philip Stewart	No							4	4
With	Walter Randall	No	42	26 Jun 1919		5 May 2008	88		2	2
With	Vincent Wong	No	33	4 Feb 1928		13 Mar 2015	87		4	4
With	Harold Goodwin	No	43	22 Oct 1917		3 Jun 2004	86	4	3	7
With	Peter Gray	No	47	11 May 1914		24 Mar 2001	86		1	1
With	Cyril Shaps	No	37	13 Oct 1923		1 Jan 2003	79	1	2	3
With	Julie Alexander	No	23	9 May 1938		31 Jan 2003	64		1	1
With	Steven Scott	No	41	23 Jan 1920		1981	60		2	2
With	Arnold Lee	No							2	2
With	Johnny Arlen	No							1	1
With	Jules Ki-Ki	No							1	1
With	Poin Ping Sam	No							1	1
With	Ronald Ing	No							2	2
With	Santso Wong	No							1	1
With	Sui Lin	No							1	1

Original Poster

Click to enlarge

Footnotes

The film is notable in that is the first Hammer horror film to afford Christopher Lee top billing. Lee also reported to work on the film after a vacation in Northern Italy with a deep tan, which was problematic for the make-up department since his character was supposed to have very pale skin. Lee later said in interviews that the make-up to make him appear into a Chinese in this movie was the most uncomfortable make-up he had to endure up to that time.

1961 BBFC Cert. “X"

Production Details

Stills from film

Cast & Crew

Original Poster

Footnotes

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