Brenda Thompson is a naive, almost childlike, young Liverpudlian girl, who lives in a dream world in which she is a fantasy princess. Desperate to have a baby, she leaves her home in Liverpool and heads for the bright lights of London in search of a potential father. There, she meets an attractive young man, Peter, who seems to be everything she is hoping for. But all is not as it appears, for he is in reality a dangerous, psychopathic murderer!
Production Details
A Hammer production released through MGM-EMI Film Distributors Limited Copyright MCMLXXII Hammer Film Productions Limited – All rights reserved MPAA
Approved Certificate No. 23532
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 System
Made at Elstree Studios Hertfordshire, England
Technicolor 96 mins
Filming Began: 17th December 1971
UK Release: 19th July 1972
Studio:
Elstree Studios of Associated British Picture Corporation, Hertfordshire
Location:
South Bank Centre, South Bank, Lambeth, London
214 Earl’s Court Road, Kensington, London – Newsagents shop
Stills from film
Click an image for enlarged slideshow
Cast & Crew
Red = Uncredited
Crew | Name | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Credits | Uncredited | Total Hammer | |
Art Director | Scott MacGregor | 57 | 22 Oct 1914 | 1971 | 56 | 15 | 1 | 16 | |
Assistant Art Director | Richard Rambaut | 34 | 5 May 1938 | Nov 1974 | 36 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Assistant Director | Clive Reed | 40 | 1932 | 01.01.1932 | 92 | 1 | 1 | ||
Camera Operator | Roy Ford | 37 | 1935 | 10 Dec 2008 | 73 | 5 | 5 | ||
Camera Operator | Keith Jones | 10 May 2010 | 3 | 3 | |||||
Casting Director | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/james-liggat/# | 52 | 1920 | 28 Sep 1981 | 61 | 29 | 2 | 31 | |
Construction Manager | Bill Greene | 9 | 9 | ||||||
Continuity | Betty Harley | 6 | 6 | ||||||
Director | Peter Collinson | 36 | 1 Apr 1936 | 16 Dec 1980 | 44 | 1 | 1 | ||
Director of Photography | Brian Probyn BSc | 51 | 30 Nov 1920 | 25 Nov 1982 | 61 | 6 | 6 | ||
Draughtsman | Keith Pain | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Dubbing Recordist | Dennis Whitlock | 44 | 1928 | 2008 | 80 | 13 | 1 | 14 | |
Editor | Alan Pattillo | 42 | 26 Jul 1929 | 16 Jan 2020 | 90 | 1 | 1 | ||
Focus Puller | Keith Blake | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Hairdressing | Pearl Tipaldi | 24 Aug 1993 | 7 | 7 | |||||
Lyrics | John Peacock | 27 | 1945 | 1 Jun 2017 | 72 | 13 | 13 | ||
Make-up | George Blackler | 60 | 7 Mar 1912 | 30 Oct 1986 | 74 | 7 | 1 | 8 | |
Music Composed & Arranged by | Roland Shaw | 52 | 26 May 1920 | 11 May 2012 | 91 | 1 | 1 | ||
Musical Supervisor | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/philip-martell/# | 64 | 6 Oct 1907 | 11 Aug 1993 | 85 | 104 | 1 | 105 | |
Original Screenplay | John Peacock | 27 | 1945 | 1 Jun 2017 | 72 | 13 | 13 | ||
Producer | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/michael-carreras/# | 44 | 21 Dec 1927 | 19 Apr 1994 | 66 | 86 | 9 | 95 | |
Production Manager | Tom Sachs | 43 | 10 Apr 1929 | 10.04.1929 | 95 | 8 | 1 | 9 | |
Production Supervisor | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/roy-skeggs/# | 38 | Apr 1934 | 29 Dec 2018 | 84 | 45 | 2 | 47 | |
Recording Director | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/aw-lumkin/# | 59 | 1 Feb 1913 | 25 Oct 1985 | 72 | 30 | 30 | ||
Song Straight on till Morning Music | Annie Ross | 41 | 25 Jul 1930 | 21 Jul 2020 | 89 | 3 | 3 | ||
Sound Editor | Alan Bell | 41 | 27 May 1931 | 5 Aug 2006 | 75 | 1 | 1 | ||
Sound Recordist | John Purchese | 47 | 21 Feb 1925 | 21 Dec 2008 | 83 | 4 | 4 | ||
Sung by | Annie Ross | 41 | 25 Jul 1930 | 21 Jul 2020 | 89 | 3 | 3 | ||
Third Assistant Director | Michael Murray | 2 | 2 | ||||||
Wardrobe Supervisor | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/laura-nightingale/# | 35 | 35 | ||||||
Cast | Name | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Credits | Uncredited | Total Hammer | |
Brenda Thompson | Rita Tushingham | 30 | 14 Mar 1942 | 14.03.1942 | 82 | 1 | 1 | ||
Caroline | Katya Wyeth | 24 | 1 Jan 1948 | 01.01.1948 | 76 | 3 | 3 | ||
Customer | Lola Willard | 60 | 3 Jan 1912 | 6 May 1997 | 85 | 1 | 1 | ||
Indian Princess | Mavis Villiers | 62 | 10 Dec 1909 | 23 Feb 1976 | 66 | 1 | 1 | ||
Jimmy Lindsay | Tom Bell | 38 | 2 Aug 1933 | 4 Oct 2006 | 73 | 1 | 1 | ||
Joey | James Bolam | 37 | 16 Jun 1935 | 16.06.1935 | 89 | 1 | 1 | ||
Liza | Annie Ross | 41 | 25 Jul 1930 | 21 Jul 2020 | 89 | 3 | 3 | ||
Man on Park Bench | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/guy-standeven/# | 43 | 28 Aug 1928 | 16 Oct 1998 | 70 | 7 | 7 | ||
Margo | Clare Kelly | 50 | 25 Feb 1922 | 18 Feb 2001 | 78 | 1 | 1 | ||
Mr Godfrey | Tommy Godfrey | 56 | 20 Jun 1916 | 24 Jun 1984 | 68 | 2 | 2 | ||
Mr Harris | Harold Berens | 69 | 4 Mar 1903 | 10 May 1995 | 92 | 2 | 2 | ||
Mr Harriss Client | Mike Mungarvan | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Newsagent | John Clive | 39 | 6 Jan 1933 | 14 Oct 2012 | 79 | 1 | 1 | ||
Peter | Shane Briant | 25 | 17 Aug 1946 | 27 May 2021 | 74 | 4 | 4 | ||
Uneasy Man | Paul Brooke | 27 | 22 Nov 1944 | 22.11.1944 | 79 | 1 | 1 |
Original Poster
Click to enlarge
Footnotes
Rita Tushingham had made a name for herself in the sixties with films like A Taste of Honey (1961), The Knack…and how to get it (1965) and Smashing Time (1967).
James Bolam was well-known to TV audiences as one of the BBC’s The Likely Lads. His many other appearances include BBC TV’s When the Boat Comes in.
In 1971, Peter Collinson had directed the hysterical psychological thriller Fright, which was produced by Harry Fine and Michael Style, the men behind Hammer’s “Karnstein” vampire trilogy
.