by Phil Alexander
On its release at the very end of 1966, One Million Years B.C. was proudly publicised by Hammer as their 100th film. If you’ve ever tried to verify this assertion you’ve probably run into trouble. At last, I can reveal all! At the time, this puzzled me also, so I wrote to the Company, shortly after its release, and asked them. Their response was to send me a list of their productions, which justifies their claim.
The trick is to ignore their 1930’s films, all three ‘Dick Bartons’ and to number their featurettes separately from their feature films. There are probably some more slight discrepancies from any other list you might have (notably the omission of Don’t Panic, Chaps!), but the following is the list which Hammer themselves used to calculate One Million Years B.C. as their 100th film.
This is the list Hammer sent me to justify their claim:
| Year Released | Count | Production |
|---|---|---|
| 1935 | Ignore | The Mystery of the Marie Celeste |
| 1936 | Ignore | Song of Freedom |
| 1948 | Ignore | Dick Barton Special Agent |
| 1949 | 1 | Doctor Morelle: The Case of the Missing Heiress |
| 1949 | Ignore | Dick Barton Strikes Back |
| 1949 | 2 | The Adventures of PC 49 |
| 1949 | 3 | Celia |
| 1949 | 4 | Meet Simon Cherry |
| 1949 | 5 | The Man in Black |
| 1949 | 6 | Room to Let |
| 1949 | 7 | Someone at the Door |
| 1950 | 8 | What the Butler Saw |
| 1950 | Ignore | Dick Barton at Bay |
| 1950 | 9 | The Lady Craved Excitement |
| 1950 | 10 | The Black Widow |
| 1950 | 11 | The Rossiter Case |
| 1950 | 12 | To Have and to Hold |
| 1950 | 13 | The Dark Light |
| 1951 | 14 | Cloudburst |
| 1951 | 15 | A Case for PC 49 |
| 1951 | 16 | Death of an Angel |
| 1951 | 17 | Whispering Smith Hits London |
| 1951 | 18 | The Last Page |
| 1951 | 19 | Wings of Danger |
| 1951 | 20 | Stolen Face |
| 1951 | 21 | Never Look Back |
| 1952 | 22 | Lady in the Fog |
| 1952 | 23 | The Gambler and the Lady |
| 1952 | 24 | Mantrap |
| 1952 | 25 | Four Sided Triangle |
| 1952 | 26 | The Flanagan Boy |
| 1952 | 27 | Spaceways |
| 1953 | 28 | The Saint’s Return |
| 1953 | 29 | Blood Orange |
| 1953 | 30 | 36 Hours |
| 1953 | 31 | Face the Music |
| 1953 | 32 | The House Across the Lake |
| 1953 | 33 | Life with the Lyons |
| 1953 | 34 | Murder by Proxy |
| 1953 | 35 | Five Days |
| 1954 | 36 | The Stranger Came Home |
| 1954 | 37 | Third Party Risk |
| 1954 | 38 | Mask of Dust |
| 1954 | 39 | The Men of Sherwood Forest |
| 1954 | 40 | The Lyons in Paris |
| 1954 | 41 | The Glass Cage |
| 1954 | 42 | Break in the Circle |
| 1954 | 43 | The Quatermass Xperiment |
| 1955 | 45 | Women Without Men |
| 1955 | Ignore | Cyril Stapleton and the Showband (F1) |
| 1955 | Ignore | Just for You (F2) |
| 1955 | Ignore | The Right Person (F3) |
| 1955 | Ignore | The Eric Winstone Band Show (F4) |
| 1955 | Ignore | Parade of Bands (F5) |
| 1955 | Ignore | A Man on the Beach (F6) |
| 1955 | Ignore | Dick Turpin – Highwayman (F7) |
| 1955 | Ignore | Stagecoach (F8) |
| 1955 | Ignore | The Edmundo Ros Half-Hour (F9) |
| 1955 | Ignore | Copenhagen (F10) |
| 1956 | 45 | X - The Unknown |
| 1956 | 46 | Quatermass 2 |
| 1956 | 47 | The Steel Bayonet |
| 1956 | 48 | The Curse of Frankenstein |
| 1956 | Ignore | Day of Grace (F11) |
| 1957 | 49 | The Abominable Snowman |
| 1957 | 50 | The Camp on Blood Island |
| 1957 | 51 | The Snorkel |
| 1957 | 52 | Dracula (‘Horror of Dracula’) |
| 1957 | 53 | The Revenge of Frankenstein |
| 1957 | Ignore | Clean Sweep (F12) |
| 1957 | Ignore | Danger List (F13) |
| 1957 | Ignore | Man with a Dog (F14) |
| 1957 | Ignore | Operation Universe (F15) |
| 1957 | Ignore | The Seven Wonders of Ireland (F16) |
| 1957 | Ignore | Italian Holiday (F17) |
| 1957 | Ignore | Tales of Frankenstein (TV Pilot) |
| 1958 | 54 | Ten Seconds to Hell |
| 1958 | 55 | I Only Arsked! |
| 1958 | 56 | The Hound of the Baskervilles |
| 1958 | 57 | The Man Who Could Cheat Death |
| 1959 | 58 | Yesterday’s Enemy |
| 1959 | 59 | The Mummy |
| 1959 | 60 | The Ugly Duckling |
| 1959 | 61 | The Stranglers of Bombay |
| 1959 | 62 | Never Take Sweets from a Stranger |
| 1959 | 63 | Hell is a City |
| 1959 | 64 | The Two Faces of Dr Jekyll |
| 1959 | Ignore | Ticket to Happiness (F18) |
| 1960 | 65 | The Brides of Dracula |
| 1960 | 66 | The Terror of the Tongs |
| 1960 | 67 | Visa to Canton (Passport to China) |
| 1960 | 68 | The Full Treatment |
| 1960 | 69 | Sword of Sherwood Forest |
| 1960 | 70 | The Curse of the Werewolf |
| 1960 | 71 | A Weekend with Lulu |
| 1960 | 72 | Taste of Fear |
| 1960 | 73* | The Shadow of the Cat |
| 1961 | 74 | Watch it Sailor |
| 1961 | 75 | Cash on Demand |
| 1961 | 76 | The Damned |
| 1961 | 77 | The Pirates of Blood River |
| 1961 | 78 | Captain Clegg |
| 1961 | 79 | The Phantom of the Opera |
| 1961 | Ignore | Highway Holiday (F19) |
| 1962 | 80 | The Old Dark House |
| 1962 | 81 | Maniac |
| 1962 | 82 | Paranoiac |
| 1962 | 83 | The Kiss of the Vampire |
| 1962 | 84 | Nightmare |
| 1963 | 85 | The Scarlet Blade |
| 1963 | 87 | The Devil-Ship Pirates |
| 1963 | 88 | The Evil of Frankenstein |
| 1963 | 89 | The Gorgon |
| 1964 | 90 | Hysteria |
| 1964 | 91 | The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb |
| 1964 | 92 | Secret of Blood Island |
| 1964 | 86** | She |
| 1964 | 93 | Fanatic |
| 1964 | 94 | The Brigand of Kandahar |
| 1965 | 95 | The Nanny |
| 1965 | 96 | Dracula Prince of Darkness |
| 1965 | 97 | Rasputin the Mad Monk |
| 1965 | 98 | The Plague of the Zombies |
| 1965 | 99 | The Reptile |
| 1965 | 100 | One Million Years BC |
*a strange inclusion, this one, as it does not normally appear on lists of Hammer films
** I know – but this is exactly as listed by Hammer
So there you have it – the rather arguable basis for the film’s publicity – Phil Alexander
Original list received from Hammer
(Annotations by Phil)
