X the
Unknown is an immensely enjoyable would be ‘Quatermass’ film produced by Hammer
Film productions in 1956. Scripted by reluctant screenplay writer (he was
originally a Production Manager) and regular Hammer contributor Jimmy Sangster
and starring an obligatory American lead (to ensure American distribution) in
the form of actor Dean Jagger, playing Dr. Adam Royston, a character a bit like
Professor Bernard Quatermass. There is a good reason for these
similarities. Following the success of
Hammer’s ‘The Quatermass Xperiment’ the year prior (a film adaptation of the
1953 BBC serial ‘The Quatermass Experiment’ scripted by Nigel Kneale) the folks
at Hammer were hoping for a quick return and the opportunity to cash in on that
first film. Besides which they had also begun carving themselves a niche in the
British horror/science fiction market and films such as this paved the way for
the glossy gothic colour Hammer films that were to follow with pictures such as
‘The Curse of Frankenstein’ in 1957 and ‘Dracula’ in 1958.
The title card for 'X The Unknown' seen at the beginning of the picture |
Although ‘X
the Unknown’ is a Jimmy Sangster script it was hoped that Nigel Kneale would
give the filmmakers permission to include the character of Professor Bernard
Quatermass thus making it a Quatermass picture. Although Kneale would allow
Hammer the rights for their three film adaptations of his Quatermass TV serials
and his unrelated serial ‘The Creature’ (made by Hammer as ‘The Abominable
Snowman’) he did not allow Hammer to use the character for this production.
Thus the character of Dr. Adam Royston was born and in a way it’s a pity that
Dean Jagger did not portray the role of Quatermass in the first two Hammer
pictures, the aforementioned ‘The Quatermass Xperiment’ and ‘Quatermass 2’
because he is a lot better at portraying the curious, meticulous scientist
Royston than fellow actor Brian Donlevy ever was at playing Quatermass....but
that’s a story for a later blog post!
An original film poster featuring the face of Dean Jagger as Royston |
Some
spoilers here!
‘X the
Unknown’ concerns a radiation hungry monster that appears in a Scottish gravel
pit during a routine military exercise searching via Geiger counter for a
harmless radiation source. Its forces create a fissure in the ground of the
gravel pit at the start of the film and later its true power in unleashed. In
traditional fashion it runs amok across the fictional Scottish village of
Lochmouth, which also happens to be home to Dr. Royston who works at a nearby
Atomic Energy Laboratory.
The film is
solidly directed by Leslie Norman (who’d later direct scores of ‘The Saint’
episodes starring Sir Roger Moore) and benefits from some atmospheric night shoots
at Beaconsfield Gravel Pits in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire and St. Michaels
Church in Bray, Berkshire where the villagers retreat to, to escape the wrath
of the creature (in a scene reminiscent of the original ‘The War of the Worlds’
made in 1953). Incidentally the latter location was tracked down by yours truly
(Screenprick) after some exhaustive research. In line with the supposed
Scottish location of the film, a short sequence of a congregation leaving
church (featuring a completely different church location) was lifted from the
classic comedy film ‘Whisky Galore!’ filmed at Castlebay on the Isle of Barra
(again tracked down by yours truly!) ‘X the Unknown’ is notably quite graphic
for the time in which it was made, allowing the filmmakers to secure the
desired X certificate that the ‘Quatermass’ pictures also enjoyed. At the time
this gave the film a certain notoriety and the melted faces of the victims of
‘X’ are highly effective and predate the famous sequence from ‘Indiana Jones
and the Raiders of the Lost Ark’ (namely the death of Major Arnold Toht) by 25
years. It is worth noting that the film’s original booked director was Joseph
Losey, who went on to direct the classic Hammer film ‘The Damned’ in 1963. An
American director, he had moved to the UK (initially working under the name of
Joseph Walton) to avoid the Hollywood Blacklist after he was blacklisted for
allegedly being a ‘Communist sympathiser’. This was not unusual for 1950’s
Hollywood and many directors, producers and actors suffered under McCarthyism
for simply having left wing leanings. Nevertheless actor Dean Jagger refused to
work with Losey due to his politics and although a couple of his sequences
appear in the film he was dropped (officially due to ‘illness’) during the
picture’s first week in production.
A grisly death for Unwin (Neil Hallett) pushing the films X certificate and predating a similar sequence in 'Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark' by 25 years! |
The
performances of Dean Jagger and the supporting cast are generally excellent but
special mention must go to Australian actor Leo McKern as Inspector McGill. The
actor would later find fame for his appearances in ‘The Prisoner’ and playing
the lead in ‘Rumpole of the Bailey’. A young Kenneth Cope (later of ‘Randall
and Hopkirk Deceased’ fame) appears here as the first victim of ‘X’ Private
Lansing. An even younger Frazer Hines (credited here as Fraser Hines and just
11 years old at the time of filming) plays local boy Ian Osborne here. An
accomplished little actor Hines would later appear as the longest running
Doctor Who companion to date (alongside Second Doctor Patrick Troughton) from
1966-1969 and later as a long running regular character in ‘Emmerdale’.
The sludgy sight of 'X The Unknown' |
The films
main let down is the ridiculous sequence with Neil Hallett as Unwin and
Marianne Brauns as Zena, a lustful Nurse who is after Dr. Unwin’s..erm..well
she is certainly after Dr. Unwin. They are both at a hospital where a boy who
had come into contact with ‘X’ has succumbed to the radiation burns caused by
the incident. Marianne picks this moment to get close and personal with Unwin
who ultimately meets the same fate as the young boy. The sequence is demeaning
to one of the very few women to appear in the film (the scene was memorably
made fun of in an episode of ‘Whose Line is it Anyway’ with Tony Slattery) and
was clearly crassly included purely for the benefit of the ‘X’ certificate
rating. His death scene though is very
well done.
Dean Jagger and his supporting cast, including Leo McKern (second right) as Inspector McGill |
The special
effects (for a Hammer film) are actually very successful throughout, ‘X’ itself
is an oozing, slimy blob (predating the American film ‘The Blob’ by 2 years) and
there are some memorable sequences, particularly when ‘X’ almost envelopes a
small child, only to be saved by the local priest in the nick of time. The
least effective shot is seen when ‘X’ ploughs through some power lines, but hey, this
was made in 1956 after all!
James
Bernard’s spooky, dissonant and minimal score (his second for Hammer following
‘The Quatermass Xperiment’) nicely counterpoints the action and all in all ‘X
the Unknown’ is great fun. Sangster was always very self deprecating about his
work but he was actually a very accomplished script writer and this, his debut
script for Hammer showcases this. He treats the scientific subject matter with
great seriousness and sincerity, and although it is inevitably pseudo-science
it has believability and does not patronise its audience. It is also an unusual
film in that the threat is not man made, but a natural occurrence, a refreshing
change from the much repeated idea of man creating its own enemies by meddling
with things it does not understand.
The cracked earth from where 'X' emerged |
Hierarchically
this production is leagues above a great deal of the American (and some
British) science fiction/horror product of the decade, not to mention the
following three decades too and is no doubt one of Hammer’s best early Horror
pictures.
The end titles, produced at the now under threat Bray Studios |
NOTE: All production stills and photographs used in this review are copyrighted to Hammer Productions and Icon Home Entertainment. Screenprick will be back in 2016!
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