Captain Clegg (1962)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Peter Graham Scott

Writers:

Anthony Hinds (writer)
Barbara S. Harper (additional dialogue)

Release Date:

13 June 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Adventure | Horror

Tagline:

Who knows the truth about the curse of Captain Clegg?

Plot:

In this engaging costume melodrama of skulduggery on the low seas set back in the 18th-century, the...

Plot Keywords:

Captain | Smuggling | Marsh | Ghost | Lovers

Cast

Peter Cushing	...	Rev. Dr. Blyss (Capt. Clegg)
Yvonne Romain	...	Imogene Clegg (serving wench)
Patrick Allen	...	Capt. Collier
Oliver Reed	...	Harry Cobtree
Michael Ripper	...	Jeremiah Mipps (coffinmaker)
Martin Benson	...	Mr. Rash (innkeeper)
David Lodge	...	Navy bos'un
Derek Francis	...	Squire Anthony Cobtree
Daphne Anderson	...	Mrs. Rash
Milton Reid	...	The Mulatto
Jack MacGowran	...	Frightened Man
Terry Scully	...	Sailor Dick Tate
Sydney Bromley	...	Old Tom Ketch
Peter Halliday	...	Sailor Jack Pott
Rupert Osborne	...	Gerry (as Rupert Osborn)

Also Known As:

Night Creatures (USA)

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

USA:Unrated | Norway:16 (1962) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Movie Connections:

Remake of Doctor Syn (1937)

The Hammer That Time Forgot...

One of Hammer's finest films yet unseen for years. It has not been broadcast on British television since 1981 when it was under its American title, Night Creatures. But it's a wonderful little movie. Peter Cushing is on fine form as is the ever-reliable Patrick Allen and Oliver Reed gives a nice performance as an innocent young man (as if!) The irreplaceable Michael Ripper gets a bigger role here than in most of his films and shines too with a nice line in sarcasm. The story is fun and the location filming is very pleasant (actually Denham in Bucks and not Dymchurch at all!) but the thing that lifts this movie to classic status is the electrifying scenes of the Marsh Phantoms, a brilliant realisation of real fear. Remarkably considering that the viewer is aware from the start that they are villagers dressed up, their appearance is incredibly convincing! The opening sequence of scrolling scene setting and narration with a faint glimpse of a skeletal figure on horseback weaving through the background is only a hint of the awesome scenes that follow. After that the film settles down to good historical adventure, lively and funny and only occasionally marred by slapstick, as in the fight in the church. A neglected gem from a more simplistic age.