One fine day in June, Bray Studios, the scene of many a Hammer horror film, invited some Hammer Studios alumni to a get-together. It was a sort of...
By Greg Turnbull
(Greg Turnbull recently completed a pilgrimage to the Hammer Day festivities at Bray Studios in England, home of some of the best Hammer horror films ever turned out by the Studio That Dripped Blood. His report on the fightful fete for HORROR-WOOD follows. Once you've read the article, be sure to visit his Hammer Galmour website, dedicated to the lovely ladies of Hammer horror.)
Well, the much anticipated Hammer day at Bray Studios on June 27, 1998 has finally come and gone, and what an event it was! Around 40 guests attended, although (unfortunately) Chris Lee was unable to put in an appearance. The highlights were the attendance of Tony Hinds, Val Guest, and Francis Searle (who I sadly missed talking too). It rained on and off, which caused a few of us to get some of our autographs a bit smudged, but when the weather was nice, it was great to be out on the grass (behind the room where Chris Lee crashed through the French windows in The Mummy), with a nice view of the river, and to be surrounded by so many Hammer stars from both in-front of, and behind, the camera. Truly a memorable day, and probably one never to be repeated.
The day started early for me due to an uncomfortable 6+ hour (overnight) bus trip from the North-East to London, then the tube/train/taxi transfers to Windsor and finally Bray Studios (hallowed ground). As I arrived early, I took the opportunity to visit the famous Oakley Court, the exterior of which has been used in many films, such as The Reptile, Brides of Dracula, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, etc. Hammer's Man in Black was shot entirely in Oakley Court, although it must have looked a lot different back then. I took a few pictures, then decided to see if I could get some breakfast inside. The hotel has been completely refurbished (inside) and extended (outside), and is now very high class (it has a swimming pool, conference rooms, exercise equipment, etc.), and despite the room prices of $290-700 per night, was totally full! I decided to stick to tea at c.$5, as a BLT and fries was about $20!
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| Bray Studios...a familiar set to Hammer film fans. | Actor Michael Ripper (r). |
Leaving Oakley Court for the shot walk back to Bray Studios (how convenient that must have been for Hammer), I collected my ticket and chatted with a few of the other early arrivals. One unfortunate incident was that a camera crew sent by Marcus Hearn and Ed Olsen (of the H.H.C.N. in the US) was turned away by the organizer (Donald Fearney) as supposedly no one had told him anything about it; it turned out that this had been approved by Graham Skeggs after all. Still, come 10am, we were allowed in and spent the first few hours hunting for those elusive posters and stills from the few dealers in attendance (although the prices were rather high). Having somewhat limited funds, I helped the other organizers (e.g., Simon Greetham and Jonathan Sothcott) by selling a few of the event programs, very nicely designed by Mike Murphy of Dark Terrors fame. This also gave me a chance to meet a few more of the Hammer fans who I have corresponded with via my web site.
Finally a few of the official guests started to arrive, and were whisked away to the V.I.P. lounge before a signing session with Ingrid Pitt, Caroline Munro, Jacqueline Pearce (and later Martine Beswick, and the Collinson Twins) was finally set up. This illustrated one of the major problems with the event (and one which plagued Hammer for many years too), Bray is just too small for events such as this. Considering the passing of so many years since Hammer's heyday, it was also difficult for many people to identify the official Hammer guests (as they could bring their friends and family with them). Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but perhaps if such an event is ever held again, then some sort of announcement as each guest arrives, or the use of a larger conference room where guests can be seated, or even just clearly labeled badges, would be very useful additions for many fans.
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| Hammer horror heroines Ingrid Pitt and Hazel Court. |
Over the coming hours, the other guests arrived, and many of them wandered around outside on the grass, or around the few rooms at Bray available to us (bar, cafeteria, screening room - used for autographs and the auction, entrance lobby, hallways, etc.). Sadly we were not allowed to wander around the sound stages, as this is still a working studio, although now predominantly used for TV productions, such as Soldier, Soldier, etc. After my stint at helping out, I rushed around trying to get as many photographs, and signatures in my copy of The Hammer Story as I possibly could, and (if time permitted) chat to as many of the guests as possible. The results of the photographs (as you can see) are not perfect, but they give you an idea of what it was like to be there. Luckily for us, there were only about 170 fans, so it was relatively easy to get access to most guests (except for the long queues for autographs from Martine and the Collinsons).
My book got a little wet/smudged, but I got the autographs of : Ian Scoones (SpFx), Renee Glynne (Continuity), John Forbes-Robertson (Legend of 7 Golden Vampires), Virginia Wetherell (Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde), Aida Young (Producer), Edward De Souza (Kiss of the Vampire), Tony Hinds (Producer), Hazel Court (Man Who Could Cheat Death), Coco Epps (Driver of A. Hinds, M. Carreras, A. Nelson-Keys, etc., who told me a few nice stories about his days at Hammer), Hugh & Pauline Harlow (Prod. Man. & Continuity), Caron Gardner (Evil of Frankenstein), Don Taylor (Men of Sherwood Forest; married to H. Court), Val Guest (Director; an honor to have met him), Ray Harryhausen (SpFx, who I met at a Clash of the Titans preview many years ago), the Collinson Twins (Mary & Madeleine, recently located by my friend Michael Reed, who also located Yutte Stensgaard in Oregon - she was unfortunately unable to appear at this event, worse luck. Mary brought her daughter with her to this her first film convention, and she looked really bored by it all), Valerie Van Ost (Satanic Rites of Dracula), Veronica Carlson (great to finally meet a lady I have long corresponded with; she still looks lovely, and it was also nice to chat to her parents and sister), Ingrid Pitt (another long-time acquaintance, always nice to see her at these events), Jacqueline Pearce (Plague of the Zombies), Michael Latimer (Slave Girls), Jimmy Sangster (Writer/Director, who I saw looking through some of the posters, saying that they cost more than the films did to make!), John Cater (Captain Kronos; he was a nice guy), Suzanna Leigh (looking lovely and chatting a lot), Roy Skeggs (Chairman), Martine Beswick (recently moved to London from the US, and also still looking lovely), Patrick Mower (a surprise guest), Caroline Munro (who did not sing, although Gary Wilson was there), Steffie Pitt (Ingrid's lovely daughter), etc.
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| Stop-Motion Maestro Ray Harryhausen. | Hammer Producer Anthony Hinds and Writer-Director Jimmy Sangster. |
Sadly, I missed meeting: Tudor Gates (Writer), Graham Skeggs (son of Roy and Man. Dir.), director Francis Searle (Damn), Margaret Robinson (Bernard's wife, who donated some pictures for the auction), Michael Ripper (looking a little frail, but he did sign a few autographs, and chatted for a short while), and a couple of others (Tom Edwards, John Jay, Bill Lenny, etc.). I also got to meet some of the well known Hammer collectors, writers, and fans, such as Jens Reinheimer, Mark Miller, Tom Johnson, Wayne Kinsey, etc.; some fans having flown in from the East or West coast for this event! Later on there was some food laid on in the bar (which was quickly snapped up), and a photo-shoot for the assembled guests, after which Hazel Court presented a plaque to Bray to commemorate the event. I presume this will be hung in the entrance lobby with some of the other Hammer photos? Finally, there was quite a long auction (presided over by Marcus Hearn) of 40+ original Hammer items, such as Chris Lee's Dracula cravat, a prop eye from Frankenstein & the Monster from Hell, and various original film scripts, posters, stills, etc. Prices varied from around £40-50 for minor items, up to £2-300 for the key items, with bidding quite heavy at times (like the rain). The proceeds (some £2-3,000?) went to The Ralph Bates Pancreatic Cancer charity (nicely introduced for us by his wife Virginia Wetherell). I managed to resist the temptation to buy too much, thank God, otherwise I wouldn't have had the train fare back to London! Still, I got a German Dracula - PoD poster, and a few Promo/FoH stills, so I did OK. Later, I saw a small film crew interviewing Edward de Souza and Martine Beswick out on the lawn, and taking some shots of Bray and the surroundings, so maybe we'll see some of the event on TV later in the year? The Press were also there, so I hope we'll see some better photos too later on.
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| Hammer Actress Veronica Carlson | Caroline Munro with author Greg Turnbull. |
Between 9:30am and 6:30pm, there was a specially chartered, red London double-decker bus to take fans to/from Windsor train station, although many stayed on later than this to see the results of the auction, and to chat to fellow fans and the few remaining guests (I heard that Stephen Lewis "The Inspector" was even supposed to have made a surprise appearance?]. As the evening wore on (and everyone's energy wore down), I went with Marcus Hearn and a few of his friends for a quiet drink and a bite to eat in the local pub in Bray village (also frequently used by Hammer personnel). Bray is a very small, quiet, but very pretty village, just a few miles down the road from the studio. Sadly, they have just demolished the garage that can be seen in The Quatermass Xperiment! Finally it was time for me to head back to London and another long boring bus trip back home. But it had been a great day, and the organizers are to be heartily congratulated for having succeeded in getting so many famous people in the same place at the same time! Maybe one day we'll be able to get those guests that didn't attend to another such convention, only this time in a larger venue? We can but dream...
Many Thanks, Greg! It's too bad most of us couldn't made the trip to Bray Studios, but your report (and photos) are the next best thing to being there. Cheers and Cheerio!
Report written by Greg Turnbull, Zurich, Gregory.Turnbull@ubs.com (All pictures copyright Greg Turnbull, 1998.)
