Rasputin the Mad Monk (1966)

Country of Origin: UK
Year of Production: 1965
Running Times: 91m
Length:
Format: 35mm/Cinemascope
Colour Format: color by DeLuxe
Ratio: 2.35:1
Sound: mono

DIRECTION

Directed by: Don Sharp

PRODUCTION
Copyright: © MVMLXV Hammer Film Productions Ltd
Production: A Seven Arts - Hammer production
Produced by: Anthony Nelson Keys
Production Manager: Ross Mackenzie

SCRIPT
Screenplay by: John Elder (real name: Anthony Hinds)

DIRECTION
Assistant Director: Bert Batt
Continuity: Lorna Selwyn

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Michael Reed
Camera Operator: Cece Cooney
Colour by DeLuxe

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Supervising Editor: James Needs
Editor: Roy Hyde

MUSIC
Music Composed by: Don Banks
Musical Supervisor: Philip Martell

SOUND
Sound Recordist: Ken Rawkins
Sound Editor: Roy Baker
RCA Sound Recording

COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP
Make-Up: Roy Ashton
Hair Stylist: Frieda Steiger
Wardrobe: Rosemary Burrows

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Bernard Robinson
Art Director: Don Mingaye

LOCATIONS
Produced at Bray Studios, England

CAST

Starring
Christopher Lee (Rasputin)
Barbara Shelley (Sonia)
Richard Pasco (Dr Zargo)

Also Starring
Francis Matthews (Ivan)
Suzan Farmer (Vanessa)
Dinsdale Landen (Peter)

and
Renee Asherson (Tsarina)

With
Derek Francis (innkeeper)
Joss Ackland (Bishop)
Robert Duncan (Tsarvitch)
Alan Tilvern (patron)
John Welsh (Abbot)
John Bailey (court physician)

UNCREDITED CAST

Bartlett Mullins (wagonner)
Michael Ripper (voice of wagonner)
Mary Barclay (superior lady)
Michael Cadman (Michael)
Helen Christie (1st tart)
Lucy Fleming (wide eyes)
Michael Godfrey (doctor)
Fiona Hartford (Tania)
Prudence Hyman (chatty woman)
Bryan Marshall (Vasily)
Bridget McConnell (gossip)
Jay McGrath, Robert McLennan (dancers)
Veronica Nicholson (young girl)
Mary Quinn (innkeepers wife)
Celia Ryder (fat lady)
Cyril Shaps (foxy face)
Leslie White (cheeky man)
Brian Wilde (Vassily's father)
Maggie Wright (2nd tart)
Jeremy Young (court messenger)

PLOT SUMMARY

Manipulative monk Grigori Yefimovitch Rasputin, blessed with the gift of healing, inveigles his way into the household of the Tsar by hypnotising Sonia, one of the Tsarina's ladies-in-waiting. After healing the gravely ill heir to the Russian throne, Rasputin's grip on the household tightens...

Thanks to Lee's extraordinary performance as the infamous Russian monk, Rasputin the Mad Monk is rather more enjoyable than it would otherwise have been. Lee's imposing presence and sinister reading of the parts imbues Rasputin with more than a trace of supernatural menace, hinting at the "great, roaring bull of a man" that Lee saw in the role. The story is far from historically accurate but that really isn't the point - if you want the facts, there are plenty of fine books on the subject. Lee's towering performance saves the film from Sharp's routine direction, lending it a touch of class it would otherwise have lacked.

UK
Theatrical Distributor: Warner-Pathe Distributors Limited
Video Distributors: Castle Pictures; Lumiere

USA
Theatrical Distributor: 20th Century Fox Film Corporation
Video Distributor: Anchor Bay Entertainment Inc
Laserdisc Distributor: Elite
DVD Distributor: Anchor Bay (DV 10681)

Finland
Rating: banned in 1966

Sweden
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: X

1966
March
6: UK - theatrical release

April
6: USA - theatrical release

August
26: Sweden - theatrical release

1996
August
7: UK - shown at the Barbican, London as part of the Hammer at the Barbican season

1999
May
19: UK - television broadcast (on Channel Four)

October
26: USA - DVD release (Anchor Bay (DV 10681))

2000
January
13: UK - television broadcast (on Channel Four)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
The Many Faces of Christopher Lee (1996)

SEE ALSO
J'ai tué Raspoutine (1967)
Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)
Rasputin (1996)
Rasputin and the Empress (1932)
Rasputin, the Black Monk (1917)
La tragédie impériale (1938)

PERIODICALS

Cinefanastique vol.1 no.1 (Fall 1970) p.20 (USA)
credits, review

Daily Cinema no.9180 (16 February 1966) p.6 (UK)
review

Dark Terrors no.3 p.16 (UK)
note

Dark Terrors no.4 (July/August 1992) pp.22-28 (UK)
illustrated credits, production notes

Flesh and Blood no.5 (September 1995) p.18 (UK)
illustrated credits, article

Hammer Horror no.2 (April 1995) pp.16-20 (UK)
illustrated interview

Hammer Horror no.4 (June 1995) pp.22-33 (UK)
illustrated credits,article, review

Kine Weekly no.3047 (24 February 1966) p.14 (UK)
review

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.33 no.387 (April 1966) p.63 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review

Shivers no.18 p.15 (UK)
review

Sight and Sound vol.5 no.6 (June 1995) p.62 (UK)
note

Variety 27 April 1966 (USA)
credits, review

Video Watchdog no.42 pp.33-34 (USA)
review

BOOKS

British National Film Catalogue vol.4 (1966)
credits, synopsis

Reference Guide to Fantastic Films p.393
credits

OTHER SOURCES

screen
credits

true story, rasputin, healing, monks, russia, royalty, hypnotism

Last Updated: 8 May, 2010