UK, 1965
105m
35mm, Hammerscope, Technicolor, 2.35:1
mono, English
A British fantasy film directed by Robert Day.
Plot Summary
In the wake of World War I, Major Holly, his valet Job and his colleague Vincey head off for some relaxation in Palestine. There, Vincey meets and falls for the beautiful but mysterious Ayesha who gives him a map and suggests that he follows the route marked on it. The men are enthusiastic about the possibility of discovering a lost civilisation and, after an arduous journey, arrive at the Mountains of the Moon where the immortal Ayesha bathes in a mystical fire and that she believes Vincey to be the reincarnation of her long dead lover.
Credits
* = uncredited
uncredited crew members are taken from Film and TV Technician vol.32 no.250 (January 1966)
Crew
Directed by: Robert Day
© MCMLXV [1965] Hammer Film Productions Limited
Associated British Picture Corporation presents a Hammer Film production
Produced by: Michael Carreras
Associate Producer: Aida Young
Screenplay by: David T. Chantler
Based on the Famous Novel by H. Rider Haggard
Director of Photography: Harry Waxman
Supervising Editor: James Needs
Editor: Eric Boyd-Perkins
Music Composed by: James Bernard
Sound Recordist: Claude Hitchcock
Costumes for Miss Andress by: Carl Toms
Wardrobe Mistress: Jackie Cummins
Make-Up: John O’Gorman
Hair Stylist: Eileen Warwick
Special Effects Make-Up: Roy Ashton
Special Effects: George Blackwell
Special Processes: Bowie Films Ltd. [Bob Cuff *, John Mackie *]; George Blackwell, ABPC *
Art Director: Robert Jones
Made at the Elstree Studios of Associated British Picture Corporation, Herts, England
Cast
Ursula Andress as Ayesha
Peter Cushing as [Major Horace] Holly
Bernard Cribbins as Job
John Richardson as Leo [Vincey]
Rosenda Monteros as Ustane
Christopher Lee as Billali
André Morell as Haumeid
Soraya, Julie Mendez, Lisa Peake (night club dancers)
John Maxim (guard captain)
Cherry Larman, Bula Coleman (handmaidens)
Oo-Bla-Da Dancers (native dancers)
Eddie Powell [thug] *
Monica Van der Syl [voice of Ayesha] *
George Pastell [voice of Haumeid] *
Alternative Titles
I Amartoli tis erimou – Greece
Ates ilâhesi – Turkey
A dea della città perduta – Italy
La Déesse du feu – France
A Deusa da Cidade Perdida – Portugal
La diosa de fuego – Spain
Dödsgrottan vid Kuma – Sweden
Herrscherin der Wüste – West Germany
Hun – Denmark
Kuolematon kuningatar – Finland
Links
Sequel
The Vengeance of She (1968)
Extracts included in
The Many Faces of Christopher Lee (1995)
The She Story (1965)
Peter Cushing: A One-Way Ticket to Hollywood (1989)
The World of Hammer: Hammer Stars: Christopher Lee (1994)
The World of Hammer: Hammer Stars: Peter Cushing (1994)
The World of Hammer: Lands Before Time (1994)
References
Periodicals
- The Daily Cinema no.9041 (17 March 1965) p.4 – review
- Écran Fantastique no.57 (June 1985) pp.54-69 – article
- Film and TV Technician vol.32 no.250 (January 1966) – credits
- Kine Weekly no.2998 (18 March 1965) p.8 – review
- Monthly Film Bulletin vol.32 no.376 (May 1965) p.78 – credits, review
- Sight & Sound vol.4 no.3 (March 1994) p.62 – note
- Sight & Sound vol.12 no.1 (January 2002) p.61 – illustrated review (Home Movies: Reviews by Geoffrey Macnab)
- Strange Adventures January 2002 p.61 – review
- Variety 21 April 1965 – credits, review
Books
- British National Film Catalogue vol.3 (1965) – credits
- The Charm of Evil: The Life and Films of Terence Fisher by Wheeler Winston Dixon p.346
- Christopher Lee: The Authorised Screen History by Jonathan Rigby pp.104, 106
- English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema by Jonathan Rigby pp.15, 144
- Hammer Complete: The Films, the Personnel, the Company by Howard Maxford pp.738-740 – illustrated credits, synopsis, review
- The Hammer Story by Marcus Hearn and Alan Barnes pp.90-91; 186-187 – illustrated production notes, review; credits
- Reference Guide to Fantastic Films by Walt Lee p.432 – credits
- Terence Fisher: Horror, Myth and Religion by Paul Leggett p.65
