Coming Soon: The Quatermass Xperiment
Here at Hammer News we’re delighted to confirm that the next movie to be restored and released by Hammer Films will be The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), one of the company’s best-loved, most significant and high-impact productions.
Hammer’s Steve Rogers is one of the people responsible for the release which comes with a dizzying array of extras including the US version of the film, The Creeping Unknown (1955), and all surviving episodes of the BBC television serial it was based on, The Quatermass Experiment. We interrupted his seemingly endless meetings with the British-American Rocket Group in order to get more information…
Hammer News: It’s a big one. Possibly the Big One. And it would be easy to start by talking about the film’s importance, but let’s not forget that quite aside from its significance, The Quatermass Xperiment is one of Hammer’s best movies and remains a great watch. For anyone who doesn’t know it, what’s it about? I’m thinking narratively, but also thematically.
Steve Rogers: Well, it’s the definitive science-horror story, written in origin for television by the man who invented the genre and then distilled into a muscular, compelling suspense thriller. It’s a monster movie, a manhunt, a cautionary tale and a lesson in scientific hubris all bundled together into one film – a film that unequivocally set Hammer on the path to global recognition.
HN: Hammer had previously adapted a number of radio shows but this was based on a BBC Television series. Could you tell us a little about the film’s origins?
SR: Hammer’s then-current output deal (of mostly Brit Noir crimers) with American producer Robert Lippert was coming to an end and cinema audiences were rapidly depleting, preferring to stay in and watch television instead. Someone who happened to be staying in and watching television was Hammer’s Tony Hinds, who saw the original 1953 BBC tv serial and, realising its potential, put in a bid for the film rights pretty much immediately.
There was a small tussle for it with other production companies, which Hammer ultimately won because it was the only company prepared to make it as an X-certificate film – something the subject matter dictated. I don't think Hammer had much expectation of the film doing anything other than ‘good business’ at the box office, so were a bit shocked when it proved so successful.
Panico Mortal on the streets of Monterrey? A vivid lobby card promoting the film’s release in Mexico.
HN: Wait a sec. ‘X-certificate’ and ‘Something the subject matter demanded’? Was the story that contentious? It had already run on the BBC and doesn’t seem to have caused the furore generated by something like Nineteen Eighty-Four which the Beeb aired the following year. Why was it now considered a shoo-in for an X-certificate?
SR: It obviously wasn’t contentious to show on a Saturday night on the BBC though, by the end of the series, transmission was being prefaced by an advisory announcement warning ‘children and people of a nervous disposition’ that they may not want to watch what followed.
The BBFC found it troubling, however. Just to test the waters, Hammer sent them the actual series scripts and asked them their opinion and they confirmed it would be an X. This made the other interested parties like the Boulting Brothers and Group 3 shy away, as an X-certificate meant immediately losing any audience below the age of fifteen, but Hammer embraced it. Actually, not only did they embrace it, they made it the film’s key selling point by re-titling “Experiment” into “Xperiment” – this annoyed the BBFC no end as they saw the application of the X certificate as a de facto pejorative, whereas Hammer used it as a sales aid.
Be that as it may, it was an X in 1955 but it’s a PG now – though hardly horrific, even after seventy years it still retains its power to shock.
‘…a pitbull in a china shop…’ Brian Donlevy as the dogged Professor Quatermass.
HN: Bernard Quatermass features in films, TV serials and a radio show (1996’s The Quatermass Memoirs). He’s been played by several different actors who all put their own spin on the role. How would you describe Brian Donlevy’s iteration of the professor?
SR: Donlevy is a pitbull in a china shop (to use a line from a Carter USM song). The Quatermass of the original series was a thoughtful, angsty scientist working for the benefit of his fellow man. The Quatermass we see in Xperiment is a no-nonsense, unemotional almost-bully who, if he has to break things to fix what he needs to fix, then that’s okay by him. Which Quatermass would you rather have on your side if there’s only 82 minutes to stop an extra-terrestrial plant-based octopoid parasite from germinating and taking over the world?
HN: Point taken, although I reserve the right to retain a fondness for André Morell, Johnny Mills and all the other Professor Qs! Anyway… The 50s saw a cinematic sci-fi boom, but The Quatermass Xperiment feels different to other films in its genre. Critics, who can be reluctant to praise science-fiction thrillers, were largely positive about the movie. What made it a box office smash?
SR: Before The Quatermass Xperiment, very few science fiction films were anything other than colourful, juvenile fluff. Xperiment was strong drama first and foremost, the horror plausibly arising out of that drama – if it had just been shocks scattered throughout a lacklustre plot then it would have flopped.
The Quatermass Xperiment contains many moments offering simple but striking imagery.
HN: Sure. It ended up being hugely significant for Hammer, rocketing the studio (pun intended - sorry) to unexpected heights. Can you talk to us about its impact on the company?
SR: Prior to releasing The Quatermass Xperiment, Hammer had almost completely transitioned to creating short films (mostly musical shorts) to support other companies’ main features. When Xperiment proved a roaring success it caused Hammer to jettison pretty much all of their plans for the future and re-focus again on feature film production. If Xperiment hadn't been so successful then Hammer would have probably carried on creating shorts for another year or so and then disappeared. Without Xperiment there would be no Curse of Frankenstein, without Curse of Frankenstein no Dracula and the global recognition that went with it– The Quatermass Xperiment was undoubtedly a Sliding Doors moment for Hammer.
HN: Its incredible cast sometimes gets overlooked. Donlevy aside, who stands out for you?
SR: Richard Wordsworth, without a doubt. It’s a performance that is effectively mime as his character has no meaningful dialogue, but from his initial scenes at the crash site, through his inner turmoil as the parasite takes over to the final shot of him, feral, hiding in the bushes at the zoo, it’s a masterclass performance and deserves to be recognised as such.
Other than that there’s obviously some greats from the pantheon of British character actors sprinkled throughout: Jack Warner, Harold Lang and Thora Hird, amongst others.
Richard Wordsworth, who later appeared in Hammer’s The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958) and The Curse of the Werewolf (1961), as well as Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956).
HN: The release comes with a vast array of extras, including the surviving episodes of the original BBC tv series, The Quatermass Experiment. It was obviously a landmark thriller for British television, but what surprised you when you rewatched it this year, over seven decades after it first aired?
SR: That any of it survives at all. This series was made at a time, eight years after the war ended, where there was only one television channel and everything you saw was performed live – these actors were emoting in a small studio at Alexandra Palace and you were seeing them doing this as it happened. No repeats, no catch-up, no home video – you missed it and it was gone forever.
The BBC found a way to record performances by literally pointing a camera at a flat TV screen and filming it. It sounds barbaric but, in 1953, this was absolute bleeding edge technology – even though it didn’t always work properly. These telerecordings may look rough, but they are some of the earliest existing recordings of anything shown on British television and, though Standard Definition, the BBC have kindly allowed us to release them on a Blu-ray disc to maximise the bit rate and present the image in as high a level of quality as possible.
Many years after retiring from acting, Margia Dean was asked what she considered to be her most famous film and replied, unequivocally, The Creeping Unknown, in which she memorably plays Judith Carroon.
HN: On the subject of extras – this release is, as they say, fully loaded. What was the thinking behind giving it such a wealth of additional material? And was it, to some extent, a labour of love?
SR: I think it's fair to say that all the films working their way through Hammer’s ongoing restoration programme are labours of love, but The Quatermass Xperiment, because of its place in Hammer history and because it was (and remains) a fan favourite the world over, is finally getting the release it deserves.
New 4K restorations of both The Quatermass Xperiment and its US version, The Creeping Unknown, new documentaries and commentaries, archive content, the House of Hammer comic strip, a huge booklet with lots of fascinating articles and images and, thanks to the BBC, the existing episodes of the original series (though these will only be included in the Limited Collector’s Edition). It’s the Quatermass Xperiment release that everyone always wanted and no-one ever thought would happen.
HN: It’s always good to have the words ‘Artwork by’ followed by the name ‘Graham Humphreys’. What can we expect from him this time around?
SR: Anyone who is even passingly aware of Graham’s work knows how superb it always is, but he’s surpassed himself this time.
[There’s an example of Graham’s artwork for Xperiment at the top of this article, and you can read about his earlier work with Hammer here.]
HN: Can you tell us about the restoration itself, and what formats this release be available on?
SR: The original negatives no longer exist, but the 4K restoration is from the best available elements. It’s been restored in its as-filmed 1.37:1 aspect ratio along with the 1.66:1 widescreen version that was shown in British cinemas. Thanks to the MGM archive we accessed a reference copy of the re-titled, edited US version (The Creeping Unknown) and rebuilt that from the Xperiment restoration in the US 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio. This will be the first time anyone’s seen The Creeping Unknown anywhere in the world in, probably, fifty or more years.
As is standard for Hammer’s ongoing Limited Collector’s Edition range, the films will be featured in 4K on UHD and High Definition on Blu-ray. The additional content will also be duplicated across both formats – you don’t need a UHD player or 4K television to view all the content on this release.
It’s worth pointing out that, after only being available for two months, the Captain Kronos Limited Collector's Edition has now sold out of its entire stock – we don’t expect Xperiment to last long, either.
[You can find out more about available Captain Kronos merch right here.]
Hard-hitting marketing for Hammer’s first Quatermass movie.
HN: And finally, we should salute Nigel Kneale, without whom there would be no Quatermass. One of the great writers of the mid-late Twentieth Century?
SR: Nigel Kneale influenced many generations of writers and creators that followed him – people today are still being influenced by him, even though they may never have heard of him or seen his work. He was a foundational creator of both a certain type of dystopian fiction and also, it’s probably not too much of a stretch to say, original British television drama. I’m pleased to say that Kneale gets as much coverage in this very special release as his fictional creation.
Massive thanks to Steve Rogers for sharing both his knowledge and his time.
We’ll be bringing you more information about this exciting release very soon, but to stay completely up-to-date and in-the-know, you can sign up to receive Hammer’s regular newsletter now!
