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BFI Most Wanted: the hunt for Britain's missing films
Castle Sinister
Directed by Widgey R. Newman, 1932
Early British example of the 'mad scientist' horror movie.
Credits
|
Director Production Company Photography Recording System |
Widgey R. Newman Delta Pictures John Miller Deltaphon Sound on Film |
| Cast: Haddon Mason (Ronald Kemp); Eric Adeney (Professor Bandor or Bandov); Wally Patch (Jorkins); Isa Kilpatrick (Jean); Edmund Kennedy (father) | |
| 50 mins, 4,410 feet, sound, black & white. | |
Why are we so keen to find it?
It's one of the earliest examples of a British horror film, a genre at which we excelled later in the century, and was made by one of Britain's most elusive directors. Widgey Newman began his career in 1926 with Gaumont and worked on some of the earliest sound experiments in this country, using the de Forest Phonofilm system. In his book 'Quota Quickies: The Birth of the British 'B' Film', Steve Chibnall records that Delta Pictures was set up by Newman (described as a "gloriously eccentric and erratic character") in 1932, with the producer Geoffrey Clarke and studio supervisor and cameraman John Miller. The company made its films at Bushey Studios, where this was presumably shot.
What's it about?
The plot is intriguingly bizarre, as the synopsis on the BFI database makes clear: "Horror Movie set in Devon. Mad doctor tries to put girl's brain into apeman's head."
The Bioscope (6 April 1932) expands on this:
"The story of a young man's adventures in a large country mansion with a scientist who is engaged in forwarding his theory that rejuvenation by the transfer of certain glands is more than a possibility. A girl is, of course, involved to supply the necessary love interest, and a misshapen creature, victim of the scientist, supplies the thrills."
Last seen?
It is unlikely that this film had much of a life beyond its initial release. As a low budget quota quickie it would have been a programme filler, although Chibnall does speculate that prints of such films could circulate the many screens round the country for up to a year.
What else do we know about it?
Not very much, but there are horror fans who would like to see it for what it would reveal about the development of the genre in this country. Jonathan Rigby writes in 'English Gothic' that the film's April 1932 release meant it was "too early to have been significantly influenced by the emergent Hollywood horrors... instead harking back to a 1927 Fox production called The Wizard." He goes on to say that it "foreshadowed several Boris Karloff and George Zucco mad scientist movies in its story of the crazed Professor Bandov trying to prove his theory of longevity by implanting the heroine's brain into an ape-man."
Does anything survive?
Nothing at all is held on this title at the BFI, in terms of film, stills or paper material.
Reviews
The Bioscope could find little positive to say about the film, except to praise the performance of Wally Patch. But its description of the creation of the film's eerie atmosphere is still fairly enticing, including as it does "a constantly howling wind' and 'a generous sprinkling of skulls and skeletons." The review sums up the film as "for indulgent patrons only."
Jo Botting, Curator (Fiction), BFI National Archive
You can find more about British films of the early 1930s, including entries on surviving films and video clips for users in UK schools, colleges, universities and public libraries, at BFI Screenonline. You can also view similar titles at the BFI Mediatheques.
