[dir. COMFORT, Lance] FAIRHURST, Lyn
Devils of Darkness
London: Planet Films, 1964
93 mimeographed pp., bound in red stiff paper wrappers secured with two split pins to left edge. Title typed to front wrapper. 4pp. illustrated publicity booklet laid in. Ownership signature to front wrapper, second pencilled name to title page. Closed tear to front wrapper at hinge fold, slight colour bleed from rear wrapper onto final page, (oversize) wrappers a little edgeworn. A well-preserved copy.
Original screenplay of Devils of Darkness, released in 1965 with a cast including William Sylvester, Hubert Noel and Donna Reed. The last film of director Lance Comfort, and an early entry in the modern-day-vampire genre, later popularised by Hammer.
SPECIAL EFFECTS DESIGNER KIT WEST’S COPY, WITH HIS OWNERSHIP SIGNATURE TO FRONT WRAPPER.
Kit West [1936-2016] worked as an uncredited special effects assistant in 1962 on the Hammer film Captain Clegg, and IMDB lists a further five films between 1962 and 1965 on which he worked but received no screen credit. Devils of Darkness is not listed. West went on to a stellar Hollywood career and was nominated for three Oscars, winning in 1981 for his work on Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The script also has the name of John Earl pencilled to the title page, with two phone numbers. Earl (as ‘John St. John Earl’) was Art Director on the film; it seems likely that his contact details were noted down here by West.
Laid in is a 4-page illustrated publicity leaflet for the film with a single hand-written addition to the printed credits, noting the film’s footage, ’8,129 ft’, The annotation is of possible interest to film scholars: the BBFC insisted on cuts to the original version, and although these were later reinstated the conversation about what constitutes the ‘complete’ version of the film has continued down the years.
[dir. COMFORT, Lance] FAIRHURST, Lyn
Devils of Darkness
London: Planet Films, 1964
93 mimeographed pp., bound in red stiff paper wrappers secured with two split pins to left edge. Title typed to front wrapper. 4pp. illustrated publicity booklet laid in. Ownership signature to front wrapper, second pencilled name to title page. Closed tear to front wrapper at hinge fold, slight colour bleed from rear wrapper onto final page, (oversize) wrappers a little edgeworn. A well-preserved copy.
Original screenplay of Devils of Darkness, released in 1965 with a cast including William Sylvester, Hubert Noel and Donna Reed. The last film of director Lance Comfort, and an early entry in the modern-day-vampire genre, later popularised by Hammer.
SPECIAL EFFECTS DESIGNER KIT WEST’S COPY, WITH HIS OWNERSHIP SIGNATURE TO FRONT WRAPPER.
Kit West [1936-2016] worked as an uncredited special effects assistant in 1962 on the Hammer film Captain Clegg, and IMDB lists a further five films between 1962 and 1965 on which he worked but received no screen credit. Devils of Darkness is not listed. West went on to a stellar Hollywood career and was nominated for three Oscars, winning in 1981 for his work on Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The script also has the name of John Earl pencilled to the title page, with two phone numbers. Earl (as ‘John St. John Earl’) was Art Director on the film; it seems likely that his contact details were noted down here by West.
Laid in is a 4-page illustrated publicity leaflet for the film with a single hand-written addition to the printed credits, noting the film’s footage, ’8,129 ft’, The annotation is of possible interest to film scholars: the BBFC insisted on cuts to the original version, and although these were later reinstated the conversation about what constitutes the ‘complete’ version of the film has continued down the years.
