Month: December 2019

Hammer Film Productions Ltd was formed in 1946, taking ‘Hammer’ from one of the owners of its parent company, who had taken it as a stage surname because he was living in Hammersmith. The company released its first gothic horror film in 1957 and this genre became its bread-and-butter for the next fifteen years.

A 17th-century country house beside the River Thames in Berkshire was purchased as a film studio. This was a perfect setting and every part of it was used at some point during the making of up to nine films per year. The first film, ‘The Curse of Frankenstein’, cost just £65,000 to make and subsequent films were likewise made in the most cost-effective way. Sometimes films were made back-to-back in order to maximise the use of available sets, cast and staff. Peter Cushing (1913-94) and Christopher Lee (1922-2015) starred in most of the Hammer horrors.

Audiences revelled in the other-worldly yet predictable stories of ghouls, werewolves, zombies, vampires and monsters typified by Frankenstein and Count Dracula. Hammer found a winning formula that endured until the early 1970s, when multi-million-dollar horror films went in a new direction which put Hammer in the shade. For a while though, horror was chilling but thrilling.

(Image: Wikimedia Commons / Public domain)

David Bowie, née Jones, (1947-2016) was an extraordinary songwriter and singer, musician, painter and actor of the 1970s-80s who became a cult figure for his avant-garde style. Using himself as the canvas, he presented several personas, including Ziggy Stardust and The Thin White Duke, and was a pioneer of glam rock.

Born in Brixton, he began joining bands at age fifteen, though not successfully as he was a solo artist at heart. With a family history of schizophrenia coupled to his innate flair for performance, he described himself as a ‘collector’ of personalities. After a blow to his left eye, the pupil was permanently dilated, giving the appearance of having one blue and one brown eye, adding to his mystique.

Bowie sold 140 million albums with a huge following across the world. His first big hit, ‘Space Oddity’, was released to coincide with the first moon landing, in 1969. The space theme was one he returned to again, with hits such as ‘Life on Mars?’ (1971) and ‘Starman’ (1972). His songwriting talent gave Mott the Hoople their No.1 hit ‘All the Young Dudes’ (1972) and his voice was distinctively rich and refined, with a theatrical quality. He continued working through terminal illness until his death.

(Top image of David Bowie mural in Brixton: Louise McLaren at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)