Scream Queens! Part 4 Hammer Glamour

Hammer brought new life to the gothic horror that had produced some of Universal’s most successful films. Along with the many changes that came with the Hammer films which included colour and gore was a focus on sexuality that spawned the term Hammer Glamour. In 1957 Hammer released The Curse of Frankenstein and it was an international success. Not in small part due to the cast members, Hazel Court and Valerie Gaunt. In that film, the two became the first of the Hammer Scream Queens as cousin and betrothed to the Baron and the Baron’s maid and lover respectively. By shifting the focus away from the monster and onto Baron Frankenstein, Hammer created it’s own take on the Shelley story which was an immediate hit with audiences if not with the critics. The hint of a triangle between the maid and the Baron’s betrothed along with the Baron’s insistence on continuing his experiments against his mentor’s wishes took the Frankenstein saga in a different direction altogether. There was no mistaking this Dr. Frankenstein for the one that appeared in the 1931 film version.

Hazel Court (1926-2008)

After the exposure gained through The Curse of Frankenstein, Hazel Court appeared in episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1958-59 as well as a number of films including Breakout, The Man Who Could Cheat Death, and The Shakedown all in 1959. In 1960 Model for Murder was released and in 1961 she again appeared on Alfred Hitchcock Presents and other TV shows as well as the British horror film, Doctor Blood’s Coffin. In 1959 Court also appeared in the last Twilight Zone episode written by Rod Serling titled, Fear.

Not just a beauty (she was a well known pin-up model in England), but an award winning actress as well, Court had received the British Critics Award for her performance in Carnival (1946) at the age of twenty. She was know in England for films including Champagne Charlie (1944), Dreaming (1944), Dear Murderer (1947), and The Root of All Evil (1947) among others. She was the only Scream Queen that has appeared with all of horror’s most well know leading men in the films of the 50’s & 60’s: Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Vincent Price, and Christopher Lee appearing as she did in both Hammer Films and Roger Corman Productions.

Valerie Gaunt (1932 – 2016)

Unfortunatly, Valerie Gaunt only appeared in two horror films, both for Hammer. After appearing in The Revenge of Frankenstein, she was featured in the 1958 Hammer Production of Horror of Dracula (aka Dracula) as a vampire who tries to take Jonathan Harper for her own hunger much to Count Dracula’s disapproval, which gave her the honor of being in both the first of the Hammer Frankenstein & Dracula films! She was cast in The Revenge of Frankenstein after the director Terrance Fisher saw her in the BBC TV production of Dixon of Dock Green. She retired from acting in 1958.

Eunice Gayson (1928 – 2018)

Eunice Gayson appeared in films and TV from 1948 to 1972. She was both a Hammer and Bond Girl appearing in The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), Dr. No (1962), and From Russia with Love (1963). In the Bond films, Gayson was Sylvia Trench. Originally slated to be a recurring role, sadly the character was cut after the second film. Gayson was first cast to play Miss Moneypenny but ultimately that role went to Lois Maxwell (Lolita 1962). Gayson is considered the first ‘Bond Girl’ because she is the first woman to be seen with Bond in Dr. No.

Gayson went on to show up on TV shows like Secret Agent, The Saint, and The Avengers. Her daughter (Kate Gayson) appeared in 1995’s GoldenEye and was billed as ‘Casino Girl’

Yvonne Furneaux (1928)

Yvonne Furneaux appeared in only one Hammer film, 1959’s The Mummy. Playing the dual role of Isobel Banning/Princess Ananka proved to be a challenge that she was more than prepared to take on opposite Peter Cushing.

In spite of the bad reviews received on release, The Mummy is one of Hammer’s most entertaining films, and each cast member brings something special to the film. Furneaux is mesmerizing as Ananka and a strong heroine as Isobel. Cushing gives his usual careful performance bringing his professionalism to every scene. Although the story itself lacks the originality Hammer brought to the Frankenstein and Dracula films, the cast and the production bring it to colorful life. The weak point is the mummy itself played with heart by Christopher Lee who was let down by the make-up department. The make-up done on Boris Karloff for the Universal production far surpassed what was provided to Lee. The 1932 version of The Mummy still stands as the unsurpassed classic of the genre.

Yvonne Furneaux is perhaps the most fascinating of all the Hammer Scream Queens. Having begun her acting career in the early 1950’s she had already appeared in many British TV shows and films including 1956’s Lisbon with Ray Milland and Claude Raines.

Her talent and classic beauty did not go unnoticed and the following year she appeared in Federico Fellini’s, La Dolce Vita (1960) giving a wonderful performance opposite Marcello Mastroianni.

She would also appear in Roman Polanski’s Repulsion in 1965. Polanski’s film was somewhat ahead of its time, and is a horror classic that rivals and was undoubtedly influenced by Hitchcock’s Psycho. It is a submerged study of insanity that offers little in way of apology.

In 1967 Furneaux appeared in Claude Chabrol’s, Le scandale (The Champagne Murders) starring opposite Anthony Perkins, Maurice Ronet, and Stephane Audran.

NEXT:
Ingrid Pitt & Madeline Smith