Legend of the Werewolf (1975)

Country of Origin: UK
Year of Production: 1975
Running Times: 85 mins
Format: Eastmancolor
Ratio:
Sound: mono

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Tyburn Film Productions Limited
Producer: Kevin Francis
Production Manager: Ron Jackson

SCRIPT
Script: John Elder (real name: Anthony Hinds)

DIRECTION
Director: Freddie Francis
Assistant Director: Peter Saunders

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: John Wilcox
Camera Operator: Gerry Anstiss
Gaffer: John Tythe
Grip: George Beavis
Stills: Douglas Webb
Lab: Rank Film Laboratories, Denham, UK

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Henry Richardson
Assistant Film Editor: Roy Helmrich

MUSIC
Music: Harry Robinson
Music Supervisor: Philip Martell

SOUND
Sound Recordists: Ken Barker, John Brommage
Sound Editor: Roy Baker
Assistant Sound Editor: Beverly Collins

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Jimmy Evans, Graham Freeborn
Hair: Stella Rivers
Wardrobe Supervisor: Mary Gibson

VISUAL EFFECTS
Special Photographic Effects: Charles Staffell

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Jack Shampan
Assistant Art Director: Brian Ackland-Snow
Property Master: Nick Rivers
Construction Manager: George Hill

MISCELLANEOUS
Continuity: Pamela Davies
Production Accountant: David Ball
Production Assistant: Lorraine Fennell
Assistant to Kevin Francis: Janet Neal
Dog Handler: Nick Wileman

CAST
Peter Cushing (Professor Paul)
Ron Moody (zoo keeper)
Hugh Griffith (Maestro Pamponi)
Roy Castle (photographer)
David Rintoul (Etoile)
Stefan Gryff (Max Gerard)
Lynn Dalby (Christine)
Renee Houston (Chou-Chou)
Marjorie Yates (Madame Tellier)
Norman Mitchell (Tiny)
Mark Weavers (young Etoile)
David Bailie (Boulon)
Hilary Labow (Zoe)
Elaine Baillie (Annabelle)
Michael Ripper (sewerman)
Patrick Holt (dignitary)
John Harvey (prefect)
Sue Bishop (Tania)
James McManus (emigre husband)
Jane Gussons (emigre wife)
Pamela Green (Anne-Marie - uncredited)

PLOT SUMMARY

A young boy, Etoile who has been raised by wolves, is found by a travelling showman, Maestro Ramponi and grows into the handsome youth. Arriving in Paris, Etoile finds employment in a run down zoo and falls in love with a pretty young visitor, Christine. When he discovers that she's a prostitute, Etoile's werewolf alter ego is released and the backstreets of Paris are soon a bloodbath.

Werewolves have never really been that popular with British filmmakers - Terence Fisher's Curse of the Werewolf (1961) and Neil Marshall's Dog Soldiers (2002) are by far and away the best and Freddie Francis' contribution to this small field falls short of those high water marks by a considerable margin. Hinds' script is the major liability here - the first half is a crashing bore, with no sign of the eponymous wolfman and by the time Roy Aston's impressive werewolf effects put in an appearance, most viewers had simply lost interest. Evidently made on the cheap (check out those awful sets, wobbly cardboard constructs decorated with French signs to remind you where you are), even another sterling Peter Cushing performance can do little to save this sorry effort.

UK
Video Distributor: VCL

USA
Video Distributor: Interglobal Home Video; Moore Video

Australia
Rating: M

Norway
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: X; 18

1975
October
17: UK - theatrical release

Plague of the Werewolves - working title
A Lenda do Lobisomem - Portugese title
Wolf Boy - working title

SEE ALSO
Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
The Howling (1981)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
Peter Cushing: A One-Way Ticket to Hollywood (1989)

KEYWORDS

autopsies, circuses, france, the supernatural, werewolves, zoos

Last Updated: 13 February, 2010