Quatermass 2 (1957)

Country of Origin: UK
Year of Production: 1957
Running Times: 85 mins
Length: 7632 ft
Format: black and white     35mm
Ratio: 1.37:1
Sound: mono

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Hammer
Executive Producer: Michael Carreras
Producer: Anthony Hinds
Production Manager: John Workman
Production Supervisor: Anthony Nelson Keys

SCRIPT
Script: Nigel Kneale, Val Guest
TV Serial: Nigel Kneale

DIRECTION
Director: Val Guest
Assistant Director: Don Weeks

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Gerald Gibbs
Camera Operator: Len Harris

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: James Needs

MUSIC
Music: James Bernard
Conductor: John Hollingsworth

SOUND
Sound: Cliff Sandell
Sound Editor: Alfred Cox

COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP
Make Up: Phil Leakey
Wardrobe: Rene Coke

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Bill Warrington, Henry Harris, Frank George

OTHER CREW
Continuity: June Randall

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Bernard Robinson

LOCATIONS
Locations: Shell Haven Refinery, Essex, England, UK; Danzigger Productions' New Elstree Studios, London, UK; Hemel Hempstead, England, UK; South Downs outside Brighton, Sussex, England, UK

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks To: Hemel Hempsted New Town Development Corporation; Shell Refining and Marketing Company

CAST
Brian Donlevy (Professor Bernard Quatermass)
John Longden (Lomax)
Sidney James (Jimmy Hall)
Bryan Forbes (Marsh)
William Franklyn (Brand)
Vera Day (Sheila)
Charles Lloyd Pack (Dawson)
Tom Chatto (Broadhead)
John Van Eyssen (the P.R.O.)
Percy Herbert (Gorman)
Michael Ripper (Ernie)
John Rae (McLeod)
Marianne Stone (secretary)
Ronald Wilson (young man)
Jane Aird (Mrs McLeod)
Betty Impey (Kelly)
Lloyd Lamble (Inspector)
John Stuart (commissioner)
Gilbert Davis (banker)
Joyce Adams (woman M.P.)
Edwin Richfield (Peterson)
Howard Williams (Michaels)
Phillip Baird, Robert Raikes (lab assistants)
John Fabian (intern)
George Merritt (superintendent)
Arthur Blake (constable)
Michael Balfour (Harry)
Jan Holden (young girl - uncredited)
Vernon Greeves (1st man - uncredited)
Alastair Hunter (Labour MP - uncredited)
Barry Lowe (Chris - uncredited)
Henry Rayner (drunk - uncredited)
Joan Schofield (woman shopper - uncredited)
Ronald Wilson (2nd man - uncredited)

PLOT SUMMARY

Professor Bernard Quatermass is still angry that the British government won't green-light his Moonbase project when he discovers that someone has built a working replica of his project at Wynnerton Flats. And now some mysterious meteorites have fallen on the area - could the two be linked? Quatermass investigates and discovers that the plant is producing synthetic food for a race of aliens hoping to invade the planet - aliens who have started to possess key government officials...

A quite brilliant follow up to the ground-breaking The Quatermass Experiment (1955) that found Kneale and Guest doing the unthinkable - producing an openly subversive British film that dared to question the motives and methods of the ruling authorities. Fantastic performances, great direction and an ever-growing sense of paranoia make this one of the best British films of the 1950s. (Full Review)

UK
Theatrical Distributor: United Artists/Exclusive Films Ltd

USA
Theatrical Distributor: United Artists
Video Distributor: Corinth Video

Finland
Rating: K-16

UK
Rating: X

1955
October
22: UK - original TV serial begins broadcasts on BBC

1956
May
28: Principal photography begins

June
18: Studio shooting at New Elstree Studios ends

July
13: Principal photography ends

1957
May
24: UK - London premiere (London Pavilion)

June
17: UK - general release, double billed with Et Dieu... créa la femme (1956)
22: UK - reviewed in Picture Show

September
Day Unknown: USA - theatrical release

1958
May
20: Finland - theatrical release

A creeping terror of destruction - a nightmare of HORROR and FEAR!

A horrible enemy from the unknown strikes terror across the earth!!

Aarde tegen satelliet - Belgian title
Enemy From Space - US title
Feinde aus dem Nichts - German title
O Inimigo do Espaço - Portugese title
La marque - French title
Quatermass II: Enemy from Space - US title
Terre contre satellite - Belgian title
I vampiri dello spazio - Italian title
Vihollinen avaruudesta - Finnish title

REMAKE OF
Quatermass 2 (1955)

SEQUEL TO
The Quatermass Experiment (1955)

SEQUELS
Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
Quatermass (1978)

SEE ALSO
The Quatermass Experiment (1953)
Quatermass and the Pit (1958 - 1959)

MAGAZINES

Daily Film Renter no.7370 (30 April 1957) p.3 (UK)
review

Dark Terrors no.8 (April 1994) pp.20-33 (UK)
illustrated production notes

Fangoria no.187 (October 1999) p.25 (USA)
illustrated video review(by Dr Cyclops)

The House That Hammer Built no.1 (February 1997) pp.41-43 (UK)
illustrated credits, synopsis, review

Journal of Popular Film and Television vol.30 no.3 (Autumn 2002) pp.158-165 (USA)
illustrated bibliography, article ("Bring something back" - The strange career of Professor Quatermass by Dave Robinson and Nick Cooper)

Kinematograph Weekly 2 May 1957 p.18 (UK)
credits, review

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.24 no.281 (June 1957) pp.74-75 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review (by P.H.)

Starburst no.299 (May 2003) p.64 (UK)
illustrated DVD review (by Jan Vincent-Rudzki)

Today's Cinema vol.88 no.7765 (30 April 1957) p.6 (UK)
review

BOOKS

The Hammer Story pp.20-21
credits, illustrated article

Video Source Book (13th edition) 1992 p.2102
US video data

OTHER SOURCES

screen
credits

KEYWORDS

aliens, alien invasions, scientists, politicians, possession, synthetic food, factories

Last Updated: 18 October, 2008