The Dorset Riviera Touch… The Damned (1963)

The Damned is very much a film to be seen, for at its best it hits with a certainty of aim which is as exciting as it is devastating, and hits perhaps in a place where it is important we should be hurt... The Times, 20^th May 1963

This film was on a list of worthwhile British films beyond the Powell-Hitchcock-Lean canon, prepared by Martin Scorsese for fellow directors Edgar Wright and Quentin Tarantino. Not sure what Quentin would make of the extensive scenes in Weymouth but the film gradually builds up to it’s quite startling conclusion, skilfully backing audience and narrative into a corner that fully lives up to the title, The Damned for the UK and These are the Damned in the US.

The film is directed by Joseph Losey, blacklisted and exiled from Hollywood in the fifties, and comes immediately before The Servant (1963), first of his collaborations with Harold Pinter, and a string of lauded films stretching well into the eighties. He moved to Britain in the mid-fities and this Hammer film is one of rare vetures into genre territory although he did have a hand in X the Unknown (1956).

Shirely Anne Field and Macdonald Carey

Based on H.L. Lawrence’s The Children of Light, by accounts a pulpier story, The Damned succeeds precisely because it avoids some of the more obvious tropes of conventional science fiction/fantasy and focuses more on character, realistic actions and believable consequences. It’s of its time, inevitably, and that “time” was as close to full scale nuclear war as we have probably ever come… so far.

On the front at Weymouth, with its stunning rows of Georgian buildings, there’s altogether more mundane violence at play as a gang of motor cyclists let by King (Oliver Reed) gather by the statue in honour of George III. An attractive young woman, Joan (Shirley Anne Field), walks along the prom towards them in almost indecently tight-fitting slacks and gets noticed by a middle aged but spry American, Simon Wells (Macdonald Carey) who begins talking to her across the road. Simon walks with his very much younger new friend away from the front and is ambushed by King’s gang who have marched to the spot like prototype droogs.

The age of senseless violence has caught up with us too.

Kenneth Cope in helmet and Oliver Reed in jacket wait for the man

The gang skips off, all whistling the violence’s ever-present rock tune which starts off sounding like pure British fakery, mock ‘n roll, and gets more menacing all the time as its rhythms match the kicks and punches on Simons body. It’s Black Leather Rock by James Bernard (music) and Evan Jones (lyrics), and the naïve, repetitive lyrics soon turn bitter… Black leather, black leather, rock, rock, rock, Black leather, black leather, smash, smash, smash… and by the end of the film… well, you’ll just have to see. 

Simon is rescued by two gents Captain Gregory (James Villiers) and Major Holland (Walter Gotell) who help him back to his hotel where he encounters their commander, Bernard (Alexander Knox) and his girlfriend, Freya (Viveca Lindfors) a sculptor who is surely far to bohemian and for that matter, young, for him. Before Simon’s arrival, Bernard had been trying to get her to return to London and we don’t know why… clearly there’s more going on in Weymouth than mugging and fine art and, obviously, the martial and world-weary Bernard is at the heart of it.

Bernard Knox and Viveca Lindfors

Freya as played with splendid assertiveness by Viveca Lindfors, completely changes the tone of the film just as much as Bernard and his “Mysterious project”. She clearly does not approve of her lover’s secrecy or his links to the military, she is a free spirit and quite at odds with violence of any kind not to mention secrecy. She immediately takes to Simon with his jaded frankness; a man of principle who just hasn’t found anything worth fighting for yet. But her relationship with Bernard is fascinating, an artist who clearly has a deep connection with this man of deadly secrets.

Who ever I am, I’m not who you think…

Talking about our American friend… he’s visited by Joan on his boat in Weymouth Harbour; she’s not exactly contrite – the quote above echoing Albert Finney’s line from Saturday Night and Sunday Morning which also featured Shirley Anne. Joan is intrigued by Simon’s honourability as even if he tried to pick her up, he did offer his arm as they crossed the road; a common courtesy her strangely possessive brother would not allow. Sure enough, King and the gang catch up and there’s a tense face off before Joan gives them the slip and jumps onto Simon and his boat. A pursuit begins across the bay and over to Portland Bill, the huge rock housing a large naval base and a prison along the causeway from the town.

Decent actor Macdonald Carey, he was in Days of Their Lives for thirty years

 

It’s here that Freya has her workshop where she makes her tortured figures and it’s here where Bernard’s operation is… and, as Simon and Joan find out, its here where the film’s real mystery begins. 

Any bully can command obedience, only a gentleman can command loyalty.

Bernard’s base is populated by a group of scientists who speak to a group of children via video link. The children are living in an underground bunker and in isolation, they are obedient but questioning to which Bernard responds that they to be told everything they need to know when they are old enough to understand… After the film’s opening this is quite the turn.

The narrative strings are, of course, joined together when Joan and Simon are discovered by King’s gang and, in escaping by falling down the cliff, find a network of caves and Bernard’s children, who rescue them and start to reveal their secrets. There’s much mystery left and the ending is still startling.

Remote learning for the class of '63...

Dusty verdict: The Damned deserves its reputation as a smartly strange Hammer tale and normalises the science horror by spending a good deal of time of the human elements. Two key interactions take place at Freya’s workshop on the edge of Portland, one between Simon and Fiona who discuss their newfound love and ambition and the other between King and Freya as the conflicted gang leader fails to have a grown-up conversation with the artist… This later exchange sees both actors excel and it’s hard not to see the destructive battel between artistic striving and King’s traumatised fear/anger as being emblematic of the choice facing our race. 

Bernard has a different take on things and it’s one that’s a pertinent today as it was in 1961 when The Damned was filmed. It exists today in restored full-length Blu-ray at 95 minutes whereas the released cut - delayed in both the UK where it was cut to 87 minutes, and the USA where the censors took a further ten minutes off..

Art versus anger.

The sculptures featured were all by British artist Elisabeth Frink who not only donated them but also gave Lindfors lessons in how to build the clay. The actress’s skill made up for the rest and when she wrestles with King after he hacks away one of her sculptures, it’s amongst the film’s most convincing emotional moments.

Watch it for a thinking person’s Hammer and wonder at how little has really changed… and who is really damned?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's an interesting comparison of book and film at Tim Lucas' Video Watch Blog!

Psychedelic spice… The Touchables (1968)

They say that if you can remember the Sixties then you probably weren’t there in which case the participants in this film may have a gap in their recall for 1968 at least… As the country wrestles with the ins and outs of the EU you find yourself searching for the exact point in time when Britain actually was Great: the world wars undoubtedly but it’s harder when you really look elsewhere. The Victorian Empire may have seen our global domination at its peak but there were long depressions in the domestic economy and society was hardly egalitarian at home let alone in the colonies.

No. Let me put it to you that our greatest moment of being Great was indeed the Sixties – a glorious filling of tie-dyed liberation sandwiched between the austerity of the fifties and the strife of the seventies. So, is that’s what the “leavers” want to return to? Probably not as I’d guess most of them are far too square.

The Touchables is far from the greatest film of that decade but it does retain some power as an evocation of the endless possibilities of those hazed days. And it looks simply smashing!

Any film that has Pink Floyd’s Interstellar Overdrive sound-tracking a speed boat ride in a lake, can’t fail to gain psychedelic points in my book and to cap that we also have Nirvana (UK version) performing All of Us over the closing credits. So, big tick for the groovy sounds man.

It’s also very hard to think of another film with such an abundance of sublimely groovy women… it’s like Candy to the power of four with Esther Anderson, Marilyn Rickard, Kathy Simmonds and the impossibly-lovely Judy Huxtable playing the central quartet in mod-skirts and liberated foot-wear. They are four characters in search of a plot though and no amount of razzle-dazzle can hide that.

Esther Anderson

The screenplay was written by Ian La Frenais who, along with Dick Clements did so much film work before their seventies hay day with The Likely Lads and Auf Wedersein Pet. It’s based on a book by David and Donald Cammell the legendary director of Performance, based on an idea from by its director, Robert Freeman (who photographed the covers for With The Beatles, Beatles For Sale and Rubber Soul) and they’re all definitely trying to say something.

Judy Huxtable

But I’m not sure what. As with other films of the period, the style of revolt was sometimes more important than the substance: just the freedom to express free sexuality and alternative culture was a major step forward and we only look back judgementally now because we still don’t have any answers – just more cycles of reaction and action under our belt.

Kathy Simmonds

After an extended display of sexualised hair throwing, sensuous back arching and luscious looks at the camera; the girls kidnap Michael Caine or at least his waxwork dummy. Sexy Sadie (Judy Huxtable) makes off with him in her white sports car and after the gang of four reconvene at their pad it’s clear that this was a dry run for the acquisition of a more animated figure.

Marilyn Rickard

Her partners in this gentile crime are the quirky Busbee (Marilyn Rickard) – the baby of the group – and the more sexually knowing Samson (Kathy Simmonds) who’s a little bit scary.

Melanie (Esther Anderson) “Dancing Spice” who throws some superbly-impressive go-go manoeuvres throughout the film is dating a pro-wrestler Lilywhite (Harry Baird with dubbed American accent) who keeps writing artistic cheques his intellect can’t quite cash. His house is full of “genuine replicas” of classic Greco-Roman art and he comes up with almost-wise comments such as “remember who leaps last always loses…” or some-such.

Ricky Star and Harry Baird share a moment

Lillywhite fights in ballet shoes and outwits his opponents with dancing style; it’s a funny concept and very La Frenais even if it wears out quickly.  His main enemy is Ricki (Ricki Star) who is a more typically animalistic fighter. Ricki has other cultural ambitions and is in league with a posh gangster called Twyning (James Villiers). As luck would have it, he targets the same pop star as the girls for his protection racket partly because he fancies him - another shock twist from the time which lands with less force now… in these enlightened times (mostly).

David Anthony on TV

The object of their affections is a pop star called Christian (David Anthony) who they watch on television being interviewed by a young Joan Bakewell: he has lots of confident, content free easy answers and does a passable impression of George Harrison.

Ricky takes Christian's manager for a ride

The girls swing an invite to a wrestling match where they know Christian will be present and kidnap him dressed, of course, as nuns. The chloroformed singer is taken far away into the countryside to an incredible looking inflatable dome, which is highlighted against the setting Sun from various angles by Freeman – it is a superb image.

Inside the dome, Christian is bound and informed of his unusual fate. The girls have no specific agenda other than making sure that they all sleep with him and Christian, being a star from 1968 is ultimately all too happy to support this strategy in what becomes something like elective abduction.

Approaching the dome...

As their relationship heats up, Christian slips in to an easy routine as the girls play games to win their turn whilst in the outside world his manager (John Ronane) is under pressure from Ricki and Twyning to find their missing asset.

Things only turn serious when Christian tries to escape back to commitments he’s sure he has. He is chased by the girls and Sadie on horseback and shot in the head as he tries to escape by motorboat.  This shocking moment of selfish violence is soon forgotten when he emerges unscathed… Don’t worry, we’re not in that kind of film seems to be the message.

A roundabout of affections...

But, when Melanie returns home to change her wig, she is followed and before you can say “Granny Takes a Trip” the bubble has been taken over by Starr’s armed henchmen… all looks bad until Bisbee escapes through the toilet window and runs back to London for help…

Dusty verdict: Just as a more urgent narrative breaks out we realise that there hasn’t really been one for much of the film. The Touchables is bubble-gum, easy watching but it doesn’t really have any point to make other than to reinforce the benefits of being young, lovely and free.

If there are any serious points on the contemporary social situation they were lost on me with the film taking broad swipes at social normality with a more tolerant eye than many would expect from 1968.

Judy in the sky with diamonds

The female cast are all beautiful and this is an undeniably good thing, but they don’t have a huge amount of real acting to do. Still, along with the fab clothes, Nirvana and Syd’s Floyd they make the trip to ’68 more than bearable and it goes without saying that Robert Freeman's direction is highly-visual and stunningly lovely (just like the girls).

The Touchables is pretty rare so I’m stuck with my old VHS but I’m sure that a  DVD can’t be that far away given the enduring appeal of the style if not the substance.