| Arthur Lucan/Old Mother Riley | ||||
|
HOME
THE EARLY YEARS THE LATER YEARS The Tivoli Theatre/Skeltons Tivoli House Cafe
OTHER
British
Films of the 30's, 40's & 50's
|
THE FILMS
(cont.)
Old Mother Riley Meets The Vampire (1952) (cont.) "Unfortunately, this movie was not initially picked up in the USA owing to the fact that it was "too British" It was renamed 'Vampire over London', but still no one was interested. Then the idea came to cut out all of the Old Mother Riley scenes and leave in Lugosi and the robot scenes, shooting some new scenes to flesh out the picture. By this time, though, Lugosi was sick so he did not look the same as he did in the original picture. The idea was subsequently dropped.
Bela Lugosi and Charles Lloyd Pack in a scene from My Son The Vampire (1952)
Eventually, the movie was sold to Jack Harris, an American distributor,
who re-titled it 'Carry On, Vampire'. However, the
creators of the British 'Carry On' film series quickly put a stop
to that. Harris made more changes. He added some new
scenes at the beginning of the film, commissioned an introductory song
by comedy singer Allan "Camp Granada" Sherman (1924-1973) (pictured below), and re-titled
it, yet again, as 'My Son, The Vampire', but nothing really
helped. The movie was a commercial failure in the USA.
US comedian Allan Sherman Link : Vampire Over London : Bela Lugosi in Britain : a revealing in-depth article by Frank J. Dello Stritto & Andi Brooks on the 'Dracula' stage play and subsequent film appearance. Their book of the same name, discredits the widely held belief that the stage play was unsuccessful. For more on this...Click here The book - Vampire Over London : Lela Lugosi in Britain - is available to buy on Amazon... Click here Old Mother Riley's bloomers fall foul of the US Film Censors! Here is a quote from the book "Banned in the U.S.A.: British Films in the United States and Their Censorship" by Anthony Slide... "With a naivety that would have done credit to Old Mother Riley herself, Fernwood Films Limited wrote on 30 January 1952 to the MPPA's Title Registration Office, asking for a `registration number' for a film titled `Vampire Over London'. The Title Registration Office (which exists to ensure that rival producers do not use the same film title) forwarded the request to Joseph I. Breen in Hollywood. On 8 February 1952, he wrote to Fernwood pointing out that a temporary certificate number could not be issued prior to the reading of a shooting script or synopsis. On 28 February 1952 an undated script was submitted by Fernwood's R.D. Comber, and on 31 March 1952 Breen replied that the basic material seemed to meet with the requirements of the Production Code. He expressed concern at the attire of some of the female characters (including Old Mother Riley), and asked that the patch on Mrs. Riley's bloomers be eliminated; that there be no suggestive reaction by Mrs. Riley as she searched the box containing her inheritance; that a cosh should not be a blackjack; and that criminals should not be seen handling Tommy guns. No Production Code Seal was ever issued for the film, which does not appear to have been screened in the U.S.A. until 1973 under the title of `My Son, The Vampire'." [Courtesy of Jon Black] This site was created and is maintained by Martyn Peter Wilkinson. Quotes and images not my own remain in the copyright of the originator or else in the public domain. The information contained in this web site is intended for entertainment, educational, historical, and informational purposes only. All rights Reserved Worldwide © 2001-2008 |
Old Mother Riley with Bela Lugosi
(Old
Mother Riley Meets The Vampire aka My Son The Vampire(1952))
Old Mother Riley with Bela Lugosi in
My Son, The Vampire (1952)
For more on this...Click here Link :
Film still from Old Mother Riley Meets The Vampire (1952)
Old Mother Riley's Trip To Mars (1954) - The Film That Never Was
At the time of Arthur Lucan's death in 1954,
his agent, Mike Lyon, had received a contract from Renown Pictures for a new film -
Old Mother Riley's Trip To Mars. The script involved a cleaner at a rocket base who accidentally hits a lever and is
hurtled into space on a course set for Mars. The production was advertised in 'The Kinematography Weekly', with production
due to start in late spring 1954, and release scheduled for autumn.
Arthur's fee for the picture was to have been £20,000, which would have cleared
his bankruptcy debts and made him solvent again. Unfortunately, fate overtook events and Arthur Lucan
died in the wings of The Tivoli Theatre, Hull on 17th May 1954. Following Arthur's death, various attempts were made to try
and get the film made with Roy Rolland in the title role. However, the film company resisted and the passing of
Arthur Lucan saw the death of the Old Mother Riley films. |
||
