80,000 Suspects
Encyclopedia
80,000 Suspects is a 1963 British
film, directed by Val Guest
which concerns an outbreak of smallpox in Bath, England.
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
film, directed by Val Guest
Val Guest
Val Guest was a British film director, best known for his science-fiction films for Hammer Film Productions in the 1950s, but who also enjoyed a long, varied and active career in the film industry from the early 1930s up until the early 1980s.-Early life and career:He was born Valmond Maurice...
which concerns an outbreak of smallpox in Bath, England.
Plot
A romantic melodrama set against the backdrop of a smallpox epidemic which features Richard Johnson as the diligent doctor in control and Claire Bloom as his outwardly serene and devoted wife. Commencing on New Year’s Eve in the city of Bath, Dr. Steven Monks (Richard Johnson) diagnoses a mystery patient as being infected with smallpox and sets in motion a city wide quarantine to contain the outbreak. His commitment to the task is affected by the deterioration of his marriage to ex-nurse Julie (Claire Bloom) following his clandestine affair with a family friend. Monk receives an unexpected blow when the disease strikes closer to home than anticipated and Julie is diagnosed as having contracted the virus. The medical team gradually contain the outbreak until only one unidentified case remains. The search narrows the identity of final carrier down to Ruth Preston (Yolande Donlan), the woman with whom Monks had been having an affair and the wife of his close colleague Clifford (Michael Goodliffe). She’s eventually traced to a deserted house where she’s sheltering, lonely and desperately ill.Cast
- Claire BloomClaire BloomClaire Bloom is an English film and stage actress.-Early life:Bloom was born in the North London suburb of Finchley, the daughter of Elizabeth and Edward Max Blume, who worked in sales...
as Julie Monks - Richard JohnsonRichard Johnson (actor)Richard Johnson is an English actor, writer and producer, who starred in several British films of the 1960s and has also had a distinguished stage career. He most recently appeared in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.-Life and career:...
as Steven Monks - Yolande DonlanYolande DonlanYolande Donlan is an American actress who has worked extensively in the United Kingdom.She is the daughter of James Donlan, who was a hard working character actor in Hollywood films of the 1930s...
as Ruth Preston - Cyril CusackCyril CusackCyril James Cusack was an Irish actor, who appeared in more than 90 films.-Early life:Cusack was born in Durban, Natal, South Africa, the son of Alice Violet , an actress, and James Walter Cusack, a sergeant in the Natal mounted police. His parents separated when he was young and his mother took...
as Father Maguire - Michael GoodliffeMichael GoodliffeLawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe was an English actor best known for playing suave roles such as doctors, lawyers and army officers. He was also sometimes cast in working class parts....
as Clifford Preston - Mervyn JohnsMervyn JohnsMervyn Johns was a Welsh film and television character actor. He was a mainstay of Ealing Studios.Among his dozens of film roles were Walter Craig in Dead of Night , the Church Warden in Went the Day Well? and Bob Cratchit in Scrooge...
as Buckridge - Kay WalshKay WalshKay Walsh was an English actress and dancer. She grew up in Pimlico, raised by her grandmother....
as Matron - Norman BirdNorman BirdNorman Bird was a British character actor. Often sporting a moustache and an air of worried resignation, he seemed to specialise in downtrodden roles...
as Mr. Davis - Basil DignamBasil DignamBasil Dignam was an English character actor.Basil Dignam, a native of Sheffield, acted on film and television between 1951 and 1975. He often appeared as an authority figure, such as a police officer, army general or peer....
as Medical Officer - Arthur ChristiansenArthur ChristiansenArthur Christiansen was a journalist, and editor of Lord Beaverbrook's newspaper the Daily Express from 1933 to 1957....
as Editor - Ray BarrettRay BarrettRaymond Charles "Ray" Barrett was an Australian actor. He was one of the more popular leading men on British television in the 1960s, where he was best known for his appearances in The Troubleshooters . Back in Australia he was a leading man in many TV series over the years.-Biography:Barrett was...
as Bennett - Andrew Crawford as Dr. Ruddling
- Jill CurzonJill CurzonJill Curzon is a British actress most famous for her film and television appearances during the 1960s.Her television appearances include The Champions , Adam Adamant Lives! , The Saint , Hugh and I and Disneyland...
as Nurse Jill - Vanda GodsellVanda GodsellVanda Godsell was an English actress.-Early life:She was born near Bristol into the well known Godsell family, best known for its brewery based in Stroud. Her father was an officer in the Navy and served in the Battle of Jutland whilst her mother, Muriel, was the sister of novelist and actress...
as Mrs. Davis - Ursula HowellsUrsula HowellsUrsula Howells was an English actress whose elegant presence kept her much in demand for roles in film and television....
as Joanna Duten - David WestonDavid Weston (actor)David Weston is an English actor, director and author. Since graduating from RADA in 1961 he has acted in numerous film, television and stage productions, including twenty-seven plays in Shakespeare's canon. With Michael Croft he was a founder member of the National Youth Theatre...
as Brian Davis
Current interest (August 2009)
Despite the antiquity of the Film, and the fact that it was produced in monochrome, (black and white) there is a constant flow of old material appearing that relates to this production. Items for sale from various locations are mainly the "stills" (single frame image) posters used by distributors of this film in their quest to promote interest in it. Further research in this area may well uncover artifacts associated with this production left behind, and "recovered" by souvenir hunters at the various outdoor locations used.External links
- British Movie Directors http://www.britmovie.co.uk/directors/Val-Guest Retrieved 2010-03-11.
- Original Clip from film http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/index.jsp?cid=254109 Retrieved 2010-03-11.
- Opening scenes Clip from film http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/index.jsp?cid=254105 Retrieved 2010-03-11.
- Visit Bath - Movie Locations in the City Page 4 Retrieved 2010-03-11.
- Val Guest - Obituary, 15 May 2006 - The Independent http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/val-guest-478294.html Retrieved 2010-03-12.