Nightmare (1964 film)
Encyclopedia
Nightmare is a 1964
horror/suspense film from Hammer Films. The film was directed by Freddie Francis
and written by Hammer Films regular Jimmy Sangster
. The British Film Institute
has the only 35mm print in the UK.
1964 in film
The year 1964 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is released....
horror/suspense film from Hammer Films. The film was directed by Freddie Francis
Freddie Francis
Frederick William Francis BSC was an English cinematographer and film director.He achieved his greatest successes as a cinematographer, including winning two Academy Awards, for Sons and Lovers and Glory...
and written by Hammer Films regular Jimmy Sangster
Jimmy Sangster
James Henry Kinmel Sangster was an English screenwriter and director, known for his work for horror film producers Hammer Film Productions, including scripts for The Curse of Frankenstein and Dracula .Sangster originally worked as a production assistant at...
. The British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
has the only 35mm print in the UK.
Plot
The film's protagonist, Janet, is a young student attending boarding school. After a number of nightmares concerning her mother, whom she saw kill her father when she was young, the girl is sent home to her guardian, Attorney Henry Baxter. At home, she is assigned a nurse. Janet begins having more nightmares this time concerning an unknown woman with a scar and a birthday cake. The dreams get worse and worse. Finally, her guardian brings home his wife, whom Janet has never met. Janet is introduced to the woman at her birthday celebration. The cake and woman from her dreams with the scar appearing at once is enough to make Janet snap. She kills the woman by stabbing her - the same way her mother killed her father. Janet is committed. Meanwhile, her guardian Henry and the nurse, who was disguised to look like the woman with a scar to drive Janet mad, celebrate the loss of Janet. However, the two do not go unpunished.Cast
- David Knight as Henry Baxter
- Moira RedmondMoira RedmondMoira Redmond was a British actress.She was born in Bognor Regis, England, the daughter of the actress Molly Redmond and her husband who was a stage manager...
as Grace Maddox - Jennie LindenJennie LindenJennie Linden is an English film and television actress.Linden was born in Worthing to Marcus and Freida Fletcher, an architect and housewife. She attended the Central School of Speech and Drama at the age of 17 on a scholarship...
as Janet - Brenda BruceBrenda BruceBrenda Bruce was a British actress. She had a long and successful career in the theatre, radio, film, and television.-Early life:Brenda Bruce was born in Manchester...
as Mary Lewis - George A. CooperGeorge A. CooperGeorge A. Cooper is an English actor.One of his best-known roles was as the caretaker Mr. Griffiths in the long-running children's TV series Grange Hill...
as John - Clytie JessopClytie JessopClytie Jessop is a British actress, notable for her association with cinematographer and film director Freddie Francis.Her first screen role was as the ghost of Miss Jessel in The Innocents , based on Henry James's The Turn of the Screw. She appeared only in long shot...
as Woman in White - Irene Richmond as Mrs. Gibbs
- John WelshJohn Welsh (actor)John Welsh was an Irish actor.After an early stage career in Dublin, Welsh moved into British film and television in the 1950s. His roles included James Forsyte in the 1967 BBC dramatisation of John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga, as well as the butler Merriman in The Duchess of Duke Street, Sgt...
as Doctor - Timothy BatesonTimothy BatesonTimothy Dingwall Bateson was a British actor. The son of Dingwall Bateson, a solicitor later knighted, he was educated at Uppingham School and Wadham College, Oxford....
as Barman
- Jennie LindenJennie LindenJennie Linden is an English film and television actress.Linden was born in Worthing to Marcus and Freida Fletcher, an architect and housewife. She attended the Central School of Speech and Drama at the age of 17 on a scholarship...
was an 11th hour casting choice replacing Julie Christie who dropped out to do the film Darling. - This was final film performance of American actor David Knight who subsequently focused on theatre work.
Credits
- Directed by Freddie FrancisFreddie FrancisFrederick William Francis BSC was an English cinematographer and film director.He achieved his greatest successes as a cinematographer, including winning two Academy Awards, for Sons and Lovers and Glory...
- Written and produced by Jimmy SangsterJimmy SangsterJames Henry Kinmel Sangster was an English screenwriter and director, known for his work for horror film producers Hammer Film Productions, including scripts for The Curse of Frankenstein and Dracula .Sangster originally worked as a production assistant at...
- Music by Don BanksDon BanksDonald Oscar Banks was an Australian composer of concert, jazz, and commercial music.He initially studied at the University of Melbourne, then moved to London where he studied with Mátyás Seiber...
- Musical supervisor: John Hollingsworth
- Director of photography: John Wilcox
- Production design by Bernard RobinsonBernard Robinson (production designer)Bernard Robinson was born in Liverpool, England in 1912 and died in 1970. He designed sets for several of Hammer's films in their heyday, including The Curse of Frankenstein , Dracula , Curse of the Werewolf , The Phantom of the Opera , The Gorgon and Quatermass and the Pit...
- Supervising editor: James Needs
- Make-up by Roy AshtonRoy AshtonRoy Ashton was an Australian tenor, associated for a while with Benjamin Britten's English Opera Group, and make-up artist who became particularly associated with his work on the Hammer Horror films.-Career:...