Iain1962

[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] Hi there, gang. I've come to pick your collective brains again. Thanks for all the help on The Black Rider.

Anyway I'm reserching stuff for a review of the Lance Comfort review. I've already secured info on Comfort himself. But now I'd like some stuff on Tom Blakely and Planet Film Distributors. I know the company was established in 1962 by Blakely but the site I gleaned this off has since crashed. The IMDB lists only a few productions from Planet icluding Night of tbe Big Heat. Are there others not listed? It seems an awfully short list.

The print I'm working from is in surprisingly good nick (from the BBC earlier this year) and looks like it's brand new, certainly compared to earlier screenings I've seen. Did this get an official DVD release in the States?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers.

Iain

Steve Crook

It's odd that the IMDb should list the Production Company as Planet Film Distributors Ltd. That sounds more like the name of a Distribution Company. What does it say on the film itelf about the production company?

Steve

JamesM

Perhaps they went into film production for a one off.

smudge

Iain -

If you can get your hands on the DVD of NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT, there is (IIRC) quite a useful bit on PLANET in the accompanying booklet. I would have transcribed it here for you, but my copy's gone walkabout (Down, Fell ! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img] )

SMUDGE

[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/devil.gif[/img]

Welcome to my house. Enter freely, and of your own will...

DB7

Think it was called Planet Productions or Planet Films, Terence Fisher directed a couple of films for them during a brief break from Hammer, Island of Terror being the most noteworthy. Think the company was only active for about five years.

catflap

Wasn't Lance Comfort himself a board member of the Planet company?

catflap

Actually, there seems to be a discrepancy here as to Planet as a production company and as distributors.

http://imdb.com/company/co0053915/

Try that link from distribution titles, including an earlier Comfort title, Tomorrow at Ten.

Iain1962

Hi there.

The film actually says Planet Film Distributors and I'm pretty sure that they hold the copyright. There are various Planet companies listed on the IMDB some of which might be part of an umbrella organisation. The distributor of Devils of Darkness also handled Euro spy imports, British B-pictures and apparently the Pink Floyd movie The Committee. Theyalso handled the two Fisher sci-fi titles which were produced by Planet Film Productions. Devils seems to be the only case where the Distributor also doubled as the producer of the work. This is very confusing and I can't be bothered going to Companies House to sort it out.

Regarding the possibility that Lance Comfort was on the board of Planet this seems very likely since the professional relationship with producer Tom Blakeley goes back to at least the late 50s and the Jess Conrad vehicle Rag Doll. He made a number of minor works for Blakeley in the early to mid-60s such as The Painted Smile and Blind Corner both distributed by companies with Planet in their name so it's possible that they were business partners. I also note that both these ventures featured input from Mancunian Films.

Thanks for all your help - again.

Cheers.

Iain

catflap

I just tracked down the reference to Comfort being a Planet board member - Jonathan Rigby's English Gothic, which also gives a little detail on Blakeley, including his 30-year involvement as an assistant at Mancunian films, working for his dad.

According to this book, Devils Of Darnkness received no London premiere and played patchily in the provinces as a support feature to the Italian mondo-shocker, This Shocking World.

Stu

Here is a link for Film Studios Manchester. It has a few details about the film Devils Of Darkness, Tom Blakely & Lance Comfort that you might find helpful.
http://www.itsahotun.com/thefilms.html

Iain1962

Hi there.

Thanks for the tip. I managed to locate the Rigby book and shall follow this up. I've now watched this film twice in a row - is this a record?

Cheers.

Iain

Iain1962

Hi there.

That's a really interesting link. Thanks.

I've seen posters being advertised on some sites in which DOD is double-billed with Don Sharp's Curse of the Fly. I'm assuming they were distributed overseas (USA?) by Lippert.

Thanks again to everyone.

Cheers.

Iain

catflap

Variety listed DOD as having been a 20th Century Fox pickup from the early part of '65 and as having been released in the US in the first few months of that year. Planet also took DOD to the 1965 Cannes market, presumably for sales to remaining territories.

Now in their 1964 International Film Annual issue (April 29), Variety listed Planet as having 3 films in pre-production -

Blind Corner, Devils of Darkness and Cry Havoc. All were to be produced by Tom Blakeley and to be directed by Lance Comfort. The third title, presumably, was not made and Blind Corner is accredited to Mancunian in various sources. However, seeing Comfort's affiliation with these titles (as their one in-house director) I think we can assume he had a stake of some sort in the company.

catflap

Actually, completely off topic, but browsing through that issue of Variety it was interesting to see some of the other films announced -

Stanley Baker having verbal agreements from Richard Burton and Liz Taylor to star in "Sands of the Kalahari"

Tony Hancock an Margaret Rutherford to star in a remake of "Harvey"

A sequel to "School For Scoundrels" to go before cameras shortly.

Richard Attenborough to begin shooting on "Gandhi" in the coming month.