Hammer Films Biography

After Song of Freedom came the comedy Sporting Love (1937), about two stable owners who decide to kidnap their own prize horse in order to collect on the insurance and pay off their mortgage. Following this came The Bank Messenger Mystery (1937), which failed to gain a release until 1941 when it was distributed by Exclusive. The reason for the hold up in the release was simple: a sudden slump in the British film industry combined with the imminent threat of war had forced the company into liquidation. Exclusive Films, which at this point operated independently from Hammer, continued on quite successfully throughout the war years, re-issuing such Korda products s Q-Planes and Michael Powell's The Spy in Black. For the time being, though, Hammer, was dead. However, as it frequently was for Count Dracula, resurrection was not far away.

The revivification of Hammer came about primarily through an infusion of new blood into the company in the form of Enrique Carreras's son James and William Hinds' son Anthony, both of whom ensured that Hammer 'stayed in the family' for a second generation. Exclusive carried on distributing other people's films during the next two years - 'quota quickies' and reissues. By this time, however, the company had a certain degree of influence over the product they presented, and this would prove to be valuable experience upon the resurrection of Hammer Films in 1946.

Hammer geared itself up to enter the quota quickie market, which they did in 1946 with several documentary featurettes, now rarely seen, such as Old Father Thames (1946), Cornish Holiday (1946) and We Do Believe in Ghosts (1947). The subject matter of these short and now seemingly lost documentaries often prefigured themes for drama featurettes, so after two crime drama shorts in 1947 (Crime Reporter and Death in High Heels). Hammer returned to the Thames as the location for a slightly more ambitious forty-six minute featurette titled River Patrol, which was released in 1948, this location-filmed thriller seemed to fare well enough and prompted Hammer to go into production with their next featurette.

A mystery-thriller, this went by the title of Who Killed Van Loon? Like all of Hammer's early quickies, this was again filmed on location, simply because they couldn't afford to hire studio space. Two more crime features quickly followed: The Dark Road (1948) and The Jack of Diamonds (1949), both weighing in at around 70 minutes. What Hammer needed was a money spinner with built-in audience appeal - all of which they found in a character called Dick Barton. Dick Barton - Special Agent (aka Dick Barton -Detective) went into production in 1948, with a budget of less than £20,000. As the rate of purchase for a second feature on the circuits was £25,000, the film was already £5000 in profit before it was even screened to the public, thanks to the ruthless trimming of its production costs.

By 1950, Hammer/Exclusive were in full production, and a definite trend had developed, for a good many of their films were derived from radio plays or series, including The Man in Black), Meet Simon Cherry and Room to Let, all of which were shot on four to five week schedules. One of the few exceptions was Someone at the Door, which was a remake of a 1935 thriller, itself based on a successful stage play about an apparently haunted house. A third Dick Barton adventure, Dick Barton at Bay, also appeared in 1950, this time involving a missing scientist and the death ray he has invented. However, plans for a fourth Barton film were scuppered when star Don Stannard was killed in a car crash.

1950 also saw the unexpected death of Exclusive's founder Enrique Carreras, whose place on the board of directors was consequently filled by his grandson Michael who, in 1951 finally gained his first producer credit with The Dark Light, a badly-made programme filler about a group of lighthouse workmen who fall foul of a gang of thieves. 1950 was rounded out with The Lady Craved Excitement, another radio-inspired thriller involving the uncovering of an art smuggling racket by two cabaret artists. Early 1951 saw the release of The Rossiter Case and To Have and to Hold. Hammer also finally acquired their own full-time 'studio', having previously rented space in a number of large country houses and clubs when the need arose (such as Dial Close and Gilston Park in Essex), a further example of their attempts to keep production costs low. Consequently, a small country estate called Down Place in Bray, near Windsor became Hammer's base. The house itself acted as office space, studio floor and outdoor location, with further studio space later being built in the grounds.