The Man Who Could Cheat Death on Talking Pictures

[cassidy]

At last, the one early Hammer Horror film that I have never seen, The Man Who Could Cheat Death is on Talking Pictures on Saturday 11th July at 8. 05pm. Repeated the following Tuesday. Anton Diffring and Christopher Lee.

Can't wait !!

[Gerald Lovell]

I'll be interested to know what you think of it, cassidy.

[cassidy]

I'll be interested to know what you think of it, cassidy.

I still don't know why I never bothered when it came out, I was well into "X" films.

[agutterfan]

I hope they show the "continental" version, though sadly they probably won't.

[tv horror]

I take it the extended scenes of Ms Shelley posing factor into it?

[Allen Leighton]

Or maybe they'll show the alternate universe version where Peter Cushing played the Anton Diffring part ...

[Carl V]

At last, the one early Hammer Horror film that I have never seen, The Man Who Could Cheat Death ....

You need to get yourself this lovely Blu-ray from Eureka video:

https://eurekavideo.co.uk/movie/the-...d-cheat-death/

[cassidy]

You need to get yourself this lovely Blu-ray from Eureka video:

https://eurekavideo.co.uk/movie/the-...d-cheat-death/

Thanks for the information.

[cassidy]

Or maybe they'll show the alternate universe version where Peter Cushing played the Anton Diffring part ...

No, I was watching Booby Trap on Talking Pictures and they showed the trailer which was with Anton Diffring.

[narabdela]

Yes, but did you try watching it in an alternate universe?

[Carl V]

Anton Diffring appeared in some other British horror films - from memory there's Circus Of Horrors (1960); from Amicus in The Beast Must Die (1974) with Peter Cushing; an Italian giallo called The Iguana With The Tongue Of Fire (1971), and Fahrenheit 451 (1966). Of course, there are the plethora of war films he appeared in too, and I always liked him as an actor.

[Nick Dando]

Fahrenheit 451 isn't a horror film unless you consider being beastly to books to be horrific. As it was written by Ray Bradbury, a science fiction author, I'd class it as a science fiction film.

[Carl V]

Fahrenheit 451 isn't a horror film unless you consider being beastly to books to be horrific. As it was written by Ray Bradbury, a science fiction author, I'd class it as a science fiction film.

You're quite right, Fahrenheit 451 is a sci-fi film - not a horror. I was going to include some other non-horror films from Diffring, but I neglected to alter the wording on my previous post.

[Luke 1972]

Whenever you see Anton Diffring in a film, you just know that his character wont make it to the end.

[cassidy]

Whenever you see Anton Diffring in a film, you just know that his character wont make it to the end.

I think an exception was The Red Beret.

[Steve Crook]

I think an exception was The Red Beret.

A great film, known as "Paratrooper" in it's US release.

It's the very thinly disguised story of one of my heroes, Major John Frost of the Parachute Regiment. He's called Major Snow in the film (I said it was thinly disguised )
They tell the story of the combined services operation (Operation Biting) by the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Parachute Brigade led by Major 'John Frost' (Major Snow). An RAF radar expert, Flight Sergeant C.W.H. Cox (Sergeant Box) accompanied the raiders to tell them what to take back to England. Then they went on to attack German airfields near Depienne 30 miles south of Tunis in North Africa. Then the landed in Sicily & Italy before attacking the "Bridge Too Far" at Arnhem where Frost got too close to an exploding mortar bomb.

With the 2nd Parachute Battalion, Frost led a mixed group of about 745 lightly armed men who landed near Ossterbeek and marched into Arnhem. The battalion reached the bridge capturing the northern end, but Frost then found that his force was surrounded by the SS Panzer troops and cut off from the rest of 1st Airborne. Frost was in command during the fierce four-day battle that followed, in which the Germans rained artillery fire onto the paratroopers' positions, and sent tanks and infantry into some of the most intense fighting seen by either side, with very little mercy given. The Germans were greatly surprised by the airborne forces' refusal to surrender and their continuous counterattacks. After a short truce on the third day, when 250 wounded were removed, the battle continued until the remaining paratroopers had run out of ammunition.

Frost was captured & spent the rest of the war as a prisoner. But what a guy!

Frost was played in the film of A Bridge Too Far (1977) by Anthony Hopkins.

Frost wrote his autobiography in two parts:
A Drop Too Many in 1980 & Nearly There in 1991

Both well worth reading

Steve

[Odeonman]

The bridge in Arnhem is named "John Frostbrug"

[cassidy]

I'll be interested to know what you think of it, cassidy.

Not in my top ten Hammer films for sure. Particularly when you think that Hammer had their big guns ie Carreras, Nelson-Keys, Sangster and Terrence Fisher all involved. Agutterfan's review on the Watched Last Night thread says it all. I certainly preferred Anton Diffring as Dr Schuller in Circus of Horrors.