SYNOPSIS:
During 1776 there was a notorious pirate sailing the high seas named Captain Clegg. When one of his crew, a mulatto (Milton Reid),
killed his wife shortly after she gave birth, he cut out the man's
tongue and marooned him on an island on the coral reef - however, this
man was picked up by a passing ship later on... Moving forward to 1792,
and the Romney Marshes in southern England are host to smugglers who
the King's men are desperately trying to catch and stop from illegally
importing alcohol without paying duty on it.
One of the villages on the
marsh has Dr Blyss (Peter Cushing)
as its mild-mannered pastor, and today he is giving a sermon to the
townsfolk in the local church. A troupe of the King's men led by
Captain Collier (Patrick Allen) arrive in the area at the same time - will they uncover any wrongdoing?
COMMENTARY:
Captain Clegg, or Night Creatures as it was known overseas by a less
giveaway title, was a Hammer exploit in the historical adventure stakes,
a remake of the nineteen-thirties George Arliss vehicle Dr. Syn.
Although it has elements of a horror film, it's not really part of
that genre; in spite of the spectres haunting the marshes and the
touches of macabre and the occasional brutalities, it's more of a romp,
played straight but with the odd item of wit to lighten the story. It
was scripted by Anthony Hinds under his John Elder pen name, with
additional dialogue from Barbara S. Harper, and wins you over with its
spirit and atmosphere.
That said, it's not what you could call surprising, so it's a better
watch if you're feeling indulgent towards its predictability - although
the film attempts to play games with the viewer's expectations, there's
no doubt about who is doing the smuggling and who is really who under an
assumed name. Cushing is a lot of fun here, whether preaching from his
pulpit and encouraging his congregation to sing with more gusto, or
revealed as the mastermind behind the illegal activities, here painting
him as something of a Robin Hood figure with the best of intentions toward the villagers, if not the badly-behaved soldiers.
Every Robin Hood
needs his Sheriff of Nottingham just as every good hero (or anti-hero, I
guess) needs a formidable villain to show him off to his best
advantage, and here the stern, booming-voiced Allen is the equal of
Cushing. The plot throws in who turns out to be the daughter of Clegg,
Imogene (Yvonne Romain), who works as the serving wench at the inn and wishes to marry Harry (Oliver Reed
as a romantic type), the son of the squire, but how will he react when
he finds out her lineage?
Then there's the mute mulatto from the
prologue who is kept on a leash by the soldiers and sniffs out any
illegal alcohol - why does he seem to recognise Dr Blyss? Well, it's
not too difficult to work out, is it? It's nice to see Hammer regulars
like Reid and Michael Ripper,
especially good as the undertaker, get a bit more to do than usual, and
overall Captain Clegg proves most diverting, if never inspiring. What
it really needed was a good old-fashioned swordfight. Music by Don
Banks.
REVIEW SOURCE: HERE
IMAGES: Marcus Brooks
