IF YOU WANT TO GET AHEAD GET A CAP? PLUS HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANE MERROW : NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT!

AS THE O'L SAYING GOES  . . 'If you want to get ahead....get a hat!' But cap?? Funny thing, I never had him down as a flap cap wearer. Did you? Christopher Lee in Vienna Austria in 2004... with flat cap!

TODAY WE MARK actress JANE MERROW'S BIRTHDAY, born today August 26th 1941! Merrow is an actress with a very impressive CV, for sure, having worked in both the UK and the USA in both film and television. She is noted here, not only because she played the role of young Angela Roberts in the Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee 1967 film, NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT, but also because she appeared in so many classic and respected television fantasy drama series, from 'Mystery and Imagination' in 1966, to 'The Avengers' and  'The Prisoner' in 67, 'Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)' in 69, 'UFO' in 1970. She held three episodes of the US 'The Six Million Dollar Man' and even 'The Incredible Hulk' in 1981.

 

MORE ON 'NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT' in the PCASUK feature written by Callum McKelvie, with a match with Cushing's OTHER Island movie, 'ISLAND OF TERROR', all with stills, images, gifs and MORE : RIGHT HERE! 

MERROW STARTED BY PLAYING the true classical heroine on the late 50's/early 60's stage, she moved to film and TV in 1961. Only earning bit roles in such film fare as 'Don't Bother to Knock' (1961), 'The Phantom of the Opera' (1962) and The Wild and the Willing (1962), her stature grew quickly on TV, bringing forth a noticeable gift of fragility and honesty to her lovely lasses. Standout roles included Oliver Twist's mother in the mini-series 'Oliver Twist' (1962); Rosamund in the TV series 'Jane Eyre' (1963); and the title role in the mini-series 'Licia dolce Licia' (1987) opposite Bill Travers.

 

ON THE OTHERS SIDE OF THE COIN, Jane also became a modern, trendy presence with a lead role opposite Oliver Reed in the film 'The System' (1964) and enjoyed her finest hour on film with the Golden Globe-nominated role of young Alais, the adored young mistress to King Henry, in the Oscar-winning historical drama 'The Lion in Winter' (1968) opposite Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn.

 

MERROW MOVED TO AMERICA, in the early 1970's and enjoyed a transcontinental career for nearly two decades. In sporadic films, she played an Irish lass partnered with American criminal Beau Bridges in 'Adam's Woman' (1970); a blind woman in the Hammer film horror 'Hands of the Ripper' (1971) with Eric Porter; the crime thriller 'Diagnosis: Murder' (1974) starring Christopher Lee and Judy Geeson, 'The Appointment' (1981) with Edward Woodward; and the romantic dramedy 'Almosting It' (2016). On stage, she appeared in a production of 'Arsenic and Old Lace' starring Zsa Zsa Gabor and Eva Gabor in Chicago! Merrow was plentifully seen on America TV programs such as 'Mission: Impossible', 'Alias Smith and Jones,' 'Mannix', 'Cannon', 'Barnaby Jones','Hart', 'St. Elsewhere', 'Days of Our Lives', 'McGuyver' and 'Airwolf.'! She also graced several TV-mini-series and TV-movies including 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' (1972),

SHE WAS SEEN LESS into the 1990's, when Jane returned to England at that time to run a family business. She did star as Vivien Leigh in a one-woman stage tribute that opened in, of course, Atlanta. In 2009, she returned to the stage as Emilia in Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors." She continues to divide her time between homes in London and Boise, Idaho, where I hope today, she sits, taking a rest, a glass of something nice in hand with friends and family 😉 From us all, A VERY Happy Birthday JANE MERROW... we wish you a BIG HAPPY and COOL DAY... and well, not too HOT!  😁😏😃 

 

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CALLUM MCKELVIE ON 'NIGHT OF BIG HEAT' PLUS EXCLUSIVE COMPETITON TO WIN THE CUSHING /LEE ISLAND DOUBLE BILL!

FOLLOWING ON from my look at Island of Terror, in PART ONE, this week I’m tackling its spiritual successor, NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT. As discussed last week, these two films represent a section of only a small number of Science Fiction films that Cushing lent his talents too and it’s hard to discuss one without the other. Both were made by the short-lived Planet films and Night, featuring the same director (Terrence Fisher), Composer (Malcolm Lockyer) and of course Cushing again, does feel in many ways like a natural successor to the previous film.

PLANET FILMS EVEN SEEM to have gone a little further this time, with Cushing only having a small role and Christopher Lee taking the lead, having those two names on the poster would mean box office dynamite, surely? Unfortunately, I must confess to being somewhat ‘cold’ when it comes to Night of the Big Heat. Whilst not a bad film, in many ways it pales in comparison to Island of Terror.

FOR A START there’s the story. Night, is a fairly basic alien invasion story utilising elements from an earlier (and much better) British Science Fiction film, The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), by having the temperature slowly rise. Christopher Lee plays Godfrey Hanson, a scientist staying in a small hotel owned by Patrick Allen’s Jeff Callum on the isolated island of Fara, somewhere off the English coast. Jane Merrow shows up as an old flame of Cullum’s with whom he had an affair and who seems determined to cause trouble for him and his marriage. However they all have bigger fish to fry when Hanson reveals that the rising heat is actually being caused by an alien invasion…..and it’s only going to get hotter.

ONE OF THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS with Night, is that at points it actually strays a little too close to Island. For example, the opening scene in which the radar equipment is destroyed and we have a freeze frame into titles, exactly like Island, really isn’t necessary. In Island, this was effective as it still didn’t spoil the mystery of the plot- we knew there was an explosion in a lab, but we don’t know yet what that lab is and Islands superior script is far too intelligent to reveal anything to its viewers off the bat. 

IN 'NIGHT' A SIGNIFICANT amount of time is devoted to the characters attempting to get to the radar station (indeed Cushing dies for it) but we as an audience know that there’s no point because we saw it destroyed in the opening 2 seconds. Then there’s also the end, whilst the trick of having it all seems hopeless and then having an almost surprise revelation. Again, in Island, that revelation felt a great deal more intelligent than it does here and the sudden rain storm saving the day, is faintly ridiculous. 

OF COURSE I’m not ignoring the fact that Island was an original story whilst Night is based on a novel by John Lyminton. Having not read that book I can’t comment if these problems are inherent within it, or whether they are unique to this adaptation. However its literary heritage in 50’s British Sci-Fi does lead to one of the strengths of Night, and that is of course it’s wonderfully John Wyndham-esque atmosphere. The old trope of the heroes spending much of the end of the world in a pub is seen here and it’s as effective now as in any other British Sci-Fi flick (such as another of Fishers sci-fi films, The Earth Dies Screaming from 1964).  

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THERE ARE SOME POSITIVE things that this film manages to duplicate from Island. That being the sense of danger. Lee’s character of Hanson makes it through most of the film, then dies minutes before the end. Killing off essentially your biggest name and one of the two leads minutes before the resolution is a brave move and again makes the viewer think that there really is no hope. Lee plays the part of Hanson as well as he plays any role, though unfortunately he’s not really given anything new to do and so it’s hardly a standout role in his career. 

PATRICK ALLEN IS A GOOD leading man- though he struggles with a character that for the most part comes across as inherently unlikeable. This is due mostly to the ‘affair’ subplot which, whilst actually being one of the most enjoyable parts of the film, doesn’t really set his character up as the most likeable of individuals and really should have been revealed later. As stated in my review of Island, Cushing has a small but enjoyable role- though it’s really too dismissible to really stand out in his filmography. His death lingers due to a wonderfully charming performance, his easily the most likeable character in the entire film. However special mention has to be made of Jane Merrow, who plays the role of Angela Roberts with such a maliciousness that she is utterly watchable the entire time.

IN SOME WAYS I feel I have been way to negative towards Night, and perhaps it will be a film that I’ll revisit in my column again someday because for the most part- it’s bloody good fun. This isn’t like Incense for the Damned (1970) or Tender Dracula (1974) where there really is little to no joy to be had, in fact I feel ashamed even mentioning those movies in this review because Night of the Big Heat isn’t even a bad film. It’s a perfectly well made science fiction horror film, let down by a few small elements that don’t allow it the originality that made Island of Terror, so damn good.

WRITTEN BY CALLUM MCKELVIE: If you would like to share YOUR THOUGHTS with CALLUM about the film or the feature you can contact him HERE: spookycallum58@gmail.com 

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'NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT' CUSHING LEE BRIT SCI FI CLASSIC GETS BLU RAY RELEASE DATE

The Terence Fisher, 1969 Brit sci fi classic 'NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT' starring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Patrick Allen. Jame Merrow and Sarah Lawson is available on BLU RAY (Region B/2) , for the first time as a 'pre order' with a street date release of JUNE 17th 2014, from Odeon Entertainment. Now on sale at amazon. Order Here.