CUSHING'S FEMME FATALES: No 1# YVONNE ROMAIN

YVONNE ROMAIN (Yvonne Warren) was born in London and was a young graduate of the Italia Conti Academy. From the age of twelve she appeared in children's shows and repertory theatre around the country. Romain started her film career in her late teens. Her exotic, dark looks and 38-22-36 figure saw her often cast in supporting roles as Italian or Spanish maidens in war films, horror films and comedies.

PLAYING 'BETTY', and before she took her professional name of Romain, Yvonne Warren appeared in the 1957 film 'Murder Reporter', was one of her first speaking roles.   

However, it is for her roles in numerous British horror films that she is perhaps most remembered. She has often been quoted as saying she very much enjoyed Corridors of Blood (1958), where she starred alongside Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee, and also in Circus of Horrors (1960) with actor Anton Diffring. She was also to star in the later Devil Doll (1964), about a malevolent ventriloquist's dummy.

Romain is probably best known for the Hammer film classic, The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) where she starred with Oliver Reed, in his first major role. In the CURSE, Romain plays a mute servant girl , who spurns the advances of the sadistic Marques. She is thrown into a prison cell with a deranged beggar who proceeds to rape her.

AS A RESULT, she later gives birth on Christmas Day to future lycanthrope Leon (Reed), though the effort kills her. Hammer studio's publicity stills for 'Werewolf' capitalised on Romain's obvious charms by having her photographed in typical 'scream queen' poses, alongside Reed in his werewolf make up. This publicity caused a little confusion, as neither she or Reed share no actual screen time together.

Perhaps her biggest role, was in another Hammer production, Captain Clegg (1962), aka Night Creatures (US title), playing alongside Peter Cushing and Oliver Reed again, this time as his fiancée. She also appeared alongside Sean Connery twice, in Action of the Tiger (1957), and the gangster film The Frightened City (1961), where she shared equal billing with the pre-Bond star. Romain also costarred in the Danger Man episode titled Sabotage in 1961.

Soon after, Romain moved to Los Angeles and starred alongside Ann-Margret in The Swinger (1966), her last film Hammer films, 'The Brigade of Kandahar' in 1967 and with Elvis Presley in Double Trouble (1967), which she herself calls a 'dreadful film', though she enjoyed the experience. After a break from the screen, Romain emerged from semi-retirement as the title character in the Anthony Perkins/Stephen Sondheim-scripted mystery thriller The Last of Sheila (1973), her last screen role.

Romain married the film composer Leslie Bricusse, who provided the lyrics for the classic James Bond themes Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice, and she later turned down a seven-year contract with Federico Fellini because it meant working away from her Hollywood-based husband and young son . . . 

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FINAL CUT HAMMER COLLECTION BLU RAY COMPETITION NOW LIVE!

 

CERTAINLY WORTH adding to your collection! Here's the spec...and GOOD LUCK!

FINAL CUT'S 'HAMMER COLLECTION : THE UNIVERSAL YEARS : SPECIAL EDITION is a FIVE 5 Disc Blu Ray Box Set featuring four classic Hammer films plus a disc of extras. The titles are as follows: 

Brides of Dracula, Kiss of the Vampire, Captain Clegg, Curse of the Werewolf. Each film has its own set of extras : 

OUR REVIEW OF BRIDES WITH STILLS GALLERY HERE

THE BRIDES OF DRACULA has The Making of Narrated by Edward de Souza and featuring interviews with Yvonne Monlaur, Jimmy Sangster, Hugh Harlow, Pauline Harlow, Don Mingaye, Margaret Robinson and Tony Hinds, Stills Gallery and trailer.

OUR REVIEW OF CAPTAIN CLEGG WITH STILLS GALLERY HERE

CAPTAIN CLEGG has The Making of --Narrated by John Carson, The Mossman Legacy documentary short on the George Mossman's Carriage Collection, many of which were used in Hammer films, plus gallery and subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing. 

OUR REVIEW WITH RARE STILLS GALLERY AT OUR SUPPLEMENT SITE

HERE

THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF has The Making of documentary with interviews from Catherine Feller, Yvonne Romain, Mike Hill, Don Mingaye, Margaret Robinson Jimmy Sangster. A doc on Lycanthropy : The Beast in All of Us. plus Censoring the Werewolf A new 13-minute documentary directed by Hammer Films historian Marcus Hearn and stills gallery. 

OUR REVIEW OF KISS OF THE VAMPIRE WITH RARE STILLS GALLERY HERE

KISS OF THE VAMPIRE has Commentary with Edward De Souza & Jennifer Daniel - Moderated by Peter Irving, Original USA Trailer, Stills Gallery, Subtitles for the hard of hearing. 

FINALLY, there is a whole fifth disc with the following, Past Masters: The Hammer-Universal Classics A new 50-minute documentary examining Hammer's relationship with distributor Universal. Directed by Hammer Films historian Marcus Hearn and featuring Alan Barnes, John J Johnston, Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby. Plus stills gallery posters and other promotional items from the Universal Years! A great release me thinks?

YOU CAN ORDER YOUR COPY OF FINAL CUT'S 'HAMMER COLLECTION: THE UNIVERSAL YEARS' HERE THE BLU RAY IS RELEASED ON JANUARY 20TH 2017! 

Please come join us at the official FACEBOOK FAN PAGE for PCAS! Now with almost 28,000 followers, with posts every day, rare images, competitions and features! just  CLICK HERE

FINAL CUT ENTERTAINMENT: CAPTAIN CLEGG NIGHT CREATURES BLU REVIEW

#hammerfilms 'CAPTAIN CLEGG' ' 'NIGHT CREATURES' blu ray starring Peter Cushing is due for street release on Monday 23rd Jun 2014. NEXT WEEK we'll be posting a full review of the blu ray and it's extras... PLUS you can WIN yourself some copies too

NEWS: NIGHT CREATURES / CAPTAIN CLEGG AND PHANTOM OF THE OPERA GET BLU RAY RELEASES

Final Cut is to release Peter Cushing's 'NIGHT CREATURES / CAPTAIN CLEGG' plus Hammer Films 'PHANTOM OF THE OPERA' on BLU RAY and DVD for March - June 2014. Barbara Shelley's 'SHADOW OF THE CAT' gets a release on dvd too. Unfortunately no hi def avaiable for a blu ray. All come with subs for the hard of hearing...Are we happy? More news on these releases coming up.

 

 

 

 

PETER CUSHING: YVONNE ROMAIN: OLIVER REED: CAPTAIN CLEGG : NIGHT CREATURES

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 

BEHIND THE SCENES OF CAPTAIN CLEGG: HAMMER FILMS: PETER CUSHING YVONNE ROMAIN AND OLIVER REED PHOTOGRAPH

GETTING THE VOWS RIGHT: Peter Cushing with the Rev Sidney Doran, vicar of Bray, helping Peter with rehearsing the marriage vows for Oliver Reed and Yvonne Romain's characters in Hammer Films CAPTAIN CLEGG / NIGHT CREATURES (1961)