SOMETIMES you’ll be watching a film and
a minor supporting player will suddenly appear and command your
attention in a way that is more powerful and immediate than the leading actors.
It could a physical gesture they make or a line of dialogue uttered in
an unusual way or simply the look of their face or body or both. Milton
Reid is one of those actors. His credit is likely to be down toward the
bottom of the cast list with the designated role of “The Executioner” or
“The Bodyguard” or “The Club Bouncer” or “The Big Pirate” but it’s his
mug that will stick in your memory long after the film fades. He appears
to be of Asian descent though one biographical reference intimated that
his unusual features were the result of Turner syndrome which is
incorrect because that rare genetic disorder only affects about 1 out of
every 2,500 FEMALE births. But it’s possible that his exotic look was
the result of something other than being the son of an Irish father and
Indian (as in Bombay) mother.
STRANGELY enough, my introduction to this
imposing character actor wasn’t in a movie but in a series of trading
cards issued by Universal in 1963 known as “Spook Stories” which stuck
silly captions on stills from the studio’s horror films . There were two images of Reid from the
1962 Hammer film NIGHT CREATURES that conjured up all kinds of crazy
scenarios in my mind of who this character was. (The original British
title of NIGHT CREATURES was CAPTAIN CLEGG which was a remake of the
1937 British feature; Walt Disney remade it in 1963 for television where
it was broadcast in three parts on “The Wonderful World of Disney” as
“The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh” and Patrick McGoohan played “The
Scarecrow” aka Dr. Syn.)
WHEN I finally caught up with NIGHT
CREATURES years later Mr. Reid does indeed pop out of the screen during
his brief scenes as “The Mulatto,” a huge mountain of a man whose tongue
is cut out because of his treachery to the pirate Captain Clegg. He is
later used by the relentless Captain Collier (Patrick Allen) to sniff
out the incognito Clegg who is behind a smuggling operation in the
village of Dymchurch. The film is a rousing and highly atmospheric
period thriller with some wonderful visuals (the appearance of the marsh
phantoms), and spirited performances (Peter Cushing, Patrick Allen and
Oliver Reed have fun with their roles). But Milton Reid’s larger than
life presence is mesmerizing. He’s like a caged wild animal here,
grunting, growling and desperate, and though his part is relatively
small, it’s of crucial importance to the story and leads to Clegg’s
undoing.
NIGHT CREATURES / CAPTAIN CLEGG, however, is probably
an exception to most of the films Reid made where his on-screen time was
barely more than that of an extra. And he rarely had dialogue because
with a face and body like that who needs it? But even in one scene
appearances or minor supporting roles you couldn’t miss the guy. He
stands out the way Tor Johnson does in the Ed Wood films. You can’t look
at anything else. You might not have known his name but you’ve probably
seen him many times – he was the Japanese executioner in THE CAMP ON
BLOOD ISLAND (1958), the big pirate in Walt Disney’s SWISS FAMILY
ROBINSON (1960), a guard working for DR. NO (1962), the strong man in
BERSERK! (1967), the mute dog handler in THE BLOOD ON SATAN’S CLAW
(1971) which will be shown on TCM’s Underground franchise on 3/28,
Biederbeck’s man servant in DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN (1972), he played
Sabbala in THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT (1977) and Sandor in THE SPY WHO
LOVED ME (1977).
ACCORDING to a biography for Reid
posted on IMDB by Jim Marshall, Reid was born in Bombay, India in 1917.
He moved to London in 1936, married fashion illustrator Bertha Lilian
Guyett in 1939 and made his first film appearance in the British
propaganda film THE WAY AHEAD in 1944. Then the bio gets extremely
interesting: “After the war he
trained as a wrestler, turning professional in 1952, firstly as a
Tarzan-like character called Jungle Boy wearing leopard skin trunks. He
also continued to play small parts in films, usually as a tough guy or
bodyguard, often as a cruel henchman such as the Japanese executioner in
THE CAMP ON BLOOD ISLAND (1958).
HIS BREAK-THROUGH came in 1959 when he
was required to shave his head for the role of Yen the pirate in FERRY
TO HONG KONG. He remained shaven-headed for the rest of his career, also
changing his wrestling image to that of “The Mighty Chang,” an oriental
giant. On stage he played in pantomime at the London Palladium as the
Slave of the Lamp…However, most people remember Milton Reid as the
bodyguard sorting out pretty girls for his boss in a long-running pipe
tobacco commercial.
IN 1964 Milton challenged “The Great Togo” (aka
Harold Sakata) to a wrestling contest to decide who would play the
coveted role of Odd-Job in G0LDFINGER. Unfortunately, Milton had already
been killed off in the first Bond movie Dr No (1962), so the producers
were forced to pick Sakata and the “eliminator contest” wasn’t needed.”
REID'S film career began to wind down in the late seventies and some of his last roles were in such sleazy softcore features as CONFESSIONS FROM THE DAVID GALAXY AFFAIR (1979) and QUEEN OF THE BLUES (1979), his final credited screen appearance. According to a poster on the britmovie.co.uk forums, there is an article on Reid in the book KEEPING THE BRITISH END UP, a survey of British softcore sex comedies. However, Reid’s story becomes much more unusual after 1979. Jim Marshall’s IMDB bio states that “Milton decided to try his luck in “Bollywood” and in 1980 returned to India. However, various problems arose and in 1981 he was arrested by Indian police for “trespassing, damaging furniture and disconnecting a telephone.” The trouble started when he visited his mother and sister in Bangalore, and there was a dispute with tenants at his sister’s bungalow. Police also complained of violence and abuse when they tried to detain him, and there were accusations of a manservant being assaulted.
THE FOLLOWING YEAR Milton was stated by some reference works to have died from a heart attack, but that was incorrect. The actor’s son (same name) was still receiving correspondence sent by his father from Bangalore up to December 1986. Significantly, nothing was heard after that date, and the present assumption is that Milton Reid died in obscurity somewhere in India during the early part of 1987, although no death certificate or confirmation has been received by the family. Sadly, Bertha died in England in 1997, at the age of 90, still not knowing what had become of her husband. However, research continues.”
DESPITE the above information, some internet biographical sources have maintained that Reid died of a heart attack in London in 1982 but offer no explanation or evidence of their research. Reid’s grandson, Ian Reid, in fact, has challenged this fact in a web posting that read “I would be very interested to find out where the information about his death came from as this does not agree with how my family and I believe his life came to an end. His death and the location of his death are in fact a mystery. Therefore I would be interested to hear about any proof that backs up the claim that he died in London of a heart attack in 1982.”
WE MAY NEVER know what happened to “The Mighty Chang” but at least we can marvel at his unique presence in more than fifty films.
Jeff Stafford
Marcus Brooks
FOOT NOTE: The following was received in a message: I met Milton Reid on one of my extended visits to Bangalore in the 80′s when he was being photographed in a studio which I used for some photographic work. He became quite friendly and seeing me in the distance, would call out my name on the busy Brigade Road, attracting the attention of the public not only because of his powerful voice but also because of his habit of dressing wearing an open leather waistcoat edged with tassels, exposing his massive chest, and a sort of gladiator like kilt. His sandals with leather straps were wound round his calves and he carried a whip. He wore white rimmed dark glasses and a white plastic dot stuck on his temple.
Marcus Brooks
FOOT NOTE: The following was received in a message: I met Milton Reid on one of my extended visits to Bangalore in the 80′s when he was being photographed in a studio which I used for some photographic work. He became quite friendly and seeing me in the distance, would call out my name on the busy Brigade Road, attracting the attention of the public not only because of his powerful voice but also because of his habit of dressing wearing an open leather waistcoat edged with tassels, exposing his massive chest, and a sort of gladiator like kilt. His sandals with leather straps were wound round his calves and he carried a whip. He wore white rimmed dark glasses and a white plastic dot stuck on his temple.
Over the course of months we met on occasions and even drank together. He would carry a bag in which among other things was his own cut-glass tumbler double the normal size, more like a vase. He would order a half bottle of rum and a bottle of soda. He then poured half of the rum into the glass and as a concession a quick dash of soda and finish it in two gulps. Outside the hotel he would have a cycle rickshaw wait as he wouldn’t take a taxi back to his home where he stayed with his sister whom he claimed had been in a mental institution in England which was making her worse not better, so he brought her back to Bangalore where his parents had lived for the past 40 years and set her up as a beautician. This job gave her direction and she improved enough to handle the business herself. However he had also come to get a settlement from the landlord who wanted them out of the house so he could develop the property. Altercations took place and one memorable time the police were called and he knocked out two and a dozen were needed to restrain him. He claimed they had attacked him and he had every right to defend himself.
In his bag he also carried some trinkets and stuff to make himself up to
look oriental, like two flattened tubes which he inserted into his nose
to widen the nostrils and false buck teeth which he slipped on over his
perfect set of natural ones. He would then put on a goofy expression
and wave his arms about much to my amusement and anyone else who saw
him, though we usually sat in a semi enclosed booth. He would regale me
and friends who were aware of the film characters he gossiped about,
though a number were British and less well known to the Bangalorean, so
he enjoyed talking about them to me as I lived in London and knew where
he hung out and could relate to things he spoke about. He told me that I didn’t look or speak like a ‘Mohan” – his way of saying I looked and
talked more English than Indian!
He told me he had tried getting a role in a South Indian movie and met
the popular actor who promised him a part but in the midst of talking to
him the ‘matinee idol’ saw some female fans waving and got up abruptly
to sign their autograph books and didn’t return. On one of my subsequent trips back, a couple of years later, I learned
from a lawyer who I was consulting and who had also handled some work
for Milton Reid, that he had passed away. So he died in the country of his birth : Yours Padman
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