The Damned (1963)

Director:

Joseph Losey

Writers:

Evan Jones (screenplay)
H.L. Lawrence (novel)

Release Date:

7 July 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Come At Your Own Risk ... If You Come Alone!

Plot:

Legal and illegal criminality. An American tourist with a boat is robbed by a gang of teenager boys...

Plot Keywords:

Children | Teenager | England | Political Satire | Atomic War

Cast

Macdonald Carey	...	Simon Wells
Shirley Anne Field	...	Joan
Viveca Lindfors	...	Freya
Alexander Knox	...	Bernard
Oliver Reed	...	King
Walter Gotell	...	Major Holland
James Villiers	...	Captain Gregory
Tom Kempinski	...	Ted (as Thomas Kempinski)
Kenneth Cope	...	Sid
Brian Oulton	...	Mr. Dingle
Barbara Everest	...	Miss Lamont
Allan McClelland	...	Mr. Stuart (as Alan McClelland)
James Maxwell	...	Mr. Talbot
Rachel Clay	...	Victoria
Caroline Sheldon	...	Elizabeth

Also Known As:

These Are the Damned (USA)

Runtime:

87 min | 96 min (director's cut)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

UK:12 (VHS rating) | UK:X (original rating) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Quotes:

King: I'm strange, all right! I'll show you just how strange I am!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The World of Hammer: Sci-Fi (#1.7)" (1994)

Much deeper than it appears?

I saw this recently on a late night "British Film Celebration" series, showing various odds and sods of yester-year. In some ways I wished I had videoed it now, as thinking about it afterwards (and thinking about it is certainly something you'll do)there's clearly something going on with the characterisation that was far more important than lets on at first. A second viewing was perhaps needed, certainly the characters don't seem quite fleshed out and when thinking about it I was wondering if that was the point. But here's what I mean by the characters:

- The spiritually hurt "old/young" man played (and in fairness, perhaps miscast) by MacDonald Carey, desperate in some way to "complete" himself; the numerous old English establishment/power figures, feeling out of time and place, as if powerless to deal with the worlds changes, still "in" power but somehow no longer; the devout artist, passionate about her work, which in itself is a little dehumanising (there is a great, heart rending scene, where she cries in agony as Oliver Reed destroys some of her art work, that will stay with me for a while); the young girl unable to "become" what she wants, perhaps of her "possessive" brother, who really genuinely wants to protect her from the evils of the world; the emotionless children, full of potential but ultimately radioactive and poison, and most of all the "angry young men" lead masterfully by Oliver Reed, They represent the irrational human, simply wanting to "be" and nothing more.

While trying to follow some sort of standard narrative, there seems to be something else going on in this film that is talking about a far wider, human theme with actually makes it much more of a "pure" science fiction/philosophical film than it maybe gets credit for. Yes, you can look at it at face value and ultimately see it as nothing more than a curious English B movie, but...

The film moves very slowly, but its shift from what looks to be a critique on teenagers turns into a science fiction film with a very gritty message about human survival and with its grim ending its something you tend not to see much in films, either then or now.

Perhaps I am reading FAR too much into the film, but cold war polemic aside there seems to be something far more rhetorical being said about "radiation" and the death of humanity/culture/civility. There seems to be comments made on how the individual deals with a world that can face potential catastrophic change at any moment which will deny you your very humanity and dignity. I'm not saying the film does this successfully, but nonetheless it's a very interesting "attempt" and well worth a little look.

Oh...and as for the "Black Leather, Black Leather, Smash, Smash, Smash" song. Well, it's interesting... Maybe there's a comment being made there too...about inanity? Perhaps I need to get out more.