These Are the Damned (1963)
"The Damned" (original title)

An American tourist, a youth gang leader, and his troubled sister find themselves trapped in a top secret government facility experimenting on children.

Director:

Joseph Losey

Writers:

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

Stars:

Macdonald Carey, Shirley Anne Field, Viveca Lindfors

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Macdonald Carey	...	Simon Wells
Shirley Anne Field	...	Joan
Viveca Lindfors	...	Freya Neilson
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

Storyline

Legal and illegal criminality. An American tourist with a boat is robbed by a gang of teenager boys, assisted by the leader's sister. But soon afterward she jumps to the victim's boat to escape her brother's incestuous jealousy. The couple fly together and is hunted by the entire gang. Both happen to enter high-classified military territory. There might be a third and atomic world war, after which no ordinary man could survive. But now and then children are born who are "naturally" radio-active and have cold blood. They might survive in the post-war world and carry on mankind. They are fetched and brought to an underground construction where they are educated by TV. They are told that they are on a space ship moving toward the earth, which they should eventually colonize. This military project seems to be a failure because of a high mortality among the children. - The military soon finds the gang. The couple finds the children and tries to help them to escape. This situation will ...

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Plot Keywords:

children | boat | teenager | top secret | youth gang | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Details

Official Sites:

Hammer Films

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 July 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

These Are the Damned

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Hammer Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min 96 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Working title was "On the Brink."

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Goofs

A shadow of a crew member can be seen moving after King shoots the soldier in the lab.

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Quotes

Freya Neilson: [Talking about her sculptures] If I could explain these I wouldn't have to make them.

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Connections

Referenced in The Bloodiest Show on Earth: Making Vampire Circus (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Black Leather Rock"
(uncredited)
Music by James Bernard
Lyrics by Evan Jones
Arranged by Douglas Gamley
Sung by the gang in the opening sequence

User Reviews

'A future influence'

I haven't seen this film for a very long time,but would love to do so again.Most of the previous commentators have pretty much covered the film,several comparing it to 'A clockwork orange',but I can see another possible connection between the two films;the actual dress imagery of the two gangs is rather similar,as I recall(bowler hats in both,an umbrella aka Oliver Reed,& a large stick with Malcolm McDowell, plus rather uniform clothing).These 'looks' seem to me surrealist in style,maybe suggesting a link of mindless violence to mindless conformity,and I wonder if this less well known(now)film influenced 'A clockwork orange'?