Quatermass and the Pit (1967)

A mysterious artifact is unearthed in London, and famous scientist Bernard Quatermass is called into to divine its origins and explain its strange effects on people.

Director:

Roy Ward Baker

Writers:

Nigel Kneale (original story), Nigel Kneale (screenplay)

Stars:

James Donald, Andrew Keir, Barbara Shelley

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Donald	...	Doctor Roney
Andrew Keir	...	Quatermass
Barbara Shelley	...	Barbara Judd
Julian Glover	...	Colonel Breen
Duncan Lamont	...	Sladden
Bryan Marshall	...	Captain Potter
Peter Copley	...	Howell
Edwin Richfield	...	Minister
Grant Taylor	...	Police Sergeant Ellis
Maurice Good	...	Sergeant Cleghorn
Robert Morris	...	Watson
Sheila Steafel	...	Journalist
Hugh Futcher	...	Sapper West
Hugh Morton	...	Elderly Journalist
Thomas Heathcote	...	Vicar

Storyline

While digging a new subway line in London, a construction crew discovers first: a skeleton, then what they think is an old World War II German missile. Upon closer examination the "missile" appears to be not of this earth! This movie examines the age old question of how we came to be on this planet. It is surprisingly scary.

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Plot Keywords:

dream recorder | dream recording | spacecraft | london underground | journalist | 

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Taglines:

Force more powerful than 1,000 H-Bombs unleashed to devastate Earth! World in panic! Cities in flames!

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Official Sites:

Hammer [UK]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 February 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Five Million Years to Earth

Filming Locations:

St Nicholas Church, Chiswick, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£275,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hammer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Julian Glover had to perform his own stunts, including the scene where Colonel Breen falls over into the pit.

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Goofs

When Roney and Quatermass enter the "missile", they are both wearing gloves to protect themselves against the cold surface. When they take the arthropod' body out, Roney has taken off his gloves. When they pass it over to the soldiers he is wearing gloves again.

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Quotes

Professor Bernard Quatermass: What colour is the sky, blue?
Sladden: No... dark... purple...

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Connections

Referenced in In the Mouth of Madness (1994)

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Soundtracks

Martians?
(uncredited)
Written and Performed by Tristram Cary

User Reviews

One of the greatest science fiction films ever made - in fact my favorite.

This film is not your usual sci-fi monster from the deep or outer space but a story based on comprehensible logic - the suggestion that the human mind and it's psychic and sixth sense qualities was the result of alien intervention with our ancestral primates millions of years ago. Andrew Keir plays a fine role as the tweedy dressed sometimes gruff gentleman professor, Bernard Quatermass who teams up with equally amiable James Donald as Dr.Mathew Roney and his attractive female assistant Barbara Shelley as Barbara Judd to solve the riddle of a strange craft and several ape like skeletons unearthed during the reconstruction of an underground London railway station. At first thought to be an unexploded second world war missile an Army demolition team is brought in to disarm it, led by the bombastic single minded military thinking Colonel Breen played by Julian Glover who scoffs at the theories of the two scientists that this could be anything more than a German V weapon. The finding of large insect like creatures preserved within the hull of the craft and an analysis of their physical attributes leads Quatermass and Roney to conclude that they are Martians who along with their ape like passengers were killed as a result of a crash landing five million years beforehand. Quatermass also speculates that the apes had been previously taken from Earth to Mars and altered in order to give them Martian thinking characteristics which were then inherited by their human descendants. Breen dismisses the insect creatures as fakes and convinces his government superiors that the missile is safe, against the advice of Quatermass, Roney and Judd who have already discovered sinister awakenings within the craft after a workman dismantling his drill therein is seized upon by an invisible propelling force along with terrifying mental images. When the public and press are admitted to the site the craft comes to life generating a ghostly devil looking apparition, along with the now mind affected local population banding into groups and unleashing a killing spree on their own kind. Quatermass and Roney must now pool their scientific expertise to neutralize the menace and restore order. Nigel Kneale's compelling screenplay is sheer brilliance and gives this film a distinct and special uniqueness in the world of science fiction. A must see for the serious minded movie watcher.