Here’s the video of last night’s show, in which Roy and I engage in a spirited discussion about “The Devil Rides Out” (1968), a.k.a. “The Devil’s Bride.”
The film starred not just one, but two singers of talent: Christopher Lee – whose experiences with opera I explore in a separate post – and Leon Greene, who sang professionally with the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company and the Sadler’s Wells Opera (later the English National Opera). Greene also enjoyed notable success with a couple of Sondheim musicals: as Sweeney Todd, in an acclaimed 1985 revival, and as Miles Gloriosus, both on stage and in the 1966 film incarnation of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” Ironically, for whatever reason, for “The Devil Rides Out,” Greene was dubbed!
As a teenager, future Hammer house composer James Bernard received encouragement from Benjamin Britten. Their friendship blossomed, and Bernard wound up working with Britten, Imogen Holst, and Peter Pears. He won an Academy Award NOT for any of his music (for which he was never even nominated), but rather for a screenplay he wrote with his partner, Paul Dehn, for “Seven Days to Noon.” As if all that weren’t remarkable enough, during WWII, Bernard assisted in the cracking of the Enigma code.
There’s so much talent and so many interesting anecdotes associated with this movie, one of Hammer’s best, that we couldn’t possibly talk about everything, but we touched upon what we could in roughly 90 minutes.
Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner live-streams on Facebook every Friday and Sunday evening throughout October at 7 p.m. EDT. This Friday, we’ll wrap up our month-long celebration of Halloween with special guests Michael Rizzo and Marybeth Ritkouski of SciFi Distilled. The four of us will discuss Mel Brooks’ affectionate parody of Universal Studios’ classic creature-features, “Young Frankenstein” (1974).
As an added bonus, there will also be a virtual costume party, so if you want to get in on the act, be prepared to join us on Zoom following the discussion, when we’ll be puttin’ on the Ritz!
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