Peter-Spotting
      Chase Card #2

 
       ______________________________

      
       ______________________________



     "..I also worked on
       The Witches. Joan
       Fontaine came over
       to shoot that. I had
       a sequence with
       some sheep to
       look after, to make
       sure she didn't
       get trampled
       over..."

              - Peter talking to Wayne
                Kinsey / "Hammer Films:
                The Unsung Heroes"
      

1967

THE WITCHES
(aka THE DEVIL'S OWN)

a Hammer Film Production
directed by Cyril Frankel
starring Joan Fontaine, Alec McCowen,
Kay Walsh, Ingrid Boulting
_______________________________________

An ailing schoolteacher is brought
from Africa to England to help her
recovery. But the little village of
Heddaby isn't quite as quaint as
it first seems. There are hints of
witchcraft afoot in the classroom,
and behind the twitching curtains
evil is stirring...

This Hammer film made use of
interior sets built at Bray Studios.
Exteriors were shot on location at
Hambleden in Bucks, and at
Langley Park, which was where
Peter Diamond undertook one of
his more unusual roles...

_______________________________________



This Hammer horror is somewhat
bereft of action. There are no chases,
no flaming manor houses, swordfights
or duels to be seen...

But there are some very angry sheep!

When Gwen (Joan Fontaine) visits
the sheep field 44mins in to the film,
she soon finds herself threatened
by a rushing herd. There are sheep
running and bleating everywhichway,
all around her, hemming her up
against the lake, until she takes
a tumble and they speed past
her, prone in the mud...



It all looks rather innocuous, but
it still needed to be properly staged.
As the stunt arranger it was Peter's
job to supervise the stampede,
off screen, get a double in place,
and ensure no one got trampled.

So you won't spot Peter here at all,
but you will spot his leaping protégés.

And it just goes to show how stunt
work isn't always about amazing
spectacle and explosions!