The Films of Oliver Reed

373 Pages·2011·57.46 MB·English

by  Susan D. Cowie

The Films of Oliver Reed
ALSO BY SUSAN D. COWIE
AND TOM jOHNSON
The Mummy in Fact, Fiction and Film
(2002; paperback 2007)
The Films of
Oliver Reed
SUSAN D. COWIE and
ToM JoHNsoN
Forewords by
Sir Christopher Lee and Ron Moody
Afterword by Michael Winner
McFarland &. Company, lnc., Publishers
fefferson, North Carolma, and London
UBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATION DAT.\
Cowie, Susan D.
The films of Oliver Reed I Susan D. Cowie and Tom Johnson; forewords by
Sir Chrisropher Lee and Ron Moody; afterword by Michael Winner.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7864-3906-5
§
softcover : 5011 alkaline paper
I. Reed, Oliver, 1938-1999 -Criricism and inrerprerarion.
I. Johnson, Tom, 1947- II. Tide.
PN2598.R426C79 2011 791.4302' 8092 - dc23 2011033379
British Library cataloguing data are available
© 2011 Susan D. Cowie and Tom Johnson. All righrs reserved
No part oft bis book may be reprodttced or transmitted in any form
or by any merms, elutronic or mecbanical, including pbot()copying
or recordi11g, or by any irzformatio11 storage and retrieval system,
witbout permission in writirzgfrom tbe pttblisber.
Cover image: Oliver Reed as Bill Sikes in Oliver!, 1968
(Columbia Picrures/Phorofest)
Manufactured in rhe United Stares of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www. mcfarlandpub. com
To Sir Chriswpher Lee, CBE, who was there ac the beginning of both Oliver
Reed's career and this book, and to Jimmy Sangster, who died while this
book was being edited.- TPJ
To my darling hubby Colin, the reason I wake up 111 che mornmgs and the bravest man I
know.- SDC
Acknowledgments
This book would have been impossible to write without the sterling help of Randy Vest,
who tracked down most of the videos we needed to see.
Thanks also to the British Film Institute, the Lincoln Cemer Library for the Performing
Arts, Dick Klemensen, Mark A. Miller, Karen Schleicher, Terry Tait, Elaine Hahn, Jerry
Ohlinger's Movie Material Store, Denis Meikle, Wayne Kinsey, Mark Walter, Ernest J Harris,
Gary Richards and the wonderfully useful Internet Movie Database.
Among the co-workers of Oliver Reed who answered our call were Catherine Feller, Janette
Scott, Suzan Farmer, William Hobbs, Joyce Broughton, Jimmy Sangster, Anthony Hinds, John
Cater, Michael Ripper, Mark Lester, and Jennie Linden.
Author Denis Meikle graciously allowed us to reprint an interview he conducted with Reed,
and Colin Cowie provided the sketch on page 54.
We have made every effort to credit the correct copyright holders with the illustrations in
the book; copyright is vested in the company that made the film depicted unless otherwise
stated. Please accept our apologies for any errors detected which will be corrected in any further
editions published.
We are truly grateful to Sir Christopher Lee, CBE, and Ron Moody who provided the
forewords and to Michael Winner, OBE, who wrote the afterword. We hope that what appears in
the middle is as informative and entertaining.
Susan D. Cowie and Tom Johnson
Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Sir Christopher Lee, CBE
Foreword by Ron Moody
Preface
A Brief Biography of Oliver Reed
Friends and Colleagues Remember Him
THE FILMS
Afterword by Michael Winner, OBE
Appendix: Television Dramas
Bibliography
Index
Foreword by
Sir Christopher Lee, CBE
My association with Oliver Reed began in 1959 - at the beginning of his career, over fifty
years ago in a little film called Beat Girl. I played a sleazy strip club manager and Oliver played
a sort of beatnik. We didn't meet, either on or off screen, but did so often over the next forry
years.
I actually met and acted with Oliver in a Hammer film called The Two Faces of Dr. jekyll
(1960). He played a tough (to put it mildly) nightclub bouncer - which he'd actually been
-who came on a bit too strong with Paul Massie (as Hyde) and myself as Hyde's deplorable
friend. We beat Oliver mercilessly; I had to srop Hyde killing him!
Oliver became a star soon afterwards in Hammer's The Curse of the Werewolf (1960), filmed
as were most of the company's films at that time at Bray Studios. I had some business there and
stopped at the dining room for lunch. Bray had wonderful lunches! There was Oliver, drenched
in blood and fur, eating - or trying ro - alone. No one would sit with him, let alone eat wirh
him. Having been in similar circumstances at Bray, I sympathized with him and sat down. He
seemed very grateful.
Oliver and I next appeared on screen, for Hammer again, as two of The Pirates of Blood
River (1961). I was rhe pirate chief, Oliver was one of my chief henchmen. I had just bought a
second-hand Mercedes and would pick up Oliver and fellow actor Denis Shaw on the way ro
Bray. Denis was like Oliver, something of an extrovert, and occasionally got Oliver into trouble.
Specifically, Denis would start fights in pubs and Oliver would finish them. This, sadly, was the
case a few years later when Oliver was seriously injured by a broken bottle when he was at
tacked in a London club. His face was badly scarred and his budding career nearly ended.
Oliver sat in the back of my Mere and alternated between sleeping- we had to be at the
studio very early - and wondering, out loud, whether acting was the right career for him. He
was very young, and like most young actors, very unsure of himself. This, despite being the
nephew of Sir Carol Reed, one of the great film direcrors. I tried to assure him that most
young actors - myself definitely included - had the same doubts. He was, I think, grateful for
the advice.
Oliver repaid my kindness for the rides and advice years later when I was the subject of a
This Is Your Life episode by telling the television audience that I'd charged him for the petrol!
This was not true. I countered by saying that, if we'd done it now, I could have made a fortune!
Oliver next pointed out that I would spend the trip singing. Loudly. This was true. I had to
do something to keep us awake. He specified that I would sing "Doe, a deer, a female deer ... "
This was not true. The song, which appears of course in The Sound of Music, had yet to be
written!
Oliver looked as much like a pirate as anyone could have, and behaved like one as well. He
could be quite dangerous with a sword in his hand. Everyone got out of his way-he would
swing, wildly, in all directions. Everywhere. Oliver was a very strong, athletic young man, always
into the physical element of his role.
Having had quire a bit of swordfighring experience myself, I attempted, vainly, on this film
and ochers ro come, to teach him some discipline in his fighting. In one key scene he and Peter
Arne are blindfolded - on my order - to fight ro the death over Marla Landi. It was nearly
that. It was very frightening to watch; I'm not sure how well, if at all, they could actually see.
It's amazing no one was injured.
In another scene, I was leading my band of cut-throats across the lake at Black Park, which
stood in for Blood River. The lake was, ro say the least, filthy. As we were crossing, Oliver
thought that the scene could use a bit of livening up, so he started - unscripted, mind you -
a fight with another pirate. Both of them went underwater. Oliver paid for his impulse with a
case of bright red, badly infected eyes and a trip to hospital.
He was right, though. The scene was improved. This was typical of Oliver; he would
impulsively create a bit of business not in the script - often during a fight - if he felt the scene
needed it. This did not always endear him to direcrors and other actors but he was of<ten proven
ro be right by the result on rhe screen.
My assessment of Oliver Reed at this time was that he was an extremely inrelligenr,
extremely physical young man whose mind was always working on the set. Sometimes his
instincts were wrong, but just as often they were right. He was extremely undisciplined but had
great presence and charm.
He was pleasant, courteous and respectful ro all concerned, especially towards Peter Cushing
and myself. We gave him a great deal of advice on acting and other matters, and he took it to
heart, despite calling us his "maiden aunts"!
To be honest, he became a much bigger star than, at that rime, I thought possible. But I
wasn't surprised when he did. He had all the necessary qualities.
As Bill Sikes in Oliver! (1968), directed by his uncle Carol, he became a huge star.
Naturally, Oliver emphasized the physical aspect of his role; I preferred Robert Newton's more
mental approach in David Lean's Oliver Twist (1948). Bur that's simply my opinion. For Oliver, it
was a part very well played. It brought him a great deal of attention and made his career. He
deserved it.
Oliver and I next met on screen in The Three Musketeers (1973). The film was shot in Spain
and was quire long. The producers, incredibly, decided to release it as two films, despite paying
the cast and crew for one! No one was pleased. Oliver and I were on opposite sides; he, as
Athos, led the Musketeers and I, as Rochefort, was the Crown's chief henchman. We had a
terrific fight in a blazing barn - real swords, real daggers. My character wore, among ocher
cumbersome things, an eye patch; I certainly kept my other eye wide open, remembering
Oliver's tendencies with a sword in his hand! Oliver even used his cape as a weapon, flapping it
in his opponent's eyes. I'm not sure if that was scripted or not! He came at me, both hands on
the hilt, swinging wildly. I stopped. When he inquired why, I informed him that this was not