Judy Geeson's Greatest Parts

What's with English cult actresses posing with boy scouts back in the day?

Managed to finally check out Jim O'Connolly's circus-themed, proto-slasher, Berserk (1967) over the weekend. Overall conclusion was that Joan Crawford wearing a leotard was far more horrifiic than any of the gruesome deaths that occurred. However, it was worth enduring just to tick it off the list of ‘Judy Geeson films I have not seen’.

With a career stemming back to her childhood, Geeson really came to prominence when she starred alongside Sidney Poitier's teacher as the besotten student Pamela Dare, in the hit drama To Sir, With Love (1967). Her subsequent roles had her appearing in numerous genres which were popular at the time; ranging from spy adventures, sex comedies and horror thrillers. The latter category was where she really got to shine as an actress, as she got to flex some acting chops rather than appear as eye candy.

Thus, here are Dada Debaser's favourite Judy Geeson films:

10 Rillington Place (Richard Fleischer, 1971)

Richard Attenborough's weird shaped bald cap isn't enough to distract from this deeply disturbing and dark thriller based on real life, serial killer John Christie. Judy Geeson is the sympathetic young mother Beryl Evans, while a young John Hurt delivers one of his underappreciated performances as her simple-minded, hypochondriac husband. One of the G.O.A.T Britisih films, in my humble opinion.

On the lighter side, 10 Rillington Place might inadvertedly serve as a prequel to the politically incorrect British sitcom Love Thy Neighbour (1972 - 1976) as Rudolph Walker is the nameless new occupant moving into the house of horrors during the film's ending.

Fear in the Night (Jimmy Sangster, 1972)

Taking obvious inspiration from Henri-Georges Clouzot's Les Diaboliques (1955), along with Sangster the script gangster's earlier stories - Taste of Fear (1961) and Nightmare (1964), this is a pleasant throwback to the psychological thrillers Hammer had produced before they went all in on horror. Six months after an assault, Geeson is left traumatised and seeing a psychiatrist. She's attacked again aftter marrying her teacher hubby, Ralph Bates. The attacks continue even after moving in a house on school grounds in the remote countryside. Are the attacks mere figments of her imagination? The unreliable narrator is hardly a fresh concept, but Geeson's performance is a major highlight in keeping you guessing. Various twists and turns, along with the dread filled paranoia class Fear in the Night as a Hammer giallo. To round out the cast, the legendary Peter Cushing plays the creepy headmaster and Joan Collins in pre-Alexis mode as his shotgun wielding wife. 

Both Judy Geeson and Joan Collins previously were in the spy thriller The Executioner (1970), which is a snoozefest despite George Peppard pretending to be a Brit in it.

A Candle for the Devil (Eugenio Martin, 1973)

Helmed by Spanish director Eugenio Martin, the film maker responsible for the classic Peter Cushing & Christipher Lee chiller Horror Express (1972), A Candle for the Devil is another high quality effort in Spain's horror canon. The clashing of liberal and conservative attitudes lead to numerous deaths and full bodied rioja inside a village hotel run by two puritanical and murderous sisters; Fawlty Towers it's not! Geeson is the heroine investigating the disappearance of her sister who might have lived to go on another summer holiday if she bothered keeping her kit on while sun-bathing.

Judy's actual sister, Sally Geeson, was in Carry On Abroad (1972), which makes for an interesting double bill with A Candle for the Devil on account of both film's reflecting the popularity of package holidays for Brits at the time. Both films, however, are radically different.

Other Notable Judy Geeson Films:

Brannigan (Douglas Hickcox, 1975)

Film historians would probably label Brannigan as part of the popular Eurocrime movies which would often star recognisable Hollywood actors; middle-aged Brits like myself would call it a forerunner to eighties cop show Dempsey and Makepeace (1985 - 1986). The legendary John Wayne plays the hardboiled Yank cop in London; Judy Geeson is the English blonde assigned to him. All about John Wayne, first and foremost. Worth peeping just for the Duke leaping over Tower Bridge in a Ford Capri.

The Eagle Has Landed (John Sturgess, 1976)

An all-star WWII, action thriller revolving around a Nazi plot to kidnap or kill Winston Churchill. This would end up being the final film by the celebrated director Jim Sturgess. Sadly, Geeson's role is relatively minor in comparison to the screen time given to the likes of Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland and Robert Duvall. Overall, a superb film which remarkably turns its villains into being sympathetic.

The Lords of Salem (Rob Zombie, 2012)

Please believe admitting to liking any Rob Zombie film is not an easy task. The Lords of Salem is essentially the only decent film by the talentless hack with a penchant for remaking past films with a white trash spin. Therefore, it's a surprise that the dreamlike The Lords of Salem comes acrosss as a grungier Peter Strickland film than Zombie's other overrated shite. After decades of television work, Judy Geeson returned to film as one of three Salem witches aiming to impregnate Zombie's trustafarian-looking wife with the seed of Old Nick. Trippy and surreal, with more replay value than anything else Zombie ever made.

Judy Geeson Films I Wish I Liked:

Goodbye Gemini (Alan Gibson, 1970)

Controversial, psychological drama starring Judy Geeson and Martin Potter as a pair of disturbed aryan looking twins. The allure of the bright lights and the big city turn into a nightmare as the incestuous couple cross paths with Alexis Kanner's crazy pimp. Unfortunatley, the film is nowhere near as captivating as its disturbing premise; in fact, with the exception of a memorable ritual scene, it's lethargically paced to the point of curing insomnia.

Doomwatch (Peter Sasdy, 1972)

Film adaptation of the BBC science fiction series. Sasdy's film is initially set up as a folk horror on a Cornish island. Turns out this is really a tragic, ecological thriller with Ian Bannen's scientific investigator discovering growth hormone pollutants have wound up in the food chain, deforming the locals. As poignant as its environemental message is, Doomwatch drags far too much to maintain any interest. Geeson gives a solid performance as the friendly school teacher, but she's not given much development, regrettably.

Inseminoid (Norman J. Warren, 1981)

The only good things about this cheap as chips Alien rip off are Judy Geeson and Stephanie Beacham being in it. Essentially a slasher, and one that makes some of Roger Corman's Alien knock off films look like Ridley Scott's influential masterpiece. With all the gore and nudity in the film, perhaps the most unflattering are the close-ups of Geeson's fillings whilst she's giving birth to a hiliariously looking alien homunculus. A career low for Geeson, and possibly the reason why she focused on televison work after being in this cinematic abortion.

 

 

That’s about all that's worth covering here; at least what's relevant to the tastes of this blog. The Plague Dogs (1982) will probably remain a blindspot as it's an animated feature film about a pair of escapee canines from an animal research laboratory. It's by the team responsible for Watership Down (1978), and supposedly even more depressing. Thus, your host has no idea how significant Judy Geeson's vocal role is in the film. Not worth the risk of being reduced to tears just to find out.

The Plague Dogs (Trailer)

Martin Rosen, 1982