Mother Riley Meets the Vampire

Mother Riley Meets the Vampire
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Gilling
Screenplay by	Val Valentine
Story by	Val Valentine Richard Gordon
Produced by	John Gilling Stanley Couzins
Starring	Arthur Lucan Bela Lugosi
Cinematography	Stanley Pavey
Edited by	Leonard Trumm
Music by	Lindo Southworth
Production company	Fernwood Productions
Distributed by	Renown Pictures (UK) Blue Chip Films (US) Columbia Pictures (US re-release 1963)
Release dates	July 1952 (UK) 1963 (US release)
Running time	74 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Mother Riley Meets the Vampire, also known as Vampire Over London or My Son, the Vampire, is a 1952 British horror comedy film directed by John Gilling, starring Arthur Lucan and Bela Lugosi that was filmed at Nettlefold Studios.

This was the final film of the Old Mother Riley film series, and did not feature Lucan's wife and business partner Kitty McShane, from whom he had separated in 1951.

In 1963, a recut American version called My Son, the Vampire was released, featuring an introductory segment with a song by American comedian Allan Sherman.

Plot

Von Housen seeks to dominate the world from his headquarters in London with an army of 50,000 radar-controlled robots that are powered by uranium. He believes himself to be a vampire and has several young women abducted, most recently Julia Loretti, who has a map to a uranium mine that he needs for his robot army.

At the moment, Von Housen only has one functional robot which is supposed to be shipped to him but, through a mistake, is shipped to Old Mother Riley's store instead, with Mother Riley's package sent to Von Housen. Seeing Mother Riley's address in the label, Von Housen sends his robot to abduct Mother Riley and take her to his headquarters.

Cast

• Arthur Lucan as Old Mother Riley
• Bela Lugosi as Von Housen
• María Mercedes as Julia Loretti
• Dora Bryan as Tilly
• Philip Leaver as Anton Daschomb
• Richard Wattis as PC Freddie
• Graham Moffatt as the yokel
• Roderick Lovell as Douglas
• David Hurst as Mugsy
• Judith Furse as Freda
• Ian Wilson as Hitchcock, the butler
• Hattie Jacques as Mrs. Jenks
• Dandy Nichols as Mrs. Mott
• Cyril Smith as Mr. Paine, the rent collector
• Lawrence Naismith as police sergeant
• Bill Shine as Mugsy's assistant
• John Le Mesurier as Scotland Yard officer (uncredited)

Production

On the suggestion of producer Richard Gordon, Bela Lugosi had travelled to the UK to appear in a stage play of Dracula, which failed. He needed money to return to the US. Gordon persuaded fellow producer George Minter to use Lugosi in a movie in London. Arthur Lucan had starred in a sequence of Old Mother Riley movies and it was felt that Lugosi's presence in the cast might give it a chance of success outside Britain.

Lugosi was paid $5,000 for his role. The plot was taken from Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

Gordon says that although John Gilling was credited as producer, George Minter was the real producer. Filming took four weeks.

Richard Gordon recalled that there were plans to shoot additional scenes with Lugosi and without Arthur Lucan for the American market, but the idea was never put into motion.

Gordon also stated that the film emphasised that Lugosi's character was not a real vampire so that it would get a U certificate allowing children, who were Old Mother Riley's biggest audience, to see it.

Lucan's understudy Roy Rolland stood in for him in the more physical stunts in the film.

Release

The film was not a success in the box-office and was not released in the US until 1963.

It was to have been titled Carry On, Vampire for its American release but Anglo-Amalgamated successfully sued, with the title changed to My Son, the Vampire as a tie-in to Allan Sherman's My Son, the Folksinger hit comedy record.

Reception

From a contemporary reviews, a reviewer in the Monthly Film Bulletin dismissed the film, simply declaring it "Stupid, humourless and repulsive."

References

• Frank J. DelloStritto and Andi Brooks, Vampire Over London: Bela Lugosi in Britain (Cult Movies Pr; 1st Edition, September 2000)

External links

• Mother Riley Meets the Vampire at IMDb