THE VERGE OF SOMETHING UGLY? HYBRIDITY, NATION AND INVASION ANXIETY: A CRITICAL RE- APPRAISAL OF THE 1950s QUATERMASS FILMS A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2013 CHRISTOPHER A AULD SCHOOL OF ARTS, LANGUAGES AND CULTURES LIST OF CONTENTS Introduction 7 Chapter One: Literature Review 33 Chapter Two: Quatermass Adaptation 83 Chapter Three: Quatermass and National Identity 144 Chapter Four: Quatermass and the Uncanny 193 Conclusion 234 References 249 Final Word Count: 79045 2 ABSTRACT The project investigates the 1950s Quatermass films (The Quatermass Experiment [1955], Quatermass II [1957] produced by Hammer, within their production contexts. Despite the assertion that Hammer horror productions were ‘initiated by the enormous commercial success’ (Hutchings, 1993: 25) of the Quatermass films, they have not been afforded the critical recognition they merit. Reassessment of the cultural importance of the Quatermass phenomenon is needed. This study addresses critical discourses on British film and the fantastic. As part of addressing the neglect within current scholarship of the Quatermass films, the privileging of the realist aesthetic within film criticism is discussed as part of the context for this neglect. While there has been increased interest in horror and science fiction in more recent writings and hitherto neglected films have been re-discovered, the Quatermass films have not enjoyed comparable critical space. My study goes on to illustrate this gap in the literature on Quatermass, which this study redresses. An underlying theme throughout the thesis is hybridity. Moving from discussion of how the hybrid text might cause difficulties for critical discourse that seeks finite definitions of film categories and an emphasis on realism within the film text, I address the hybrid within the production contexts and thematic content of the Quatermass films. How does the British/American co-production inform the films and contemporaneous responses to them? How is the hybrid configured within the text; as something troubling, to be feared, or is the response more complex with the potential for more positive readings? Discussion of the hybrid is combined with the fantastic and the uncanny, the emphasis being on the subversive potential of these modes and how they have potential to de- stabilise the “real”, and, by extension, dominant ideologies. How might hybridity, the fantastic and the uncanny problematise concepts of identity and “nation”? Concepts of “nation” and “national identity” will be emphasised as contested categories, contingent and inherently hybrid. How are these questions of identity mapped out within and through the Quatermass films and beyond? 3 DECLARATION I hereby declare that no portion of the work referred to in the thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. COPYRIGHT STATEMENT i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns certain copyright or related right in it (the “Copyright”) and s/he has given The University of Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright, including for administration purposes. ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts and whether in hard or electronic copy, may be made only in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) and regulations issued under it or, where appropriate, in accordance with licensing agreements which the University has from time to time. This page must form part of any such copies made. iii. The ownership of certain Copyright, patents, designs, trade marks and other intellectual property (the “Intellectual Property”) and any reproductions of copyright works in the thesis, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior permission of the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions. iv. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication and commercialisation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions described in it may take place is available in the University 4 IP Policy (see http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocInfo.aspx?DocID=47), in any relevant Thesis restriction declarations deposited in the University Library’s regulations (see http://www.manchester.ac.uk/library/aboutus/regulations) and in The University’s policy on Presentation of Theses. 5 DEDICATION To my partner, Mike Pacey, whose love, support and patience made it possible for me to complete this work. ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to thanks the following for their support through my studies for this PhD submission: My supervisor, Dr. David Butler for his guidance and support throughout the working process The University of Manchester for providing me with teaching experience, which helped fund the research process Edge Hill University for also providing me with regular, continuous teaching throughout the whole period of research and writing The BBC Written Archives Centre at Caversham, for their help and support in accessing the Quatermass files during my research The BFI Library, for their help and support locating essential primary sources during my research 6 Introduction Picture a scene as told by David Pirie (1973, revised 2008) in his groundbreaking study on English Gothic cinema, A Heritage of Horror. A young couple, somewhere in the south of England, possibly the Home Counties, are frolicking in the fields and embracing on a nearby haystack. This simpering and bloodless scene, as Pirie puts it, is rudely interrupted by sonic and kinetic chaos caused by the abrupt descent of an unidentified rocket from the sky, with the couple dashing for cover as the rocket crashes into the earth. The whole scene combines a rural, “bucolic” moment with the intervention of the technological; the shock of the new, indeed. This is, of course, the opening sequence of The Quatermass Experiment (Val Guest, 1955), adapted by Hammer from the highly successful BBC television series The Quatermass Experiment (1953). For Pirie, ‘the beginning of a quiet cinematic revolution’ comes from this fairly humble beginning (1973: 28). But, why is it so resonant; what is significant about Quatermass and where might a discussion of it sit within present discourses? One reason might be that it is, as Pirie suggests, ‘possibly the earliest film to be adapted from television’, the new mass medium (ibid). Pirie’s remark here suggests that The Quatermass Experiment, along with the second film Hammer produced adapted from a BBC original of the same name, Quatermass II (Val Guest, 1957), pioneered the industrial practice of adaptation from television to film. Another significant aspect to The Quatermass Experiment was the fact that, according to Pirie and other writers such as Adam Jezard (1995) and Jonathan Rigby (2000), the success of the film began the cycle of Gothic horror films by which Hammer is probably best known (ibid). Pirie states that the impact of Quatermass on the production of horror cinema was immediate. Hammer, the production company for all 7 three Quatermass films was suffering at the box office during the period prior to production of The Quatermass Experiment. At their ‘lowest ebb’ (Pirie, 1973: 28) in 1955, Hammer was in weak financial condition due to poor box office returns and a mediocre production and reception could have been disastrous for the company. While some later critical voices have concurred with Pirie’s view, such as Howard Maxford in Film Review (2004: 64), others, such as Mike Murphy, suggest that the importance of The Quatermass Experiment in changing the fortunes of Hammer has been overstated by critics (1994: 21). Despite the apparent difference of opinion here, Murphy does concede that the film marked the beginning of a new cycle of production for Hammer (ibid). The impact of the film in terms of production, then, suggests it and the other Quatermass films are worthy of critical consideration. Yet despite the significance of the films, there has been sparse scholarly attention paid to The Quatermass Experiment, Quatermass II and Quatermass and the Pit (Roy Ward Baker, 1968). Hammer was ultimately redeemed by the unprecedented financial success of The Quatermass Experiment, which broke box office records in both Britain and the U.S.A. (Pirie, 1973: 28). Clearly realising the potential of the commercial impact of the film, Hammer overturned their 1956 production schedule in order to concentrate on horror production, thus beginning an association with the genre with which they have become subsequently synonymous. Indeed, The Quatermass Experiment provided Hammer with their first major box office hit and is regarded by critics as a forerunner of the following Gothic cycle. This indicates a film of some significance to British cinema culture in and beyond the 1950s (Hutchings, 1999: 36). The original BBC television series, written by Nigel Kneale and directed by Rudolph Cartier on which all three films were based (The Quatermass Experiment [1953], Quatermass II [1955] and Quatermass and the Pit 8 [1958-9]) were similarly significant in that they were enormously popular with British television audiences (Maxford, 2004: 65). The Quatermass phenomenon, then, needs to be appreciated as a cultural text of some importance, and while the focus of this study is the cinematic adaptations, both the films and the television versions are addressed due to their shared narratives and thematic concerns, as well as their differences where the films depart from the originals and what these differences might reveal about the intentions of the filmmakers in terms of prospective audiences and spectatorship. One of the central arguments in this study is that the concept of hybridity is crucial to understanding the distinctiveness, impact and significance of the Quatermass films.