Peter-Spotting
      Card #24

 
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     "Christopher Lee was a
       competent swordsman.
       I'd already met him
       when he had one-liners
       in things like Douglas
       Fairbanks Presents in
       '52, 53, and '54. He'd
       obviously had a lot
       of experience, so he
       was easy to adapt
       and he moved well
       and he looked good
       in the film..."

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



     "...The break came
       up and everybody
       rushed to this one
       particular place to
       get the tea and cakes,
       and suddenly the
       pontoons took as
       much water as they
       possibly could , and
       they just sank like a
       stone immediately,
       dragging the boat
       down with it.. Stunt-
       men were falling in
       and trapped under
       the canvas and one
       particular stuntman
       had the sense to
       draw a knife and cut
       the canvas.. which
       saved a lot of people,
       but fortunately,
       nobody was
       really hurt..."

             - Peter recalls the
               sinking of The Diablo
               to Wayne Kinsey in
               "The House That
               Hammer Built" #15

1963

DEVIL-SHIP PIRATES

a Hammer Film Production
directed by Don Sharp
starring Christopher Lee, John Cairney,
Barry Warren, Ernest Clark
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Having realised that Drake has defeated
the Spanish Armada, a privateer escapes
to cornwall with his galleon of cut-throats,
where he tricks the locals in to believing
their hero has fallen - our cue for lots
of pillaging and swordplay as the
Spaniards fiorce those same locals to
help repair their battle-damaged
ship...

The Hammer team utilised many of
the sets built the year before, for
"The Scarlet Blade". But there was
a notable exception in the shape
of an impressive replica galleon.
The Diablo cost a handsome £17,000 to
construct. Alas,she toppled over during
filming one day, and the incident has
gone down in Hammer legend.

Peter arranged all the swashbuckling
action on the film, and he was there
on the day of the capsizing!

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Peter is also on screen throughout,
acting as a SPANISH PIRATE.
He's one of the crew on board
The Diablo, and you'll spy him
working away in the background
from the very first scene onwards!

Peter's the one wearing a pink shirt
under a brown waistcoat/jerkin.

Our main photo on card #24 shows
him alongside Hammer regular
Michael Ripper, who plays Pepe.



Standout moments include Peter's
contribution to the taven brawl,
54mins in to the film...



And he's the one blocking Suzan
Farmer's exit at 68mins, as Chris
Lee duels with Ernest Clark. Lee
runs the man through as Suzan
rushes in, only to have Peter
wrestle her away again...



And there he is, second row, in the
longboat at the film's climax.

Minutes later, he's perishing in flames
with the rest of the crew as The Diablo
errupts!
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Did you know?

• The big final fight between Christopher
   Lee and Barry Warren took a week to
   put together...

• Peter worked on a number of Hammer's
   period adventure films...

   Fury at Smugglers Bay (1961)
   The Scarlet Blade (1963)
   The Brigand of Kandahar (1964)
   The Secret of Blood Island (1964)
   A Challenge for Robin Hood (1967)