Captain Clegg (1962)
Directed by Peter Graham Scott

Film Review

Loosely based on the popular Dr Syn novels by Russell Thorndike, Captain Clegg is a rare excursion by Hammer into swashbuckling territory, although the amount of swashbuckling that goes on in the film is pretty minimal.   It's a compelling tale involving a band of ingenious smugglers trying to keep their criminal exploits out of sight of those pesky excise men, directed with flair by Peter Graham Scott and designed with as much commitment and style as any other period feature from Hammer.  The casting of Peter Cushing as a smuggler chief masquerading (very effectively) as a man of the cloth is inspired, but the icing on the cake is having Oliver Reed in the role of his feisty first lieutenant.   Cushing provides the charm, Reed the muscle - an unbeatable combination.

It is worth remembering that Oliver Reed cut his acting teeth working for Hammer and turned in some of his finest performances for the company. He made a more terrifying werewolf than Lon Chaney Jr ever did in The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) and he could give Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates a good run for his money in the 'scary psychopath' stakes in Paranoiac (1963).  In Captain Clegg, served by an intelligent, well-paced script, both Cushing and Reed are at their best, aided by a supporting cast that includes other fine actors including Patrick Allen, Derek Francis, David Lodge and Hammer regular Michael Ripper.  The photography is also of a high calibre, the location scenes on the Romney Marshes in Kent having a haunting beauty that adds greatly to the mood of the piece.  Captain Clegg is one of Hammer's more enjoyable romps through history, a riveting and suspenseful game of cat and mouse that deserves to be better known than it is.

Film Synopsis

In 1792, Captain Collier arrives in an English coastal town to investigate a possible smuggling operation. He soon begins to suspect that the local vicar, Dr Blyss, may be implicated, although his attempts to uncover any evidence of smuggling are thwarted. Collier becomes interested in sightings of mysterious phantoms on the marshes. Could this be a supernatural phenomenon or an attempt to divert suspicion away from the smugglers...?