Reading some of the user comments (on this film and it's sequals) I get the impression that some fans of this film are unaware that it was based on a TV series and think that Brian Donlevy was the original Quatermass. Or Quittermuss, as Donlevy pronounced it.
shareWell, you know the original broadcast wasn't saved from this very first Quatermass, so it has never been seen again after it originally aired. I believe a UK DVD has been released of all the Quatermass television mini-series, but only the first two of the four episodes for The Quatermass Experiment were found to still exist. That is why Brian Donlevy gets a lot of credit as being the first original Professor Quatermass, while Reginald Tate gets ignored.
shareThat's true, but the film does say "Based on the BBC Television Series"...
Incidently the DVD is well worth seeing. The episodes have been remastered really well. Tate is great as Quatermass, but I still prefer Andre Morell.
I would love for the set to be released here in America. I hate this region junk they come up with to keep us from sharing as much as we'd like! The only series I have seen is Quatermass and The Pit, wich I obtained on VHS several years back.
shareI was able to get the Region 2/PAL dvd set of the original Quatermass serials. Unfortunately, only 2 episodes of the first Quatermass are still around. Quite a let down but the other two serials were quite good and I have to say that the other three actors were preferable to Brian Donlevy.
shareI agree that Brian Donlevy comes in last, but I still like him none the less.
shareDirector Val Guest was apparently none to happy at the casting of Donlevy, and neither was Nigel Kneale who reportedly described the actor as 'a wet raincoat looking for somewhere to drip'. On a different note, it is currently 2.30 in the afternoon and The Quatermass Xperiment is currently showing on BBC2. How times have changed - this film had an X rating on release (hence Hammer's decision to drop the 'E' off experiment) and back in the 70s and 80s was part of BBC2's 'late night horror' double-bills. Now it is considered suitable for Saturday afternoon family viewing on terrestrial television.
I suddenly feel very old.
It's interesting to note that Nigel Kneale must have really felt Donlevy had no feel for the Quatermass character. He not only mentions this during the commentary to the film version of Quatermass and the Pit, but brings it up again during his commentary for The Abominable Snowman DVD.
Donlevy came off more like a modern CEO than a rocket scientist. Andre Morell and Andrew Keir got it right, though.