Producer Roy Skeggs described the filming of this movie as "a living nightmare"
Roy Skeggs on To The Devil A Daughter (A Disaster Movie)
I was busy on the business side, setting up the Anglo/German deal in Munich, and sorting out several problems with the EMI financing arrangement. They insisted we engage an acceptable American lead artiste before giving the green light. Michael went to the states to secure an acceptable name but after several weeks came back empty handed. On his return he decided that he wanted me to find an American star and produce the film, replacing Tony Keys who had been set to produce. I was unhappy with the situation as Tony was a friend and I was not happy with the script.
Michael agreed that Peter Sykes would direct. We sent Peter off to the states and after a few days he returned having signed Richard Widmark, who was acceptable to EMI. Now, for the script, I engaged a new writer (Gerald Vaughan-Hughes). Peter and I sat with him and we started going through the script page by page - there was a lot to do - so I decided to ask Michael if we could delay the fast-approaching production date. He said the date had been agreed by all parties and he didn't want to change it.
Richard Widmark duly arrived. I arranged to meet him at a top London restaurant. He was nearly an hour late, shook my hand and said "I'll have a bowl of soup and a glass of water and sack my driver." I asked him why, he said, "He wants to talk to me." A sign of things to come!! On the Friday before shooting I rang Michael and told him that the script was not ready for filming. He simply said, "What's your problem - you have two days." He had had several months with two good writers. The writer, Peter, and I were rewriting each evening after shooting, sometimes for the next days work. Not the way to make films!
Richard complained constantly. (I didn't blame him scrpt-wise.) He was rude to and/or complained about most of my first class crew; they christened him "Skidmark." I think he was suffering from what I call the fading star syndrome. After two weeks shooting he rang me at 3:30 AM and said he was catching the first flight to LA in the morning. I was in his hotel room by 4:30 and spent hours persuading him to stay and finish the movie. Again, the main problem was the script. Eventually he came around and I dropped him off in make-up at 7:30. The following week I received a similar call. I did not go to him, I called his bluff and simply explained the financial consequences of breach of contract. He was in make-up at 7:30.
With Richard's antics, Chris Lee being his usual demanding self, a drug problem with a young actress - not to mention our script problems - it really was a living nightmare. Michael was not aware of the problems. I never saw or heard from him during the shoot. He did not even meet Richard. I am in no way proud of this film but what I am very proud of is the fact that I managed to finish the thing at all and thus possibly saving the company from extinction. As much as I loved the company, after this experience and under the existing set-up, I didn't think there was a future for Hammer; so, in my heart of hearts, I knew it was about time to move on.
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