MARK, MADELINE, TERRY AND JOHNNY

Madeline Smith, more commonly known as Miss Caruso, from the Bond film 'Live and Let Die' was also a Hammer Girl, starring in three productions. She accepted my offer of an interview at the Hammer Horror day and I found her to be a very lovely lady indeed.

Johnny: Madeline, I’d like to know how you first got involved with Hammer Horror and what films you’ve been in.

Madeline: Well, I was thrilled to pieces when my agent sent me along to meet Aida Young a very well known lady film producer with Hammer and I must have gone to meet Aida, it must have been some time in 1969 and I was thrilled to pieces to be cast as a character called ‘Dolly’ in ‘Taste the Blood of Dracula’, a marvellous little scene; I remember it took a few days – we had a lady with a snake, a python I think it was, wonderful character actors like Ralph Bates, Martin Jarvis, all the handsome devils that I knew from TV classic serials, I mean that’s one brilliant thing about Hammer they always cast those character parts with such love and care.

Johnny: And the scripts for the time weren’t throw away either.

Madeline: No, they weren’t, they weren’t.

Johnny: They were beautifully written and that’s one of the main reasons that people still love Hammer today.

Madeline: There was a lot, although they were made quickly and the budgets weren’t huge, in many ways they were if anything quite small, they paid generously, they always came in on time, they didn’t keep you hanging about, they had the nicest crew in the world. A mutual friend of ours, Terry Pearce; also a man called Derek Whitehurst, a first assistant who remained a life long friend until his sad death about a year ago, and we were a family on Hammer. And ‘Taste the Blood of Dracula’ led to ‘Vampire Lovers’, I was in the first of that slightly naughty ladies with ladies part and that was in 1970 with Ingrid Pitt, and then far more sedate but a superb film of the old genre, ‘Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell’ which was rather sad because Peter Cushing had lost his wife and was devastated…

Johnny: Something that he never recovered from sadly.

Madeline: He didn’t and he drank only black coffee and ate lettuce leaves quite literally. And there was a lovely young actor who I remember was under contract called Shane Bryant who I believe emigrated to Australia and went on to have a successful career over there.

Johnny: So as an up and coming young actress, were you ever scared that you might be cast as the damsel in distress or vamp under duress?

Madeline: No, I think if I was ever going to be typecast at any rate it was going to be in comedy. I did more comedy than anything else and ingénue; big breasted ingénue, I never minded being typecast; I was so glad to be employed I just always enjoyed everything so much as long as I bounced from job to job I was happy. It paid the rent quite literally; my landlady went off with all my wages I never had anything to spare at the end but I didn’t mind.

Johnny: Today it’s been a great day so far, seeing Ingrid Pitt and Martine Beswick and other faces again…

Madeline: Absolutely, but sadly I was too young to work at Bray, I believe that they packed up here in around 1966.

Johnny: So you worked at Elstree…

Madeline: I was at Elstree; that was in about ’69. I did a number of things at Elstree, my very first was ‘Taste the Blood of Dracula.’ Elstree was of course completely different to this, this was far more local for me which was why I used to enjoy working at Pinewood. And I have to say I have the strangest confession, my grandmother lived down the road, off the Maidenhead road which this is from 1957 until she died in 1989 and I never knew this (Bray) was so close. I used to walk to Oakley Green to visit some friends and I never realised if I padded that little bit further down I would have been here. I knew that there had been a Bray studios, I just never knew it was here.

Johnny: So, last question, and not about Bond…(Madeline was in the film ‘Live and Let Die’)

Madeline: Nope (laughs)

Johnny: The horror genre as it is today has been geared to the more explicit slash and dice section of the market; if the new owners of Hammer were to start up the production end and give us films again do you think they should stay with the period horrors or do you think they should try new….

Madeline: No more modern stuff, we’ve got enough modern stuff…

Johnny: Even if the stories and the screenplays didn’t gear towards the slasher end?

Madeline: No, I think people very much like costume drama, and I think if you have spooky, horror costume drama, people are going to watch it and watch it and there are so many wonderful books and stories out there that could be adapted, okay, scripts would obviously be more up to date and the language more wholesome but people, they literally lust after these period dramas. They get the biggest audience.

Johnny: Would you return to star in a Hammer film if you were asked?

Madeline: I’m more involved with my writing now. I’m writing something at the moment which I can’t really say anything about, but I’ve written a few articles which I love, I do the odd talk, I love it. I have an English degree, and I’ve never used it; for a long, long time people have nagged me and have said that ‘you’ve thrown it away, you’ve wasted it,’ and my favourite subject when I was at school was essay writing, absolutely my favourite followed by art – but now, having not wanted to write for so long, I want to genuinely sit down and do it. And the answer to your question is would I do a film? No, I’m not sure I want to act anymore.

Johnny: Even out of a fondness for Hammer?

Madeline: I don’t know if I would want to now.

At this part of the interview a huge steamer boat goes by on the river and Madeline rushes down the lawn to catch a glimpse of it, but it’s too fast and she comes back saying that she wants to buy it. I in the meantime have turned off the tape recorder (to save precious tape) and totally forget what we were talking about when she returns.

Johnny: You’re not going to jump in the water now?

Madeline: I’m NOT going to jump in the water. (laughs)

Johnny: Well Madeline, it’s been an absolute pleasure to talk to you.

Madeline: The feeling was mutual, thank you very much.