The Projected Man ** (1966, Bryant Haliday, Mary Peach, Norman Wooland, Ronald Allen, Derek Farr) – Classic Movie Review 11,107

Horror of Horrors! Born a Man…Turned Into a Living Laser Beam By Science’s Most Gruesome Experiment! Death in Every Finger! He is THE PROJECTED MAN (1966).

Bryant Haliday, Mary Peach, Norman Wooland, Ronald Allen, Derek Farr, Derrick De Marney and Gerard Heinz star in the 1966 British Technicolor and Techniscope science fiction film The Projected Man directed by Ian Curteis and John Croydon (uncredited).

It is written by Peter Bryan, John C Cooper, and Hollywood writer Frank Quattrocchi, whose unproduced screenplay was discovered by British film producer Alex Gordon and sent to his producer brother Richard Gordon, who had it re-written set in London instead of the US.

Bryant Haliday (April 7, 1928 – July 28, 1996).

Bryant Haliday stars as scientist Dr Paul Steiner, who becomes a horribly disfigured monster and embarks on a murderous rampage with the power to electrocute people with his hand after a failed attempt at projecting himself while experimenting with matter teleportation via a laser device.

The familiarly premised film comes in the wake of The Fly (1958) and 4D Man and is nowhere as entertaining as them but nevertheless still has its charms. Haliday and the British character actors bring value and a bit of weight to the film, the direction manages some suspense and shocks, and there is a good score by Kenneth V Jones.

Mary Peach is given top billing as Dr Patricia Hill, German-born British character actor Norman Wooland plays the film’s villain Dr Blanchard, Derek Farr plays Inspector Davis, and Ronald Allen plays scientist Dr Christopher Mitchell. The scene with Norma West lying topless on a morgue table was added to aid overseas sales.

TV director Curteis in his first theatrical film took on the direction despite reservations about a rigidly tight four-week shoot and an inadequate budget. After four weeks the finance ran out and producer John Croydon took over the direction, unpaid and meeting the remaining costs himself to complete the film. Croydon said: ‘I think Curteis was relieved to step out because he simply didn’t know any longer what to do.’

The movie cost £100,000 and was 50 per cent financed by Compton, the company run by Tony Tenser and Michael Klinger.

It was released in the UK by Compton-Cameo Films in summer of 1966 with an X certificate, and released in the US by Universal Studios in a double bill with Island of Terror, but cut by 13 minutes (from 90 minutes) so the double bill would last 180 minutes. Universal had found the opening scene repetitive and did not want to edit Island of Terror.

American actor producer Bryant Haliday (April 7, 1928 – July 28, 1996) was the co-founder of Janus Films and The Criterion Collection.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,107

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