Hallowe'en and Horror Films

GIB Films promotional image for The Fall of The House of Usher (1949)GIB Films promotional image for The Fall of The House of Usher (1949)

As it’s Hallowe’en you may like spooky films, and for me my love of horror stories, and films, all began with my Dad.  Here are some insights into a very minor B Film which now seems to have acquired quite a fanatical following and cult status.

G Ivan Barnett was my dad, and the producer and director of "The Fall of The House of Usher" (1949). Cinematographer G Ivan Barnett MBKSCinematographer G Ivan Barnett MBKS

It began as a short film, 35 minutes, filmed in 1947, and using various members of the Hastings Court Players.  One of them, Vernon Symonds, who went by the stage-name of Vernon Charles, was actually the owner of Netherwood Guest House on The Ridge in Hastings where a lot of the interior filming took place.

Dad took the original short film to London to show it to the film producer George Minter who had to his credits, the notorious "No Orchids For Miss Blandish".  Minter asked my father "Do you want to make money with this film, laddie"?  And he advised adding all the other bits of scary stuff to make it to a full length film.  It was finally released and distributed in 1949.  My father had photographs of queues in Tottenham Court Road where it was the main feature and the supporting film was Boris Karloff's "The Dark Eyes of London".  It was one of 11 films that my father went on to make - and it did indeed make money, he paid off his parent's mortgage outright!

A lot of the filming was done at Netherwood House on The Ridge in Hastings (demolished 1969). (Not Fairlight Hall as their own website claims)!  The bedroom scene was at Ashburnham Place, the gentlemen's club was The Queen's Hotel on Hastings seafront, the Temple of Terror at Beauport Park, and the rest in the GIB Film Studios in the old Croft Chapel in Hastings Old Town.

Kaye Tendeter as Lord Roderick UsherKaye Tendeter as Lord Roderick Usher	The Family Vault in The Fall of The House of Usher (1949)The Family Vault in The Fall of The House of Usher (1949)
Kaye Tendeter from Whitechapel as Lord Roderick Usher	The Family Vault - The Fall of The House of Usher (1949)

It was while filming at Netherwood that my Dad met Aleister Crowley - the self-styled Devil's Emissary on Earth, and the Wickedest Man in the World.  Dad was largely  unaware of the man's reputation, and found him to be pleasant and amiable.  Crowley watch some of the filming taking place, and one of Crowley's artworks, the Cuboid Painting can be seen hanging on the walls in one of the scenes.

It also was the first appearance of Gwen Watford who went on to much fame and success in big production films with the likes of Richard Attenborough's epic "Cry Freedom", and won two Society of Film and television Awards (now the Baftas) - and award that my father also won.

Gwen Watford in The Fall of The House of Usher (1949)Gwen Watford in The Fall of The House of Usher (1949)

Dad knew he wanted to be a filmmaker from about the age of 4 when he saw a silent loop on a projector of  a woman doing some ironing.  His parents bought him a toy projector, and it was then he decided he wanted to create magic like that moving image.

Towards the end of war, I don't know the exact date, when he was 17 or 18, he gained admission to be trained as a lighting cameraman at Gainsborough Studios.  More than just a camera operator, he had the extra responsibility of giving directions to set up the lights for the shots as well.  He couldn't actually touch the lights himself change the gels as that was all the responsibility of the gaffers, and union rules as to who should do what!

It was this "Lighting Cameraman" title that he was especially proud of.  It would take many years of training before they would let a cameraman loose on film on their own, as film was very expensive and they had to demonstrate their understanding of light and composition first.  He qualified in just under four years, which was considered quite a rapid learning experience.

Irving Steen and Jonathan and Kaye Tendeter as Lord Usher - The Fall of The House of Usher (1949)Irving Steen and Jonathan and Kaye Tendeter as Lord Usher - The Fall of The House of Usher (1949)

He then worked at various film studios, Pinewood, Elstree, Shepperton etc.  He worked for GB Film Services and many other independent film companies operating out of Wardour Street and the surrounding streets in Soho.  He was actually at Pinewood when Powell & Pressburger were filming "Black Narcissus" on a sound stage next door and he watched some if it being filmed.

Dad was always very modest about his film work, but sometimes when we were watching films together he would let slip that he knew or had worked with different film directors - Lewis Gilbert, Brian  de Palma, etc!

He was always very particular about lighting.  Without good lighting you have nothing.  When I was watching him and setting up lights for him in his portrait studio in Hastings I was actually learning a lot about lighting that would serve me in very good stead in later years!

Beauport Park Hastings scene from The Fall of The House of Usher (1949)Beauport Park Hastings scene from The Fall of The House of Usher (1949)

A lot of my current work is very cinematic in style, and I owe all that to him.  I feel my more recent work has definitely benefited from my conscious thinking “how would Dad have managed the lighting and composition on this”?  I always plan the shoots and especially the lighting, and set them like I would on a film set, even if I am shooting stills - although I do shoot a fair amount of video as well.

The Melancholy House of Usher

The Melancholy House of UsherThe Melancholy House of Usher

One of my original digital paintings inspired by my Dad when I was conducting research into his 1949 version of "The Fall of The House of Usher"

Wikipedia says this film may well have been influential on the later “Hammer House of Horror” films produced at Bray Studios.  So, from a humble toy film projector in an upstairs room in a house on Hastings seafront, to the journey to being a film producer and director, influencing many others and even directly inspiring my own filmic journey - I’ll raise a glass on this spooky day!