From time to time I like to focus my reviews/articles on movie people who have given and still continue to give satisfaction in the works they have created and left behind for us to enjoy. One such person is director Don Sharp. Sharp was born in Australia in 1921 (actually Hobart, Tasmania just like Errol Flynn) and worked in the theatre after doing military service during World War II. His ultimate goal was to be in movies someday but as there was no Australian film industry in those days, he immigrated to England in the late 1940s and began looking for film work. After a couple of small roles in B movies, he was sidelined for 2 years with a serious case of tuberculosis which cost him a lung and six ribs but he survived and was able to return to work by 1952.
After acting minor roles in a couple of major British movies APPOINTMENT IN LONDON (1953) and THE CRUEL SEA (1954), Sharp began writing and directing for a number of early government films and television programs. He then directed England’s first rock ‘n’ roll movie, THE GOLDEN DISC (1959). After a couple of small independent features, he was approached by Hammer Films who wanted him to direct a non-Christopher Lee Dracula film called KISS OF THE VAMPIRE (1963). Sharp had never seen a horror film before but after screening a couple of Hammer movies, he made KISS on schedule and under budget. The film was well received critically and was financially very successful and, as a result, Don Sharp’s directorial career was off and running.
This success led to a couple of costume films with Christopher Lee. They were THE DEVIL SHIP PIRATES (1964) and RASPUTIN, THE MAD MONK (1966) which were also very successful for Hammer. Sharp was now typed as a horror director and he then made two black and white films for Hammer’s old American partner, Robert Lippert. WITCHCRAFT (1964) was very creepy and quickly became a cult film while he made CURSE OF THE FLY (1965) better than it had any right to be. Following his two movies for Lippert, Sharp made THE FACE OF FU MANCHU (1965) for exploitation producer Harry Alan Towers. It was a huge success and let to a sequel THE BRIDES OF FU MANCHU (1966). Now Sharp became known as a director of action pictures.
The 1970s proved to be Don Sharp’s most successful decade in which he made a number of highly regarded movies that alternated between the action and the horror genres. Called in to direct a boat chase sequence in Alistair MacLean’s PUPPET ON A CHAIN (1971), Sharp next made one of his most acclaimed movies, PSYCHOMANIA (1973). The picture defies description as it mixes elements of horror, comedy, and social criticism into a one-of-a-kind experience that quickly became a cult film. It gave Hollywood icon George Sanders his last role as a Satanic butler. Mixing bikers, zombies, criminal investigations, and occult rituals with tongue-in-cheek black humor, PSYCHOMANIA must be seen to be believed and then you’ll want to see it again.
Up next came another cult film, DARK PLACES (1974) about ghostly possession with Robert Hardy, Christopher Lee and Joan Collins followed by CALLAN (1974) a hard edged movie version of Edward Woodward’s popular TV series. Sharp was then asked to direct Rod Steiger and Lee Remick in HENNESSY (1975) a tense story of an IRA attempt to blow up Parliament. Although critically praised, no one saw it as it was banned from several British cinemas as being too provocative. Returning to TV, Sharp made a new version of the old Colonial warhorse THE FOUR FEATHERS (1978) with Beau Bridges and Jane Seymour. It was a big ratings success and was then released to theaters. Next up came a remake of THE THIRTY NINE STEPS (1978) and it too was a hit.
In the 1980s Sharp stuck with TV movies and made only one more feature film, a low budget horror movie, WHAT WAITS BELOW (1984) which failed to connect with audiences. His last big successes were the mini-series A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE (1984) with Deborah Kerr and the TV movie TEARS IN THE RAIN (1988) with Sharon Stone. He retired from movie making a year later at the age of 69 and died at 90 in 2011. Sharp’s greatest asset as a director was his ability to pace his movies. With his theater background he knew how to control audience expectations by the way his films were edited which is why so many of them are effective as a viewing experience. Their singular aim is to entertain and they do even on repeated viewings.
The Capsule Critic 