Jolly Bad Fellow (1964) UK Quad Poster

Based on the novel “Don Among the Dead Men” by bitter essayist C.E. Vulliamy, an English professor removes rival colleagues with an untraceable poison that first induces hysteria, then death. In classic British black comedy style, the killer is brought down by his own error, but the film sits uneasily between Ealing comedy (the inclusion of Dennis Price is no coincidence) and the nastier edge of Joe Orton and the Swinging Sixties, as did Nothing But the Best with Alan Bates, the same year.

Don Chaffey, who'd just come off Jason and the Argonauts (1963) wasn't noted for his comedic touch. As a director, he was more the man for Hammer's prehistoric films. But here he worked well with a top cast which spanned the full range of British film comedy.

Aka: They All Died Laughing

Artist: Clement Hurel - he was a versatile artist, at home with realism as well as cartoon styles. In this vein, his best known work is the poster for Dance of the Vampires (1967).

Condition: VERY FINE / NEAR MINT

Cast: Leo McKern, Maxine Audley - the blind mother in Peeping Tom (1960), Janet Munro - The Trollenberg Terror (1958), The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), Miles Malleson, Mervyn Johns, Leonard Rossiter, Jerome Willis, Patricia Jessel - the witch in City of the Dead / Horror Hotel (1960)