''Circus of Fear'' ( / ''Mystery of the Silver Triangle''); also ''Scotland Yard auf heißer Spur'', also ''Circus of Terror''; US title ''Psycho-Circus'') is a 1966

Anglo Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term ''Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British d ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint vent ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by

John Llewellyn Moxey John Llewellyn Moxey (26 February 1925 – 29 April 2019) was an Argentine-born British film and television director. He was known for directing the horror film '' The City of the Dead'' (also known as ''Horror Hotel'', 1960) and directing episod ...

and starring

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a career spanning more than sixty years, Lee became known as an actor with a deep and commanding voice who often portrayed villains in horr ...

, Suzy Kendall,

Leo Genn Leopold John Genn ( ; 9 August 1905 – 26 January 1978) was an English actor and barrister. Distinguished by his relaxed charm and smooth, "black velvet" voice, he had a lengthy career in theatre, film, television and radio, often playing a ...

and

Cecil Parker Cecil Parker (born Cecil Schwabe; 3 September 1897 – 20 April 1971) was an English actor with a distinctively husky voice, who usually played supporting roles, often characters with a supercilious demeanour, in his 91 films made between 1 ...

Werner Jacobs Werner Jacobs (1909–1999) was a German film director and film editor, editor. He was born in Berlin on the 24 April 1909. He is best known for his contributions to Modebummel (1951), Der Stern von Santa Clara (1958) and André und Ursula (1955). ...

directed the version released in West Germany. It was written by

Harry Alan Towers Harry Alan Towers (19 October 1920 – 31 July 2009) was a British radio and independent film producer and screenwriter. He wrote numerous screenplays for the films he produced, often under the pseudonym Peter Welbeck. He produced over 80 f ...

based on the 1928 novel '' Again the Three Just Men'' by

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer of crime and adventure fiction. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was ...

Plot

The film is set in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, mainly in the East End and docklands. When an armoured car is robbed, in a daring daylight raid co-ordinated on

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule, Suspension bridge, suspension, and, until 1960, Cantilever bridge, cantilever bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones ...

, one of the guards is shot and killed by Mason. The gang escape on the river. Part of the gang escape northwards on the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the count ...

. The police catch up and force them off the road, killing one man. Meanwhile Mason dumps his car in a lake and takes a suitcase full of money to nearby buildings. An unseen knife-thrower kills Mason as he turns to leave. We are introduced to the characters of Barberini's Circus, including Drago, who wears a full mask to hide his fire damaged face. Manfred arrives at the circus seeking employment. It is revealed that Mr Big (the

midget Midget (from ''midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a Medical terminology, medical term like ''dwarf'' (for a person with d ...

) is blackmailing Drago. An unseen person unlocks the lion and it almost kills one of the circus girls. The police are led to the circus but also require to investigate a body found with a knife next to it. The police interview the girl who was attacked by the lion and soon after is herself murdered by a thrown knife. The police interview the circus knife-thrower. Drago confesses to his niece that he found a suitcase of money and hid it. Manfred is the next victim of the knife-thrower who this time also sets a fire. A police manhunt causes Drago to fall to his death and the suitcase of money is retrieved. However, detective Elliot (Leo Genn) decides this is not the killer. His examination of all the clues leads to a final denouement in front of the assembled suspects during a knife-throwing act.

Cast

as Gregor *

as Elliott *

Anthony Newlands Anthony Newlands (31 January 1925, London – 6 October 1995), was a British actor, born Raymond Gordon Newland. His parents were Lilian Elizabeth (née Manning) and Frederick Stanley. Newland had two sisters: Jean Lillian Newland (born 24 J ...

as Barberini * Heinz Drache as Carl *

Eddi Arent Gebhardt Georg Arendt (5 May 1925 – 28 May 2013) was a German actor, cabaret artist and comedian. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1956 and 2002. He was born in Danzig, Free City of Danzig (present-day Gdańsk, Poland) and died in ...

as Eddie *

Klaus Kinski Klaus Kinski (, born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski 18 October 1926 – 23 November 1991) was a German actor. Equally renowned for his intense performance style and notorious for his volatile personality, he appeared in over 130 film roles in a ...

as Manfred Hart * Margaret Lee as Gina * Suzy Kendall as Natasha *

as Sir John *

Victor Maddern Victor Jack Maddern (16 March 1928 – 22 June 1993) was an English actor. He was described by ''The Telegraph'' as having "one of the most distinctive and eloquent faces in post-war British cinema." Life and career Born in Seven Kings, ...

as Mason *

Maurice Kaufmann Maurice Harington Kaufmann (29 June 1927 – 21 September 1997) was a British actor of stage, film and television, who specialised in whodunits and horror films, from 1954 to 1981, when he retired. Personal life He was married to Honor Blackm ...

as Mario *

Lawrence James Edwin James Lawrence (born 26 May 1943, Bath, England), most commonly known as Lawrence James, is an English historian and writer. Biography James graduated with a BA in English & History from the University of York in 1966, and subsequently un ...

as Manley * Tom Bowman as Jackson * Skip Martin as Mr. Big * Nosher Powell as Red * Gordon Petrie as man * Henry B. Longhurst as hotel porter * Dennis Blakely as Armoured van guard * George Fisher as fourth man * Peter Brace as speedboat man *

Roy Scammell Royston Edwin Scammell (28 July 1932 – 15 May 2021) was a British stuntman and actor. Life and career Scammell was born in July 1932 in Hendon, Middlesex, England. He died at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital in Luton, Bedfordshire ...

as speedboat man * Geoff Silk as security man *

Keith Peacock Keith Peacock (born 2 May 1945) is an English former footballer and manager. He was the first player to come on as a substitute in the Football League. Early life Peacock was born in Barnehurst. and educated at Erith Grammar School. Playing ...

as security man *

John Carradine John Carradine ( ; born Richmond Reed Carradine; February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was an American actor, considered one of the greatest character actors in American cinema. He was a member of Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and later J ...

as narrator

Production

Finance came in part from

Anglo-Amalgamated Anglo-Amalgamated Productions was a British film production company, run by Nat Cohen and Stuart Levy, which operated from 1945 until roughly 1971 (after which it was absorbed into EMI Films). Low-budget and second features, often produced at ...

. It was shot at Hammer Film's Bray Studios in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

and on location around

.The film was partially shot at '' Billy Smart's Circus''. Filming took place from 6 December 1965 to 15 Januay 1966 during which time it was known as ''Man Without a Face''. The film was co-produced by the leading German distributor

Constantin Film Constantin Film AG is a German film production company based in Munich. The company, which belongs to Swiss media conglomerate Highlight Communications AG, is a large independent German maker and distributor of productions. Constantin has releas ...

, which was at the same time releasing Rialto Film's long-running series of Wallace adaptations in Germany. Heinz Drache, Eddi Arent and Klaus Kinski were regular performers in that series and were added to this production to appeal to German audiences. After the film was released Lee wrote a friend:

I have not dared to go and see this film either in public or in private and I prefer to forget that I was ever involved in it. All I can say is that we did not have a bad story at the time that we made the film, but due to completely chaotic production, disinterested direction and a totally inadequate cast seemingly made up of about 110 nationalities, we found ourselves landed with an imperial egg. It is the same old sad story... lack of preparation and lack of an authoritative hand at the helm.

Release

The film premiered in Germany on 29 April 1966 and in the UK in November 1967. The film was bought for AIP who cut the running time to under an hour and released it in the USA as ''Psycho Circus''. The film was also simultaneously released on television in the full length version.

Reception

Lee reported that despite his own misgivings about the film "it received more than adequate notices in the trade press (I gave a most ‘sympathetic performance’) and that the public is going to see it in large numbers. God knows why.” ''

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "A stolid thriller incorporating every cliché known to circus settings. Acting, script and direction are all equally flaccid." The ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' wrote, "Christopher Lee wears a black woolly hood for nearly all of his scenes in this lame whodunnit, with minor horrific overtones...but the stalwart efforts of the cast including Klaus Kinski and Suzy Kendall act as a welcome safety net for the shaky plot" ; while ''Britmovie'' called it "fairly suspenseful."

References

External links

* *
''Circus of Fear''
at Letterbox DVD
Joe Dante on ''Circus of Fear''
at Trailers from Hell {{Harry Alan Towers 1966 films 1960s crime thriller films 1960s mystery thriller films British crime thriller films British mystery thriller films West German films German mystery thriller films 1960s English-language films English-language German films Films based on works by Edgar Wallace Films directed by John Llewellyn Moxey Circus films Films scored by Johnny Douglas (conductor) Constantin Film films Films set in London 1960s British films 1960s German films English-language crime thriller films English-language mystery thriller films