- The Wicker Man
Last week, Sir Christopher Lee, the remarkably prolific actor best known for his run of films with Hammer Pictures and for playing Saruman in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, died at the age of 93. Lee starred in more than 200 films, and he worked right up until his death, having most recently appeared in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, part of Jackson’s gluttonous attempt at reeling in more Tolkien dollars. His acting career notwithstanding, Lee led a sensational life. Before he started in movies, he had a storied military career serving in Intelligence and the Special Forces during World War II. His transition into acting was marred by his unusual height: standing six-foot-five, he was told to remain seated during his first screen appearance, as a nightclub customer in 1948’s Corridor of Mirrors.
- I, Monster (dir. Stephen Weeks, 1971) Some of Lee’s best horror roles didn’t happen at Hammer, but at less successful rival studios Amicus and Tigon. This Amicus production is a rough, surprisingly brutal adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, in which the main characters’ names are changed to Dr. Charles Marlowe and Mr. Edward Blake. Lee, playing both roles, is once again joined by Peter Cushing, while Ian McCulloch, he of Zombi 2 fame, makes an uncredited appearance.
