IMDb RATING
3.9/10
1K
YOUR RATING
Vampire seeks world domination via experiments. Mistakenly delivered radar-controlled Robot transports him and Mother Riley, leading to confrontation as she tries stopping Vampire's scheme.Vampire seeks world domination via experiments. Mistakenly delivered radar-controlled Robot transports him and Mother Riley, leading to confrontation as she tries stopping Vampire's scheme.Vampire seeks world domination via experiments. Mistakenly delivered radar-controlled Robot transports him and Mother Riley, leading to confrontation as she tries stopping Vampire's scheme.
Graham Moffatt
- The Yokel
- (as Graham Moffat)
María Mercedes
- Julia
- (as Maria Mercedes)
Charles Lloyd Pack
- Sir Joshua Bing
- (as Charles Lloyd-Pack)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to producer Richard Gordon, Bela Lugosi had been on a tour of England in "Dracula", when the production abruptly ended because the producers declared bankruptcy and absconded without paying anyone. Lugosi found himself stranded in London, with no money and no way to get back to the US. Gordon, a friend of Lugosi's who was based in England, heard about his plight and arranged for him to appear in this, the latest--and, as it turned out, the last--in the "Old Mother Riley" series of comedies, for which he was paid $5,000.
- GoofsHead of film crewman clearly visible at left bottom of screen as robot enters Mother Riley's bedroom.
- Quotes
Mrs. Riley: [singing] I lift up my finger and I say tweet tweet, now now, shush shush, come come.
- Crazy creditsFor the U.S. release in the 1960's through Columbia Pictures, the main title was replaced with a title card giving the new title as "My Son the Vampire." The change also resulted in the top billed stars, Arthur Lucan and Bela Lugosi, not appearing in the credits of this U.S. version.
- Alternate versionsSome time after the film's UK release, American distributor Jack Harris and importer Richard Gordon contemplated a US release with new footage featuring Bela Lugosi; but this could not be accomplished because of Lugosi's deteriorated physical condition. The film did not make it to US screens until 1964, where it was given about 2 minutes of added footage ahead of the main title, featuring comic songster Allan Sherman and an unidentified sexy model. In the credits that followed, the names of Lugosi and Lucan were both omitted, though they were retained in the publicity materials.
Featured review
1951's "My Son the Vampire" was not originally conceived as the latest entry in the Old Mother Riley series dating back to 1937, thus far a total of 14 features held in low esteem by London critics but highly successful in the provinces. Arthur Lucan made a career out of playing the frumpy Irish biddy in full drag, a music hall veteran of more than 50 years who may have inspired the members of Monty Python, his popularity obviously on the decline with just 3 titles in the previous six years. It was the financial plight of the chronically unemployed Bela Lugosi that inspired Renown to try melding his horror persona with the wildly over the top Lucan, whose screen career came to an end with "Mother Riley Meets the Vampire." Ironically, Lugosi's previous film was the hugely popular "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein," and though he's not playing Dracula here, his characterization of Professor Von Housen is described by Scotland Yard as 'The Vampire,' taking after a legendary ancestor and boasting of his plans to rule the earth with an army of 50,000 robots under his control. When asked how many have been built, he hilariously stammers into a reply of 'one,' forced into hitchhiking to The Vampire's abode and driving off in the drunken motorist's car (he later reports to the local police station: "it was stolen by some fellow behind the Iron Curtain!"). Toned down considerably for its intended juvenile audience but Von Housen at least is guilty of drinking the blood of missing girls, his giggling assistant Hitchcock (Ian Wilson) taunting Mother Riley as his latest victim: "you're being got ready!" Once Lucan's sole musical number is dispensed with, we are introduced to Lugosi at the 12 minute mark (just under 18 minutes screen time), soundly snoring in his coffin as Hitchcock awakens him and inquires why he wears his evening clothes while he sleeps: "I was buried in them!" What appears to be a slapdash script by Val Valentine is assured a decent pace by director John Gilling, more adept at straight up chills with later efforts like "The Flesh and the Fiends," "The Plague of the Zombies," and "The Reptile." Lucan remained in character both on and off camera, always spot on after so many years honing his craft, but a little of Mother Riley tends to go a long way so Lugosi's welcome presence makes this something less of the disaster that most viewers perceive, coming after the likes of The Ritz Brothers, East Side Kids, Wally Brown and Alan Carney, or Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo. What no one might have guessed was that its American distribution was no sure thing, the new title "Vampire Over London" earning no takers until it was snapped up by producer Jack H. Harris, best known for "The Blob," where his theater marquee specifies 'Bela Lugosi' in a film titled "The Vampire and the Robot." Even this only resulted in spotty playdates, its final 1963 moniker "My Son the Vampire" allowing satirist Allan Sherman a precredits sequence detailing how the picture was based on an upside down book. Unsuccessful on both sides of the Atlantic, and mostly a curiosity that only Lugosi fans will eventually seek out, discovering an actor hardly humbled by his desperate need for financing to return to the US but a confident performer who gets more chuckles than his overbearing costar, for once in on the joke.
- kevinolzak
- May 14, 2021
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Carry On Vampire
- Filming locations
- Southwood Lane, Highgate, London, England, UK(Mother Riley chases Von Housen's car.)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 14 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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