The Iron Maiden
| The Iron Maiden | |
|---|---|
Film poster
|
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| Directed by | Gerald Thomas |
| Produced by |
Peter Rogers Frank Bevis |
| Written by |
Leslie Bricusse Vivian Cox |
| Starring |
Michael Craig Anne Helm Jeff Donnell Alan Hale Jr. |
| Music by | Eric Rogers |
| Cinematography | Alan Hume |
| Edited by | Archie Ludski |
| Distributed by |
Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors Ltd. (UK) Columbia Pictures (USA) |
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Release date
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1962 (UK) 7 June 1963 (Germany) 31 December 1963 (US) |
|
Running time
|
98 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Iron Maiden (released in the US as Swinging Maiden) is a 1962 British comedy film. The film was directed by Gerald Thomas, and stars Michael Craig, Anne Helm, Jeff Donnell, and Alan Hale, Jr. It was widely perceived as an attempt to repeat the success of the film Genevieve, with traction engines in place of vintage cars.
The film follows Jack Hopkins (played by Michael Craig), an aircraft designer with a passion for traction engines. His boss (played by Cecil Parker) is eager to sell a new supersonic jet plane that Jack has designed to American millionaire Paul Fisher (Alan Hale, Jr.). The first encounter between Fisher and Jack goes badly, and tensions only heighten after Fisher's daughter Kathy (Anne Helm) damages Jack's prize traction engine "The Iron Maiden", rendering it impossible to drive solo. Jack is desperate to enter the annual Woburn Abbey steam rally with the machine, but his fireman is injured and unable to participate. When all seems lost the millionaire himself is won over by Jack's plight and joins him in driving the engine; the two soon become firm friends.
After an eventful journey Fisher and Jack reach Woburn Abbey and enter the rally, only for Fisher to injure his back at the last minute. When all seems lost his daughter, the sceptical Kathy, appears and joins Jack in the engine. The two pilot the Iron Maiden from last place to first, winning the rally; at the finish line Jack and Kathy embrace and kiss, while the Iron Maiden boils over and explodes. The engine is memorialised though when Jack's new jet is named after it.
Carry On stalwarts Jim Dale and Joan Sims have minor roles in the film. The veteran actor Sam Kydd also appeared in the film with his then six-year-old son Jonathan Kydd.
A Handley Page Victor subsonic bomber features prominently in the film as the prototype of Jack Hopkins's supersonic jetliner. A number of sequences show the plane in close-up, taxiing, taking off, climbing, flying past and landing with parachute deployed. These scenes were filmed at Radlett Aerodrome.
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Wikipedia