Peeping Tom
Short description
Mark Lewis is a quiet young man who works as a focus puller at a film studio and earns extra money taking glamour photographs above a newsagent's shop. In his apartment he keeps a darkroom and a camera he rarely puts down. He tells people he is making a documentary about fear, and he befriends Helen Stephens, the daughter of the family who live below him. What Mark actually records is the terror on the faces of women as they die in front of his lens, killings carried out with a blade fixed to his tripod.
The film was directed and produced by Michael Powell, his tenth feature, released in 1960. Following a run of celebrated work in the 1940s and 1950s including The Red Shoes and The Tales of Hoffmann, it marked a sharp change of subject and tone that damaged his standing in Britain at the time. Leo Marks wrote the screenplay. Karlheinz Böhm plays Mark, with Anna Massey as Helen, Moira Shearer as Vivian, Maxine Audley as Mrs. Stephens, Brenda Bruce as Dora and Miles Malleson as the elderly customer. Forty-one performers are credited.
On IMDb the film holds a rating of 7.4 out of 10 from 932 votes. On TMDB it is rated 8.8 out of 10 from 61 reviews. The wide gap between the two figures reflects how much the film's reputation has grown since a hostile initial reception.
What's left behind the scenes
- Director Michael Powell saw a photo of a nude Pamela Green in 'Kamera' magazine and arranged a meeting with her. During the meeting, he looked at other photos of Green, both clothed and nude, and declared that he wanted her to star in his film 'Peeping Tom'. Furthermore, he even used costumes and props in the movie that Pamela had come up with herself for her photoshoots.
- Michael Powell's career ended amidst the scandal caused by the film's release.
- Five days after its premiere, the film was pulled from theaters in the UK due to negative public reaction.
- In the home archive films of Mark, Professor Lewis is played by director Michael Powell, the young Lewis is played by Powell's son, and his mother is played by Powell's wife, Frankie Reid.
- To capture the shot he needed, director Michael Powell ordered four arc lamps to be placed directly next to Pamela Green (who played Millie). Due to the unbearable heat and bright light, the actress's skin broke out in blotches. Powell paid no attention to this. By the next morning, Pamela's eyes were completely swollen. The makeup artists brought the problem to Powell, but he simply brushed it off and ordered them to get the actress ready for filming.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
