Terence Fisher, English director and screenwriter (d. 1980)
Terence Fisher (23 February 1904 – 18 June 1980) was a British film director best known for his work for Hammer Films.
He was the first to bring gothic horror alive in full colour, and the sexual overtones and explicit horror in his films, while mild by modern standards, were unprecedented in his day. His first major gothic horror film was The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), which launched Hammer's association with the genre and made British actors Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee leading horror stars of the era. He went on to film several adaptations of classic horror subjects, including Dracula (1958), The Mummy (1959), and The Curse of the Werewolf (1961).
Given their subject matter and lurid approach, Fisher's films, though commercially successful, were largely dismissed by critics during his career. It is only in recent years that Fisher has become recognised as an auteur in his own right. His most famous films are characterised by a blend of fairytale myth and the supernatural alongside themes of sexuality, morality, and "the charm of evil". Drawing heavily on a conservative Christian outlook, there is often a hero who defeats the powers of darkness by a combination of faith in God and reason, in contrast to other characters, who are either blindly superstitious or bound by cold, godless rationalism.
1904Feb, 23
Terence Fisher
Choose Another Date
Events on 1904
- 17Jan
The Cherry Orchard
Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard receives its premiere performance at the Moscow Art Theatre. - 3Mar
Thomas Edison
Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany becomes the first person to make a sound recording of a political document, using Thomas Edison's phonograph cylinder. - 8Apr
The Book of the Law
British mystic Aleister Crowley transcribes the first chapter of The Book of the Law. - 5May
Cy Young
Pitching against the Philadelphia Athletics at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, Cy Young of the Boston Americans throws the first perfect game in the modern era of baseball. - 16Nov
Vacuum tube
English engineer John Ambrose Fleming receives a patent for the thermionic valve (vacuum tube).