Mother Riley Meets the Vampire

I, too, first saw this film at the Classic Cinema in Hammersmith. And to me, it was hilarious. But for so many of us growing up in England, the Old Mother Riley films were always a definite treat so that it's not surprising that so many of them were made. And at the time, I'd never even heard of Bela Lugosi. There is no question that the humour in this film is understood best by those of us born and raised in England. And having lived in New York for many years, it's only in recent months that I finally saw, once again, the original version of the film. It's also remarkable for its fine cast of British character actors which includes the now legendary Dora Bryan who, after many years, remains unknown to Americans. I just don't think that Americans could ever truly appreciate or understand the full significance of this film and its importance as the final screen appearance of a British cinema legend. And yes, in the scene where a trolley bus is standing at a traffic light, it does, indeed, appear to be a 660 which I would have used to get home from the cinema after the film was over.

Similar to some of Abbott & Costello or The Bowery Boys movies featuring various monsters. This is not too funny but Lugosi is always nice to see. He seems to be enjoying himself and has a surprising amount of dialogue. As for Mother Riley this is the only film I have seen with him/her in it. An acquired taste.

The one scene to watch for occurs early on when Mother Riley is trying to read a telegram. The man collecting rent from her tries to grab the telegram and says "Give that to me you old faggot!" Now before you get all bent out of shape consider that this was 1952. I assume he was saying "...you old pile of sticks" or "...you old woman" which are a couple possible definitions for the word.

The "Mother Riley" series was a British made series of low budget comedies starring Arthur Lucan, who played, in drag, a dotty old working class woman. These films often satired British government, and how it handles it's working class. When you watch MOTHER RILEY MEETS THE VAMPIRE, much of the gags about Brit leadership will fly past modern day American audiences.

It was the last chance to see the great Bela Lugosi in his full talent, as, of course, a vampire. Later that year, 1952, addiction and poverty sank in deeper, and he would turn to working with a certain Edward Wood.

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.

My Son the Vampire AKA Vampire Over London (1952) or "Old Mother Riley Meets the Vampire" (original title).

This is a cute comedy-horror film. We have Bela Lugosi as "the vampire" Von Housen, Arthur Lucan in drag as Mother Mrs. O'Riley and a robot controlled by "the vampire" Von Housen trying to take over the world. Mrs. O'Riley in her comical ways will try to help stop the vampire from world domination. What more do you want from a zany comedy?! Mrs. O'Riley has to give us a song and dance - which is kinda cute but certainly not the highlight of the film - I personally think the highlight is Lugosi and the robot - but that is my taste.

A fun film overall.

6/10