Village of the Damned

[andyg0404]

Hi,

I just watched Village of The Damned. t’s based on the John Wyndham story, The Midwich Cuckoo about an unexplained event in a village where the entire population falls unconscious for several hours. Afterwards all women of child bearing age are pregnant and they give birth to very odd children. It’s from 1960 and I remember the ads from when it was released showing all these small blonde children with glowing eyes. I’d never seen it and to be honest hadn’t ever planned to but I decided to watch it tonight. It stars George Sanders and is only 77 minutes long. It was very good, very eerie and menacing. It received very good reviews, Howard Thompson in the Times liked it. But this is from the trivia section of IMDB and of interest.

"After little David opens the Chinese box for the chocolate, his father takes the box to another house where a blonde girl to also open the box. In the meantime, her mother is standing off to the side with another blonde boy in her arms. The boy child and the girl are played by the same actor, Kim Clarke Champniss. The little 'girl' is wearing a very obvious wig, and their faces are identical."

There's a listing for an actor of that name but no mention of this part or biographical data and he's not listed in the credits of the film. Nevertheless I did four screen captures for you to see. If I've done this properly they should be below.

Andy G.

[Angela M...]

Love this movie andyg and I have it on DVD and VHS. I also have all John Wyndham's books which I read as a teen. I have the re-make with Christopher Reeves which was pretty good also. I think that was called Children of the Damned.

[andyg0404]

Hi Angela,

Wyndham was very prolific and a good writer. I read his book Chocky about a little boy who has someone living in his head and very much enjoyed it. He also wrote The Day of the Triffids which I have a vague recollection of seeing but I looked through all the different versions that have been filled and none of them look familiar.

Andy G.

[Betty]

Cool. I never knew the boy played the girl role too. We were running it & sequels in our movie section, but they got removed long ago to make space for more stuff.

[Angela M...]

Hey andyg and Betty,
like you I didn't know the boy played two parts either. Interesting fact and good pics andyg. I have a few old DVD's and VHS of movies like the Day of the Triffids and I remember that they did a remake of that one also. I think it was with the British comedian who also dresses en-fem sometimes. My memories going and I can see his face but his name escapes me. 

[andyg0404]

Hi Angela,

It was Eddie Izzard. He also played the father on the series The Riches which had a son who dressed as a girl. It was a good show with a good cast and was unfortunately cancelled. I'm going to watch The Children of the Damned tonight which like its predecessor also got good reviews.

Andy G.