Review: The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee

I’m a huge Christopher Lee fan, and I enjoyed director Jon Spira’s previous documentary “Elstree 1976” more than most seemed to, so I was very much looking forward to this 2024 documentary on cinema’s Lord of Misrule. Sadly, there’s not much here you can’t find in the aforementioned Lee autobiography (an updated version of his Tall, Dark, and Gruesome). The added gimmick of soundalike Peter Serafinowicz and accompanying marionette puppet narrating Lee’s story is bizarre and completely unnecessary, though the vocal impersonation is quite solid. The puppet was just a step too far for me, and the animated segments were also rather ugly-looking. If you’ve not read the autobiography in any of its editions, you may want to check this one out. If you’re a Lee aficionado/fan like me (I’ve seen 131 of his 290 IMDb acting credits thus far, for what it’s worth), it’s watchable but not especially essential viewing.

 

I did learn a few things here, for instance I didn’t know that actress Harriet Walter is Lee’s niece, and it’s nice to hear from a couple of his family members. We also get some choice still photographs, including a lovely shot of Lee, Boris Karloff, and Barbara Steele enjoying each other’s company. I was also glad that Lee’s role in “A Tale of Two Cities” got a mention as for me he’s one of the best things in the 1958 version. It was similarly nice to hear “Airport 77” mentioned as it’s my favourite of the series and given how many acting credits he had, it’s understandable that they can’t all get brought up. It’s rather bizarre however that “To the Devil a Daughter” gets a mention but not the much better-regarded Dennis Wheatley adaptation Lee acted in, “The Devil Rides Out” which was one of his favourite films of his own. They even mention his hosting an episode of “SNL”, but not “The Devil Rides Out”? As I said, they can’t all be mentioned but why overlook one of his most important films in order to talk about the lesser of the two Dennis Wheatley adaptations instead? Lee himself swiftly dismisses “To The Devil a Daughter” in his autobiography with barely a word, and given the underage nudity in it, that’s understandable. Lee biographer Jonathan Rigsby is great here, rightly scoffing at the awful “Starship Invasions” and correctly describing “The Man With the Golden Gun” as having a great villain but being a ‘meh’ film. Hammer alum Caroline Munro which is always a pleasure, though her contributions are minor.

 

Unfortunately, the doc screws up the details at one point:  It has Lee suffering heart problems on the set of “Jocks” which was shot between 1984 and 1985 (released between 1986 and 1988 in most places), and then coming back to film the terrible “The House of Long Shadows”…in 1983. That’s a bit of a stuff-up, really sloppy when a simple IMDb check could’ve fixed things. And again, we’re talking about “Jocks” (a film I wager few have heard of to begin with and it’s utterly forgettable) but not “The Devil Rides Out”? I was initially glad that Lee’s beloved wife Gitte was given a mention but it’s such a fleeting mention that I ended up less glad as it seemed almost insulting. Director John Landis’ attempts to get the rather reticent Lee to talk about his past killing Nazis in WWII are typically insensitive for Landis (not known for having tact), however he does tell a rather cute story of Lee and his mate Peter Cushing on the phone reciting lines from ‘What’s Opera, Doc?’ which was definitely a surprise to me.

 

For me there’s two major highlights here that almost made it worthwhile. Firstly, the film delves into the actor’s apparent insecurities and sensitivity, which is not an impression I’ve previously gotten of the man. So it was fascinating to hear that from people who knew him. Best of all – and nearly worth seeing the film for – is a moment both hilarious and sad where Lee had just been knighted and gets huffy with a dopey entertainment reporter for referring to him as the ‘King of horror’. He admonishes the poor girl and claims to have not made a horror film for twenty years at that point (I’m assuming he didn’t count “Sleepy Hollow” as horror).

 

A glorified DVD extra with little new for anyone who has read Lee’s autobiography. If you have a casual interest in the subject, you might get something out of this one. Even then it’s a bit sloppy at times and the use of puppetry is an unnecessary gimmick.

 

Rating: C+