The Abominable Snowman (1957) on Netflix
Dr John Rollason joins Tom Friend's expedition into the Himalayas to find the Yeti, though his wife objects. Rollason wants to learn about the creature; Friend wants to capture one.
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Trailer
Plot summary
Dr John Rollason is at the monastery of Rong-ruk with his wife Helen and his assistant Peter Fox, on a botanical expedition in the Himalayas. A second party arrives, led by the American Tom Friend with the trapper Ed Shelley, the photographer Andrew McNee and the Sherpa guide Kusang, and Friend has come in search of the legendary Yeti. Against the wishes of Helen and of the monastery's lama, Rollason joins the expedition. His curiosity about the creature drives him, while Friend intends to capture a live Yeti and show it to the world. High in the mountains, the climbers find giant footprints in the snow.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Abominable Snowman (1957)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Nigel Kneale drew the story from real Yeti reports: footprints found by explorer Eric Shipton in 1951, prints seen by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on Everest in 1953, and an unsuccessful 1954 Yeti expedition sponsored by the Daily Mail.
- For the climax where Rollason meets the Yeti, Val Guest kept the creatures in silhouette and showed only the eyes, casting Fred Johnson as the Yeti for his "eyes of worldly understanding". Nigel Kneale had wanted the Yeti shown in full to make the point that they are gentle.
- Peter Cushing improvised with props so often on set that Val Guest's cast and crew called him "Props Cushing"; while examining the Yeti tooth he pulled these out totally unrehearsed, and the crew struggled to keep quiet.
- Although Nigel Kneale was the only credited screenwriter, Val Guest rewrote the script before production, cutting dialogue he thought unnecessary. Guest said you cannot have long speeches with people on screen unless it is something like a closing argument in a court case.
- The film's monastery set, which Nigel Kneale felt acted as a participant in the story rather than just a background, was later reused for the 1960s Fu Manchu films starring Christopher Lee.
- The screenplay added Dr Rollason's wife Helen, named after Peter Cushing's wife, at Cushing's request, so that his obsession with the Yeti could be seen from a woman's point of view.
- Members of a Buddhist temple in Guildford helped choreograph the monks' chanting for the monastery scenes, and most of the extras were waiters from Chinese restaurants in London.
