Hell Is Empty
1967 film directed by Bernard Knowles
Hell is Empty is a 1967 British crime film directed by Bernard Knowles and John Ainsworth, and starring Martine Carol, Anthony Steel, Shirley Anne Field and James Robertson Justice. It was written by Ainsworth from a screenplay by Knowles and George Fowler, based on the 1958 novel of the same title by J.F. Straker.
Premise
On the run from the police, thieves stumble upon an abandoned mansion on a deserted island.
Cast
Martine Carol as Martine Grant
Anthony Steel as Major Morton
James Robertson Justice as Angus McGee
Shirley Anne Field as Shirley McGee
Isa Miranda as Isa Grant
Carl Möhner as Carl Schultz
Robert Rietti as Robert Grant
Jess Conrad as Jess Shepherd
Anthony Dawson as Paul Grant
Catherine Schell as Catherine Grant (as Catherine von Schell)
Irene von Meyendorff as Helen McGee
Patricia Viterbo as Patricia
Anna Gaël as Anna
Eugene Deckers as counsel
Sheila Burrell as judge
Production
The film was made by Absorbing Films, which had been set up by Michael Eaton-Eland, a prominent London figure, who wanted to move into filmmaking. Filming started in December 1965 on the isle of Capri. It was Martine Carol's first movie in three years and one of a number of films Steel made in Europe.
Filmink called the movie "one of several thrillers made by Rank that were co-productions partly shot in Europe using international 'names'."
The film was shot in Italy and Yugoslavia. However several of the actors and technicians claimed they had not been paid. Filming came to a halt. Carol married Eaton-Eland in June 1966, at which stage the film had not been completed.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Hell Is Empty” as 1967 film directed by Bernard Knowles. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1967 film directed by Bernard Knowles. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q30753526. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1967, 1958, 1965 and 1966.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hell Is Empty” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.