Listopher Lee
Regular readers may have spotted that I have been watching quite a few films with Christopher Lee in them over the last few months. This was all kicked off by me going to see Dracula (1958) on the big screen in Manchester last autumn, and it's still Lee-as-Dracula that I am truly interested in. But there are only so many Dracula films with Lee in them available, and I have watched all of those since that fatal night, in several cases repeatedly. Once they ran out, I had no choice but to keep myself going with a) other tellings of the Dracula story and b) other films starring Christopher Lee - ideally ones in which he played a character as similar to his Dracula as possible.
My personality inclines towards the systematic and the completist, so once I get into this sort of mind-set, I quickly start wanting to Make Lists, so that I can tick things off on them and see how far I have got into whatever fannish territory I am exploring. This is why I am still ticking off every classic horror film I see in my personal Horror Bible, even though I know it's meaningless. And I have been here before with Christopher Lee as an actor, too. Ten years ago, I printed out the full list of screen appearances from his IMDb page, and I have been faithfully ticking off each one as I saw it on that ever since as well. Here are two pages from the list - the front one, including the symbols I used to distinguish between films I had merely seen at some point, had seen in the cinema, and owned my own copy of, and a typical page from further into the list:
Click to embiggen, obvs, if you're mad enough.
Recently, I've been using that list quite intensively to choose new films to watch, and of course to tick them off when I have seen them. But after printing it out in 2004, I also began systematically blogging all of the films I watch on this journal in 2007. The obvious step forward, then, is to convert the list into digital form, meaning that it can easily be updated (unlike the printed copy) whenever Sir Lee makes a new film, and that I can link directly from the master list to every single one of my reviews (where they exist). Beautiful!
So that is what this post is for. Fleetingly, people will see it on their friends pages, but really it is a permanent master-list for me, to keep track of my Christopher Lee film-watching and to add in the links when I write up new reviews of his films. Times have changed enough to mean that I no longer care very much whether or not I own any of his films, since most of them can now be rented within a few days from Lovefilm or the like, so I have discarded that category from my original IMDB print-out. I do, however, still care about whether I've seen them on the big screen, since that is quite a different experience from the small, so that is indicated by the word 'CINEMA' in all-caps after the entry. Simple bold text = seen, link = reviewed, a number after an entry relates to second or subsequent reviews, and I've also separated them into decades for ease of reference.
2010s
2017 The Time War - Narrator (voice)
2017 The Hunting of the Snark - Narrator (voice)
2015 Angels in Notting Hill - The Boss / Mr. President (voice)
2015 Deus ex Machina 2 (Video Game) - The Programmer (voice)
2014 The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies - Saruman
2014 LEGO the Hobbit: The Video Game (Video Game) - Narrator / Saruman the White (voice)
2013 The Girl from Nagasaki - Old Officer Pinkerton
2014 Extraordinary Tales (segment "The Fall of the House of Usher") (voice)
2013 Night Train to Lisbon - Father Bartolomeu
2012 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Saruman
2012 Dark Shadows - Clarney CINEMA
2012 The Hunting of the Snark - Narrator
2011 Hugo - Monsieur Labisse
2011 The Wicker Tree - Old Gentleman
2011 The Resident - August
2011 Season of the Witch - Cardinal D'Ambroise
2010 Burke and Hare - Old Joseph
2010 The Heavy - Mr. Mason
2010 Alice in Wonderland - Jabberwocky (voice)
2000s
2009 Glorious 39 - Walter
2009 Triage (Shell Shock) - Joaquín Morales
2009 Boogie Woogie - Mr. Alfred Rhinegold
2009 Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (Video Game) - DiZ (English version, voice)
2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Count Dooku (voice)
2008 The Colour of Magic (TV Movie) - Death (voice)
2007 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Gentleman Ghost (scenes deleted)
2007 The Golden Compass - First High Councillor CINEMA
2007 Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+ (Video Game) - DiZ / Ansem the Wise (English version, voice)
2006 Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II - Rise of the Witch King (Video Game) - Saruman the White (voice)
2006 The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II (Video Game) - Saruman (voice)
2005 Kingdom Hearts II (Video Game) - DiZ / Ansem the Wise (English version, voice)
2005 Pope John Paul II (TV Movie) - Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski
2005 Corpse Bride - Pastor Galswells (voice) CINEMA
2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Dr. Wonka CINEMA
2005 Greyfriars Bobby - The Lord Provost
2005 Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith - Count Dooku CINEMA
2004 The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth (Video Game) - Saruman (voice)
2004 GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (Video Game) - Francisco Scaramanga (voice)
2004 EverQuest II (Video Game) - Lucan D'Lere (voice)
2004 The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (Video Game) - Saruman the White (voice)
2004 Crimson Rivers 2: Angels of the Apocalypse - Heinrich von Garten
2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Saruman (extended edition)
2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Video Game) - Saruman (voice)
2003 Freelancer (Video Game) (voice)
2002 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Saruman the White CINEMA
2002 Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones - Count Dooku / Darth Tyrans
2001 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Saruman CINEMA
2001 Conquest: Frontier Wars (Video Game) - Anvil / Headquarters (voice)
2001 Les redoutables (TV Series, 1 episode) - La mort
2000 Ghost Stories for Christmas (TV Mini-Series, 4 episodes) - M.R James (voice)
2000 In the Beginning (TV Movie) - Rameses I
2000 Gormenghast (TV Mini-Series, 4 episodes) - Flay
1990s
1999 The Rocky Interactive Horror Show (Video Game) - Narrator
1999 Sleepy Hollow - Burgomaster CINEMA
1997-1998 The New Adventures of Robin Hood (TV Series, 6 episodes) - Olwyn
1998 Jinnah - Mohammed Ali Jinnah
1998 Tale of the Mummy - Sir Richard Turkel
1997 The Odyssey (TV Series) - Tiresias
1997 Wyrd Sisters (TV Mini-Series) - Death (voice)
1997 Soul Music (TV Series) - Death (voice)
1997 Ivanhoe (TV Mini-Series, 4 episodes) - Lucas de Beaumanoir
1996 Welcome to the Discworld (Short) - Death
1996 The Stupids - Evil Sender
1996 Princess Alisea (TV Movie) - Azaret
1995 Tales of Mystery and Imagination (TV Series, 5 episodes) - The Host / Host / Prince Prospero
1995 Moses (TV Movie) - Ramses
1995 Street Gear (TV Series, 13 episodes) - Nick Dupont
1995 The Tomorrow People (TV Series, 5 episodes) - Sam Rees
1994 A Feast at Midnight - Raptor
1994 Police Academy: Mission to Moscow - Commandant Rakov
1994 Funny Man - Callum Chance
1994 Ghosts (Video Game) - Dr. Marcus Grimalkin / Himself
1993 Death Train (aka Detonator, TV Movie) - General Konstantin Benin
1992 Cyber Eden - Cedric
1992 Double Vision (TV Movie) - Mr. Bernard
1992 The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (TV Series, 1 episode) - Count Ottokar Graf Czerin
1992 Incident at Victoria Falls (TV Movie) - Sherlock Holmes
1992 Beauty and the Beast (Video) - Monsieur Renard (voice)
1991 Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady (TV Movie) - Sherlock Holmes
1991 Curse III: Blood Sacrifice - Doctor Pearson
1991 Shogun Warrior - King Philip
1990 The Rainbow Thief - Uncle Rudolf
1990 The Care of Time (TV Movie) - Karlis Zander
1990 Gremlins 2: The New Batch - Doctor Catheter
1990 L'avaro - Cardinale Spinosi
1990 Treasure Island (TV Movie) - Blind Pew
1980s
1989-1990 Around the World in 80 Days (TV Mini-Series, 3 episodes) - Stuart
1989 For Better or for Worse (Video) - Lazos
1989 Murder Story - Willard Hope
1989 Fall of the Eagles - Walter Strauss
1989 La révolution française (segment "Années Terribles, Les") - Sanson
1989 The Return of the Musketeers - Rochefort
1988 Olympus Force: The Key - Filly
1988 Mask of Murder - Chief Supt. Jonathan Rich
1988 Dark Mission: Evil Flowers - Luis Morel Stuart
1987 The Girl - Peter Storm
1987 Mio in the Land of Faraway - Kato
1986 The Disputation (TV Movie) - King James of Aragon
1986 Un métier du seigneur (TV Movie) - Fog
1986 Shaka Zulu (TV Mini-Series, Part I) - Lord Bathurst
1986 Jocks - President White
1985 Howling II: Stirba - Werewolf Bitch - Stefan Crosscoe
1984 The Rosebud Beach Hotel - Mr. Clifford King
1984 Faerie Tale Theatre (TV Series, 1 episode) - King Vladimir V
1984 The Far Pavilions (TV Mini-Series, parts 1-3) - Kaka-ji Rao
1983 New Magic (Short) - Mr. Kellar
1983 The Return of Captain Invincible - Mr. Midnight
1983 House of the Long Shadows - Corrigan
1982 The Last Unicorn - King Haggard (English, German version, voice)
1982 Charles & Diana: A Royal Love Story (TV Movie) - Prince Philip
1982 Massarati and the Brain (TV Movie) - Victor Leopold
1982 Safari 3000 - Count Borgia
1981 Steigler and Steigler - Dr. Carl Boxer
1981 Goliath Awaits (TV Movie) - John McKenzie
1981 An Eye for an Eye - Morgan Canfield
1981 Tales of the Haunted (TV Movie) - Host
1981 The Salamander - Prince Baldasar, the Director of Counterintelligence
1980 Charlie's Angels (TV Series, 1 episode) - Dale Woodman
1980 Once Upon a Spy (TV Movie) - Marcus Valorium
1980 Serial - Luckman Skull
1979 1941 - Capt. Wolfgang von Kleinschmidt
1970s
1979 Bear Island - Lechinski
1979 Captain America II: Death Too Soon (TV Movie) - Miguel
1979 Jaguar Lives! - Adam Caine
1979 Nutcracker Fantasy - Uncle Drosselmeyer / Street Singer / The Puppeteer / ... (voice)
1979 Arabian Adventure - Caliph Alquazar
1979 The Passage - The Gypsy
1978 The Pirate (TV Movie) - Samir Al Fay
1978 Caravans - Sardar Khan
1978 Circle of Iron - Zetan
1978 Return from Witch Mountain - Victor
1978 How the West Was Won (TV Mini-Series, pilot) - The Grand Duke
1977 Starship Invasions - Captain Rameses
1977 End of the World - Father Pergado / Zindar
1977 Airport '77 - Martin Wallace
1977 Meatcleaver Massacre - On-Screen Narrator
1976 The Keeper - The Keeper
1976 Dracula and Son - Dracula père / Le prince des Ténèbres / Prince of Darkness
1976 Whispering Death - Bill
1976 To the Devil a Daughter - Father Michael
1976 The Diamond Mercenaries - Major Chilton
1975 Diagnosis: Murder - Dr. Stephen Hayward
1975 Space: 1999 (TV Series, 1 episode) - Captain Zandor
1975 The Butcher, the Star and the Orphan - Satanus / Van Krig
1974 The Man with the Golden Gun - Scaramanga
1974 The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge - Rochefort
1973 Death Line - Stratton-Villiers, MI5
1973 The Three Musketeers - Rochefort
1973 The Wicker Man - Lord Summerisle, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. CINEMA x 5 + INTERACTIVE SCREENING x 2.
1973 The Satanic Rites of Dracula - Count Dracula, 2
1973 Great Mysteries (TV Series, 1 episode) - Arnaud
1973 Poor Devil (TV Movie) - Lucifer
1973 The Creeping Flesh - James Hildern
1973 Dark Places - Dr. Ian Mandeville
1973 Nothing But the Night - Colonel Charles Bingham, 2. CINEMA
1972 Horror Express - Prof. Sir Alexander Saxton CINEMA
1972 Dracula A.D. 1972 - Count Dracula; 2; 3, 4 CINEMA (well, sort of - big screen, anyway)
1971 Hannie Caulder - Bailey
1971 I, Monster - Dr. Charles Marlowe / Edward Blake
1971 The House That Dripped Blood (segment 3) - John Reid
1970 Umbracle - The Man
1970 Scars of Dracula - Dracula
1970 The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes - Mycroft Holmes
1970 Julius Caesar - Artemidorus
1970 Taste the Blood of Dracula - Dracula
1970 One More Time - Dracula (uncredited)
1970 Count Dracula - Count Dracula
1970 Eugenie... the Story of Her Journey Into Perversion - Dolmance
1970 The Bloody Judge - Judge Jeffries
1970 Scream and Scream Again - Fremont
1960s
1969 The Magic Christian - Ship's Vampire
1969 The Oblong Box - Dr. Neuhartt
1969 Sax Rohmer's The Castle of Fu Manchu - Fu Manchu
1967-1969 The Avengers (TV Series, 2 episodes) - Colonel Mannering / Professor Frank N.Stone
1968 Curse of the Crimson Altar - Morley
1968 Dracula Has Risen from the Grave - Dracula, 2, 3
1968 The Blood of Fu Manchu - Fu Manchu
1968 Eve - Colonel Stuart
1968 The Devil Rides Out - Duc de Richleau CINEMA
1967 The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism - Count Frederic Regula / Graf von Andomai
1967 Five Golden Dragons - Dragon 4
1967 Theatre of Death - Philippe Darvas
1967 The Vengeance of Fu Manchu - Dr. Fu Manchu
1967 Night of the Big Heat - Godfrey Hanson
1966 The Brides of Fu Manchu - Fu Manchu
1966 Circus of Fear - Gregor
1966 Rasputin: The Mad Monk - Grigori Rasputin
1966 Dracula: Prince of Darkness - Count Dracula; 2, 3, 4
1965 The Face of Fu Manchu - Fu Manchu
1965 The Skull - Sir Matthew Phillips
1965 Ten Little Indians - Mr. U. N. Owen (voice, uncredited)
1965 She - Billali
1965 Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (segment 4) - Franklyn Marsh
1964 The Gorgon - Prof. Karl Meister
1964 Castle of the Living Dead - Count Drago
1964 Crypt of the Vampire - Count Ludwig Karnstein
1964 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (TV Series, 1 episode) - Karl Jorla
1964 The Devil-Ship Pirates - Captain Robeles
1963 The Whip and the Body - Kurt Menliff
1963 The Castle of Terror - Erich
1963 Katarsis - Mephistoles
1962 Stranglehold
1962 Valley of Fear / Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace - Sherlock Holmes
1962 The Devil's Agent - Baron Ferdi von Staub
1962 The Pirates of Blood River - Captain LaRoche
1962 Secret of the Red Orchid - Captain Allerman
1961 Hercules in the Haunted World - King Lico (Licos)
1961 Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond (TV Series, 1 episode) - Wilhelm Reitlinger
1961 The Devil's Daffodil - Ling Chu
1961 Taste of Fear - Doctor Pierre Gerrard
1961 The Terror of the Tongs - Chung King
1960 The Hands of Orlac - Nero the magician
1960 The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll - Paul Allen
1960 Beat Girl - Kenny King
1960 The City of the Dead - Alan Driscoll, 2
1960 Too Hot to Handle - Novak
1950s
1959 Tempi duri per i vampiri (Uncle Was a Vampire) - Baron Rodrigo da Frankurten
1959 Tales of the Vikings (TV Series, 1 episode) - Lord Roderick
1959 The Mummy - The Mummy / Kharis, 2, CINEMA
1959 Hot Money Girl - Jaeger
1959 The Man Who Could Cheat Death - Dr. Pierre Gerrard
1959 The Hound of the Baskervilles - Sir Henry
1959 William Tell (TV Series, 1 episode) - Prince Erik
1958 Corridors of Blood - Resurrection Joe
1958 Battle of the V-1 - Brunner
1958 Dracula - Count Dracula; 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, CINEMA x 5
1958 White Hunter (TV Series, 1 episode) - Mark Caldwell
1958 A Tale of Two Cities - Marquis St. Evremonde
1958 Ivanhoe (TV Series, 1 episode) - Sir Otto from the Rhine
1958 O.S.S. (TV Series, 1 episode) - Dessinger
1957 The Truth About Women - Francois Thiers
1957 Bitter Victory - Sergeant Barney
1957 The Gay Cavalier (TV Series, 1 episode) - Colonel Jeffries
1957 Manuela - Voice (voice, uncredited)
1957 The Curse of Frankenstein - The Creature; 2, 3, CINEMA x 2.
1957 Fortune Is a Woman / She Played with Fire - Charles Highbury
1957 The Traitor - Doctor Neumann
1956-1957 Assignment Foreign Legion (TV Series, 2 episodes) - Rodin the Gardener / El Abba
1957 Ill Met by Moonlight - German officer at dentists
1956-1957 The Errol Flynn Theatre (TV Series, 4 episodes) - The Visitant / Compte de Merret / Maurice Gabet / Count Henri de Dairval
1956 Sailor of Fortune (TV Series, 2 episodes) - Yusif / Carnot
1956 The Adventures of Aggie (TV Series, 1 episode) - Inspector John Hollis
1953-1956 Rheingold Theatre (TV Series, 16 episodes) - multiple characters
1956 Beyond Mombasa - Gil Rossi
1956 The Battle of the River Plate - Manolo
1956 Port Afrique - Franz Vermes
1956 The Scarlet Pimpernel (TV Series, 1 episode) - Louis
1956 Alexander the Great - Nectenabus (voice, uncredited)
1956 Private's Progress - Major Schultz (uncredited)
1956 Chevron Hall of Stars (TV Series, 1 episode) - Governor
1955 Moby Dick Rehearsed (TV Movie) - A Stage Manager / Flask
1955 Storm Over the Nile - Karaga Pasha
1955 Alias John Preston - John Preston
1955 The Cockleshell Heroes - Submarine Commander Alan Grieves
1954-1955 Tales of Hans Anderson (TV Series, 4 episodes) - Olle / Student / Old man / Emperor of China
1955 The Vise (TV Series, 3 episodes) - Edgar Brookes / Richard Martell / Larry Spence
1955 Police Dog - Johnny, a constable
1955 The Dark Avenger - French Patrol Captain at Tavern (uncredited)
1955 That Lady - Captain
1955 Crossroads (Short) - Harry Cooper
1954 Destination Milan - Svenson
1954 Colonel March of Scotland Yard (TV Series, 1 episode) - Monsieur Jean-Pierre
1954 The Mirror and Markheim (Short) - Visitant
1953 Innocents in Paris - Lieutenant Whitlock (uncredited)
1952 Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales (Short)
1952 Moulin Rouge - Georges Seurat (uncredited)
1952 Babes in Bagdad - Slave dealer
1952 Paul Temple Returns - Sir Felix Raybourne
1952 Top Secret - Russian Agent (uncredited)
1952 The Crimson Pirate - Joseph - Military Attaché
1951 Valley of Eagles - Det. Holt
1951 Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. - Spanish Captain
1950 Prelude to Fame - Newsman
1950 They Were Not Divided - Chris Lewis
1940s
1949 Trottie True - Hon. Bongo Icklesham
1948 Scott of the Antarctic - Bernard Day
1948 Saraband for Dead Lovers - Duke Anthony von Wolfenbuttel (scenes deleted)
1948 My Brother's Keeper - Second Constable (scenes deleted)
1948 Penny and the Pownall Case - Jonathan Blair
1948 A Song for Tomorrow - Auguste
1948 Hamlet - Spear Carrier (uncredited)
1948 One Night with You - Pirelli's Assistant
1948 Corridor of Mirrors - Charles
1946-1947 Kaleidoscope (TV Series, 2 episodes)
Now that I have updated and compiled the list, I am in a position to report that I have seen just over a quarter of Christopher Lee's screen appearances. If you walked up to Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman or even Kevin 'six degrees of separation' Bacon and gushed about how you were such a huge fans of theirs, and had seen a quarter of their films, an awkward silence would probably ensue, because what you would be saying was that you had watched 17, 16 and 20 of their films respectively. They would probably conclude that you weren't really that big of a fan. But with Christopher Lee, the quarter-point comes at 70 films - more than Brad and Nicole (though not Kevin) have yet made. I have actually seen 75.
That said, I'm pretty clear that it would be a really bad idea to attempt completion on this list. Lee has appeared in a lot of films I really love, particularly in the two decades between 1957 and 1976 (as you can see from the concentration of bolded text around that portion of the list), but he has also appeared in a lot of utter tripe, too much of which I have already found myself watching recently in my quest for something - anything - to scratch the Dracula itch. I also don't much like war-films or thrillers, both of which belong to a category of films which I disparagingly dub 'men with guns', and he didn't half make a lot of those in the 1940s and '50s.
That said, there is one sub-category of his films which it is worth aiming for completion on, and that is the ones in which he co-starred with Peter Cushing. They are not all classic horror films, but the combination guarantees a much closer match to my personal preferences than Lee on his own does, and even when they aren't horror films, you are still getting to see an iconic screen pairing developing and maturing. With that in mind, I was careful to grab a complete list of their screen pairings with someone recently posted to a community I'm a member of on Facebook, and that follows below with the same basic mark-up as before of bold = seen, though without linking to the relevant reviews, because those are in the above list already.
Lee and Cushing's joint screen appearances
1. Hamlet (1948) (Lee uncredited)
2. Moulin Rouge (1952) (Lee uncredited)
3. The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) (Hammer)
4. Dracula (1958) (Hammer)
5. Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) (Hammer)
6. The Mummy (1959) (Hammer)
7. The Devil's Agent (1961) (Cushing scenes deleted)
8. The Gorgon (1964) (Hammer)
9. Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965)
10. She (1965) (Hammer)
11. The Skull (1965)
12. Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) (Hammer) (Cushing scenes pulled from Dracula '58 uncredited)
13. Night of the Big Heat (1967)
14. Scream and Scream Again (1969)
15. The House That Dripped Blood (1970)
16. One More Time (1970) (both uncredited)
17. I, Monster (1971)
18. Nothing But the Night (1972)
19. Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972) (Hammer)
20. The Creeping Flesh (1973)
21. Horror Express (1973)
22. Satanic Rites of Dracula (1974) (Hammer)
23. Arabian Adventure (1979)
24. House of the Long Shadows (1983)
So I am actually within reach of completing that list, with only 7 6 5 3 out of 24 entries (some of them rather spurious) still to go. Now that one is worth shooting for!
Click here if you would like view this entry in light text on a dark background.
My personality inclines towards the systematic and the completist, so once I get into this sort of mind-set, I quickly start wanting to Make Lists, so that I can tick things off on them and see how far I have got into whatever fannish territory I am exploring. This is why I am still ticking off every classic horror film I see in my personal Horror Bible, even though I know it's meaningless. And I have been here before with Christopher Lee as an actor, too. Ten years ago, I printed out the full list of screen appearances from his IMDb page, and I have been faithfully ticking off each one as I saw it on that ever since as well. Here are two pages from the list - the front one, including the symbols I used to distinguish between films I had merely seen at some point, had seen in the cinema, and owned my own copy of, and a typical page from further into the list:
Click to embiggen, obvs, if you're mad enough.
Recently, I've been using that list quite intensively to choose new films to watch, and of course to tick them off when I have seen them. But after printing it out in 2004, I also began systematically blogging all of the films I watch on this journal in 2007. The obvious step forward, then, is to convert the list into digital form, meaning that it can easily be updated (unlike the printed copy) whenever Sir Lee makes a new film, and that I can link directly from the master list to every single one of my reviews (where they exist). Beautiful!
So that is what this post is for. Fleetingly, people will see it on their friends pages, but really it is a permanent master-list for me, to keep track of my Christopher Lee film-watching and to add in the links when I write up new reviews of his films. Times have changed enough to mean that I no longer care very much whether or not I own any of his films, since most of them can now be rented within a few days from Lovefilm or the like, so I have discarded that category from my original IMDB print-out. I do, however, still care about whether I've seen them on the big screen, since that is quite a different experience from the small, so that is indicated by the word 'CINEMA' in all-caps after the entry. Simple bold text = seen, link = reviewed, a number after an entry relates to second or subsequent reviews, and I've also separated them into decades for ease of reference.
2010s
2017 The Time War - Narrator (voice)
2017 The Hunting of the Snark - Narrator (voice)
2015 Angels in Notting Hill - The Boss / Mr. President (voice)
2015 Deus ex Machina 2 (Video Game) - The Programmer (voice)
2014 The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies - Saruman
2014 LEGO the Hobbit: The Video Game (Video Game) - Narrator / Saruman the White (voice)
2013 The Girl from Nagasaki - Old Officer Pinkerton
2014 Extraordinary Tales (segment "The Fall of the House of Usher") (voice)
2013 Night Train to Lisbon - Father Bartolomeu
2012 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Saruman
2012 Dark Shadows - Clarney CINEMA
2012 The Hunting of the Snark - Narrator
2011 Hugo - Monsieur Labisse
2011 The Wicker Tree - Old Gentleman
2011 The Resident - August
2011 Season of the Witch - Cardinal D'Ambroise
2010 Burke and Hare - Old Joseph
2010 The Heavy - Mr. Mason
2010 Alice in Wonderland - Jabberwocky (voice)
2000s
2009 Glorious 39 - Walter
2009 Triage (Shell Shock) - Joaquín Morales
2009 Boogie Woogie - Mr. Alfred Rhinegold
2009 Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (Video Game) - DiZ (English version, voice)
2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Count Dooku (voice)
2008 The Colour of Magic (TV Movie) - Death (voice)
2007 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Gentleman Ghost (scenes deleted)
2007 The Golden Compass - First High Councillor CINEMA
2007 Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+ (Video Game) - DiZ / Ansem the Wise (English version, voice)
2006 Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II - Rise of the Witch King (Video Game) - Saruman the White (voice)
2006 The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II (Video Game) - Saruman (voice)
2005 Kingdom Hearts II (Video Game) - DiZ / Ansem the Wise (English version, voice)
2005 Pope John Paul II (TV Movie) - Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski
2005 Corpse Bride - Pastor Galswells (voice) CINEMA
2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Dr. Wonka CINEMA
2005 Greyfriars Bobby - The Lord Provost
2005 Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith - Count Dooku CINEMA
2004 The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth (Video Game) - Saruman (voice)
2004 GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (Video Game) - Francisco Scaramanga (voice)
2004 EverQuest II (Video Game) - Lucan D'Lere (voice)
2004 The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (Video Game) - Saruman the White (voice)
2004 Crimson Rivers 2: Angels of the Apocalypse - Heinrich von Garten
2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Saruman (extended edition)
2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Video Game) - Saruman (voice)
2003 Freelancer (Video Game) (voice)
2002 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Saruman the White CINEMA
2002 Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones - Count Dooku / Darth Tyrans
2001 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Saruman CINEMA
2001 Conquest: Frontier Wars (Video Game) - Anvil / Headquarters (voice)
2001 Les redoutables (TV Series, 1 episode) - La mort
2000 Ghost Stories for Christmas (TV Mini-Series, 4 episodes) - M.R James (voice)
2000 In the Beginning (TV Movie) - Rameses I
2000 Gormenghast (TV Mini-Series, 4 episodes) - Flay
1990s
1999 The Rocky Interactive Horror Show (Video Game) - Narrator
1999 Sleepy Hollow - Burgomaster CINEMA
1997-1998 The New Adventures of Robin Hood (TV Series, 6 episodes) - Olwyn
1998 Jinnah - Mohammed Ali Jinnah
1998 Tale of the Mummy - Sir Richard Turkel
1997 The Odyssey (TV Series) - Tiresias
1997 Wyrd Sisters (TV Mini-Series) - Death (voice)
1997 Soul Music (TV Series) - Death (voice)
1997 Ivanhoe (TV Mini-Series, 4 episodes) - Lucas de Beaumanoir
1996 Welcome to the Discworld (Short) - Death
1996 The Stupids - Evil Sender
1996 Princess Alisea (TV Movie) - Azaret
1995 Tales of Mystery and Imagination (TV Series, 5 episodes) - The Host / Host / Prince Prospero
1995 Moses (TV Movie) - Ramses
1995 Street Gear (TV Series, 13 episodes) - Nick Dupont
1995 The Tomorrow People (TV Series, 5 episodes) - Sam Rees
1994 A Feast at Midnight - Raptor
1994 Police Academy: Mission to Moscow - Commandant Rakov
1994 Funny Man - Callum Chance
1994 Ghosts (Video Game) - Dr. Marcus Grimalkin / Himself
1993 Death Train (aka Detonator, TV Movie) - General Konstantin Benin
1992 Cyber Eden - Cedric
1992 Double Vision (TV Movie) - Mr. Bernard
1992 The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (TV Series, 1 episode) - Count Ottokar Graf Czerin
1992 Incident at Victoria Falls (TV Movie) - Sherlock Holmes
1992 Beauty and the Beast (Video) - Monsieur Renard (voice)
1991 Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady (TV Movie) - Sherlock Holmes
1991 Curse III: Blood Sacrifice - Doctor Pearson
1991 Shogun Warrior - King Philip
1990 The Rainbow Thief - Uncle Rudolf
1990 The Care of Time (TV Movie) - Karlis Zander
1990 Gremlins 2: The New Batch - Doctor Catheter
1990 L'avaro - Cardinale Spinosi
1990 Treasure Island (TV Movie) - Blind Pew
1980s
1989-1990 Around the World in 80 Days (TV Mini-Series, 3 episodes) - Stuart
1989 For Better or for Worse (Video) - Lazos
1989 Murder Story - Willard Hope
1989 Fall of the Eagles - Walter Strauss
1989 La révolution française (segment "Années Terribles, Les") - Sanson
1989 The Return of the Musketeers - Rochefort
1988 Olympus Force: The Key - Filly
1988 Mask of Murder - Chief Supt. Jonathan Rich
1988 Dark Mission: Evil Flowers - Luis Morel Stuart
1987 The Girl - Peter Storm
1987 Mio in the Land of Faraway - Kato
1986 The Disputation (TV Movie) - King James of Aragon
1986 Un métier du seigneur (TV Movie) - Fog
1986 Shaka Zulu (TV Mini-Series, Part I) - Lord Bathurst
1986 Jocks - President White
1985 Howling II: Stirba - Werewolf Bitch - Stefan Crosscoe
1984 The Rosebud Beach Hotel - Mr. Clifford King
1984 Faerie Tale Theatre (TV Series, 1 episode) - King Vladimir V
1984 The Far Pavilions (TV Mini-Series, parts 1-3) - Kaka-ji Rao
1983 New Magic (Short) - Mr. Kellar
1983 The Return of Captain Invincible - Mr. Midnight
1983 House of the Long Shadows - Corrigan
1982 The Last Unicorn - King Haggard (English, German version, voice)
1982 Charles & Diana: A Royal Love Story (TV Movie) - Prince Philip
1982 Massarati and the Brain (TV Movie) - Victor Leopold
1982 Safari 3000 - Count Borgia
1981 Steigler and Steigler - Dr. Carl Boxer
1981 Goliath Awaits (TV Movie) - John McKenzie
1981 An Eye for an Eye - Morgan Canfield
1981 Tales of the Haunted (TV Movie) - Host
1981 The Salamander - Prince Baldasar, the Director of Counterintelligence
1980 Charlie's Angels (TV Series, 1 episode) - Dale Woodman
1980 Once Upon a Spy (TV Movie) - Marcus Valorium
1980 Serial - Luckman Skull
1979 1941 - Capt. Wolfgang von Kleinschmidt
1970s
1979 Bear Island - Lechinski
1979 Captain America II: Death Too Soon (TV Movie) - Miguel
1979 Jaguar Lives! - Adam Caine
1979 Nutcracker Fantasy - Uncle Drosselmeyer / Street Singer / The Puppeteer / ... (voice)
1979 Arabian Adventure - Caliph Alquazar
1979 The Passage - The Gypsy
1978 The Pirate (TV Movie) - Samir Al Fay
1978 Caravans - Sardar Khan
1978 Circle of Iron - Zetan
1978 Return from Witch Mountain - Victor
1978 How the West Was Won (TV Mini-Series, pilot) - The Grand Duke
1977 Starship Invasions - Captain Rameses
1977 End of the World - Father Pergado / Zindar
1977 Airport '77 - Martin Wallace
1977 Meatcleaver Massacre - On-Screen Narrator
1976 The Keeper - The Keeper
1976 Dracula and Son - Dracula père / Le prince des Ténèbres / Prince of Darkness
1976 Whispering Death - Bill
1976 To the Devil a Daughter - Father Michael
1976 The Diamond Mercenaries - Major Chilton
1975 Diagnosis: Murder - Dr. Stephen Hayward
1975 Space: 1999 (TV Series, 1 episode) - Captain Zandor
1975 The Butcher, the Star and the Orphan - Satanus / Van Krig
1974 The Man with the Golden Gun - Scaramanga
1974 The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge - Rochefort
1973 Death Line - Stratton-Villiers, MI5
1973 The Three Musketeers - Rochefort
1973 The Wicker Man - Lord Summerisle, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. CINEMA x 5 + INTERACTIVE SCREENING x 2.
1973 The Satanic Rites of Dracula - Count Dracula, 2
1973 Great Mysteries (TV Series, 1 episode) - Arnaud
1973 Poor Devil (TV Movie) - Lucifer
1973 The Creeping Flesh - James Hildern
1973 Dark Places - Dr. Ian Mandeville
1973 Nothing But the Night - Colonel Charles Bingham, 2. CINEMA
1972 Horror Express - Prof. Sir Alexander Saxton CINEMA
1972 Dracula A.D. 1972 - Count Dracula; 2; 3, 4 CINEMA (well, sort of - big screen, anyway)
1971 Hannie Caulder - Bailey
1971 I, Monster - Dr. Charles Marlowe / Edward Blake
1971 The House That Dripped Blood (segment 3) - John Reid
1970 Umbracle - The Man
1970 Scars of Dracula - Dracula
1970 The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes - Mycroft Holmes
1970 Julius Caesar - Artemidorus
1970 Taste the Blood of Dracula - Dracula
1970 One More Time - Dracula (uncredited)
1970 Count Dracula - Count Dracula
1970 Eugenie... the Story of Her Journey Into Perversion - Dolmance
1970 The Bloody Judge - Judge Jeffries
1970 Scream and Scream Again - Fremont
1960s
1969 The Magic Christian - Ship's Vampire
1969 The Oblong Box - Dr. Neuhartt
1969 Sax Rohmer's The Castle of Fu Manchu - Fu Manchu
1967-1969 The Avengers (TV Series, 2 episodes) - Colonel Mannering / Professor Frank N.Stone
1968 Curse of the Crimson Altar - Morley
1968 Dracula Has Risen from the Grave - Dracula, 2, 3
1968 The Blood of Fu Manchu - Fu Manchu
1968 Eve - Colonel Stuart
1968 The Devil Rides Out - Duc de Richleau CINEMA
1967 The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism - Count Frederic Regula / Graf von Andomai
1967 Five Golden Dragons - Dragon 4
1967 Theatre of Death - Philippe Darvas
1967 The Vengeance of Fu Manchu - Dr. Fu Manchu
1967 Night of the Big Heat - Godfrey Hanson
1966 The Brides of Fu Manchu - Fu Manchu
1966 Circus of Fear - Gregor
1966 Rasputin: The Mad Monk - Grigori Rasputin
1966 Dracula: Prince of Darkness - Count Dracula; 2, 3, 4
1965 The Face of Fu Manchu - Fu Manchu
1965 The Skull - Sir Matthew Phillips
1965 Ten Little Indians - Mr. U. N. Owen (voice, uncredited)
1965 She - Billali
1965 Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (segment 4) - Franklyn Marsh
1964 The Gorgon - Prof. Karl Meister
1964 Castle of the Living Dead - Count Drago
1964 Crypt of the Vampire - Count Ludwig Karnstein
1964 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (TV Series, 1 episode) - Karl Jorla
1964 The Devil-Ship Pirates - Captain Robeles
1963 The Whip and the Body - Kurt Menliff
1963 The Castle of Terror - Erich
1963 Katarsis - Mephistoles
1962 Stranglehold
1962 Valley of Fear / Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace - Sherlock Holmes
1962 The Devil's Agent - Baron Ferdi von Staub
1962 The Pirates of Blood River - Captain LaRoche
1962 Secret of the Red Orchid - Captain Allerman
1961 Hercules in the Haunted World - King Lico (Licos)
1961 Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond (TV Series, 1 episode) - Wilhelm Reitlinger
1961 The Devil's Daffodil - Ling Chu
1961 Taste of Fear - Doctor Pierre Gerrard
1961 The Terror of the Tongs - Chung King
1960 The Hands of Orlac - Nero the magician
1960 The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll - Paul Allen
1960 Beat Girl - Kenny King
1960 The City of the Dead - Alan Driscoll, 2
1960 Too Hot to Handle - Novak
1950s
1959 Tempi duri per i vampiri (Uncle Was a Vampire) - Baron Rodrigo da Frankurten
1959 Tales of the Vikings (TV Series, 1 episode) - Lord Roderick
1959 The Mummy - The Mummy / Kharis, 2, CINEMA
1959 Hot Money Girl - Jaeger
1959 The Man Who Could Cheat Death - Dr. Pierre Gerrard
1959 The Hound of the Baskervilles - Sir Henry
1959 William Tell (TV Series, 1 episode) - Prince Erik
1958 Corridors of Blood - Resurrection Joe
1958 Battle of the V-1 - Brunner
1958 Dracula - Count Dracula; 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, CINEMA x 5
1958 White Hunter (TV Series, 1 episode) - Mark Caldwell
1958 A Tale of Two Cities - Marquis St. Evremonde
1958 Ivanhoe (TV Series, 1 episode) - Sir Otto from the Rhine
1958 O.S.S. (TV Series, 1 episode) - Dessinger
1957 The Truth About Women - Francois Thiers
1957 Bitter Victory - Sergeant Barney
1957 The Gay Cavalier (TV Series, 1 episode) - Colonel Jeffries
1957 Manuela - Voice (voice, uncredited)
1957 The Curse of Frankenstein - The Creature; 2, 3, CINEMA x 2.
1957 Fortune Is a Woman / She Played with Fire - Charles Highbury
1957 The Traitor - Doctor Neumann
1956-1957 Assignment Foreign Legion (TV Series, 2 episodes) - Rodin the Gardener / El Abba
1957 Ill Met by Moonlight - German officer at dentists
1956-1957 The Errol Flynn Theatre (TV Series, 4 episodes) - The Visitant / Compte de Merret / Maurice Gabet / Count Henri de Dairval
1956 Sailor of Fortune (TV Series, 2 episodes) - Yusif / Carnot
1956 The Adventures of Aggie (TV Series, 1 episode) - Inspector John Hollis
1953-1956 Rheingold Theatre (TV Series, 16 episodes) - multiple characters
1956 Beyond Mombasa - Gil Rossi
1956 The Battle of the River Plate - Manolo
1956 Port Afrique - Franz Vermes
1956 The Scarlet Pimpernel (TV Series, 1 episode) - Louis
1956 Alexander the Great - Nectenabus (voice, uncredited)
1956 Private's Progress - Major Schultz (uncredited)
1956 Chevron Hall of Stars (TV Series, 1 episode) - Governor
1955 Moby Dick Rehearsed (TV Movie) - A Stage Manager / Flask
1955 Storm Over the Nile - Karaga Pasha
1955 Alias John Preston - John Preston
1955 The Cockleshell Heroes - Submarine Commander Alan Grieves
1954-1955 Tales of Hans Anderson (TV Series, 4 episodes) - Olle / Student / Old man / Emperor of China
1955 The Vise (TV Series, 3 episodes) - Edgar Brookes / Richard Martell / Larry Spence
1955 Police Dog - Johnny, a constable
1955 The Dark Avenger - French Patrol Captain at Tavern (uncredited)
1955 That Lady - Captain
1955 Crossroads (Short) - Harry Cooper
1954 Destination Milan - Svenson
1954 Colonel March of Scotland Yard (TV Series, 1 episode) - Monsieur Jean-Pierre
1954 The Mirror and Markheim (Short) - Visitant
1953 Innocents in Paris - Lieutenant Whitlock (uncredited)
1952 Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales (Short)
1952 Moulin Rouge - Georges Seurat (uncredited)
1952 Babes in Bagdad - Slave dealer
1952 Paul Temple Returns - Sir Felix Raybourne
1952 Top Secret - Russian Agent (uncredited)
1952 The Crimson Pirate - Joseph - Military Attaché
1951 Valley of Eagles - Det. Holt
1951 Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. - Spanish Captain
1950 Prelude to Fame - Newsman
1950 They Were Not Divided - Chris Lewis
1940s
1949 Trottie True - Hon. Bongo Icklesham
1948 Scott of the Antarctic - Bernard Day
1948 Saraband for Dead Lovers - Duke Anthony von Wolfenbuttel (scenes deleted)
1948 My Brother's Keeper - Second Constable (scenes deleted)
1948 Penny and the Pownall Case - Jonathan Blair
1948 A Song for Tomorrow - Auguste
1948 Hamlet - Spear Carrier (uncredited)
1948 One Night with You - Pirelli's Assistant
1948 Corridor of Mirrors - Charles
1946-1947 Kaleidoscope (TV Series, 2 episodes)
Now that I have updated and compiled the list, I am in a position to report that I have seen just over a quarter of Christopher Lee's screen appearances. If you walked up to Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman or even Kevin 'six degrees of separation' Bacon and gushed about how you were such a huge fans of theirs, and had seen a quarter of their films, an awkward silence would probably ensue, because what you would be saying was that you had watched 17, 16 and 20 of their films respectively. They would probably conclude that you weren't really that big of a fan. But with Christopher Lee, the quarter-point comes at 70 films - more than Brad and Nicole (though not Kevin) have yet made. I have actually seen 75.
That said, I'm pretty clear that it would be a really bad idea to attempt completion on this list. Lee has appeared in a lot of films I really love, particularly in the two decades between 1957 and 1976 (as you can see from the concentration of bolded text around that portion of the list), but he has also appeared in a lot of utter tripe, too much of which I have already found myself watching recently in my quest for something - anything - to scratch the Dracula itch. I also don't much like war-films or thrillers, both of which belong to a category of films which I disparagingly dub 'men with guns', and he didn't half make a lot of those in the 1940s and '50s.
That said, there is one sub-category of his films which it is worth aiming for completion on, and that is the ones in which he co-starred with Peter Cushing. They are not all classic horror films, but the combination guarantees a much closer match to my personal preferences than Lee on his own does, and even when they aren't horror films, you are still getting to see an iconic screen pairing developing and maturing. With that in mind, I was careful to grab a complete list of their screen pairings with someone recently posted to a community I'm a member of on Facebook, and that follows below with the same basic mark-up as before of bold = seen, though without linking to the relevant reviews, because those are in the above list already.
Lee and Cushing's joint screen appearances
1. Hamlet (1948) (Lee uncredited)
2. Moulin Rouge (1952) (Lee uncredited)
3. The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) (Hammer)
4. Dracula (1958) (Hammer)
5. Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) (Hammer)
6. The Mummy (1959) (Hammer)
7. The Devil's Agent (1961) (Cushing scenes deleted)
8. The Gorgon (1964) (Hammer)
9. Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965)
10. She (1965) (Hammer)
11. The Skull (1965)
12. Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) (Hammer) (Cushing scenes pulled from Dracula '58 uncredited)
13. Night of the Big Heat (1967)
14. Scream and Scream Again (1969)
15. The House That Dripped Blood (1970)
16. One More Time (1970) (both uncredited)
17. I, Monster (1971)
18. Nothing But the Night (1972)
19. Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972) (Hammer)
20. The Creeping Flesh (1973)
21. Horror Express (1973)
22. Satanic Rites of Dracula (1974) (Hammer)
23. Arabian Adventure (1979)
24. House of the Long Shadows (1983)
So I am actually within reach of completing that list, with only 7 6 5 3 out of 24 entries (some of them rather spurious) still to go. Now that one is worth shooting for!
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