Sir Christopher: From Jess Franco to Knighthood

Christopher Lee as the Count in Jess Franco's EL CONDE DRACULA (1970).


Can you name all the Jess Franco films in which Sir Christopher Lee appeared?


I was just made aware by a thread on the Latarnia Forums, along with some other internet reports, that the prolific British actor Christopher Lee, a veteran of over 250 films and TV shows, has been knighted by the Queen of England. The 87 year old Lee is still a busy working actor who is currently working on a film being lensed in the US. His roles in Hammer's HORROR OF DRACULA (1958), subsequent Hammer horrors and, more recently, the "Lord of the Rings" and Star Wars films, have made him an internationally regconized performer and horror/fantasy icon. Regular readers of this board will also remember him for the series of late 1960's Jess Franco-Harry Alan Towers films in which he starred, including two Fu Manchu films, EL CONDE DRACULA and THE BLOODY JUDGE.

My favorite Jess Franco-Lee collaboration is EUGENIE...THE STORY OF HER JOURNEY INTO PERVERSION (1970), where he gives an authoritative interpretation as Dolmance, the elegant De Sade cult leader, a role which the actor accepted at the last minute when the originally cast George Sanders dropped out. In any case, Lee almost always manages to deliver a solid performance, and many times a memorable one, in even the most difficult of circumstances.

Our congratulations to Sir Christopher Lee.