Sir Christopher Lee was an iconic actor who defined the role of Dracula. As well as a distinguished actor , known for his immense charisma, imposing stature, beard which he grew in his later years and deeply melodic basso voice, he was also a classically trained singer and an intellectual who was extremely well-read. The star of the Hammer company's horror films of the sixties and the protagonist of a distinguished career that spans the 007, Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings franchises. One of the most prolific actors of all time, of towering height and slender frame, he has acted in nearly 230 films, although he later admitted that his film work was not always chosen on quality but often on whether they could support his family. His peak years of productivity were 1955 and 1970, as Lee starred in nine films in both years. Follows fresh interviews, with notorious directors: Joe Dante, Peter Jackson, John Landis, Paul Maslansky; prestigious actresses: Caroline Munro, Harriet Walter; as well as archival footage, and various animation techniques like marionation to recreate one of the world's leading actors on screen, bringing them back to life through innovative methods. This is the story we know well, but his way could have become the script for a movie full of twists. This documentary will show us his films and the unlikely story of his aristocratic roots. In fact, it seems his family tree extends to the time of Charlemagne and Frederick Barbarossa. And going through his war experiences in the Finnish and British armies and his adventures as a Nazi hunter spy in the post-war period. As he was one of the few people to volunteer to fight on the Finnish side in the Russo-Finnish winter war in 1939-40, though he and his fellow British volunteers were in Finland only for about two weeks and were kept well away from direct combat. He also had some eccentricities, according to his friends, he had a somewhat eccentric hobby: he is fascinated by public executioners and knows the names of every official executioner England has had since the middle of the 15th century.
His first film work was with Terence Young and working for the powerful company Rank. Later on working for Hammer Production with its best fimmaker, Terence Fisher, and achieving great success with The Curse of Frankenstein. In his autobiography, he relates his first meeting with Peter Cushing during production of La maldición de Frankenstein (1957), in which he played the monster. Lee stormed into a dressing room where Cushing was sitting and angrily shouted "I haven't got any lines!". Cushing replied, "You're lucky; I've read the script". He often worked with his off-screen inseparable friend Peter Cushing usually playing deadly enemies on-screen. After Cushing died, Lee said in an interview that he never felt closer and more open to any of his other friends than he felt to Peter. He was originally offered the role of Grand Moff Tarkin in La guerra de las galaxias (1977), which he turned down. The role eventually went to his good friend Peter Cushing. And he appeared in The Wicker Man (1973) for free, Lee named this as his favorite film of his own.
Being a fervent admirer of Tolkien, whose Lord of the Rings, he read every year whom he managed to meet and got the role of his life in the film: Saruman. As a veritable J. R. R. Tolkien expert and the only member of the cast who had met Tolkien himself, he often visited the Production department on the sets of the various Lord of the Rings movies to give advice and tips on the various attributes of the films. He said that his favorite director is Tim Burton, whom he frequently collaborated with on several of Burton's films. And even in the last years of his life he was incredibly the leader of a heavy metal band, singing heavy songs, Charlemagne. And, of course, he was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to drama and charity.
His first film work was with Terence Young and working for the powerful company Rank. Later on working for Hammer Production with its best fimmaker, Terence Fisher, and achieving great success with The Curse of Frankenstein. In his autobiography, he relates his first meeting with Peter Cushing during production of La maldición de Frankenstein (1957), in which he played the monster. Lee stormed into a dressing room where Cushing was sitting and angrily shouted "I haven't got any lines!". Cushing replied, "You're lucky; I've read the script". He often worked with his off-screen inseparable friend Peter Cushing usually playing deadly enemies on-screen. After Cushing died, Lee said in an interview that he never felt closer and more open to any of his other friends than he felt to Peter. He was originally offered the role of Grand Moff Tarkin in La guerra de las galaxias (1977), which he turned down. The role eventually went to his good friend Peter Cushing. And he appeared in The Wicker Man (1973) for free, Lee named this as his favorite film of his own.
Being a fervent admirer of Tolkien, whose Lord of the Rings, he read every year whom he managed to meet and got the role of his life in the film: Saruman. As a veritable J. R. R. Tolkien expert and the only member of the cast who had met Tolkien himself, he often visited the Production department on the sets of the various Lord of the Rings movies to give advice and tips on the various attributes of the films. He said that his favorite director is Tim Burton, whom he frequently collaborated with on several of Burton's films. And even in the last years of his life he was incredibly the leader of a heavy metal band, singing heavy songs, Charlemagne. And, of course, he was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to drama and charity.
