On the surface, Peggy Cummins was just one of the many actresses British cinema saw fit to waste in the 1950s. Yet dig a little deeper and you'll find some cherishable roles in decent films. There may not have been much on offer but she took what there was and delivered solid performances every time.
Cummins was born in Prestatyn but her childhood was largely spent in Dublin, where she became involved with the Abbey Theatre and the Gate. Still a child, she made her London debut in 1938 and her film debut in 1940. Her career stepped up a gear when Darryl F Zanuck saw her in a stage production and offered her a Hollywood contract.
Hollywood didn't really work out for her. First she was announced as having a role in Cluny Brown but that didn't happen. There were a couple of minor appearances before she landed the plum role of the lead in Forever Amber. The novel had been a massive hit and the film was being touted as the next Gone with the Wind. A big publicity drive was launched for Cummins but it all went wrong when Zanuck saw the early rushes and replaced the director. The new director replaced Cummins.
After that public humiliation, Cummins hung around Hollywood for a while but there was little on offer. She ended her career there with an ultra-low budget crime film Gun Crazy where she played a psycho. She returned to Britain.
Her roles in 50s British cinema could largely be filed under decorative and sensible. This was certainly true of her two classics Hell Drivers and Night of the Demon. She's not perhaps those films biggest selling point, but she does provide a calm business-like centre to the drama.
She retired in the early 60s to run a sheep farm with her husband and would probably have been largely forgotten by film fans were it not for Gun Crazy. It was taken up by the French New Wave directors as a key influence and Cummins became a bit of an icon. In her later years she did a number of film conventions and screenings though she never filmed again.
| 1940 | Dr O'Dowd |
| 1942 | Salute John Citizen |
| 1943 | Old Mother Riley Detective |
| 1944 | Welcome, Mr Washington |
| 1944 | English Without Tears |
| 1947 | The Late George Apley (U.S.) |
| 1947 | Moss Rose (U.S.) |
| 1948 | Escape |
| 1948 | Green Grass of Wyoming (U.S.) |
| 1949 | That Dangerous Age |
| 1950 | Gun Crazy (U.S.) |
| 1950 | My Daughter Joy |
| 1952 | Who Goes There! |
| 1953 | Street Corner |
| 1953 | Always a Bride |
| 1953 | Meet Mr Lucifer |
| 1954 | The Love Lottery |
| 1954 | To Dorothy a Son |
| 1956 | The March Hare |
| 1957 | Carry on Admiral |
| 1957 | Hell Drivers |
| 1957 | Night of the Demon |
| 1959 | The Captain's Table |
| 1959 | Your Money or Your Wife |
| 1960 | Dentist in the Chair |
| 1962 | In the Doghouse |
