I contributed a video profile of the fascinating Irish-Italian actress Lisa Gastoni for Hammer Volume 5: Death and Deceit, which includes Visa to Canton/Passport to China (1961), starring Gastoni as a beautiful, mercenary spy. Gastoni is best known for the roles of seductively transgressive women she played in Italian films such as Wake Up and Die (1966) and Come Play with Me (1968).
The box-set also collects The Pirates of Blood River (1962), The Scarlet Blade (1963) and The Brigand of Kandahar (1965), exploring the adventure films produced by the studio in the 1960s with a cornucopia of extras and special features.
Hammer Volume 5: Death and Deceit limited edition box-set is released on 30 March 2020 by Powerhouse Films.
Picture credit: Lisa Gastoni in Passport to China (1961).
Virginie Sélavy 