Val Guest Remembered

One of the early pioneers of science fiction movie making has died at the ripe old-age of 94.

Val Guest, one of the famed director/writers of the original James Bond “Casino Royale” starring David Niven directed many comedies and musicals, but is best known for his dramatic cop and spy thrillers and especially for his contribution to the sci-fi genre.

His better known scifi features are “The Abominable Snowman,” “When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth,” and his two classics, “The Quatermass Xperiment” series of films and “The Day the Earth Caught Fire,” for which he was honored with the Brtitish Academy of Film and Televison Arts award for Best Screenplay. These last two are well worth the cost of a rental. Guest also wrote and directed a couple of episodes for TV’s scifi drama “Space 1999.”

Having his beginnings in the very early days of filmmaking, Guest was talented and a craftsman in just about every segment of the movie business.