Visa to Canton (Region B)

(Michael Carreras, 1960)
Release date: 22 July 2024
Standard Edition Blu-ray

Richard Basehart (La Strada), Athene Seyler (Night of the Demon), and Lisa Gastoni (Eve) star in Visa to Canton (aka Passport to China), a classic spy film from Hammer.

Don (Basehart) is a former pilot, now running a Hong Kong travel agency, who is reluctantly recruited to find a missing pilot. Travelling to the Chinese mainland, he becomes entangled with agent Sanchez (Gastoni), sparking a deadly pursuit.

Directed by Hammer mainstay Michael Carreras (Maniac), written by Gordon Wellesley (Night Train to Munich), and with acting support from Eric Pohlmann (From Russia with Love), Bernard Cribbins (Carry On Spying), and Burt Kwouk (The Brides of Fu Manchu), Visa to Canton is a sizzling slice of Cold War espionage action.

INDICATOR STANDARD EDITION SPECIAL FEATURES

• High Definition remaster
• Original mono audio
• Two presentations of the film: Visa to Canton, with the original UK title sequence, and Passport to China, with the alternative US titles
• New audio commentary with Kevin Lyons, editor of The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Films and Television
• Hammer’s Women: Lisa Gastoni (2020, 15 mins): profile of the Visa to Canton star by critic and writer Virginie Sélavy
• Ticket to Ride (2020, 18 mins): film historian Vic Pratt explores the film’s themes, characteristics and production history
• Bond Before Bond (2020, 15 mins): appreciation of Edwin Astley’s score by David Huckvale, author of Hammer Film Scores and the Musical Avant-Garde
• Original UK theatrical trailer
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing