On the last day of shooting the now-classic Spanish horror film THE BELL FROM HELL (LA CAMPANA DEL INFIERNO, 1973), director Claudio Guerin fell to his death from the bell tower of San Martin in Noya. Recently the Spanish program, CUARTO MILENIO, investigated this death and provided a dramatization of the tragedy. Was Guerin's death an accident? A suicide? Or was some other force in play?
A few years ago I had an unsolicited email from a gentleman who had read my review and claimed he lived in the area. He had talked with people who were there at the time who insisted that it was an accident. I've been interested in this case ever since reading about it in CONTINENTAL magazine in the mid 1970s where it was also reported as an accident. It does seem very coincidental that both the protagonist and the director met their fates in that bell tower.
ReplyDeleteAccording to a biography of director Pilar Miro by Diego Galan, Guerin and Miro were lovers during this time with a strong affection for each other. After Guerin's death, Miro visited the San Martin tower and sobbed out: "¿Por qué te tuviste que suicidar, Claudio querido?" ("Why did you have to commit suicide, dear Claudio?") I don't think this quote, if accurate (an important consideration), is an indication that Guerin did commit suicide, just a reflection from someone who knew him intimately at the time.
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