Showing posts with label alien. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alien. Show all posts

Monday 24 August 2020

WHEN PETER CUSHING FLEW IN TO THE 'BATTLE FOR BRAY' 1990

WHEN PETER CUSHING Flew in to 'Save Bray Studios!' Back in 1980, what was once the impressive home of Hammer films, Bray Studios, was under serious threat of being 'sold off'... the site and studio, despite being used by other production companies for over 40 years since Hammer left, demolished, making it valuable real estate, for the building of luxury apartments. Several names from the entertainment world, joined forces to raise awareness to the cause of 'Save Bray Studios'.

ON AUGUST 9TH 1990, Peter joined a tv news and press day at the studios, flying in by helicopter, for a chat with the press and photo ops, bringing a high profile to the cause. Bray studios was of course where many of Cushing's and Christopher Lee's classic Dracula and Hammer film were produced. It was a well fought battle, but I think everyone knew, despite the efforts of the 'Save Bray' campaign . . it would be a battle lost.

OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, the Bray studio empty lots and production buildings have been demolished. The major 'mansion house' Down Place, used in many of the Cushing's Hammer films like, Dracula (1958) The Mummy (1959) The Curse and Revenge of Frankenstein.. and so many others, despite being in a quite a poor state, was privately purchase, and is being cleaned up and internally restored as I write. It will be used as a private residence.

Bray Down House in 2015 : Bray Studios is centred around Down Place, country estate built in 1750 by the Tonson family. It became residence of the Hartford family between 1835 and 1901. In 1951, Hammer Film Productions, in search of a base to make their budget horror films, settles on the derelict Down Place. Shooting in country houses avoided the need to build sets, and usually also meant large grounds were available for location work. As the one year lease on Down Place ran out and a union strike prevented a move to a studio, Hammer decide to build a studio in the grounds of Down Place, and name it Bray Studios, after the local town.
 
In 1965 Mr Ernest Oliver, owner of the adjacent Oakley Court, dies, leaving the Court uninhabited. 
 
The building became an ideal setting for many Bray productions, especially featuring in Hammer Films such as 'The Old Dark House', the 'St Trinian's' film series, 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show', 'Half a Sixpence' and 'Murder By Death'
 
Hammer sold Bray Studios in 1970 and it then became a renowned centre for specials effects teams, e.g. 'Space 1999' and the model and miniature filming for notable films including 'Alien' (1979; 'Reign of Fire' (2002), 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' (2009) Over the years, the studio lots were also used for pre-production rehearsals by many groups such as Radiohead, Kings of Leon, Amy Winehouse and Live Aid back in 1985.  
 

 
It was announced back in 2013 by Neville Hendricks, the then owner of Bray Studios, that the studios are no longer viable and were sold to property developers. There was a high profile local campaign supported by many past stars such as Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Richard O'Brian to save the studios but if failed. In July 2015, it was announced that the listed Down Place building would be restored and converted into luxury apartments and the sound stages and workshops would be demolished to make way for new houses.
 
 
Recently however, like many of it's Hammer resident vampires of old, it proved it wasn't done just yet.. Elton John's bio-pic 'Rocketman' and the BBC 2020 retelling of a tale in a grand three part spectacular saw THE COUNT return to his old haunt in 'Dracula' produced and written by Mark Gatiss and Stephan Moffat! This was filmed, while the final plans, for the bull-dozer....have not won the day yet! 
 
 
 
YOU ARE MOST WELCOME TO JOIN US at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE! With posts every day, rare images and photographs, features ad prize competitions.. all celebrating the LIFE and CAREER of Peter Cushing OBE

Tuesday 10 March 2020

FLASHBAK SADDEST FEATURE : STUNTMAN SUPREME EDDIE POWELL AND OSCAR QUITAK BIRTHDAYS!


A HEADS UP! Thank you to the several friends out there who sent me a link to a feature that has turned up on the nostalgia site FlashBak . . on Peter Cushing πŸ˜‰ Here is a link to the feature HERE!



IT'S LOVELY HERE to see all the past clubs mentioned and a hand written letter from our founder and friend, the amazing Gladys Fletcher 😊 Also I've had a quite a few messages asking how to become a 'member' of PCASUK? Gosh, 'members' . . those were the days🌝 Sadly those days have also long gone, we do though have a this fab Facebook Fan Page fan page and super website πŸ˜‰ ... and very lucky to have the support and interest of over 30K very friendly followers πŸ˜ƒπŸ˜‰Here below in the comments thread, for those of you who asked for info is the PCASUK promo trailer  HERE!... four years old now! Time for a new one? - Marcus



REMEMBERING EDDIE POWELL TODAY πŸ˜ƒ Here is a guy who who appeared in many many Hammer films...was Christopher Lee's favorite stuntman and stand in for the majority of his horror films. Dracula Prince of Darkness, The Mummy's Shroud, he appeared in several BOND films, Cushing's Dr Who, Daleks Invasion Earth. Later, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Batman in 1989... and not many of the fans of Ridley Scott's ALIEN, realise it was Eddie in the costume during many of the scenes and stunts!  


BLESS YOU EDDIE, you were a master and genius! PLEASE help us celebrate his birthday today, he sadly left us in August 11th in 2000. He has left behind a real archive of work and many friends and people who still miss him 😊 HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDDIE!


PLEASE JOIN US in wishing actor, 94 years young Oscar Quitak today! Quitak has a huge CV of performances and work which started in 1946, in As You Like It, to 1993 in the BBC TV series 'Every Silver Lining'! His Cushing connection was playing Karl in Hammer's sequel to 'The Curse of Frankenstein', The REVENGE of Frankenstein in 1958. In quite limited screen time, he successfully squeezed every last drop of pathos for a man who wanted to be cured. Thereafter follows a carrer that saw him appear in some classic television dramas and british movies. From the BBC Colditz serial, ITC's Man In Suitcase, Doomwatch, Ace of Wands in the 1970's, BBC's Z Cars series, and in 1976, 'The Last of The Cybernauts' New Avengers episode, picking up where Peter Cushing's Paul Beresford left off in 1967 with 'Return of the Cybernauts'.   


QUITAK also appeared in Terry Gilliam's 'Brazil', the Hammer return TV series, Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense episode, 'Black Carion' in 1984. The same year, he appeared as 'a doctor' in Kenny Everett's 'Bloodbath In The House of Death' black comedy, which also starred Vincent Price! Over four years, he turned up in various roles in Everett's BBC TV series and a total of eight shows!


OSCAR was married to actress Andree Melly (who is probably most famous for her role as Gina in Cushing's 'The Brides of Dracula' (1960) she sadly passed away on 31st January 2020.


FROM US ALL, a VERY Happy Birthday Oscar Quitak . . and many more to come😊
 



Sunday 16 February 2020

A TIPPLE AT DARTMOUTH, FULL RED FOR HAMMER'S DRACULA AND NEAT MODELS OF CUSHING'S FINEST!


#CHRISTOPHERLEE SATURDAY: What a splendid way to end a day of shock, terror and fighting supernatural forces, having a tipple with your friend in a cosy Olde pub, with log fire burning... in Dartmouth, Devon! Over at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE we've asked, IF you had one chance and opportunity of sharing a drink with these two fine chaps.... no doubt you would have raised your glass and toasted them?? WHAT would have been YOUR toast?  - Marcus
 
 
#CHRISTOPHERLEE SATURDAY : A close up of the Count, with Christopher Lee wearing full RED haptic contact lenses for the first time. 'TASTE THE BLOOD OF #DRACULA' (1970). Lots of interest in the rare pic, over at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE, including at COMMENT from SFX ARTIST Brian Johnson,' . . . Brian Johnson’s first movie as FX Supervisor!'  As most of you, I am sure know,  Johnson is a award winning special and visual effects designer and director who for over 40 years provided his services to a multitude of film and television productions.... 'Empire Strikes Back', 'Alien' Cushing's 'Captain Clegg', 'When Dinosaurs Rules the Earth' . . and 'Taste the Blood of Dracula' . .  
 
 
TWO VERY NICE,  small models of #PeterCushing as Baron Frankenstein and Van Helsing, unpainted. These were very kindly sent to us by our good friend Marcia Loisel... she and her husband are keen collectors of figures and models, and he recently treated her to this pair when he came across them. I hope we get to see both figures after Marcia has painted them too??! Lots of interest on where these can be ordered and Marcia has been kind enough to provide the details too! 'Bears Head Miniatures makes the Frankenstein and we got the Van Helsing through Wargames Illustrated!'  BEARSHEAD HERE and WAR GAMES ILLUSTRATED HERE!   
 
 
 

Friday 11 May 2018

NEWS ON HAMMER FILMS BRAY STUDIOS AND TWO SPECIAL BIRTHDAYS!


NEWS! THE CAMERAS are ROLLING ONCE AGAIN at the ICONIC BRAY FILM STUDIOS . . FOUR years after it's last tenant moved out!

A NEW PROJECT is already underway at the former home of Hammer Horror, with an Elton John biopic called Rocketman currently being filmed.The studio will be opened on a temporary basis, expected to be around nine months. Council leader Simon Dudley (Con, Riverside), said: “It’s incredibly exciting, there are a number of projects that are being filmed. They are really exciting projects and there’s a possibility that there will be some investment.”


ROCKETMAN will star Taron Egerton, who stars in the Kingsman films, as Elton John.Cllr Dudley said the reopening of the studios makes the borough stand out even more. He said: “I think it’s something where the Royal Borough now has a real unique selling point. It’s very exciting because there are a lot of people here who are involved in the arts, media and entertainment.” Bray Film Studios is of course, as we know most famous for the work done there in the 1950s and 1960s. The original Hammer Horror films, The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula and the Mummy. with Peter and Christopher Lee were all filmed in Bray in the 1950s. 


THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW was filmed there in the 1970s, as well as parts of Ridley Scott’s Alien. The fate of the studios have hung in the balance after it was purchased by developer Farmglade Limited in 2013, which made plans to convert the site and surrounding areas into housing. According to Cllr David Coppinger (Con, Bray), the developer decided to reopen the site due to the high demand. In a video on the Maidenhead Conservatives website, he said: “The demand for filming, mainly because of companies like Netflix, is increasing and there is not enough studio capacity, so the owner of the land has reinstated the studio. We will see yet again Hollywood film stars in Bray which has to be good for our local economy.”


TERRY ADLAM, who worked on the Gerry Anderson production Terrahawks, filmed at the studios in the 1980s, said: “It’s brilliant news, I’m really pleased. “It’s a huge part of the history of British films, and to have an iconic studio opening in Bray is great. It’s great for the new generations of filmmakers, who will now have this to enjoy.” Ian Pankhurst, of Farmglade, said: “The studio is opening for a particular production and we are allowing them to film here. There is planning consent that is currently shelved because of the housing market not supporting it.”


WE ALSO ARE WISHING YVONNE FURNEAUX a happy birthday today, she was born 11th May 1928. As you would have read in the above piece on BRAY, Yvonne starred with Peter in THE MUMMY which was shot at the studio. 'VERY mixed and elective' is probably the best qualificative that defines the career of Yvonne Furneaux, even though she always gave believable and superb performances, her name and magical presence on screen, has sadly never earned her a more memorable place in the public memory.


YVONNE was born in Roubaix, in the North of France in 1928. She was immediately placed under the sign of bilingualism, her father being English and her mother French. As a result, once this alluring brunette had become an actress, she could as easily play in an English or a French film, which did not prevent her from being a regular in Italy and in West Germany, with a foray into Spain.



FURNEAUX has appeared in films noirs.... (Enough Rope (1963), The Champagne Murders (1967), sword & sandal movies (Slave Queen of Babylon (1963), The Lion of Thebes (1964) comedies (Temptation in the Summer Wind (1972) to chillers (Repulsion (1965)). The quality of her films, ranging from bombs (Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie (1984), mediocre run-of-the mill products (The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse (1964) . . . and has sadly always read as an actor, who in every sense of the word was 'a working actor, an actor for hire.....but a very adaptable one! 


 

MY NAME IS DOUG MCCLURE... and you may now me from films like....' TODAY we also celebrate the birthday of McClure, born and educated in Los Angeles, had small parts in the local film industry, starting with a submarine drama, The Enemy Below (1957) Soon, television stardom beckoned in The Overland Trail, as William Bendix's sidekick, and in a private eye series, Checkmate, and John Huston made him Burt Lancaster's younger brother in his western The Unforgiven (1960). He was a natural man of the West, enlivening The Virginian, the first television western series to have 90-minute episodes. In The Virginian, which ran from 1962 to 1970, McClure played Trampas, friend of the ranch foreman of the title, played by James Drury.


IN 1975 McClure came to Britain to star in The Land That Time Forgot, based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' 1918 science fiction novel. It was strictly double-bill fare, and he appeared in three follow-ups: At the Earth's Core (1976) with Peter Cushing as Abner Perry, The People That Time Forgot (1977) and Warlords of Atlantis (1978).


AMICUS PRODUCTIONS did the producing duties, with co-operation on the last two from American International Pictures, temporarily deserting teenagers on motor-bikes. Fighting dinosaurs and such, McClure was energetic, especially as he looked as if he had had a heavy night. Later movie appearances included Cannonball Run II (1983) and Omega Syndrome (1986). McClure has been regularly parodied as Troy McClure, an ageing star of the 1950s, in the television series The Simpsons. David Shipman Doug McClure, actor: born Glendale, California 11 May 1934; married three times; died Los Angeles 5 February 1995. Remembered and Missed.....


IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us reach all lovers of Peter Cushing's work AND Help Keep The Memory Alive!



Saturday 10 March 2018

REMEMBERING EDDIE POWELL : HORROR STUNTMAN AND MUCH MORE!


REMEMBERING EDDIE POWELL TODAY πŸ™‚ Here is a guy who who appeared in many many Hammer films...was Christopher Lee's favorite stuntman and stand the majority of his horror films. Dracula Prince of Darkness, The Mummy's Shroud, he appeared in several BOND films, Cushing's Dr Who, Daleks Invasion Earth. Later, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Batman in 1989... and not many of the fans of Ridley Scott's ALIEN, realize it was Eddie in the costume during many of the scenes and stunts! 




BLESS YOU EDDIE, you were a master and genius! PLEASE help us celebrate his birthday today, he sadly left us in August 11th in 2000. He has left behind a real archive of work and many friends and people who still miss him πŸ™‚ HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDDIE!



REMEMBER! IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us . . Keep The Memory Alive!. The Peter Cushing Appreciation Society website, facebook fan page and youtube channel are managed, edited and written by Marcus Brooks, PCAS coordinator since 1979. PCAS is based in the UK and USA

Monday 22 January 2018

REMEMBERING ACTOR JOHN HURT: ONE YEAR ON . . .


TODAY we remember actor, JOHN HURT. Hurts career spanned six decades. He initially came to prominence for his supporting role as Richard Rich in the film A Man for All Seasons (1966). He played leading roles as Quentin Crisp in the film The Naked Civil Servant (1975), John Merrick in David Lynch's biopic The Elephant Man (1980), Winston Smith in the dystopian drama Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984), Mr. Braddock in the Stephen Frears drama The Hit (1984), and Stephen Ward in the drama depicting the Profumo affair, Scandal (1989). He is also known for his television roles such as Caligula in I, Claudius (1976), and the War Doctor in Doctor Who. Seventy Seven seems no age to leave us these days. I think there will always be a very sizeable space, left behind now that Hurt is no longer with us...it would take a very considerable talent and skill, to even approach even the sides of that space... πŸ˜‰ We Remember John Hurt today . .


John Hurt Alan Bates and Susannah York in THE SHOUT (1978) 


IT'S ONLY MY OPINION but, I have always thought, for an actor, a man with such an instantly recognisable face, Hurt did an incredible job in his characters. He wasn't really an actor who used false noses, teeth and other aids. His portrayals come form within, the heart. He truly did play from the inside out. There will always be 'The Elephant Man' and one or two others, where the addition of prosthetics were used. 


JOHN HURT  as THE WAR DOCTOR in DOCTOR WHO

BUT FOR ME, the roles that stand out, are the ones were it was, him vanishing by his skill. From very early on, in a film like The Ghoul, that face, those eyes...it's John Hurt! There after, he could be anyone, he chose. I only know one other actor today, who comes anywhere near that ability, and that is Gary Oldman . .


 JOHN HURT as KANE ALIEN (1979)


JOHN HURT as KANE from iconic scene from  ALIEN (1979) appearing in spoof SPACE BALLS (1987)

 



REMEMBER! IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us . . Keep The Memory Alive!. The Peter Cushing Appreciation Society website, facebook fan page and youtube channel are managed, edited and written by Marcus Brooks, PCAS coordinator since 1979. PCAS is based in the UK and USA   
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