Showing posts with label circus of horrors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label circus of horrors. Show all posts

Saturday 30 December 2017

THE LITTLE BIRD OF CINEMA PT 1 : YVONNE MONLAUR RARE STILLS GALLERY


CUSHING FEMME FATALE FOUR: YVONNE THERESE MARIE CAMILLE BEDAT DE MONLAUR was born in France, the daughter of a French poet and a Russian ballerina and pianist. As a youngster she was trained for ballet and in her late teens worked as a model for Elle fashion magazine. By the mid-1950's, she also began appearing in French and Italian films. Her good looks and some positive reviews paved the way to bigger roles towards the end of the decade. With this came increased publicity. In June 1959, she was featured on the cover of the weekly Milanese news publication Tempo. Another Italian paper heralded her as the year's 'most promising actress'.



IN 1959 YVONNE MONLAUR suddenly became THE FACE and was a hot property across Europe. The flash point, of all the excitement was an Italian magazine, that voted her, the year's sexiest screen newcomer. Her face was featured on the cover of a June issue of Tempo magazine that called her 'the year's most promising actress'. 



ABOVE : YVONNE MONLAUR DANCES AT THE PARTY IN 'AVVENTURA A CAPRI'

DURING THE SHOOTING of the comedy 'Avventura a Capri/Adventure on Capri' (Giuseppe Lipartiti, 1959) she had a serious accident. She suffered bad facial burns in a speedboat accident, which resulted in months of recovery in hospital. But, just as things seemed to be at their worst, Hammer films producer contacted Yvonne having seen her in 'Avventura a Capri'. Hinds invited her invited her to England where she was cast in a little-seen television drama, 'Women in Love' (1958). A writer for the Daily Mail described this -- her first credited part in an English language production -- "as bubbly as a glass of champagne".





IN 1959 YVONNE MONLAUR traveled, accompanied by her mother, to England for a series of films. First she co-starred in the comedy 'Inn for Trouble' (C.M. Pennington-Richards, 1960). Yvonne's introduction to the horror genre came via 'CIRCUS OF HORRORS' (1960), made by Anglo-Amalgamated. She still had some difficulties with English, but recalled receiving some benevolent mentoring from her co-star Anton Diffring.


AT HER BLOG I recalled in 2008, ' I always loved the circus world. I did not hesitate for one second before accepting this opportunity to share the life of travelling artists by playing the part of Nicole, adoptive daughter to the fiendish Dr Rossiter, played by Anton Diffring.The film crew was staying within the circus grounds. As for me, I slept in a caravan, close to an Italian trapeze girl artist and Russian clowns.'



'The make-up cabin had been set up near the menagerie, which led to funny situations. For my circus acts, I wore a splendid set of feathers, that the monkeys always tried to catch when I had to pass along their cages on my way out. When I was not shooting, I was rehearsing my horse riding act, like any other artist of the Billy Smart Circus. Generally speaking, I have very good memories of my fellow actors. I particularly remember Diffring and Conrad Phillips'. 


'Sometimes, professional acting relationships mimic those of the characters they play. Such was the case with Diffring, as charming and protective to me as Dr Rossiter was in the movie. It also happened with Erika Remberg, but this time I regretted it, because she was playing the circus artist who could not stand feminine rivalry… in the ring or real life !' 



SOON PART TWO OF YVONNE MONLAUR : LITTLE BIRD OF CINEMA
WITH THE EXPOSURE from appearing in 'Women in Love' and 'Circus of Horrors', the direction of Yvonne's career would soon be taking a sharp turn, into the land of 'dark forests and whispers'. NEXT she would be sharing company with one of the most charming of fellows, the most evil of sons and a whole nest of trouble and horrors. The year 1961, would see her walk down the aisle, but first she would become, a BRIDE of DRACULA . . .


YVONNE MONLAUR: THE LITTLE BIRD OF CINEMA:
PART TWO COMING SOON!


PLEASE VISIT Yvonne Monlaur's wonderful OFFICIAL BLOG. Since her sad passing earlier this year, her son and her editor have decided that it should remain in the public area, for her fans and friends to visit, in her memory. You can find it by clicking :HERE 



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 co-ordinator since 1979. PCAS is based in the UK and USA 

Friday 15 December 2017

#FEMMEFATALE! YVONNE MONLAUR REMEMBERED : A HAPPY BIRTHDAY WITH LOVE!


#CUSHINGSFEMMEFATALESFRIDAY! It's been my personal opinion, for as long as I can remember, but I consider this young lady, to have been THE most beautiful and talented of all the actresses that Peter Cushing worked with.... Earlier today we asked our friends at the PCASUK FACEBOOK FAN PAGE if they could name her. name her? It wasn't too difficult, because even at this young age, she was already displaying that, radiance that lit up the big screen, when ever she appeared on it. Yvonne Monlaur would have been celebrating her 78th birthday today. How I wish she was here to do that.  As it's #FEMMEFATALEFRIDAY today, I thought, it was an opportunity too good too miss, that we should celebrate her birthday, but also mark it with a feature here at the website. So, later today we'll  be publishing a whole FEMMEFATLE feature on Yvonne, lots of rare stills, gifs and much more, not only as a tribute but also a thank you to one very unique actress and beautiful lady . . . .Ahhh, 'be still my beating heart' . .sigh . . .



Yvonne Monlaur starred in the 1958 Italian film Three Strangers in Rome which was amongst Claudia Cardinale's earliest films and in 1960 in the horror film 'Circus of Horrors' alongside prominent actors in British film such as Anton Diffring and Donald Pleasence. In 1960, she also starred in the Hammer horror film 'The Brides of Dracula'  alongside other noted British actors of the day Peter Cushing and Freda Jackson and in 'The Terror of the Tongs' (1961) with Christopher Lee.


FULL FEATURE WITH GALLERY HERE! 


FULL FEATURE WITH VINTAGE STILLS GALLERY: HERE! 

Monlaur screen tested for the role of Domino Derval in the 1965 James Bond film Thunderball. The role eventually went to another French actress, Claudine Auger. After a string of German and Italian films, Monlaur left films to return to Paris. She continued to live the there until her passing in April 18, 2017, aged 77


FULL FEATURE WITH RARE VINTAGE STILLS CAN BE FOUND HERE! 



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  .

Tuesday 5 December 2017

#TOOCOOLTUESDAY: COLOURISED GUESTS FROM HAMMER BRIDES PREMIER




#TOOLCOOLTUESDAY: Here is a colourized image from premiere 1960’s 'The Brides of Dracula', featuring Yvonne Monlaur and of course Peter Cushing. 'Brides', is one of those films that in my very humble opinion…manages to outdo the original in almost every way. Ok I will conceit that perhaps during the latter half of the film the script isn’t the strongest, but the opening sequences at Castle Meinster easily stand among the best of any Hammer Horror and again…perhaps somewhat controversially, far outdo those in the earlier picture. Cushing once again gets to play more of the action hero and the final sequences in the barn are incredibly thrilling, including the famous ‘branding’ sequence. David Peel makes a refreshing substitute for Christopher Lee and it’s nice to see the Hammer team taking a chance on a very different look for this vampire. Of course Yvonne Monlaur steals a great deal of the screen, being equally glamorous and, un-like a lot of early Hammer heroines, convincingly brave as she becomes determined to free the Baron. It’s a shame she only did one more picture for Hammer, 1961’s 'The Terror of the Tongs' though horror fans can also catch her in 1960’s 'Circus of Horrors' alongside another Hammer star, Anton Differing. Monlaur passed away earlier this year, it’s a tribute to her performance that 'The Brides of Dracula' succeeds at being as powerful as it is. - Callum McKelvie (pcas)





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  . 

Saturday 22 April 2017

YVONNE MONLAUR 1939 -2017


Sad News to report Yvonne Monlaur has passed away....

She starred in the 1958 Italian film Three Strangers in Rome which was amongst Claudia Cardinale's earliest films and in 1960 in the horror film Circus of Horrors alongside prominent actors in British film such as Anton Diffring and Donald Pleasence. In 1960, she also starred in the Hammer horror film The Brides of Dracula alongside other noted British actors of the day Peter Cushing and Freda Jackson and in The Terror of the Tongs (1961) with Christopher Lee.


Monlaur screen tested for the role of Domino Derval in the 1965 James Bond film Thunderball. The role eventually went to another French actress, Claudine Auger. After a string of German and Italian films, Monlaur left films to return to Paris. She continued to live there. Of late she has attended a few film conventions, which have included salutes to Hammer films. News of her passing was press released on April 21st 2017. She died on April 18, 2017, aged 77.


Yvonne Monlaur being helped with her costume, a suit of armor, on the set of the film 'To Live and Die a Fascist', Rome, Italy, November 12th 1961. 

 


Italian actor and comedian Nino Taranto, French actress Yvonne Monlaur and Italian actor Maurizio Arena (Maurizio Di Lorenzo) gathered at the Piazzetta of Capri in a scene from the film Avventura a Capri. Capri, 1958



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