Showing posts with label denberg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label denberg. Show all posts

Monday 1 January 2018

TWO HUNDRED YEAR ANNIVERSARY AND THE GOTHIC CLASSIC STILL INSPIRES


#MONSTERMONDAY! This year marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley's classic novel Frankenstein - first printed on 1 January 1818. As we are all probably know here, Hammer Films took on the Frankenstein horror franchise in 1957, with Peter Cushing playing Baron FRANKENSTEIN. 'The Curse of Frankenstein' also starred Christopher Lee as the creation and was the "first really gory horror film, showing blood and guts in colour", according to Professor MacCormack on the BBC NEW website today. Patricia MacCormack, is a professor of continental philosophy at Anglia Ruskin University, and has published papers on the horror genre.


'THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN' MONSTER had a very different aesthetic from the first Universal studios film, Cushing's monster was covered in scars and transplanted tissue - partly because the Universal Karloff-era make-up had been copyrighted. But it's this "patchwork human, which was touted as the closest to the monster of Mary Shelley's book," says Prof MacCormack. "The idea of a patchwork humanity is at the very core of Shelley's story.The film carries a strong message from the original book: "Beware ambition, it seems to say. It's all about men circumventing the role of women and the role of god - and the consequences of that."






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

Tuesday 14 November 2017

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ANTHONY NELSON KEYS : JOVIAL GENT OF HAMMER FILMS AND THE LADY CALLED CORRI!


REMEMBERING: Anthony Nelson Keys, Born today November 13th 1911, sadly no longer with us. Worked as producer on many Hammer films and some of Peter Cushing's best work for the company. He started work at Hammer back in 1947, wrapping in 1969, with Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, for which he also received a writer credit. A much loved character on and off the set, with ready smile and a joke. See how many photographs you can find without Nelson Keys laughing or kidding with the photographer..!





WE ALSO REMEMBER the BIRTHDAY of someone who sadly left us, just last year. actress, ADRIENNE CORRI . . .was born yesterday, November 13th in 1931.... With a film and television career that started in 1949 that features appearances in 'The Hell Fire Club' with Peter Cushing in 1961, 'Madhouse' with both Cushing and Vincent Price in 74, 'Clockwork Orange' under the direction of Kubrick, Dr Who at the BBC, along with 'Adam Adamant' and 'Lovejoy' ..she also found time to appear in not only 'Vampire Circus' for Hammer films, but also an episode of their 60's tv series, 'Journey Into The Unknown'.


TODAY THOUGH, I can't help smiling as I remember her performance alongside Peter and Vincent Price as the superbly, 'mad as a bucket of frogs' Faye Carstairs Flay in Amicus films, 'Madhouse' in 1974. Happy Birthday, Adrienne Corri! We remember her and miss her . .
  .



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 13 March 2017

THE LAST FOUR DAYS AT OUR FACEBOOK FAN PAGE


#THROWBACKTHURSDAY: March 9th 1976 . . . Unbelievably, it's 41 YEARS, that's 14983 Days Today... since Peter Cushing started his four days work at Elstree studios playing the role of Grand Moff Tarkin in 'Star Wars'. Here's a very nest snap of Peter between takes with Don Henderson on the left and Dave Prowse as Darth Vader, standing... er, where else but, behind!



#THROWBACKTHURSDAY: The TWO Peter Cushing Dr Who Dalek films were produced in the mid sixties, 1965 and 66. But what if Milton Subotsky and AARU Productions, hadn't stopped at TWO films and produced more with Peter Cushing?? That’s the premise talented artist Dave Burgess has explored with artwork such as this excellent piece featuring Christopher Lee too in Dr. Who and the Dalek Masterplan! Dave has a portfolio: DR. WHO | MOVIE ARTWORK and much else here besides. Worth a look.


 TWO SMASHING GIFS FOR FRIDAY!


#FRANKENSTEINFRIDAY: Beauty is THE killer! Christina (Susan Denberg) goes in for the kill from Frankenstein Created Woman (1967)

#FRANKENSTEINFRIDAY: Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) issuing a stern warning to Dr Helder (Shane Briant) from Hammer's Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell (1974)


TWO POSTS YESTERDAY  for our weekly dip into the
 #HAMMERFILM archive!

HERE'S AN IMAGE, I had not come across as a publicity still before, until a few days ago! #HAMMERFILMSSATURDAY: Here is a great action shot of Peter Cushing as Van Helsing about to drive the spade into Count Dracula from Hammer's Dracula AD 1972. Ouch!


NOBODY EVER QUIET stalked the way, Christopher Lee stalked in the role of #COUNTDRACULA. Here he is in his first outing as #DRACULA in Hammer films 1958, 'Dracula' / 'Horror of Dracula' with Carol Marsh awaiting her, 'Terrifying Lover who died, YET lived' !!!


#GETTHECUSHIONITSCUSHING! A beautiful and rare publicity photograph of Peter Cushing as Dr Lawrence from 'The Ghoul' (1975) Kneeling at the altar, the photograph that Cushing is holding, is actually a photograph of his late wife, Helen. As I am sure regular visitors to this page know, the pic was included in the film, by special request from Peter... in order that he could fulfill his wish, of having appeared in a motion picture with his wife...




#GETTHECUSHIONITSCUSHING! A fine film from Amicus, that needs some reassessing...and blu ray would be nice too! Christopher Lee as Dr Marlow and Mr Blake in Milton Subotsky's character name twisting tale of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....I MONSTER (1971)


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Friday 28 August 2015

SUSAN DENBERG: THAT FEMININE TOUCH : WOMEN IN GOTHIC : PART FOUR FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN


The Baron's most physically perfect creation was undoubtedly Christina, played by the enchanting Susan Denberg, in Fisher's return to the series, Frankenstein Created Woman (1967). Born Deitlinde Zsechner in Bad Polzin, Germany - which is now Polczyn-Zdroj in Poland - Denberg was a gorgeous blonde who had been a chorus girl in both London and Las Vegas.


She was the daughter of Austrian and German parents, having been raised in Klagenfurt, Austria, before making her decision to go into show business. Having adopted the name Susan Denberg, she became the centrepiece of a nationwide contest in America during the production of a film called See You in Hell, Darling, (AKA An American Dream)  in which Warner Bros had offered a $500 prize in a publicity campaign to come up with a new name for the actress.


There were 5,000 entries in the contest, including the bizarre 'Norma Mailer,' but they were all rejected and she remained Susan Denberg.


Acting against such veterans as Cushing, Thorley Walters, Peter Blythe, Barry Warren and Peter Madden, Denberg held her own. Given her relative lack of acting experience - the only other performance she is remembered for is as one of Mudd's Women in a Star Trek episode - she is, in fact, something of a revelation.



FRANKENSTEIN CREATED
WOMAN ORIGINAL THEATRICAL
TRAILER


Although her voice was ultimately dubbed in the film by another actress, Denberg's natural talent shines through. She is just as convincing as the 'crippled' Christina as she is portraying the 'created' one, who receives not a brain transplant, but a 'soul transplant' from her dead boyfriend.

THE UNRAVELING



This was not an easy role for an ingenue, and indeed would have taxed a more experienced actress, but she brings it off with passion and grace. Of course, what made playing the dual roles even more difficult was that Christina, once 'reborn,' was possessed by the soul of a man! In a genuinely disturbing scene, and one which the censor objected to, Christina has the severed head of her lover Hans (Robert Morris) skewered on her bedpost so that she can commune with her - his? - former self.

HEAD IN A BOX!


Later in the film, she carries the head around in a hatbox, and after her final murder - in which she avenges herself upon the last of Hans' three killers - she pulls it from the hatbox and speaks to it in Hans' voice in a scene reminiscent of the classic ventriloquist sequence in Dead of Night (1945).

 

CHRISTINA AND HANS

Although publicity photographs for Frankenstein Created Woman featured Denberg in a kind of 'bikini bandage' outfit with Peter Cushing nearby, seemingly proud of his 'creation,' no such scene was in the film. Those who wanted to see 'more' of Denberg had to settle for her Playboy layout, which had already been published in August, 1966.


Unfortunately, the postscript to Denberg's life story after Frankenstein Created Woman was not a happy one. Her drug use caused her to have a nervous breakdown and she made only two more appearances, both on American television, before returning home to Klagenfort. Broadcast interviews of the time show an obviously depressed Denberg alongside her mother. Eventually, fans began to circulate rumours that the actress had taken her own life, but in fact, she still lives in Austria as of this date.


The reputation of Frankenstein Created Woman continues to grow, perhaps in part because of Denberg's 'mysterious' disappearance from public life. The highest praise for the film has come from none other than Martin Scorsese, the Oscar-winning director who chose Frankenstein Created Woman to show as part of a National Film Theatre series of his favourite films. Introducing the movie, Scorsese (who had once considered becoming a priest before he was a filmmaker) said: 'If I single this one out, it's because here they actually isolate the soul, a bright blue shining translucent ball. The implied metaphysics is close to something sublime.' 


BEHIND THE SCENES ON 
FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN
AND PETER CUSHING ON HAMMER FILMS

 


More About SUSAN DENBERG in our Special Feature
'The Girl From Pomerania'
Here At The Website Quick Link: HERE


Did You Miss PART THREE of That Feminine Touch : Women In Gothic 
 The Evil Of Frankenstein: Featuring Katy Wild And Carol Gardner?
You Can QUICK LINK To It Right HERE 


Feature Written by: Bruce G Hallenbeck
Stills: Stephen Jones and Marcus Brooks
Feature Design: Jamie Somerville and Marcus Brooks


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