Showing posts with label milton subotsky. Show all posts
Showing posts with label milton subotsky. Show all posts

Friday 10 April 2020

THE 1960'S DR WHO TARDIS IS A 'WRITE' OFF IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE!!


BACK IN THE MID 1960'S Peter Cushing appeared and starred in not one but TWO feature films, as Dr Who. 'Dr Who and the Daleks' (1965) and 'Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 AD. When I say, Dr Who please do not for all is sacred, mistake THIS Dr Who for the BBC Doctor Who that has been gracing our television screens for the past ?? years, also that Doctor and tv show, well... originally ran from 1963 to 1989. There was an unsuccessful attempt to revive regular production in 1996 with a backdoor pilot, in the form of a television film titled Doctor Who. The programme was relaunched in 2005, and since then has been produced in-house by BBC Wales in Cardiff. Also as dedicated viewers of said tv show and Doctor Who often tell me, 'The first film 'Dr Who and the Daleks' features a much different Doctor from the one we currently know, on tv. 



TO START WITH, he is entirely human. Barbara Wright from the tv show is no longer his granddaughter's teacher, but another granddaughter of The Doctor himself. Still with me? William Hartnell, tv Doctor Who was quite  annoyed at being passed over for the role of Dr Who and that Peter Cushing was cast in the role. The reason? Cushing was seen as a better known face to the cinematic world and therefore more capable of launching Dr Who to a wider audience, in was a children's film and family entertainment. Cushing does actually play the part with more warmth and childish humour than the famously grumpy Hartnell, and is for all intents and purposes a fantastic Doctor. So yup Cushing's Dr Who certainly IS NOT canon. Cushing himself always maintained that his Doctor was a proper Doctor, though not necessarily the First One, that he was so clearly based on. 



BUT CUSHING'S Dr Who did have a pretty neat TARDIS! It looked the same as the one in the tv series, but this one in TWO films and BIG SCREEN was ..IN COLOUR! Like the Tardis, all the DALEKS were in colour for the first time too! What a blast and . . what a COUP! 😉 Not THE Doctor, but full colour TARDIS and stars of both shows and films, the DALEKS as well.. for the first time!




THE INFLUENCE of the colour DALEKS did I am sure, go some way to what would soon become an international hobby... making YOUR OWN DALEK! Even though the TV series promoted some spin off full colour covered annual books for the kids at Christmas, it was only when the films displayed to the public and fans, DALEKS in FULL COLOUR and presented on a BIG SCREEN, that anyone had the opportunity to see them up close, moving in FULL TECHNICOLOUR, for the first time. . . and THE TOPS OPENED, to reveal a scaly thing on the floor ! Magic! 😀😊😉



THE DALEKS LOOKED AMAZING, but as a five year old boy, the thing that interested me the most, was THAT TARDIS! Looking at it now, as an adult, it does look uncannily like someone has thrown the contents of a dodgy self employed cowboy electrician's van onto a film set, to me at that time it was MAGICAL both INSIDE and OUT. After the films were wrapped, so was the interior of the time machine. But the exterior, of course survived! 




IT SEEMS THE TARDIS had survived and was finally purchased by a 'wood-turning-and-machine-company' who... 'can supply everything for the woodworker from machinery, hand and power tools to hundreds of accessories and of course the one thing that all woodworkers require – Timber' .... in Somerset, England! Well, sadly wood-turning, screw drivers, any chisels or DIY and all things that go buzz are all very uncharted lands to me. I know as much about any of these things, as I do brain surgery. Though, I have watched Cushing's 'head-work surgery' in 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed' quite a few times! On finding this company and trying to figure what their connection was to Cushing's olde Tardis, it still took me a quite while to fathom out what it actually was they were selling! Unlike their vast variety of tools on offer, sadly I am not that sharp!


THEN THE PENNY DROPPED . . PENS! Or indeed, Pen Blanks: 'Pen blanks are little pieces of wood common to the pen turning industry. Many other wood workers find these pieces of wood to be perfect for their niche, they are  easy to turn and finish and are very tactile when fashioned into a writing instrument'. So, these are strips of wood, pieces of the tardis, that can be turned on a machine and used for the barrel of a pen! YOU WRITE with it! Hmm an interesting hobby, if that floats your boat or flies your Tardis!


SO HOW DID THIS COMPANY, come up with this idea, it's weird choice to arrive at when in fact they have a WHOLE piece of movie Doctor Who sorry... Dr Who . . movie history in their possession? Then came the bad news in the product description: 

'Doctor Who Tardis Plywood pen blanks. This is the very first Mk1 Tardis that was created for Peter Cushing for the film 'Dr Who and the Daleks' and was originally constructed in 1965'.  


'Can we just point out that this Tardis was in terrible condition, the sill fell off in transit and when we moved it on its own wheels the actual door fell off. Sadly it's been left outside and as it's a 54-year-old film prop it wasn't designed for the outdoor English weather, we've managed to salvage what we can and these are the first blanks available from what must be one of the most iconic and well known film-related prop.'


'These plywood blanks we would only recommend for the more experienced turner, I've made a dozen or so now and I found you cannot put any pressure when turning, so takes time plus you must have sharp tools.The blanks measure 5 inches x 20mm x 20mm and come complete with a certificate.'


MY GOODNESS! 😕  How depressing reading was that? 😔😑 So THAT is what has happened to the Cushing's Dr Who Tardis! Cut up into 5 inch pieces!!? Blimey! Well, I guess 'tis better than what happened to so many painted glass matts, props and goodies during Hammer films move from Bray studios in the 1960's. That was a lot to do with SKIPS, and I am not referring to the dance or gym rope kind! At least, there is something I can have and hold, the TARDIS in the body of something useful and to keep in my pocket.. to eventually leak in my jacket pocket! Can I STILL write? Do I have £44.99 in my piggy bank savings? Never mind, all is good! Now where do I buy a wood lathe and a sharp chisel? - Marcus Brooks


COME JOIN US YOU'LL BE MOST WELCOME HERE!!!

Thursday 2 April 2020

NEWS: INDICATOR PREPARES FIRST EVER RELEASE ON BLU RAY OF AN AMICUS FILMS CLASSIC!


NEWS: No fixed details yet, but #INDICATOR are currently working on what will be the very first release of Amicus films, 'I MONSTER' (1971) starring #ChristopherLee, #PeterCushing and Mike Raven. This is one that has been a very long time coming and most welcome.
 






PART ONE of the behind the scenes PCASUK RARE STILLS Gallery, is RIGHT HERE! 


PART TWO IS RIGHT HERE!

ABOVE: The USA cinema trailer for Amicus films, 'I, MONSTER' starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. A film with a production story, that sometimes is even more dramatic than the film!


THERE ARE NO details on extras, region or stats, but I LOVE that case and poster image design 😊😉


Friday 14 February 2020

VALENTINES DAY SURPRISE THATS ALL HEART AND TRUE LOVE


A #VALENTINESURPRISE .... like no other! Revenge delivered on #ValentinesDay, with #PeterCushing as Arthur Grimsdyke in 'Tales from the Crypt' (1972) . .  below I have posted a screen capture from Peter's 'Poetic Justice' tale from 'Tales from the Crypt' that includes a framed photograph of Grimsdyke's wife, Helen. Despite what many presume, this isn't actually a photograph of Peter Cushing's wife, Helen who sadly passed away on 14 January 1971. . . the film was released on 28th September 1972... This is a stock photograph of another actress. But, Helen did appear in a framed photograph, as Peter's character's wife in Tyburn films, 'The Ghoul' in 1975









PETER AND HELEN CUSHING : ' I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you...' Both Peter and Helen Cushing were True Valentines and inseparable, even after Helen's passing. Here is Helen's short piece she wrote for a magazine back in the early 1960's, about how they met and there love for each other... '



ABOVE: RARE news reel footage of Peter and Helen at a film premier evening in 1959


Friday 3 January 2020

CUSHING CHRISTMAS PCAS COMPETITION WINNER NUMBER TWO REVEALED HERE!


Congratulations ALLEN! A Happy New Year to you!
 

THE ANSWER we were looking for was c) THREE DAYS! Amicus were FAST workers, for sure! MANY thanks to everyone who entered this and our last competition and to our very generous sponsor SECOND SIGHT FILMS. You can order YOUR copy of this release from January 5th 2020 DIRECTLY HERE! 


ABOVE: OUR FINAL CHRISTMAS CUSHING COMPETITION IS STILL LIVE until January 12th 2020. YOU CAN ENTER HERE at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE!

Thursday 14 November 2019

HIGHGATE CEMETERY : THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF DAN AND DAVID BARRATT : AMICUS FILMS : 'FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE'


THOSE OF YOU WHO ANSWERED 'Highgate' to our #WarnerBrothers / #PCAS Blu ray #competition last week, will recognize these really fabulous photographs 🙂 These stills were taken of Highgate Cemetery...located on Swain's Lane, Highgate, London . . by Dan and David Barratt 🙂 Dan is a friend and follower here on the PCAS facebook page, and kindly offered to share his photographs here . . for anyone to see, what an incredible and #magical place #HighgateCemetary truly is! Many, many of you recognized the location as the setting of the title sequence of #PeterCushing's 1974 #Amicusfilm, 'From Beyond The Grave' . . it was then and is now, such an incredible place, a location that needs NO dressing!! I wonder how many of you, reading this have visited there too? Any pics?? Many thanks to Dan and David for sharing these 🙂 What do you think? - Marcus

Those of you who may want to comment on the photographs below, can do so by clicking HERE and going to the Facebook PCAS Fan Page post of this feature! 












ORDER YOUR COPY of Amicus films, 'FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE' remastered BLU RAY from WARNER BROTHERS ARCHIVE HERE TODAY! JUST CLICK HERE!


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