Showing posts with label tod slaughter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tod slaughter. Show all posts

Tuesday 4 September 2018

IT'S NO JOKE! HELEN CUSHING AND THE SPOOKY ARM APPEARANCE PLUS DAVID PEEL AND LAST WEEKS TOUGHY ANSWER!


THIS WEEK'S TUESDAY TOUGHY! It sounds like a joke OR maybe there is a catch? Not so. Without giving too much away, all I can say is, this NOT about Cushing deciding he one day wanted a tattoo! I'll be giving you the answer NEXT TUESDAY. In the meantime, good luck!


THE ANSWER to last weeks TUESDAY TOUGHY is TOD SLAUGHTER, is the name of the  ominous face on the left. As JIM SHORTER commented on the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE Tod had quite the reputation as an English actor, who was best known for playing over-the-top maniacs in macabre film adaptations of Victorian melodramas. Slaughter made the films, for the most part, exactly as he liked, with all the larger than life, melodramatic acting of a bygone age, just as he did in the stage adaptions, in which he also starred. Born in March 1885 as Norman Carter Slaughter, during in his early stage career, hit gold and blood, when he appeared in SWEENEY TODD : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in 1936. He had started to pave the way to his thrills and spills reputation when he appeared in his first film, as a villain the previous year, in 'Maria Marten or Murder in the Red Barn'. He followed these with further OTT adventures in films like, 'The Crimes of Stephen Hawke' in also in 1936, 'It's Never To Late To Mend', 'The Ticket Of Leave Man' in 1937, 'The Face At The Window' and 'Crimes At The Dark House' in 39 and 1940. These quota-quickies, quickly made Slaughter into a British horror star, almost in some ways, as a precursor to the career of Peter Cushing's . .




ABOVE: PETER CUSHING PERSONAL THE GAY INVALID THEATRE PROGRAMME AND SIGNED NOTE-LET INCLUDING ALL CAST MEMBERS SIGNATURES!

THE PLAY in which both Slaughter and Cushing appeared in together was THE GAY INVALID by Sir Barry Jackson in 1951. Slaughter played Professor Purge and Cushing as a young soldier named Valentine. Opening for two months at the Garrick Theatre, London in September of 51, and called, 'Moliere without tears!', it ran until March 24th 1951.

 

THE FILM that in which Tod Slaughter starred , that was later adapted and starred Peter Cushing was called, 'The Greed Of William Hart and was released in 1948 and was based on the gory history of  body snatchers, Burke and Hare. Director and screen-writer John Gilling adapted the story and  Cushing went on to star as Dr Knox, in the remake and retitled, 'The Flesh And The Fiends'  in 1959. Congrats to ALEX WILSON who was the only one to nail all three questions, at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE . A thumbs up to Phillip Jones, who did name Mr Slaughter though . . .!



FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE FLESH AND THE FIENDS WITH GALLERY HERE!


TODAY we remember actor DAVID PEEL who was born today 19th June 1920. There are few who have made such an impact as Peel. He only appeared in ONE film for Hammer films and I believe only appeared in one film with Peter Cushing.


ONLY ONE ROLE, one film and yet, enter VAMPIRE HAMMER into google images, and he will appear in most of the pages. Despite the success long after The Brides of Dracula was made...audiences felt a little cheated that it was a DRACULA film, without Dracula!....I suspect that Peel wasn't impressed with either the film or the subject matter either! You probably know, he left the industry early on and went into antiques and real estate, but life for Peel was certainly difficult. We remember him today though, for that one Hammer film and the impressive performance as Baron Meinster, the boy vampire who certainly pushed the boundaries of vampire film!




Thursday 13 July 2017

INVALID CAST : VINTAGE CORRESPONDENCE: KEEN GUSTAV AND DUBIOUS PRACTICES


#THROWBACKTHURSDAY: 'There is more evil around us here than I have ever encountered before. . ' Certainly a line of dialogue to get the pulse racing. This image is taken from the BBC television series 'Sherlock Holmes' which starred Peter Cushing as Sherlock, the episode is 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' which was broadcast in two parts . . Gary Raymond picture here,  stars as Sir Henry Baskerville.






#THROWBACKTHURSDAY! THE WONDERFUL thing about researching and documenting Peter's life and work is, being such a prolific letter writer and note maker, he has left a paper trail, and every now and then, something interesting bobs to the surface!. Here are two  good examples. These are genuine letters of correspondence between members of the public who have written to Peter, wishing him well and requesting an autograph or photo. Cushing was very good at sending replies, and 9 out of ten times, also including an autograph on a photograph, even if it wasn't requested.






#THROWBACKTHURSDAY: I THINK if Gustav Weil from Hammer films 'Twins of Evil' was around today, he would certainly be a regular monthly winner of the 'EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH'. He certainly stuck to his job description, and wasn't happy until he and his band of the 'brotherhood' met their monthly quarter!


#THROWBACKTHURSDAY: THE PROGRAMME cast page from the 1951 production of THE GAY INVALID, lots of names that were soon to be house-hold names in the UK, along with Peter Cushing... there are also other performers names who have 'fantasy genre' connections on the big screen too. Can you spot them??

HOUSEKEEPING: If you are wondering were our Competitions have gone...worry not! I have an excellent COMPETITION for you THIS WEEKEND ! Also, for those of you who have spotted a fair ol scattering or typos, errors and mistakes in my jottings over the past three months, my apologies. I haven't lost my marbles, I am taking some elephant strength painkillers, following a wobble in health last year. I do try and check everything I write, but often it's difficult when the words and page are doing a tango and double vision at times, makes it a tricky exercise. I am ok, but please bare with me, normal service will continue very soon!



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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