Thursday 18 May 2017

A SENSE OF FUN, A NAUGHTY SENSE OF HUMOR AND CUSHING AT CANNES


#THROWBACKTHURSDAY: CHRISTOPHER LEE once said that Peter Cushing had a laugh that could clear a restaurant in 30 seconds flat! And it must be said, if you ever get the chance to catch a clip of Peter laughing, it was a belter!  It also seemed to get even louder, when he was in the company of Christopher Lee! We interviewed JUDY GEESON back in the early 1980's, in her dressing room, at a theatre, where she was appearing in a play at the time. She was sharp, bright as a button, and chomped her way through a pawn salad, as she regaled us with stories for our Marantz audio recorder and microphone! 


JUDY GEESON had only worked with Peter once in FEAR IN THE NIGHT (1972), and Christopher Lee in 1975 in a film called,  DIAGNOSIS MURDER. Thankfully, she had much to share on both. She also commented on his Cushing's laugh...and his pleasure on finding out that Judy kept a parakeet, and had a pet dog. She even brought the bird to the set of Fear In The Night, so Peter could sketch and paint it! It's interesting that most reports and reviews of Cushing's films that you read about, from this period of time, are usual tinged sadness, and concerned with Peter Cushing's grief and loss, of his wife, Helen. It's good to know, he did have sunny days, some light and shade.


#THROWBACKTHURSDAY: Marketing the Cushing Film in the 1970's..... from the Cannes film festival to US Home Video entertainment!


AND HERE IS another one from pit of...probably best forgotten releases..there can't be surely, any cheaper publicity poster, as lame and as penny pinching as this beauty from 'Black Jack: Death At The Casino' in which Peter had a guest star role.... this is the 'hold-the-front-page, Betty!' blinding monochrome poster for the trade-show at Cannes in 1981. There was later, a colour version, but it wasn't around very long...a bit like the film, I guess?




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 our 30K following total for Peter Cushing BIRTHDAY on MAY 26th 2017 AND Help Keep The Memory Alive!

THE PROFESSOR ISSUE FOUR : SIRENA : PRAISE FOR ISSUE FOUR!



ANYONE WHO IS a regular here at the PCAS website will know we are following a very interesting comic series published in Italy by Erredi Graphic Editor, “The Professor”. It tells the adventures of a Professor of literature and philosophy at the University College London, Mr Benjamin Love. He has been educated by Rabbi Moshe from Bevis Marks Synagogue to the mysteries of qabbaláh, alchemy and esoterism. The setting of this short series is horror Gothic and develops in the Late Victorian Age. The character of the Professor takes inspiration from Hammer’s films and he looks like the British actor Peter Cushing.


IN THIS FOURTH ISSUE, “Sirena”, Benjamin is invited by the Count Raimondo Del Balzo, descendant of the Prince Raimondo Di Sangro, to the fascinating city of Naples. The invitation which might be a simple rest occasion, soon turns to be a sort of incubus. Furio, the faithful mastiff dog who is the Professor’s life companion, has started to behave strangely recently. The stay at the Count’s mansion is not the best one: at night recurrent nightmares alarm Benjamin… This story is produced by the creative team led by Andrea Corbetta: drawings by the young artist Germano Giorgiani, script by Carlo A. Martigli, Giulia Carla De Carlo and Roberto Leoni who is also the new editor of the series.

THE PROFESSOR ISSUE FOUR!
The Professor 4: Sirena, testi di Carlo Martigli, Giulia Carla De Carlo, Roberto Leoni, disegni di Germano Giorgiani



S. Riccò: Hi, thank you for the latest addition. Tonight, I can finally enjoy myself with the  mermaid! 


G. Giorgiani: A picture is obligatory with the professor!! Every two months in kiosk!! Thank you!


D. NIGRO : 'Well, after a thorough and finally lucid second reading, I can finally say my peace on this "mermaid". Let's start with the positive aspects: the drawings in some ways are authentic little masterpieces, see the appearance of mounted policeman outside the palace of sangro, or the image of melusine the last dream of Benjamin, or fingers at horns of count into Orbits the skull of the church of the souls of purgatory and so many others, all very inspiring and memorable...'


P. Domenico
THE SEA, THE MERMAID AND THE PROFESSOR!

E. MANGRONI: 'The fourth issue was a great, and is currently my favorite, mostly for the theme... It fascinates me anything that hangs around undead, though maybe I wish some more detail on bokor Haitian... but I digress here 😉). The story reminds me of the style of some of the legends of American comics and made the story very fast and pleasant to read (to understand what I mean go read hush of Jim Lee and Loeb Joeph saga or the dark knight of Frank Miller). Also the new press has greatly improved the quality of the graphics and the paper gives you a pleasant sensation under my fingertips'.


T. T. V. Ongaro
'I must confess....  for me, this fourth number is the best out! Amazing! The other issues have been great too. Nothing to remove, do not change! This series of "the professor" is also a major in the field of Italian comics 😉 Congratulations to the authors!! '

Spaccio Fumetti:
'I realized, is it just me or have you guys noticed too that the professor,improves number after number? Going beyond the technical side, "Mermaid" presented a story that make s the most of the 'games of lights and shadows of the setting' (Naples) and drops into the story four mysteries, seemingly unrelated, that take our breath till last pages! Pages where everything is elegant! Beyond these aspects, Professor Love in "Mermaid" carries an aura maliciousness, it pervades his every action, enough to give us the most creepy issue of The Professor published so far!






The LIMITED EDITION COLLECTABLE MODEL KIT FIGURE of the Peter Cushing influenced character that appears in the excellent #THEPROFESSOR comic..is now ALMOST READY for it's release and Andrea Corbetta, the sculptor Roberto De Meo and the guy who had the idea, Davide Decina . . have us on stand by, ready for the completion date!.... We'll be keeping you posted with updates and any news, as we get it from the Professor team.

YOU CAN FIND MORE NEWS ABOUT THE FORTHCOMING ISSUES OF 'THE PROFESSOR', MEET AND CHAT WITH OTHERS WHO APPRECIATE THE PROFESSOR AT THEIR FACEBOOK 'THE PROFESSOR CLUB' ... REQUEST TO JOIN 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 reach our 30K following total for Peter Cushing BIRTHDAY on MAY 26th 2017 AND Help Keep The Memory Alive!

Wednesday 17 May 2017

GIFS: EPIC CINEMA ON A BUDGET WITH A FINGER THIEF AND A THREE WEEK SHOOT!


#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY: THE 1960 FILM. 'SUSPECT' aka  'The Risk' was a tight little thriller, directed by Roy Boulting and John Boulting, with an excellent cast of Tony Britton, Virginia Maskell, Ian Bannen, Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasence. What started as a bet between the two brothers, to see if they could make a film, from page to screen in three weeks, when it was discovered the film they had recently completed had wrapped almost a month ahead of schedule. They grabed a property novel entitled,  A Sort of Traitors by Nigel Balchin, and the result was,  'Suspect' retitled in the US as 'The Risk'. Jeff Plumber got in touch to request one of this week's GIFS, as he has never got the chance to see the film, maybe a tinny GIF would be a great teaser. And in the GIF we have posted featuring Tony Britton as Doctor Robert Marriott and Peter Cushing as the tense, Professor Sewell, does the job, I think? Great choice Jeff. Thank you!





#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY: Here are two guys that back at the time when this film was made in 1965, were at the top of their profession. Bernard Cribben's on the left here played Major Holly's (Peter Cushing) valet, in something a little different from Hammer called, 'SHE'. At this time Cribbin's was hardly ever off the small screen in the UK. Starring in several of his own light entertainment shows, having hit novelty songs in the UK hit parade and guesting and appearing in all sorts of homegrown flicks and tv shows. He also starred with Cushing in 'Daleks Invasion earth, 2150 AD' which they made the following year. Cribbin's was a keen scuba-diver, and while on location in Israel, taught Cushing to fish and do the flipper thing! Despite a badly timed faux -par with the BBC at the beginning of the 60's, that affected his working relationship with the 'bods-in -suits' at the Beeb, Cushing was very busy, on both the tv, radio and the big screen. The first four years of the new decade brought some interesting roles.


OUR FEATURE AND GALLERY ON 'SHE' CAN BE FOUND : HERE!

CUSHING AND CRIBBIN'S, along with co-star Christopher Lee, probably though 'SHE' was going to be a few weeks in the sun and some excellent time to paint, swim, eat and see the sights. It was anything but... with Cribbin's being injured in his BUTT, and most of the crew and cast going down with 'unpredictable bowel' events.  'SHE' was produced by Hammer films in an attempt at producing something... EPIC! Producer Michael Carreras wasn't that keen on the spooky flicks, that made Hammer films famous, and he was desperate the make something that was family entertainment, with epic style. The problem was, Hammer never had EPIC money....! Still what we do get isn't far off the mark, and it's title star, Ursula Andress is not too shoddy either, filling the screen, in more ways than one, with her super-star charisma.  Many thanks to Danni Marx for this GIF request!


#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY: IF THERE IS ANTHING that the fairy-tales of our childhood tells us, it's... DON'T TAKE ANYTHING OR STEAL FROM THE BAD GUYS...don't eat that apple, don't take that drugged candy from the lady in the made of candy...and don't even try thinking about stealing that hen, that eggs those very expensive eggs! Peter Cushing's Prof Emmanuel Hildern, could add, 'never cut and take the finger from a eight foot tall fossilized skeleton!' Of course, if he had taken a look over his shoulder at his family, and their struggle with madness, the ruthless torment from his brother, Christopher Lee...he would have had a hunch, this wasn't going to work out well for him. 


'THE CREEPING FLESH' is a excellent film on all counts, wonderfully directed by Freddie Francis, who for a short spell only, woke up from his boredom with directing horror films,  this one tick all the boxes, but because of the timing of it's production, missed it's boat and glory, when the horror market in the UK had all but bled-out. Cushing is great at roles like Van Helsing and co where he gets to fight the evil, by means of quick thinking, Errol Flynn theatrics and strength, but he makes a superb foil for the fall too. Hildern does everything he shouldn't, and the final 20 mins of the film, sees him hunted by the films, bogey-man. If you have not caught this one yet, it was recently re-released in the US on Blu Ray. Look it up! GIF requested by Debbie Finson, who also asks, 'Can you explain what the ending means of The Creeping Flesh, please?' Debbie, I would love to, but..despite watching this several times, there's lots of clues, but the answer, I can't quite put my FINGER on it ....


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 our 30K following total for Peter Cushing BIRTHDAY on MAY 26th 2017 AND Help Keep The Memory Alive!

Tuesday 16 May 2017

TELL THEM FIFTY TWO WEEKS IS TOO LONG TO BE SO OLD! GOODBYE GEOFFREY BAYLDON


BACK IN 1988, the world of Fans and Fan Clubs in the UK, was very different to how it is today in 2017. There were few places to 'bump into your favorite film star and have a chat (!), autograph conventions in the UK were unheard of, autographs were almost always given, on the fly, when you did bump into a celebrity or 'star'...and they were certainly given for free. Meeting celebrities was very much, a bigger deal. Remember, our own PCAS was founded on a meeting with fan Gladys Fletcher and Peter Cushing. A meeting that Gladys had prepared for, for over a year and was instigated at Peter's request . . . little could she have known, he was going to ask her, to manage his first Peter Cushing Club?? 

DURING ALL THE YEARS that Gladys managed the club, from 1956 until 1977, she rarely met any other actors or celebrities. It  was a rarer opportunity back then. It was only after 1978, when the club was rebooted and renamed, with the extra resources of cheaper, faster, printing for membership journals and the addition of having our own audio tape magazine, did the idea of meeting and interviewing actors and people who worked with Peter Cushing, become a much more exciting extension of the society's tool box! Now, interviews would be recorded with broadcasting specific Marantz recording machines, interviews could be edited, jingles recorded, to add to the content of a 'radio programme-style' two hour long show! Mark's radio presenting background, made this possible, and the production values were very polished. 


GEOFFREY BAYLDON was one of the first dozen or so interviews, that appeared on the first shows. Geoffrey was sent a copy of one of the shows, in our letter of introduction following a phone call. Linda King, who was assisting with much of the daily running of PCAS at this time, volunteered to front the interview, as she was a big fan of the very popular Catweazle programme that Geoffrey starred in during the early 1970's. This was only her second or third venture into driving 'behind the mic'. Pop and soap stars opened fetes and supermarkets, it was a different matter meeting one of your idols, in his living room for three hours!


Bayldon as Max with Robert Powell in Amicus films, 'Asylum' (1971). The film had a very good cast also including Peter Cushing, Herbert Lom with some very good stories and set pieces, but these few seconds of Bayldon's performance, are the images that stay with most viewers, long after the titles role . . . 
 
IT HAD BEEN KNOWN for quite some time, that Geoffrey Bayldon's health was failing him. But despite, several serious moments, he battled on, despite losing mobility, much of his sight and many of the things that advanced age slowly, and cruelly robs from us all eventually.  When the time did arrive last week, it was no lesser shock. At 93, it looked like, despite all the health problems, he might, please stay with us... a little longer yet. On May 10th, 2017 he left us for good, but left a remarkable body of work for us and future generations of fantasy film fans, families and children to enjoy. And there will always be Catweazle . . . 


BELOW ARE some transcribed extracts from the PCAS Geoffrey Bayldon interview and some brief words from Linda on the interview. The full recording can be heard on the PCAS POD-CAST, which will be launch later this year. We'll keep you posted. . .


LINDA KING: ON INTERVIEWING GEOFFREY BAYLDON:
'Geoffrey was very kind and courteous and made me feel at home, although I was still a bit nervous. This was at his home after all, which was not what stars did! He was quite happy to talk about Catweazel, Doctor Who, Dracula, Worzel Gummidge and other roles. He was complimentary about the Peter Cushing Appreciation Society Audio Magazine and only too happy to do some jingles for us. He thought the idea of a tape zine was a good one and innovative. The jingles, like all the jingles and inserts that various people we interviewed did for us over the years, were light hearted and in our usual, tongue in cheek, self-deprecating style, and a bit of fun.



ABOVE: Bayldon and Thorley Walters in 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed' (1969) 

'I REMEMBER, Mark had the idea of Geoffrey re-recording the voice over track, he recorded for the Paul Hardcastle top ten single' The Wizard', which was the theme music to the BBC show, 'Top of the Pops' at the time. He was a very good sport recording it and I could see, he was having a lot fun playing up our rewriting of the 'spell', that appeared on the hit song recording.


ABOVE: The letter of introduction and granting our PCAS interview with Geoffrey Bayldon, back in 1988. 

'THE INTERVIEW took place in 1988, 'Madame Souzatska' with Shirley MacLaine in the title role, was a film he had been in recently at the time of the interview, and he was keen to share his experiences of shooting his scenes.  Through-out our three hour meeting, he was quietly spoken and good humoured, smiling a lot and happy to have a couple of photos taken. I don't remember as much as I wished I did, but it was a very pleasant experience'. 


'THE AUTOGRAPHED PIC, which appears here with the letter? The reason why he wrote 'May everything work for Linda' was because Catweazel, always used to complain that, 'nothing works!'


FIFTY TWO WEEKS OF WORK!
'I was always cast as elderly men, quite a time of playing old men. It started when I was twenty one, and I have done ever since'. Just a few days before meeting Geoffrey, in preparation for a Dr Who Issue of the Peter Cushing Appreciation Audio Magazine, we had interviewed three actors, with connections with the BBC series, Tom Baker, Colin Baker and Sophie Aldread. Both Tom and Colin were working in the West End, in theatre productions, interviews were conducted in their dressing rooms. Sophie was rehearsing for the next series of Dr Who. So, the subject of the Time Traveler came up, ' You know, I was almost cast as the first Doctor Who?' At the time, this was news to us and I don't think it was common knowledge, being pre-internet.


 'I know!', said Geoffrey, ' but please let me put this into context, I am not sure how serious their intentions were, at the BBC. But, I was quite sure, it didn't take me very long to consider it, because at this time, I had played many older characters, old men. My agent did try to impress that the role would be maybe of great value, to anyone's career, But, I was, for better or worse, quite adamant. There had been too many, mostly television. If you get a call, I told my agent, I don't want to know.'  At this point, Linda laughed with Geoffrey, but in the back of her mind, she running a 'flicker-book' of images of Geoffrey Bayldon as Doctor Who!  What a loss! 


But Geoffrey hadn't finished...'And then, one afternoon, my agent, she rang. She just said, 'How would you like to work, 52 weeks of the year?. I know, you said not to tell you, but I thought you had better consider it' and I said 'Consider what?' and she told me, about Doctor Who. I said, 'Goodness, 52 weeks!. Look, let me think about it. I will call you back, in a few minutes. I need to think about this' So, she waited and I thought about it. After ten minutes, I called her and said' Tell them, it's too long!' She interrupted and said again, 'It's 52 weeks of work, Geoffrey!' and I replied, 'No tell them, it's too long to be so old' and she did, and that was the end of that. You know, I never knew officially what it was! My agent just told me it was from the BBC and it was called 'Doctor Who'....and it was going to be a children's series, an inventor, science... professor or something. Ha!'

DRACULA / HORROR OF DRACULA (1958) SHOCK AT THE VALET!

'I was very nervous about my performance in the first Hammer Dracula, with Peter Cushing. We shared a scene. I only had one day on the film, it came through to my agent, and again it was another, old man, but this time  I guess it was Peter's character's valet, I was playing. It involved some kind of recording machine, that Peter was using, and my character, had to react to it, be confused, as if there is another person in the room, who I could not see!'



'Anyway, I slipped in to watch a matinee of the film. I had no idea when I would appear on the screen. My scene had been shot, out of sequence with everything else in the film, I knew the novel, but not the screenplay. So, no idea, and I was really becoming interested in the story, and almost forgot about my role, when suddenly, these two large doors open in a room, and in I walk, almost 15 or so feet high on the cinema screen. I was shocked! I had never actually seen myself on a cinema screen before!'

THE UNFORTUNATE CATWEAZLE AND 'THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED' CONNECTION:
'Again, this is a story that involves my horror at a cinema! I wanted to check out a role I had played in the film, 'The House That Dripped Blood', a fun film to make, and glorious friendship of Jon Pertwee. Well, I went to see the film, I knew it was showing at the local cinema. Now, the press office, when the film was being touted, promoted, they were looking for ideas, stories that they could use, and of course in this story, and they hit on the idea of plugging the angle that this was, 'Doctor Who Meeting Catweazle'. 



'It was a gimmick, from the press office. And we said, 'NO!' We had gone to great lengths to make it so it was nothing at all like Catweazle. The company, the director were quite specific, it had to be nothing at all, like Catweazle. So, the idea was floated about making the character not unlike, a Ernest Thesiger, the actor, type appearance. I thought that was great idea. They made a longer nose, wispy side-burns, So, we did go to a lot of trouble, to make  of everything about this fancy dress shop character, I was playing, to BE someone else. Anyway, the cinema was full of teenagers. Jon made his entrance, rapped the counter in the shop for assistance, and I appear, through a curtain, and the whole audience cried 'CATWEAZLE!' in recognition..!


MARCUS BROOKS: ON GEOFFREY BAYLDON
WHEN DEVISING AND editing the PCAS Audio Magazine over the six years it was produced, the highlight of every show was, the interview. Vincent Price, John Carradine, Milton Subotsky, Ralph Bates...they were usually all, gripping stuff and full of new insights, anecdotes and business. Each interview had a show duration of 30 to 40 minutes, including short clips of the featured actors work, in a show that first started as a hour, then quickly, by show four moved to a two hour duration. The raw material, depending the responsiveness of interviewee, could be anything from a tight 30 minutes, or in some cases, several hours! 


THE PROCESS OF editing, listening, sometimes over and over, to someone speaking, sharing, remembering, pieces of their life and experiences, opinions and thoughts, can sometimes give you a feeling for the person. Some were professional 'guest', who were very focused and had a set format for interviews, stories, jokes, quips and off pat. That is why often the interview was only as good as the prompt questions. And we worked very hard on setting those. If Tom Baker doesn't want you talk about Dr Who, what DO you talk about? Elevators, drunks, the worst jokes, hats, cats and sloe gin, of course! 



THIS WAS NOT A PROBLEM with Geoffrey Balydon, he wanted to talk. Let you in. Share his experiences and wanted you to understand. That was Geoffrey. Very relax, having fun and sharing his memories, it was just like the memory had that moment occurred to him. I think Geoffrey Bayldon enjoyed being an actor, he liked actors, had a good sense of humor, enjoyed a giggle, and enjoyed you having a giggle with him too!


IN OUR INTERVIEW, Geoffrey presents himself, as very honest, and without a net! Back in 1988, there weren't the oodles of books containing the behind the scenes stories about the fantasy films of Hammer an Amicus, like there are today. It was from Geoffrey's interview, that I first heard the story about the little old lady who doubled for Valerie Gaunt in Jonathan Harker's staking scene in 'Dracula /Horror of Dracula' (1958) Geoffrey had been on the set that same day, and heard the elderly lady, announcing that the casting agency, hadn't told her she would be playing a corpse!  


WHAT GEOFFREY added to the story was, she was extremely upset and dissolved into tears upon the words, 'Cut' being hailed from behind the camera. Geoffrey was good on detail and like many of the actors we interviewed at this time, was still sharp and working.   


GEOFFREY BAYLDON, started as a theatre actor, he spent two seasons as a successful Shakespearean actor at Stratford, playing alongside John Gielgud in 'Measure for Measure' and 'Julius Caesar' (both in 1950). For a further two years, he was with the Birmingham repertory theatre, with whom he appeared as Caesar at the Old Vic and, to rave reviews, in Paris too. Despite these successes, he later openly admitted he enjoy film and television more, 'You can nearly always do it again, if it didn't come out right, the first time!'


IN THE EARLY 1970'S his triumph as Catweazle sealed his TV reputation, drawing him into countless series and dramas including, All Creatures Great and Small for the BBC, The Tomorrow People, Tales of the Unexpected, Blott on the Landscape and Rumpole of the Bailey. In three 1979 episodes of Doctor Who he was Organon the astrologer – with Tom Baker,with whom he shared a long friendship– and even played an alternative version of the Time Lord in two audio versions of Doctor Who stories released in 2003 and 2005. 


IN HIS NUMEROUS film appearances, he rubbed shoulders with greats such as Sidney Poitier (To Sir With Love, 1967), Peter Sellers (Casino Royale, 1967, and 'The Pink Panther Strikes Again', 1976), Albert Finney ('Scrooge', 1970) Peter Cushing (Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1967) Asylum (1972) and Vincent Price ('The Monster Club', 1981) and Shirley MacLaine ('Madame Souzatska', 1988)





ABOVE: MIDSOMER MURDERS: Geoffrey Bayldon, Georgine Anderson, Gudrun Ure, Phyllis Calvert and  Nigel Davenport. Midsomer Murders: 'Blue Herrings' (2000)


GEOFFREY continued acting on TV, well into his 80s when he noted that he was now ready to play, those old men, only now with a certain qualification! Appearances in 'Midsomer Murders', 'Heartbeat', 'Casualty', 'New Tricks' and 'My Family' came in more recent years. He would attend the annual gathering of the Catweazle fan club with enthusiasm, and they in return loved him dearly. In 2005 he revealed that he had finally been able to watch the show with a sense of detachment. “I turned it on and I was sitting back watching myself without being conscious at all that it was me,” he said. ‘“And I was jaw-dropped. I suddenly thought: ‘This fella’s bloody good.’”



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 our 30K following total for Peter Cushing BIRTHDAY on MAY 26th 2017 AND Help Keep The Memory Alive!
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