Sunday, 30 November 2014

THE HEIRESS PETER CUSHING : ''HAPPIEST DAYS'


Peter Cushing as Dr Austin Sloper in the stage play, 'The Heiress' and some pages from his personal script. As always written annotations, pointers and notes here about personal props, costume..some of the items were belonged Peter Cushing himself.


During it's run at the Horseshoe Theatre, Basingstoke from 21st October until November 1st 1975, The Heiress played to full houses. Cushing stated at the time that the few weeks he had spent with the production were the happiest he had experience since Helen's passing in 1971.


Helen Ryan who also starred in the production remembers, 'Peter was wonderful, super in the play, but he was so terribly nervous. The play opened at 7.30pm and Peter would be at the theatre three hours beforehand to check his props and costume!' Before this engagement, Cushing had often stated that his 'legitimate theatre' days, were well behind him...

MAID IN ENGLAND: MADELINE SMITH GALLERY


Hammer films 'Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell' is celebrating it's 40th anniversary this year since it's release in the US and we'll be marking that in style next month. The last of the Hammer / Cushing / Frankenstein series starring Peter Cushing, Shane Briant and.... Madeline Smith.



Madeline Smith was born on 2nd August 1949. She worked as a model in the 1960s, and appeared in many television series, Hammer horror and comedy films from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. Smith was born in Hartfield, Sussex. Her father owned an antiques shop near Kew Gardens, while she had a temporary job working at Biba's boutique, a fashion house in Kensington High Street, London. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Smith was frequently the subject of cartoons by J Edward Oliver, which made constant admiring reference to her disproportionately large bust. Smith first worked for Hammer films in Taste the Blood of Dracula (1969) as an East End prostitute, a non-speaking role. In 1973 she played the Bond girl Miss Caruso in the post-titles sequence of Live and Let Die, the first James Bond film starring Roger Moore, and The Angel Sarah, in Hammer Films  'Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell  with Peter Cushing and Shane Briant in 1973.


Her television credits include Doctor at Large (1971), The Two Ronnies (appearance in the serial "Hampton Wick" 1971), Clochemerle (1972), His and Hers (1970) with Tim Brooke-Taylor, Casanova '73 (1973) with Leslie Phillips, and The Steam Video Company (1984). She was a member of the regular cast for the BBC2 series The End of the Pier Show (1974) and In The Looking Glass (1978), along with John Wells, John Fortune and Carl Davis. Smith made her last film, Eric Morecambe's final work, The Passionate Pilgrim with Tom Baker, in 1984.


Friday, 28 November 2014

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS TRAILER


TARKIN: Well ...now?
GENERAL MOTTI : Not yet, Sir....


Today we ALL wait! : The first trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens is set to be unveiled later. Director JJ Abrams told fans on Twitter they would be given an 88-second glimpse of the new film. The trailer will be shown in selected cinemas in the US and also on iTunes' movie trailer website. The film, which reunites original stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher is scheduled to be released in cinemas on 18 December 2015.



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Monday, 24 November 2014

Sunday, 23 November 2014

VAMPIRE LINE UP: WHO IS MISSING? : VAMPIRE LOVERS COMPETITION


Spot WHO IS MISSING in our 'THE VAMPIRE LOVERS' competition and win yourself a copy of Hammer films REMASTERED BLU RAY 'THE VAMPIRE LOVERS' from FINAL CUT ENTERTAINMENT starring Ingrid Pitt, Peter Cushing, George Cole, Douglas Wilmer and Madeline Smith.

Final Cut Entertainment The Vampire Lovers is set for release on DECEMBER 1st 2014 and available for pre-order now: HERE

AND THE WINNERS ARE . . . .


CONGRATULATIONS to the two lucky winners of our , WES JOHN BUTLER and OLIVER ARKINSTALL of our ODEON ENTERTAINMENT 'ISLAND OF TERROR' BLU RAY COMPETITION!

The ANSWER to our competition was: NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT.
Thank you to everyone who entered, both here at our website and our Facebook FAN PAGE .

MONSTER FROM HELL AND HAMMER HORROR SHOCK BOX SET WINNERS


We love to offer you great prizes in our competitions. We love it when you win. We love it even more when you message us to tell us how please you are with your prizes! Here are two pics and messages from recent PCASUK Competition I received this morning, that I thought you'd like to see...

JOHN COOPER (top pic) John was one of two winners of our PCASUK Halloween Competition..who bagged Shock Entertainment's 13 blu ray box set of Hammer Film Classics! Here's what he says, 'HAMMER TIME. A big thank you to Marcus and Shock Entertainment for this fantastic prize. Anyone who does not have these as individual titles should buy this as it is beautifully put together. You can just see behind my model of Cushing and Lee fighting to the death over who gets to watch the films with me !'

BENJAMIN ROSTANCE was first prize winner of our 'Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell' competition which we launched with the help of Hammer films, The Horror Channel and Fetch Publicity. Ben won an exclusive set of lobby cards personally signed to him from co star SHANE BRIANT and a copy of the Hammer film blu ray, starring Peter Cushing, Shane Briant and Madeline Smith.. Here's what Ben said this morning: ' MY PRIZES! THEY HAVE ARRIVED!!!!!! And they are AWESOME! Haha! I'm super chuffed with these lobby cards! Now I need to get some cool frames and have these on display amongst my film collection! THANK YOU!!!'

YOU TOO can be a winner! There is just over THREE HOURS to go before our 'ISLAND OF TERROR' competition closes. There are TWO copies of Odeon Entertainment's superb blu ray release up as prizes. So, get your entry in now! Good Luck!

UPDATE : OUR COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED

Friday, 21 November 2014

RICHARD PASCO CBE DIES 1926 - 2014


Very sad to hear of Richard Pasco passing recently. Richard Pasco appeared with Peter Cushing in: Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960) The Gorgon (1964)





'Richard Pasco, who has died aged 88, was one of the finest classical actors of his generation. Though he did not achieve the star status that would have come from appearing in a long-running TV series, no one who saw it will ever forget his alternation of the roles of Richard II and Bolingbroke in a famous 1973 RSC production. Gifted with a mellifluous voice and a strong presence, he worked with all the major companies, including long stints at Bristol Old Vic and Birmingham Rep in their heyday. Pasco had a prolific, stage-driven career that few young actors today can hope to emulate.'
The Stage Obituary 21st November 2014

Sunday, 16 November 2014

'SHOCK WAVES : OUR WINNERS BAG BLUE UNDERGROUND PETER CUSHING ZOMBIEFEST REMASTERED BLU RAY PRIZES!


Congratulations to our THREE WINNERS! A very popular competition! 'SHOCK   WAVES' is released on TUESDAY 25th NOVEMBER 2014 and is available for PRE ORDER right NOW! ORDER HERE


BAG YOURSELF A COPY OF THE ODEON ENTERTAINMENT REMASTERD BLU RAY 60'S CLASSIC 'ISLAND OF TERROR'


Here's your chance to bag yourself a copy of ODEON ENTERTAINMENTS remastered blu ray release of 'ISLAND OF TERROR' starring Peter Cushing and Edward Judd. Directed by the superb Terence Fisher!

This blu ray release is REGION FREE!

Simply correctly answer the competition the the panel above and send us your answer to our email address: theblackboxclub@gmail.com. No later than 7pm gmt FRIDAY 21st NOVEMBER 2014.

The winning entries will be announced here the following day SATURDAY 22nd NOVEMBER 2014 at 9pm gmt.

GOOD LUCK!


Saturday, 15 November 2014

NEWS: ODEON ENTERTAINMENT PREPARES HD MASTER FOR CUSHING LAST FILM


NEWS: A post at the ODEON ENTERTAINMENT FACEBOOK PAGE has revealed that the company behind the stunning remastered blu ray and dvd release of Peter Cushing's NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT and Cushing's other 1960's 'island in peril' film, ISLAND OF TERROR...both directed by Hammer films, Terence Fisher....are preparing a HD MASTER for a planned blu ray release of Peter Cushing's 1986 last theatrically released film, 'BIGGLES: ADVENTURES IN TIME'.


Alan Byron revealed, 'Spent a long day down at Deluxe Post Production yesterday on some projects that are in the pipeline for HD restoration. Biggles - An Adventure in Time is now looking unbelievably superb!'


So, it looks as though Peter Cushing's last film is about to get the remastering treatment it deserves, with a first time release on blu ray! We can't wait and will keep you posted of any developments!




Come join us at our FACEBOOK FAN PAGE. COMPETITIONS, FEATURES, RARE IMAGES UPDATED EVERY DAY! Just click : HERE