FROM SERIAL TO CEREAL : WIN A DALEK : HUGE GALLERY : CALLUM MCKELVIE PART TWO

FOLLOWING ON FROM last week’s piece, I’m now turning my attention towards the second Dalek film, Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. Released in 1967, right at the very end of ‘Dalekmania’, Invasion Earth was not as warmly received as its predecessor despite my thinking it the superior film. My DR WHO AND THE DALEKS REVIEW AND GALLERY HERE! However, it still has a slew of interesting facts and tid bits concerning its production and release...

OF COURSE ONE of the more infamous aspects of the films production and marketing concerns the ‘Sugar Puffs’ sponsorship. On the one hand, this was extremely beneficial, assisting in the films financing and helping immensely with marketing. Examples of this include the Daleks featuring in Sugar Puffs television commercials, on the front of cereal boxes and of course a competition to win one of the Dalek props. 

THE NEGATIVE SIDE concerns the product placement that features regularly throughout the film, most notably on the walls during the opening sequence in which the Tardis is covered in rubble. It’s not damaging to the film in any particular way, but it is somewhat distracting when considering the film is supposed to be set in an apocalyptic future. I mean, did all other forms of food run out during the Dalek invasion and everyone went Sugar Puff mad?

WHEN BUILDING DALEKS for this film it might seem an obvious assumption that the Daleks were simply edited and re-used from the first film. Unfortunately due to prize giveaways and tours these Daleks numbers had been sufficiently depleted. With a number of new props built others were taken from the Curse of the Daleks stage-play and sufficiently remodelled. 

IN TOTAL NINETEEN were used with Terry Nation (Dalek creator) going on to own four. The rest, reputedly were left on the Shepperton backlot to rot. Nations Daleks would spend the next few years appearing on tours, being used for photoshoots and fairs. One of the Dalek props would get another chance to show off its acting chops- albeit on the small screen, appearing opposite Jon Pertwee’s third doctor in Planet of the Daleks.

THIS DALEK WAS SUITABLY ‘pimped’ out, having been repainted gold and black and appearing with a torch instead of an eyestalk. It looks suitably impressive and despite not getting much screen-time, steals the show. Nation's Daleks would continue to make public appearances for the rest of the 1970’s including the stage show Doctor Who and the Daleks in Seven keys to Doomsday.

OTHER MORE CONVENTIONAL and traditional marketing appear to have been a little less extreme this time around. Perhaps Subotsky, reassured by the massive success of the first film, decided to cost-cut in this area? That’s not to say there wasn’t any however. Some fascinating behind the scenes footage remains in a television programme entitled ''A WHOLE SCENE GOING ON' (1966) which features a fascinating interview with director Gordon Flemying, who discusses his motivations for wanting to direct BOTH Peter Cushing / Dalek feature film and how he chooses to work. Hammer stalwart Eddie Powell gets a shout-out and features in a few clips, setting up for stunts during the final battle sequence within the Dalek base. Cushing can also be seen walking around set and preparing for scenes

ONE OF THE MORE INTERESTING promotional aspects concerns the films soundtrack, which was adapted and presented by Gordon Gow for the BBC Light programme. Aired on November 18 1966 as part of the Movietime series, I’ve been unable to discover if any copy of this broadcast remains. There is however, the original soundtrack recordings, lovingly restored from the vaults of Pinewood Studios, and presented with 20 page booklet from Silvascreen. Some of the vibrant period scores written by Malcolm Lockyer and Bill McGuffie, also have sections enhanced by electronic sounds created by Barry Gray, famed for his work with Gerry Anderson.

DALEKS INVASION EARTH 2150 AD would be the final film in the series although a third film was planned, any ideas were shelved when 2150 AD didn't  hit the lucrative mark of its predecessor. However that’s not to say that that this would be the end for the Cushing doctor. Cushing himself maintained that he had been asked to take the role on for television 

IN EARLY 2010, it was discovered that Cushing did indeed reprise the role, although not on television or the big screen.  A promotional bill announcing the commencement of recording, 'JOURNEY INTO TIME' in ISSUE FIVE had appeared in the pages of the Peter Cushing Appreciation Society Journal, way back in 1981. It took until 2011, for anyone else to realise that the bill was indeed genuine, and seriously take up the research. Cushing recorded a pilot episode in the late 1960's, with the company mentioned in bill, STANMARK and Watermill Productions. However, the pilot came to nothing and sadly, the tapes have since been lost. The recording is thought to have been a thirty minute radio pilot for a proposed series, written by well-known Doctor Who script writer, Malcolm Hulke (creator of the Silurian’s and Sea Devils amongst other well-known monsters). All 52 episodes were to have been produced for Australia and other overseas territories. The plot concerned the Doctor and his companion 'Mike' journeying to the American Revolution.

FOR TWO SCI-FI 'kid's flicks', the Dalek movies have certainly left something of an impression. As I said in my reviews they are incredibly controversial which seems surprising due to their lighthearted nature and just how fun they are.  Love them or loathe them they certainly have an interesting history, though I feel I may be staying away from WHO for a while now, having already devoted four articles to it! I hope you have enjoyed them. Peter Cushing's work is all incredibly interesting and who knows, what we will be featuring here next Sunday? I HOPE you'll come along and find out!

If you want to know more about the Dalek props then I highly recommend visiting HERE!’, a site which features a complete and in-depth breakdown of what happened to both sets of movie Daleks. ALSO these sites are recommended too! http://www.doctorwho.tv/ and HERE!

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   

CALLUM MCKELVIE: GOES RUMMAGING ON PLANET AARU FOR CUSHING WHO GOODIES!

SO FIRST THING FIRST- I’ve been away a little while, but now I’m back! So as before every Sunday I’ll be stealing the lime light to ramble a little about a differing aspect of Cushing and his work. It seemed best to return with a bang and following on from my two-part review of the ‘Dr. Who’ movies, we’re presenting another two-part piece on the films, though this time it’ll be more along the lines of a ‘behind the scenes feature’. Primarily there’s two reasons for this. A) I am of course a massive Doctor Who fan. B) There’s a lot of neat images and footage we have yet to share.

ONE OF THE MAIN REASON FOR this article was to showcase some footage available on the BBC DVD of the Jon Pertwee story Death to the Daleks. (see above) Recently discovered at the time of that stories release, the footage is a rare behind the scenes look at the making of the 1965 film. The BBC’s presentation of the footage is admirable as they’ve gone to the trouble of interviewing some of the original crew along with Hammer Historian Marcus Hearne, for what is an admittedly small amount of film. 

THE FOOTAGE has some interesting Cushing moments, showcasing him exploiting the slapstick comic potential of his character as he jumps around wildly in a doorway when their escaping the Dalek trap. The real delight however is a tiny moment in which Cushing and fellow star Roy Castle are seen partaking in a small song and dance number of what we can presume is some kind of Broadway theme. Unfortunately as the footage has no sound we’ll never know what this sounded like! Though I’m sure someone with excellent lip-reading skills could tell us the name of the song.

ONE OF THE MORE INTERESTING facts in terms of the films promotion centres around its sets. Designed by Scott Slimon (who worked on many contemporary horror pictures including Scream and Scream Again and The Skull amongst others) they are easily one of the most striking aspects of the production. Indeed so striking were they deemed by Milton Subotsky that not only did sections of them appear alongside the Daleks at the Cannes Film festival in the 1965, but they then went on a country-wide tour across the UK promoting the film. 

SEVERAL OF THE DALEKS from the film would be loaned out the BBC and appear as ‘Dalek guards’ in The Chase, which due to the shows tight turn-around would actually be broadcast before the film’s release. Their noticeable by the fact they are missing their large bases.

OF COURSE THE FILM was released during the height of so-called ‘Dalekmania’ within Britain, when the titular killer pepper-pots from the planet Skaro were taking over the toy stores. Indeed it’s often easy to forget that during this period it wasn’t really the ‘Doctor’ that was the draw of ‘Doctor Who’. The year the film was released the Daleks appeared in a massive 19 television episodes and that’s excluding cameo appearances, indeed one of the episodes didn’t even feature the Doctor (Mission to the Unknown). 

BY THE TIME the film hit cinema screens then a slew of Dalek related merchandise was available for the avid collector. Some was explicitly related to the Cushing film (The ‘Paint and Draw the Film of Dr. Who and the Daleks’ book) whereas a majority was simply ‘Dalek’ merchandise (Dalek soap, Inflatable Daleks). Most famous….or perhaps that should be infamous was the ‘Dalek Playsuit’. A red plastic dome would fit upon the head of the wearer, with a plastic sucker and gun arm, whilst there body would be draped in a plastic sheet, designed to look like a Dalek.

MORE EXPLICITLY movie related merchandise including a Dell comic adaptation, that like all Dell comic adaptations of the time told the story of the film with some rather unimpressive artwork. Meanwhile child star Roberta Tovey released the album ‘Who’s Who’ with a B-side featuring Jack Dorsey’s Dance of the Daleks. Listen to it at your peril…

PLEASE JOIN ME HERE AGAIN, next week! Where I’ll be discussing tid-bits concerning the second Dalek movie…DALEK INVASION EARTH 2150 AD!.

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  . . 

DR WHO AND THE DALEKS : RELEASED 50 YEARS AGO TODAY

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the release of AARU Productions of 'DR WHO AND THE DALEKS' starring Peter Cushing as Dr Who, supported by Roy Castle, Jennie Linden and Roberta Tovey. The film is based on the second serial of the British science fiction Doctor Who television programme, The Daleks, produced by the BBC. Shot in Technicolor, it is the first Doctor Who story to be made in colour and in a widescreen format.

Peter Cushing's portrayal of Dr Who was never intended to form part of the ongoing storylines of the television series. His role in neither this film or sequel, Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 AD are not considered canon. Elements from the programme were used, however, such as various characters, the Daleks and a police box time machine, albeit in re-imagined forms.

Produced by Milton Subotsky and his partner, Max Rosenberg who formed Amicus Productions in the early 1960's, Dr Who and the Daleks production was managed by an off shoot company AARU, specifically form for the two Dr Who enterprises.The film was at the time, the twentieth biggest British box office moneymaker in 1965.

Good old fashioned family entertainment, from a more innocent time, Dr Who and the Daleks celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the day of it's cinema release in the UK today!

PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR FACEBOOK FAN PAGE : HERE

THE AMICUS FILMS OF PETER CUSHING: PART TWO BY TROY HOWARTH

In 1965 Milton Subotsky next snatched up Peter Cushing’s services for a proposed series of films based on the popular TV series Dr. Who.  The show made its debut on BBC 1 in 1963 and was developed by the team of Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber and Donald Wilson.  It told of a so-called “time lord” named Dr. Who, who is able to travel back and forth through time.  The character as written was an alien, but when the time came for Subotsky to try and bring the character to the screen, it underwent some heavy alterations.

Cushing was hired to play the role as something of an eccentric old duffer and the films they devised for him—Dr Who and the Daleks (1965) and Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD (1966)—were hardly a feather in anybody’s cap. In order to secure the necessary financing, Amicus had to reach out to another company, AARU, who agreed to provide the money on the condition that they alone were credited as the production company.  And so it came to be that these films became the first “unofficial” Amicus Productions.  In any event, they have their fans, even if Cushing’s portrayal of the character (to say nothing of his “legitimacy” in the canon of Who portrayals) remains hotly contested among the fans.

In 1967, Amicus got back on terra firma with Torture Garden. The second of their series of anthology horror films, it was the first to be written by the American genre legend Robert Bloch.  Bloch devised a clever variation on the formula established in Dr Terror's House Of Horrors, as a group of strangers are gathered together at a fair ground side show and have their fortunes told to them by a huckster (or is he?) known as Dr. Diablo.  Amicus turned to Columbia Pictures for financing and this time they were allowed to keep their name on the credits. Columbia’s chief request was to include a couple of American stars in the roster, to better help the film’s chances at the box office.

Thus, the original plan to reunite Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee fell by the wayside, as the role earmarked for Lee was given to future Oscar-winner Jack Palance. The film offered up four segments of varying quality, again in keeping with the general trend in anthology films.

The first story stars Michael Bryant as a young man who murders his eccentric uncle (Maurice Denham) and finds himself under the malefic influence of a black cat with strange powers; the second told of an ambitious starlet (Beverly Adams) who gets more than she bargained for when she tries to force her way to the top; a young woman (Barbara Ewing) vies with a dead mother’s influence when trying to win the affection of a pianist (John Standing); and Edgar Allen Poe fanatics (Palance and Cushing) compete with each other to become the world’s biggest fan of their late idol.

Freddie Francis was again brought on board to direct and it would mark one of the last times that he really went out of his way to deliver a stylish movie. Working with cinematographer Norman Warwick, Francis gives each segment its own style and tone: the first segment is pure gothic, the second is slick, the third is stately and the fourth goes for an intense air of claustrophobia.

After the gripping first story, the film falls down rather badly during the next two segments, but things end on a high note with the Poe segment. Cushing and Palance play off each other beautifully: Cushing’s propensity for latching on to his character’s neuroses is muted here, which is just as well as there’s only room for one bundle of tics in this segment and Palance fits the bill beautifully.  Their contrasting acting styles is part of the joy of the piece and one can only regret that they never shared the screen again.

It proved to be another success for the studio, but they would abandon the anthology format for the next several years—and Cushing would find himself alternating between one cheapskate outfit after the other as he embarked on a series of some of his least impressive films.

Things took a turn for the better—for both Amicus and Cushing—when they joined forces again in 1969. Scream and Scream Again marked the first coproduction between Amicus and American International Pictures.  The project originated when Subotsky secured the rights to Peter Saxon’s pulp sci-fi novel The Disoriented Man and concocted a screenplay the hewed fairly close to it.  When American International came on board, however, the project took on another life.  The union of the two studios allowed for the first-ever union of the major horror icons of the period: Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.  (Boris Karloff had died early in the year.)

Unfortunately, the project wasn’t really conceived as a vehicle for the three of them, so the casting wasn’t properly thought through.  On top of this, American International’s choice as a director, Gordon Hessler, read Subotsky’s script and made no bones of it: he hated it.  Given that Hessler had helped in bringing in AIP’s troubled “epic” De Sade (1969) and had done a good job by The Oblong Box (1969), which he was originally scheduled to produce, with Michael Reeves directing (this changed when Reeves’ deteriorating mental state had him removed from the picture, thus necessitating for Hessler to step up to the plate and direct it himself), the studio was inclined to give him the leeway he wanted in making the picture. Hessler hired Christopher Wicking, a bold and original young talent with a genuine passion for the horror genre, to completely overhaul the script.

Subotsky’s quaint monster movie was therefore revised into a paranoid political thriller with a jigsaw-like structure designed to keep viewers feeling more than a little disoriented.Subotsky was none-too-pleased to have his script effectively junked and his visits to the set resulted in problems with Hessler: the director wasn’t shy about playing up the sex and the gore and this simply did not sit well with the rather old fashioned producer, who had always attempted to make his films as “clean” as possible.

Hessler tired of having to explain his actions, so he asked for AIP’s line producer Louis M. “Deke” Heyward to intercede.  The end result was that Subotsky was barred from the set and was not permitted to tinker with the film in editing.  Thus, the film bore precious little input from the Amicus end of the deal, and Subotsky would later express amazement that the end product proved as popular as it did at the box office. Scream and Scream Again is a strange film but one that grows in stature with reflection and repeat viewings.

The jumbled structure mixes up various plot strands and is difficult to fully comprehend on first viewing, but repeat viewings reveal that it all links together pretty well. Hessler directs with style and energy and the mixture of sci-fi and government paranoia points to the later phenomenon of The X Files.

As for the casting, Price found himself in his usual mad scientist role, but in fact, the character is less “mad” than usual. Lee is on hand to play a shady government official, while Cushing makes a brief cameo as an authority figure in the fictitious fascist state which plays a role in one of the film’s many subplots.  Fans looking forward to seeing their favorite stars sharing the screen felt cheated (Lee and Price DO appear in one scene together at the very end, but Cushing is on his own in his one scene) but it didn’t stop the film from becoming a big earner for AIP.

Next Time in Part Three: 'The House That Dripped Blood' and 'I, Monster' 

'The Amicus Films of Peter Cushing' is written by Troy Howarth

with artwork and images by Marcus Brooks