'THE NIGHT THEY TERRIFIED THE WHOLE COUNTRY' : BBC ORWELL'S 1984 INTERVIEWS

FROM 1960, Peter Cushing, Yvonne Mitchell, writer Nigel Kneale and director Rudolph Cartier reflect on the huge reaction to the live broadcast of the BBC Sunday Night Drama, '1984' aired 12th December 1954. For any television broadcast to prompt any reaction from the government at this time, was indeed quite rare. But watching Peter, Yvonne Mitchell and Morell here, gives a pretty good idea of THEIR fears too... To an extent it changed drama on the BBC and put Cushing into a another area of work all together, for many years to come... It's a short feature and certainly worth watching... 

CASH ON DEMAND WRAPPED 57 YEARS AGO TODAY!

FIFTY SEVEN YEARS today Peter Cushing just wrapped with shooting one of his least expected, successes with Hammer films. A neat, tight and dramatic bank robbing saga, that started life as a BBC tv play just twelve months previously called, 'The Gold Inside'. Cushing plays a bank manager called Harry Fordyce, Andre Morell who had played Cushing's Watson just two years before, plays a foxy confidence trickster, called Colonel Gore-Hepburn. 

'CASH ON DEMAND' (1961) is quite a marvel really. With an almost penny-halfpenny budget, it holds the suspense and drama, through out it's 90min duration . . . which is real pay-off, when the plot, the nuts and bolts of the crime are revealed. It's a credit to Hammer films, who sometimes did not do as well, with their non horror movies. Cushing and Morell are superb. I know it's a favorite here, and this little GIF just about shows you, the spins and traps that Cushing's up-tight manager is put through. . . Recommended, wouldn't you say?

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

A NATION IS TERRIFIED : LATE NIGHT LINE UP ON BIG BROTHER 1984 AND REMEMBERING ERINE!

#MOMENTSOFTERRORMONDAY! BACK IN 1954, Peter Cushing Cushing's appeared in a little BBC television drama entitled, 1984 . . .based on the novel by George Orwell. The show went out LIVE on December 12th and 16th December 1954. Such was the response to the first broadcast, the government at the time met at discussed if the show show be repeated after the initial broadcast.... it made a star of Peter Cushing, and sent his career in path that would change the public perception of the meekest of actors...

THIS LATE NIGHT LINE UP program was broadcast by the BBC in order to meet the huge reaction to the show. Interviewed are Peter Cushing his co star's Andre Morell, Yvonne Mitchell, director Rudolph Catier and the writer and script adapter, Nigel Kneale.... Television was never the same, and Peter's Winston Smith helped lead the way...... 

REMEMBERING Lttle Ern' 🙂 Born today, Ernest Wiseman, one half of probably the most successful comedy duo to ever come out of the UK... Morecambe and Wise. A good friend of Peter Cushing's, who attended Peter's 80th birthday bash and if the scripts are to believed... kept Peter short of his appearance fee, and provided us with probably one of the funniest and longest running gags, in the whole Eric and Ernie repertoire! When Eric his partner passed in 1984, no one looked more lost than Ernie.

BUT HE CARRIED ON, working, doing interviews, panto..until his retirement. The Eric and Ernie, even though they claimed it was based on their heroes work, Abbott and Costello, they were certainly stamped well, as Britain's favourite comedians, Christmas isn't the same without at-least one of their many repeated shows on tv. Happy Birthday, Little Ern, God Bless your short 'fat-hairy legs', and that 'join' you could never see.

How many times did Peter appear on the Morecambe and Wise Show? Which is your favourite appearance routine? and Do you remember HOW Peter Cushing finally managed to GET his MONEY??? You can find ALL of Peter's routines on the Morecambe and Wise Show in a playlist at our PCAS YOUTUBE CHANNEL PLAYLIST!

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  . 

#GETTHECUSHIONSUNDAY! THE TERROR OF ROOM 101

#GETTHECUSHIONSUNDAY! Last week we shared an interview clip, with Peter Cushing speaking about the impact of the live BBC production of George Orwell's 1984 and THIS scene was probably the one that upset the viewers of 1954 even more so... I think it fits our weekly Sunday theme perfectly! How do you think this scene has aged? Does it still deliver an impact?

If you LIKE what you find posted here . . Please visit us at our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE and help 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.

A TRIPLE BILL OF 60'S CUSHING 'DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA'

THREE SIXTIES CUSHING GOODIES . . . ready to watch. Right Now at our YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE. . .OR BELOW

THE NAKED EDGE is a 1961 thriller film starring Gary Cooper, Deborah Kerr with a co starring role by Peter Cushing. The movie was a British-American co-production distributed by United Artists, directed by Michael Anderson and produced by George Glass and Walter Seltzer, with Marlon Brando Sr. as executive producer. The screenplay was by Joseph Stefano and Max Ehrlich, the music score by William Alwyn and the cinematography by Erwin Hillier and Tony White. The production design was by Carmen Dillon. The film was shot in London and at Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, and was Gary Cooper's last film.

CASH ON DEMAND is a firm favorite  with Cushing fans and another from the selection of dramas that Peter Cushing made during the early 60's. It's a great watch, with a fine two-hander performance from Cushing and Morell. Yes, it does have a Christmas angle, but this one can be watched any time of the year. To hi-jack a certain phrase . . . 'A rogue IS'NT just for Christmas!'

'IF A BRITISH FILM opens with a horse-drawn hearse in a Bavarian town and features a few of corpse exhumations, then you won’t be surprised to see Peter Cushing and a couple of Night of the Demon (1957) veterans in the cast list. In fact, you’d be forgiven for assuming The Man Who Finally Died is a hoary old Brit-horror. But actually, it isn’t. Then again, maybe it is; there’s more horror here than our imagination can easily conjure!' : 'The Man Who Finally Died' Starburst Magazine

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE FIND US HERE!

DOUBLE BILL OF CUSHING : RIGHT HERE!

A GREAT DOUBLE BILL OF GREAT PETER CUSHING DRAMAS has just been uploaded on to our PCAS YOUTUBE CHANNEL. The 1961 ' CASH ON DEMAND and 'THE MAN WHO FINALLY DIED' (1963). As mention on our posts at our FACEBOOK FAN PAGE during the weekend, look out for a whole series of very interesting uploads at the channel, featuring some of Peter Cushing's non-fantasy work, over the coming weeks. 'CASH' and 'MWFD' were made at a time when Cushing was trying to break, what he saw as, the threat of type-casting.

After an amazing run of work at the BBC through-out the 1950's, which continued up until the mid 1960's, the majority of Cushing's film opportunities after the broadcast of the BBC play '1984' and his first toe dip into Horror films with Hammer films, THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, were all with one foot, in the grave, so to speak. Horror or Fantasy themed. From 1960 until 64, Cushing was a little more selective in the the titles he chose..sadly, those titles didn't always lead to sound scripts and interesting characters. But, there are gems to be found and the two films presented here, give us a glimpse at the range Cushing was indeed capable of, when away from the dark shadows of the horror genre, that would soon consume his career.

 
 
A firm favorite, Cash On Demand and another from the selection of dramas that Peter Cushing made during the early 60's. It's a great watch, with a fine two-hander performance from Cushing and Morell. Yes, it does have a Christmas angle, but this one can be watched any time of the year. To hi-jack a certain pharse . . . 'A rogue IS'NT just for Christmas'- Marcus

MORE TO COME....!

PLEASE JOIN US FOR UPDATES DAILY AT OUR FACEBOOK

FAN PAGE HERE

ROOM 101 AND MONSTERMONDAY : THEY ARE WATCHING

#MONSTERMONDAY : O'BRIEN. A MONSTER? I've pulled one from the Cushing Gallery of Rogues this week, that goes back to a time before he had even dipped a toe in the waters of 'petrifying pics'! Andre Morell's O'Brien is at the centre of the story of Orwell's classic tale of the world gone to hell in a bucket, ruled by one Big Brother, leaders and others, who use cruelty and torture as their primary method of control. O'Brien is relentless once he gets our man Winston Smith played by Cushing, strapped to a table, in order to, through torture, make Winston "perfect," and to "save" him. But such is the 'power of love' Winston proves a difficult nut to crack..'My poor friend, you are almost well!'..and so with the help of the contents of 'Room 101', O'Brien plays his last card... 

'You once asked me what was in Room 101. It is there we have the means to root out the last lingering deception. What happens in Room 101, is the worst thing in the world. It varies from individual to individual. It can be death by burning, burial alive..or something quite trivial, not even fatal...In YOUR case, we both happen to know 'What The Worse Thing in the World'...happens to be....!' 

WHAT FOLLOWS SHOCKED the tv audiences of the live 1954 broadcast on Sunday 12th December, and also scored the highest tv rating in the UK since Queen Elizabeth's II Coronation! But furious critics and watchdogs complained and campaigned for the second live performance of the play, a few days later to be canceled. Michael Barry head of drama at the BBC refused to concede, the broadcast went ahead and recorded for posterity.

NOTE: JUST SIX DAYS AGO, (Tuesday) the New York Times announced that ' George Orwell's famed dystopian novel of life in a totalitarian state, was suddenly No. 6 on Amazon's bestseller list. On Monday, too, the book hovered between No. 5 and No. 7 on that same bestseller list'. . . It's worth noting that this isn't the first time "1984" has seen a sales spike in recent years. The book also hit Amazon's bestseller list in 2013 after Edward Snowden revealed the extent of the National Security Agency's surveillance program.

WE AWAIT THE RELEASE of the BFI REMASTERED blu ray of Peter Cushing's BBC production of 1984, Andre Morell, O'Brien and all.. THREE times the release has been announced, three times it has been canceled. Rumors put Orwell's estate to blame, for allegedly blocking the release (??) One would have thought that the BFI would have looked into rights issues before embarking on a costly remastering? Maybe that isn't the reason at all? Anyone one would think there's a force who doesn't want us to WATCH it...for whatever reason?? Are they WATCHING us too?

COME FIND US ON ALL THESE MEDIA PLATFORMS AND AT THE OFFICIAL FACEBOOK FAN PAGE OF PCAS : JUST CLICK HERE!

CATCH UP WITH POSTS FROM OUR FACEBOOK FAN PAGE

ON LAST FRIDAY'S #FRANKENSTEINFRIDAY we had a 'Monster From Hell' theme and shared this gif of Baron Frankenstien (Peter Cushing) examining a new set of eyes from Hammer's Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell (1974) This shot of Peter looking through a magnifying glass has been used in many of his films and was even spoofed in Top Secret (1984)

WE FOLLOWED ON with another gif featuring the Baron going to any lengths for his work in this well known and quite gruesome scene from Hammer's Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell (1974) This scene was censored during the films original release, recently restored for the blu-ray.



OUR FINAL GIF from Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell (1974)… featured the touching moment between Sarah (Madeline Smith) and The Monster (Dave Prowse) before he is destroyed by the inmates of the asylum. Again, this is another of the restored shots that were included in the blu ray release, that had been removed from the US theatrical release of the film back in 1974.

OUR NEW #HAMMERFILMSSATURDAY brought us some interesting posts and comments too! This often requested contact print photograph of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee (below) meeting the press during the making of THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA Hammer films.

SUNDAY'S #GETTHECUSHINGITSCUSHING we also marked the passing of John Carradine, who we sadly lost on this day in 1988. A highly prolific actor who career covered nearly all genres of film from horror to dramas to westerns. He co starred with Peter Cushing in Shockwaves (1977) and House of the Long Shadows (1983)

 
#GETTHECUSHIONITSCUSHING:This week, our Cushing Clip was a big fav among 'Cushing-Van-Helsing-Fans'.During its final years Hammer was trying different experiments with films in an attempt to find new angles on old stories, one of them was their final vampire film The Legend Of The Seven Golden Vampires (1974) a co-production with the Shaw Brothers, was a hybrid of the Kung-Fu and Horror.Christopher Lee did not return as Dracula and instated was played by John Forbes Robinson. However Peter Cushing once again returned as Van Helsing and really gets involved in the action of the film. While the film was not a success at the time, it reputation has grown over the years as it features plenty of memorable scenes including this one, the final battle with The Seven Golden Vampires. What are some of your favourite moments from the film?

#GETTHECUSHIONITSCUSHING: Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) to the rescue as he stakes the final golden vampire from Hammer's 'The Legend Of The Seven Golden Vampires' (1974)

ON MONDAY we remembered the life and career of actor ANDRE MORELL and his passing in 1978.Today we remember Andre Morell, who we sadly lost on this day in 1978. A celebrated actor whose career had more than a few teamings with Peter Cushing and the fantasy genre.In 1938, Morell joined the Old Vic theatre company, and appeared in several of their high-profile productions both at their home theatre and on tour throughout Britain and across the rest of the world, appearing with both Alec Guinness and John Gielgud.'

HE KICK STARTED his association with 'creepy cinema' with Cushing as Sherlock Holmes, and playing Arthur Conan Doyle's character Doctor John H. Watson, in Hammer Film Productions' version of The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959). In 1960. He played Captain Edward Manningham in 'Cone of Silence' in 1960 also starring Cushing, Michael Craig and Bernard Lee. His wonderful portrayal as the 'bounder' Colonel Gore-Hepburn in Hammer's 'Cash on Demand' in 1961 makes very entertaining viewing, as he piles the pressure on Cushing's tormented bank manger, Harry Fordyce and 65 as Haumeid in Hammer's 'She'..with rather odd dubbing.

THERE WERE OTHER VERY GOOD HORRORS and thrillers too, Hammer's 'Plague of the Zombies' in 66 and the rather limp 'The Mummy's Shroud' again for Hammer in 1967, along with Michael Ripper's Longbarrow, one of the few times where supporting actors are more interesting then the central 'monster'. But, his stand out performance with Cushing, for me has to be in the BBC live televised production of George Orwell's '1984', as the chillingly good O'Brien. It's interesting that Morell played a very good Prof Quatermass in the BBC Quatermass tv series (1958-59) but when offered the role of the Prof in Hammer's 'Quatermass and the Pit' in 1967, turned it down.

MORELL ALWAYS LOOKED very at home in Hammer's early horrors, but inside personally felt a little more than embarrassed by the subject matter of some of the films, and often forbid his family to actually see them at the local cinema. By all accounts, a rather private man, but very generous on screen and made an outstanding contribution to some of Hammer and Cushing's best work.

FINALLY AS IT WAS ALSO #MONSTERMONDAY yesterday, Christopher Lee got the #MONSTERMONDAY treatment: Today our candidate for Monster Monday is Franklyn Marsh a snobbish art critic played by Christopher Lee from Amicus's Dr Terror's House Of Horrors (1965)

PAINTER ERIC LANDOR (Michael Gough) bears the brunt of one of Marsh's tirades, but gets even by humiliating the critic publicly, but when he takes it to far, Marsh gets revenge by running over Landor, casing him to lose his hand, unable to paint again he commits suicide. 

NOW THE QUESTION IS, Franklyn a true monster or just someone who got caught up in a situation that got out of control? You Decide  . . .

PCASUK ON FACEBOOK at our OFFICIAL FACEBOOK FAN PAGE : COME and JOIN our almost 27,000 followers : CLICK HERE AND CLICK LIKE!