#CHRISTOPHERLEESATURDAY!
Here are some highlights from a show that appeared on BBC TV back in
the 80's and 90's. Various celebs were invited to play a few rounds of
Gold in a Celebrity Tournament . . .Lee was matched with his 'Horror
Express' co-star Telly Savalas. ' Tee Splitting Shots and Swipes' were
par for the day . . . and Telly was quite the player!
HOUSE-KEEPING I just want
to make you aware of a SUPERB facebook group, that's sitting there
waiting for you to knock it's door and join them. The Robert Stephens
Appreciation Society is curated by Joanna. She produces quite superb
visuals to accompany her enormously informative and entertaining posts.
Having my account set to when she makes posts, I sitting here daily,
chin on carpet, at the rare archive material she shares.
STEPHEN'S
was a one off, an actor like no other really, with a fascinating off
screen life to match. I think Christopher Lee must have felt blessed the
day, he received the call from Billy Wilder, to join him and Stephens
in making 'The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'. Lee was VERY proud of
his work in the film, and I believe one of the reasons, was Stephens
ability to share on screen with him.... HERE is the link: Go visit this
group, you wont be disappointed... and JOIN HERE!
YESTERDAY WE POSTED our TRIBUTE to actress and Dancer, PRUDENCE HYMAN in our CUSHING FEMME FATALES FRIDAYS! feature. The
feature is broken down into three sections her ballet career, her film
work and the later years appearing at gala's and comedy revues. There is
rare footage of Prudence dancing in what was called The Dance Club in
1931, which laid the ground work for Ballet Rambert in the UK.
RARE FOOTAGE from her appearance in BLUE SCAR, plus Pathe footage... all
pretty cool stuff, that celebrates Prudence's life and reminds us, of
what a genuinely super talented lady! You can see catch up and see it : BY CLICKING 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
IT'S ONLY NATURAL that when we think of
the ladies of the classic Hammer Horror films, we think of the
countless, beautiful women that will forever be as associated with the
studio's name as that of Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing. We think of
names such as Ingrid Pitt or, First Lady of Hammer: Hazel Court.
However, the first woman to become anything but beautiful for the
studio, was the unknown, Prudence Hyman. Subsequently, it was after the
release of 'THE GORGON' (1965), that
Hammer would begin a long legacy of these dangerous females. And all of
it began with an ex-ballerina and ENSA performer named, Prudence Hyman.
LONG BEFORE she would become Hammer's Gorgon, 'Megaera,' Prudence Hythe was born in London, England
on February 2, 1914. She was a classically trained ballerina who
studied in England and Paris and made her dancing debut at the age of
seventeen in 'Twelfth Night.' Between 1934-1935, she toured with
various ballet companies, and during the second World War, she was a
member of ENSA; a traveling group of artists whose purpose was to
entertain the troops. It was while she was a member of the ENSA group,
that Prudence and her fellow members were once flown to safety during a
harrowing adventure through a horrible storm. The group's hero was a
young, Royal Air Force Lieutenant that, interestingly, she would manage
to meet-up with many years later: None other than Christopher Lee.
IN 1960, Prudence played a small, uncredited role alongside the once brave pilot in Hammer's, House of Fright / The Two Faces of Dr Jekyll. She
played the part of a tavern woman, while Paul Massie took on the dual
role of the mad scientist. However, it would be four years later that
Prudence Hyman would make horror history: She would be the first female
monster in Hammer's long, Gothic-style film legacy.
#CUSHINGFEMMEFATALESFRIDAY!
Blue Scar is a little seen 1949 British drama film, directed by documentary
filmmaker Jill Craigie, set in a Welsh village where the coal mine has
recently been nationalised. It focuses on the relationship between Olwen
Williams, a miner's daughter who leaves the village to live in London,
and Tom Thomas, (Emrys Jones) who dedicates his life to working in the
mine. Prudence Hyman plays a small role as Moira Thalberg , who shares a
dorm with Tom's girlfriend, Gwynneth Vaughan played by Olwen Williams,
when Gwynneth wins a scholarship to attend singing school....
THE GORGON was one of the last films to have been produced by Hammer during their six-year distribution deal with Columbia
Pictures. Seeing as their last two films had been shelved by the
distributor, the studio needed something new and exciting that would
bring audiences back to the theater. To do so, they went straight to the
public itself. An advertisement was placed in 'The Daily Cinema'
magazine, in which the film company was soliciting stories from anyone
with a good idea.The last line of the advertisement read as follows:
"Because good, compulsive selling ideas with the right titles are what
Hammer are looking for right now." Of the many submissions, a story by
J. Llewellyn Divine was selected. It was a rather involved and lengthy
story. But, after a bit of re-writing and initially naming the script,
"Supernatural", the script was rewritten a second time and given the
name, The Gorgon.
#CUSHINGFEMMEFATALESFRIDAY!
Prudence Hyman's appearance as 'Megaera,' in Hammer films 'THE GORGON'
is just two years away, as Prudence appears in three episodes of
'Richard The Lionheart' as Queen Eleanor in 1962. In the mid 1950's soon
to be mega money producer, Lew Grade kick started a whole trend of
Sword, Sandals and Jousting copy cats tv series when he sank all his
capital into 'Robin Hood' with actor Richard Greene, filling the Lincoln
Green tights. It was a mega success. So a whole raft of other medieval
style tv romps followed : Roger Moore as Ivanhoe, The Saint was just
around the corner. William Russell as Sir Lancelot. Conrad Phillips as
William Tell . . and all at sea with Terence Morgan, playing Sir Francis
Drake. And so, who would have thought, Richard The Lionheart would be
next? Taking more than a nod from Robin and his Merry chaps, this show
even had its own rousing theme song . ."Richard, the Lionheart, wrote a page in England's book of fame. History shall long recall his name.". . . . hmm.
SHOOTING BEGAN in December of 1963 at Bray Studios,where The Evil of Frankenstein had just wrapped
production. Due to budget and time constraints,as well as to give the
set the look and feel of 1910, many of the same interior sets from The Evil of Frankenstein were redressed and used for The Gorgon.The
film starred Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Hammer's most famous
female star of the time.The "First Leading Lady of British Horror,"
Barbara Shelley. On board as director was, in my humble opinion, the man
who made Hammer Horror what it is: The legendary Terence Fisher
(February 23, 1904-June 18, 1980).
IN THE ROLE of 'Carla Hoffman', Barbara
Shelley had wanted to simultaneously play the role of the title
character. As the film's possessed, amnesiac heroine, she felt that the
dual role would make the storyline more sensible and fluid; that it
should be she who "gorgonized" the film's victims. She also had a few
ideas for producer Anthony Nelson Keys on how to make Megaera more
frightening and realistic as well. Her idea consisted of using real
garden snakes, and to find a way to humanely weave them into a special
wig. However, due to the film's budget and short production schedule,
Nelson rejected her idea, and chose instead to use another actress to
play the part: Prudence Hyman.
NELSON KEYS ALSO FELT that with a different
actress playing the part, it would help to conceal the Gorgon's
alternate, "human" identity. Although, after seeing The Gorgon herself
on screen, the producer had regretted his decision about Shelley's wig
idea. It's difficult to say if it was Hyman herself, or the costume
which disappointed Nelson. Nonetheless, Christopher Lee's opinion of
Megaera was also less-than-flattering: "The only thing wrong with The
Gorgon, is The Gorgon!" Fortunately, fans today are less unforgiving.
TO CREATE THE APPEARANCE of The Gorgon and her
snakes, makeup man Roy Ashton applied the hideous skin and makeup to
Hyman, while special effects engineer, Syd Pearson, had a bit more of a
challenge by creating the snakes themselves. Pearson had twelve plaster
moulds made, and from each mould he cast latex rubber snakes.
CABLES WERE THEN PLACED through each of the snakes' bodies for movement, and
were then woven through the actress' wig. Each snake was then
individually attached to cables which ran down Hyman's back. The cables
trailed approximately twenty-five feet behind her where they were
controlled by a large contraption which contained pegs. As the pegs were
turned, the tension gave the effect of each snake moving individually.
THE GORGON FINISHED PRODUCTION in January, 1964, and was double-billed with Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb. Although
we only see The Gorgon herself for less than twenty minutes throughout
the entire film, each shot of Prudence Hyman's 'Megaera' is a treat, to
say the least. The cinematography of Michael Reed is simply superb and,
in true Hammer form, the sets are gorgeous. Hyman herself moves with a
grace and elegance that one would expect from a former ballerina.
Incredibly, she went back to playing uncredited roles for the studio.
She was given small parts in Rasputin: The Mad Monk, and The Witches, which were both were released in 1966.
IT IS TRULY INTERESTING to know that an
unknown actress with no starring roles, or major parts, made horror film
history as one of it's first female monsters; and the first for Hammer.
Sadly, the name Prudence Hyman remains rather unknown, and The Gorgon has only recently become appreciated as one of Hammer's lesser known and hidden gems. Very
little has been written about Prudence Hyman, or her incredible
contribution to the horror genre. As is normally the case with so many
important people throughout history, it is not in their lifetimes that
they are appreciated, or even understand what they have accomplished
while they're alive: such was the case with Prudence Hyman. She died at
the age of 81 on June 1, 1995 and was put to rest in her birthplace of
London, England.
Prudence Hyman was a bright young dancer when English ballet was
emerging. She was lithe and slim, possessing a clean technique, quite
notable for those days. Nurtured by the redoubtable Marie Rambert, she created a variety of
roles in early ballets by such budding choreographers as Susan Salaman,
Frank Staff, Frederick Ashton, Wendy Toye, Andree Howard and Anthony
Tudor. She danced Maria in Cross Gartered, Tudor's first ballet, in
1931, based on the Malvolio episode from Twelfth Night. She also created
the part of Eve in Tudor's Adam and Eve to Constant Lambert's music for
the Camargo Society at the Delphi Theatre, in 1932.
She danced Vamp de Luxe in Susan Salaman's Le Boxing to music by Lord
Berners, and was also in Andree Howard's Death and the Maiden (to music
by Schubert) and Ashton's dances for Purcell's Fairy Queen. She danced
classical roles in Swan Lake, Les Sylphides, Carnaval and Spectre de la
Rose and her Bluebird in Aurora's Wedding was exceptionally brilliant.
Arnold Haskell was in raptures about it!
BORN PRUDENCE Hythe, in London in 1914, she was trained by English
teachers and in Paris by Russian teachers, Lubov Egorova and Olga
Preobrajenska. She built her career with Rambert, and blossomed into
ballerinadom on the tiny Mercury Theatre stage, where Ashley Dukes and
his wife Marie Rambert, had established their centre for dance and drama : The Ballet Club
IT CAUGHT THE FANCY of the intelligentsia, and became fashionable,
eventually famous. The audience capacity was 99 persons; everything was
done on a shoestring. Dukes, a translator of plays, presented his international play seasons
during the weekdays with such masterpieces as The Man with the Load of
Mischief and Mandragola, and on Sunday evenings "Mim" had the theatre
for her Ballet Club. It was said that in those days of Sunday-night
performances at the club, dancers, whatever their status, received a
shilling a performance. Madame Rambert continually lost her stars; they
had to earn a living.
PRUDENCE DANCED BRIEFLY with de Basil's Ballets Russes (1934-35) and then
toured with the Markova-Dolin ballet. During the Second World War she
made some appearances with the London Ballet at the Arts Theatre in
lunchtime concerts and toured abroad with Ensa. Back in England, she
turned to commercial theatre, making notable appearances with Walter
Crisham, Hermione Gingold and Hermione Baddeley in intimate revues, a
form of entertainment then extremely popular.
ALL MUSICALS needed dancers and PRUDENCE worked in BOTH record breaking productions of PAINT YOUR WAGON in 1951 and 1953 in the WEST END London.
ABOVE: WHILE APPEARING IN the ballet 'BETTER LATE' in 1946. Prudence took this opportunity to appear in a PATHE NEW ITEM to give a little plug to the show! Thus proving the old adage, ANY publicity is GOOD publicity. Floral Dog Collars, indeed!
A SHORT TIME, after the Second World War, Prudence married Lt R. L Beckley from the USA and disappeared from the ballet
scene. . . . but ballet's loss would be for a short time, theatre, film and televisions gain . .
DEAR PRUDENCE PART TWO was edited and compiled by Marcus Brooks. Sections of this feature previously appeared in Part One of Dear Prudence written by KB Zorka. Sections of the Independent newspaper Prudence Hyman obituary June 25th 1995, was used as reference and source material.
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
