'#WATCHWITHCUSHING!' POISON DARTS PEARLS AND MURDER! LOCK-DOWN ENTERTAINMENT

#WATCHWITHCUSHING! IT'S GREAT TO SEE the sharing of #PeterCushing's #SherlockHolmes episodes have been so popular in our PCASUK 'Watch With Cushing Parties' 😊Those you messaging and requesting other episodes from the series, just need to dip into our post from the last three weeks. You will find them there😉 Meanwhile, here we have 'The Sign Of Four' my personal favourite from this Cushing BBC television series, though many see this episode as the weakest!?

OF THE SIX #surviving episodes, from the BBC's 'trashing and wiping tapes fiasco' The Sign of Four' I certainly find it more entertaining and interesting... Peter complained there was too little time for preparation, and some consider the direction of William Sterling, to be without map or steering device! I find these pressures to have enhanced the experience in my viewing. Cushing has to think, react and perform much more quickly. Recorded live, I am sure everyone was flying by the seat of their pants.. . 

NIGEL STOCK AGAIN proves to be a solid and dependable Watson and Cushing's Sherlock at times, leaves his tired and tested performance... all interesting stuff. Supporting actor honours go to John Stratton, another familiar face in the Cushing universe (he would go on to play the comically blustering asylum director in #Hammerfilms / Cushing's 'Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell', 1972), who gives a good account of himself as the clueless and supercilious Inspector Jones. Howard Goorney, a busy character actor whose credits include 'The Evil of Frankenstein' (1964), '#BloodonSatan’sClaw' (1970) and 'The Offence' (1972), also shows up in a small role. I hope this entertains, that you and yours are safe. Take care of yourself and each other, my friends

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PATRICK WYMARK REMEMBERED ON HIS BIRTHDAY!

TODAY WE REMEMBER British character actor PATRICK WYMARK. An experienced actor of stage, TV, film and Radio, whose life was cut short suddenly due to an heart attack at age 44…. Some of his best known film roles are Where Eagles Dare (1968) , Repulsion (1965), The Blood On Satan’s Claw (1970) and Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun (1969) and Cromwell (1970)… He co-starred with Peter Cushing in Amicus’s The Skull (1965)

THE WYMARK family: Patrick Wymark and family in 1965, the year of #THESKULL release .. his wife Olwen, with their children (L-R) Dominic, Tristram and Rowan, at their home.

CUSHING AND WYMARK ready to make their bids at auction in Amicus films, THE SKULL.

FIND OUT MORE about WYMARK and CUSHING in THE SKULL in our SEVEN part feature series on CUSHING'S AMICUS FILMS. Just CLICK HERE! 

YOU'LL FIND EVEN MORE rare photographs and comments from lovers of Peter Cushing's work at our Peter Cushing Appreciation Society FACEBOOK FAN PAGE, which is JUST A CLICK away! Come join over 33 thousand other fans and followers. JUST CLICK HERE and then CLICK LIKE THERE!

DRACULAS FULL 1958 DEATH : MICHAEL'S BIRTHDAY : TUESDAY TOUGHY AND MORE

MICHAEL REDGRAVE was of the generation of English actors that gave the world the legendary John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, Britain three fabled "Theatrical Knights" back in the days when a knighthood for thespian was far more rare than it is today. . .  Sir Michael Redgrave. A superb actor, Redgrave himself was a charter member of the post-Great War English acting pantheon and was the sire of an acting dynasty. According to his daughter, Vanessa, and son Corin, Sir Michael's favourite film roles were in The Browning Version (1951), The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) and The Dam Busters (1955).  Peter Cushing appeared in a 1955 stage production of The Browning Version as Andrew Crocker-Harris in London, recorded and transmitted by BBC TV.    Cushing's role as barrister, Jeremy Clayton is  neat role. Cushing plays it with an impatient sharpness , that makes you feel all the more sorry for Redgrave's 'David Graham'. Just a support role, but ine that added to Cushing's already sizeable characters he had played in theatre, radio and massiviely on television.  Redgrave's opinion about working in film, when he had made such a career of the theatre, was pretty much like Peter Cushing also felt . .'I didn't think I'd be any good in films... I couldn't imagine myself on the screen. Besides, there were such exciting things to do in the theatre, so much to learn!'. Michael Redgrave passed away only one day after his 77th birthday.

DIRECTED BY JOSEPH LOSEY, and starring Michael Redgrave as a confused alcoholic father, racing against the clock, trying to save his son who is sentenced to death...Redgrave turns in a wonderful performance in TIME WITHOUT PITY. It's a British film noir thriller, and has a very watchable cast...of which Cushing is one of the support players. Ann Todd and Leo McKern are at the top of their game, Freddie Francis is director of photography... in only the second film of his career, Lois 'Miss Moneypenny' Maxwell and Joan Plowright also make an appearance. This is a sneak peep a taster....see what you think?

ABOVE THIS WEEK'S TUESDAY TOUGHY AND BELOW, LAST WEEKS ANSWER! 

ABOVE: A REQUESTED DEATH to end the day. FOR TOMMY TWO FANGS . . . hmm Here is probably the MOST CELEBRATED scene from one of Cushing's, Lee's and Hammer's DRACULA films. COMPLETE with censored removed shots, Dracula DEATH from 'DRACULA' / HORROR OF DRACULA' 1958 . . .

OF COURSE . . .he did come back! HA!

#TBT THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE TIGON CREEPER

#TBT THE CREEPING FLESH started production with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee 45 years, 9 months, I week and 5 days ago . . .today, in 1972 at Shepperton studios. Tigon films the company behind the film were a pretty small production company, and released 17 films in the years 1967 and 1970. some were misses, but mostly hits, Witch-finder General, Blood on Satan's Claw, The Sorcerers, Doomwatch, The Blood Beast Terror, The Creeping Flesh and western Hannie Caulder, with Christopher Lee...all made money! The Creeping Flesh stands maybe in a class of it's own. Well cast, a frightening and puzzling script, very good production values..and yet it's the one film that probably gets mistaken for a Hammer film production, more than any other here. I would take that as a compliment! Do you have a fav TIGON film??

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

THE TEN THINGS I NOW LOVE ABOUT . . . THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR! CALLUM MCKELVIE FESSES UP!

THIS HALLOWEEN I’ve decided to give what many would consider a real ‘horror’ a second chance. Few films are as openly lambasted within the Cushing-Canon as The Blood Beast Terror, Peter himself even went as far as to label it his worst….ever. Only the fledgling Tigon productions second Horror film, after the remarkable The Sorcerers from 1967 the debut of director Michael Reeves, The Blood Beast Terror seems something like a step backwards. Whereas The Sorcerers concerned contemporary social and youth movements, Blood Beast is a period piece, featuring a dogged Victorian policeman hunting down a fearsome monster created by a mad-scientist.

It’s pretty trope-filled stuff. Not only that, but The Blood Beast Terror is directed by veteran director Vernon Sewell, who at this stage was reaching the twilight of his career. When viewed in this light and compared to the other films Tigon was putting out (Witchfinder General, Blood On Satan's Claw even lesser films such as The Beast in the Cellar show slightly more inventiveness) it’s easy to see why Blood Beast Terror gets the wrap it gets. Also….it’s pretty bad in places. However with that said, I for one DON’T think its Cushing’s worse and so compiled here is a little list of ten things I like about The Blood Beast Terror.

1: It’s pure Victorian pulp . . .
So if The Curse of Frankenstein and Dracula / Horror of Dracula are adaptations of classics of Gothic literature, then Blood Beast is the closest thing the 60’s brit-horror boom got to bringing a cheap, lurid penny dreadful, that’s been lost to time to the screen. Ok so its trope filled. Ok so the character stereotypes are out-dated and over used, but who doesn’t love a mad scientist, sinister butler and femme-fatale monster? The film utilises a number of gothic horror tropes but revels in them, whilst certainly not new or exciting, it’s a fun little escape into that lurid Gothic world . .

2: It knows what it’s doing and has fun with it . . .
Building on point one, the film apparently has fun with these tropes. In one memorable sequence there is an amateur dramatic performance of a horror play, spoofing some Frankenstein films. Now I’m not saying the film is in anyway being Meta in a particularly clever way, but it seems somewhat self-referential, a slight wink and joke to an audience that are watching a film based on the more lurid aspects of penny-dreadfuls and the Grande Guignol

3: Robert Flemying . . .
So it’s pretty well documented now that the part of Doctor Mallinger was to be played by legendary horror actor, Basil Rathbone. Needless to say the idea of Rathbone matching wits with Cushing is certainly an appealing one but sadly shortly before shooting began, Rathbone was taken ill and died suddenly. Needing a replacement fast, Tony Tenser, the legend behind Tigon films remembered the actor Robert Flemying who had appeared in a film he had distributed, 1962’s The Horrible Dr Hitchcock. Now it’s easy to get caught up in what could have been, which is unfair as it takes away from what is actually a powerful performance. Flemying and Cushing play off each other very well, particularly towards the latter half of the film when each has a suggestion that the other knows more than he is letting on. . .

4: Wanda Ventham . . .
The Moth-Lady herself, Wanda Ventham (known for making three prominent appearances in several episodes of Doctor Who throughout the years) is given plenty of screen-time and looks striking. Her performance is a powerful one and her scenes with Flemying have a genuine level of tension and menace . . .

5: The Title . . .
Need I say more?

 

6: The Supporting Cast . . .
The Veteran actor, perhaps best known to fans of Doctor Who as two of its most memorable villains, Tobias Vaughn in The Invasion and Mavic Chen in The Daleks Masterplan is particularly creepy as Granger. Glynn Edwards Sergeant Allan has some particularly humorous moments of dry wit with Cushing leading too…

7: That last-line . . .

Edwards: ‘They’ll never believe this at the yard

Cushing: ‘They’ll never believe it anywhere’

8: The Moth . . .
Whilst certainly not going to win any awards for best monster make-up of the decade…there is something undoubtedly charming about the giant furry Moth costume. The final flying sequences are….pretty damn awful, but the Moth’s appearance is distinctive enough to be entertaining in its own right . . .

9: Roy Hudd . . .

I’ve mentioned a lot of the cast in this, but as of yet have made no mention of the best actor (aside from…well you know who) in the film. Roy Hudd as the Morgue attendant makes this whole thing worthwhile. Hudd stated that he and Cushing worked together, rejigging the sequence to make it funnier and the result is the highlight of the film equalling any of Miles Madison’s scenes in the earlier Hammer pictures  . . .

10: Peter Cushing . . .
Ok so a bit predictable maybe, but was he ever not going to be on this list? The Blood Beast may not have the meatiest of roles for him in the character of Inspector Quennell, but it does give a good example of Cushing giving his all…in a production which some would argue doesn’t deserve it. Whilst there’s plenty to enjoy in this film, the real joy is Cushing nailing it against all the odds . . .

 

THE CUSHING DALEK MOVIES PART ONE HERE 

 PART TWO 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 . . 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  . .