SURPRISES ON FIRST WATCH PLUS REMEMBERING ACTOR JOHN MILLS

RIGHT NOW, over at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE, we've asked you to tell us about when, 'ON FIRST VIEW WHICH PETER CUSHING FILM REALLY SURPRISED YOU AND WHY?' and we are getting some great comments and answers. 

HERE ARE A FEW: 

D POWLEY says, 'Corruption. Both Peter Cushing and Sue Lloyd managed to convince me that they were mad in that film. It was a great shocker!' 

N. SANTIAGO says, 'Horror Express. I had no expectations for it. Turned out to be a very well made film with Mr. Cushing in fine form mixing it up with Mr. Lee and Telly Savalas. The movie itself was an entertaining mix of horror, science fiction, adventure and mystery. Really enjoyed it and of course the GREAT Peter Cushing!'. 

While V. Kirk says,' I was surprised by the nimble jump he did at the end of 'Brides of Dracula'. I remember rewinding to see if it was actually a stunt double but it wasn't.'. 

G. RENEHAN : 'The Blood Beast Terror! I saw it as a B movie in the cinema aged (too young)! It scared me to heck and back!'

S.COLMAN: 'Both TV appearances but I love his brilliantly nuanced performance in 1984 and the cold malevolence he channels in The Silent Scream.

A. GUNN : 'Top Secret. Peter caricatures himself - revealing his own sense of humour and strength of character. Taught me how to laugh at myself and consequently become a stronger person. Thanks, PC!' 

 M. LOISEL : ' Not a film, but the "Down the Avenue" skit on Morecombe & Wise. I wish he had done more light comedy or song and dance like that.' 

M DAWSON: 'In 1961 my father took me to see my first horror film or X film . In those days if you were under 16 you could only see those films with an adult and you got 2 films. The first film to be shown was Jack the Ripper 1959 then there was the interval when the ice cream lady would sell choc ices and ice creams, then the main feature was shown. It was 'The Curse of Frankenstein'. That film and that night I can remember it as if it was yesterday. I have had the film on video, DVD and now Blu-ray and watch it on the tele. I never tire of watching it. I dont think I ever saw a bad film he was in. But for me the favourite or favourites has to be his performances as the ruthless Baron Frankenstein'.

The post is still live and if you would like to comment and share your opinion, you would be most welcome! JUST CLICK HERE!

TODAY WE MARK THE BIRTH of one, Lewis Ernest Watts Mills... or as we knew and loved him... Sir John Mills. He was without doubt, one of our most popular and beloved English actors and born today February 22nd 1908. In a career that stretched over eight decades, Mills appeared in over 120 films, debuting in 1932 in 'Midshipmaid Gob' right up until 2009 in 'The Snow Prince'. Many of his roles like Pip in 'Great Expectations' in 1946, Shorty Blake 'In Which We Serve' in 42, Captain Scott in 'Scott of the Antarctic' in 48 and the alcohol troubled Captain Anson in 'Ice Cold in Alex' in 58 would make him an internationally renowned star.

MILLS APPEARED in three films with Peter Cushing, 'The End Of The Affair' the second in 1976 entitled 'Trial by Combat' aka 'A Dirty Knight's Work' as Sir Edward Gifford. It was no more than a guest appearance, slotted in when another project on Cushing's slate fell through. The third though, was a much grander enterprise with Tyburn films and marked Cushing's return to the character of Sherlock Holmes...and Mills as Watson! In 'The Masks of Death' they made such a terrific team as a much older duo, that another Cushing /Mills / Sherlock film from Tyburn was planned entitled 'The Abbot's Cry', but was scuppered owing to Cushing's fragile health.

JOHN MILLS AND CUSHING also appeared together in an episode of the TV series The Zoo Gang, 'The Counterfeit Trap' which was released last year as part of the series on remstered blu ray by Network.  
 

LIKE CUSHING, Mills was in his private life a sensitive romantic, in January 2001 at the age of 92, he and wife Mary, age 89, renewed their marriage vows at St. Mary's Church, next to their home, Hills House, in Denham, England. When they had wed 60 years earlier, he was denied a church service because he was serving in the Army during World War II. Happy Birthday, Sir John!
 

IT'S NO JOKE! HELEN CUSHING AND THE SPOOKY ARM APPEARANCE PLUS DAVID PEEL AND LAST WEEKS TOUGHY ANSWER!

THIS WEEK'S TUESDAY TOUGHY! It sounds like a joke OR maybe there is a catch? Not so. Without giving too much away, all I can say is, this NOT about Cushing deciding he one day wanted a tattoo! I'll be giving you the answer NEXT TUESDAY. In the meantime, good luck!

THE ANSWER to last weeks TUESDAY TOUGHY is TOD SLAUGHTER, is the name of the  ominous face on the left. As JIM SHORTER commented on the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE Tod had quite the reputation as an English actor, who was best known for playing over-the-top maniacs in macabre film adaptations of Victorian melodramas. Slaughter made the films, for the most part, exactly as he liked, with all the larger than life, melodramatic acting of a bygone age, just as he did in the stage adaptions, in which he also starred. Born in March 1885 as Norman Carter Slaughter, during in his early stage career, hit gold and blood, when he appeared in SWEENEY TODD : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in 1936. He had started to pave the way to his thrills and spills reputation when he appeared in his first film, as a villain the previous year, in 'Maria Marten or Murder in the Red Barn'. He followed these with further OTT adventures in films like, 'The Crimes of Stephen Hawke' in also in 1936, 'It's Never To Late To Mend', 'The Ticket Of Leave Man' in 1937, 'The Face At The Window' and 'Crimes At The Dark House' in 39 and 1940. These quota-quickies, quickly made Slaughter into a British horror star, almost in some ways, as a precursor to the career of Peter Cushing's . .

ABOVE: PETER CUSHING PERSONAL THE GAY INVALID THEATRE PROGRAMME AND SIGNED NOTE-LET INCLUDING ALL CAST MEMBERS SIGNATURES!

THE PLAY in which both Slaughter and Cushing appeared in together was THE GAY INVALID by Sir Barry Jackson in 1951. Slaughter played Professor Purge and Cushing as a young soldier named Valentine. Opening for two months at the Garrick Theatre, London in September of 51, and called, 'Moliere without tears!', it ran until March 24th 1951.

 

THE FILM that in which Tod Slaughter starred , that was later adapted and starred Peter Cushing was called, 'The Greed Of William Hart and was released in 1948 and was based on the gory history of  body snatchers, Burke and Hare. Director and screen-writer John Gilling adapted the story and  Cushing went on to star as Dr Knox, in the remake and retitled, 'The Flesh And The Fiends'  in 1959. Congrats to ALEX WILSON who was the only one to nail all three questions, at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE . A thumbs up to Phillip Jones, who did name Mr Slaughter though . . .!

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE FLESH AND THE FIENDS WITH GALLERY HERE!

TODAY we remember actor DAVID PEEL who was born today 19th June 1920. There are few who have made such an impact as Peel. He only appeared in ONE film for Hammer films and I believe only appeared in one film with Peter Cushing.

ONLY ONE ROLE, one film and yet, enter VAMPIRE HAMMER into google images, and he will appear in most of the pages. Despite the success long after The Brides of Dracula was made...audiences felt a little cheated that it was a DRACULA film, without Dracula!....I suspect that Peel wasn't impressed with either the film or the subject matter either! You probably know, he left the industry early on and went into antiques and real estate, but life for Peel was certainly difficult. We remember him today though, for that one Hammer film and the impressive performance as Baron Meinster, the boy vampire who certainly pushed the boundaries of vampire film!

FREE HI RES HAMMER FILMS CONTACT SHEET : COLLECTORS WEDNESDAY!

#PETERCUSHING #COLLECTORS Wednesday! OK This week I am sharing a rare black and white CONTACT SHEET from Hammer films 1973, The Satanic Rites of Dracula. As usual, this is our FREE weekly full hi res upload, as seen on our our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE  available for you today, for you to download. These NINETEEN exposures from the  Hammer films on set stills cameraman, feature shots taken during the shooting of two scenes from the film, the Vampire's in the Cellar scene, with Joanna Lumley and Valerie Van Ost and Van Helsing visiting Professor Julian Keeley played by Peter Cushing and Freddie Jones.

 HI RES CONTACT SHEET ABOVE: RIGHT CLICK AND COPY!

WHAT IS A CONTACT SHEET? A contact sheet is a positive print of all the negative images from one film, made by a contact printing process so that all the images are the same size as the negative. A contact sheet is a useful way of seeing which are the best images on a film so you can decide which ones to make enlargements from. During the production the unit photographer was responsible for capturing thousands of still shots while the movie cameras were running. Some of the photos would offer a different angle to the motion picture camera. In other cases, the photographer would stand next to a movie camera operator. And some of the shots would be behind the scenes with actors and directors. After the final production still shots were taken each day, the roles of film negatives were placed on contact sheets (created by laying the negatives on a piece of printing paper and exposing them to light to create a set of mini prints the same as the film frames) (IMAGE) The contact sheets were then forwarded to the publicity department. The Publicity Department could then view the full roll of 36 images at one time with a “ring” or magnifying glass. Publicity Department –The Publicity Department was, among other things, responsible for generating early publicity about a film, including providing information to magazines and publications. In addition, they were responsible for providing the Advertising Department with information necessary to create the film’s promotional materials. The publicity department would review the contact sheets and select images for specific purposes, such as creating a key set, keeping track and providing exclusive images to magazines and publications, and sending the advertising department information necessary to begin preparation of promotional materials.

Key Set Creation - After a review by the publicity department, the better images were picked to become part of a key set. The selected images are numbered by placing an assigned number by the studio for that particular film, called the production number, and then a dash and the assigned individual still number. THIS is called the Production Code number.

ABOVE: Our Collectors Wednesday post from TWO weeks ago,  posted here and at our  PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.. It was a pretty cool concept, but was ultimately ruined by Facebbok  quashing the post...thanks facebook!

The selected stills were then printed and placed into the key set binder. The rejects are skipped over and left unnumbered. The negatives and contact sheets were then filed. These may be pulled at a later date when someone wants something different. By the end of the shooting, this 'key set' would normally be hundreds of the better still shots to be used in a variety of ways by the publicity department. The stills used in this 'key set' would have numbers put on the still to help the publicity department identify and keep up with the different stills. They were kept in large bound books that could be used at any time for reference.

Exclusive Use – Major magazines and publications would quite often want exclusive photos to do an article on the upcoming film. This was a tremendous way for the film to get FREE publicity. To accommodate them, the publicity department would put a hold on numerous stills and send over a group for the editor to choose from. Once the exclusives were picked, the tags would be removed from those images not selected so they could be used for other purposes

I BELIEVE, Tom Edwards was the stills photographer on Satanic Rites. He had a very good eye for a great shot, and worked on other Cushing Hammer films like, 'Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell'. As I have mentioned before, each cell, photograph here would make a great pic for your collection, printed off would look great in a frame, the high res would also make a great poster too. The majority of the shots on this contact sheet, have rarely been officially published, as often just one or two from this studio contact sheet would have been chosen for press packs and promotion. I hope you like what I have shared so far? Have fun 🙂 Marcus

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

GIFS: GIFS : PETER AND THE WOLF! ANDRE AND THE VAMPIRE RARE HAMMER POSTER AND A BIRTHDAY!

#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY!: TIS BUT A FLESH WOUND! Not in this case, me thinks. Peter Cushing as Dr. Christopher Lundgren, isn't that a great name, reacts to Calvin Lockheart's giveaway injury. That's no dog. And the set up has kick started the plot, that will take us on one of Amicus films, most inventive outings, 'THE BEAST MUST DIE' (1974). Most Cushing fans know of the legendary 'WEREWOLF BREAK', but you'll get no more from me. Other than, it's 'Ten Little Soldiers' meet 'Big Game Hunting', and a twisty CLUEDO, once the howling cues in, the hairy one. Thanks to Margaret Manley, for her request for, '..Anything from the film, with Peter and the Wolf'... I DO hope she means, THIS film...!

MORE FROM 'THE BEAST MUST DIE'  with FEATURE and a HOWLINGY GOOD RARE STILLS GALLEY! CLICK : HERE!

#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY! FOR MANY, it's the Hammer Dracula film, that runs a very close second, to Hammer first, 'HORROR OF DRACULA' / 'DRACULA' (1958) even though, it contained neither Christopher Lee nor Dracula! But, it did have, Cushing returning as Van Helsing, the beautiful and vulnerable Yvonne Monlaur, the spectacularly ghoulish Andre Melly, creepy Martitia Hunt, really frightening Freda Jackson . . . and David Peel, as not Count, but BARON Meinster. Often in a classic vampire flick, the 'ladies of the night' NO not those, but THESE of the nocturnal fanged variety, are relegated to the we'll see you again, maybe, later plot props. Not so in Hammer films, The Brides of Dracula, and certainly not in the case of young Gina. But, hey I am jumping ahead of myself. All that comes later. Here we see her shocked to the core. No, it isn't Christopher Lee, it's David Peel, as the dastardly Meinster, who by now, is making his mark on the young snacks, of the attendees of the local Transylvania, girls prep school. Meinster picked his ladies well. Melly's performance is sexy, powerful and a game changer. Semi see though clothing, check! Deathly pallor, check! Fangs, indeed!  A presence that could stop a clock, much so! It would sometime, before a young, Polish-British actress named Ingoushka Petrov, would carry the female vampire, to the next level. . . . Many thanks to Matthew Bryan, for the suggested #GIF! 

EVER WONDERED THE VALUE OF A HAMMER FILMS DRACULA /HORROR OF DRACULA CROWN QUAD CINEMA POSTER? YOU MAY WANT TO START SAVING THOSE PENNIES NOW.  PRESS PLAY ABOVE!

#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY! You have to give Peter Cushing's GUSTAV credit, he is pretty efficient, and nothing phases him. Here poor ol Judy Matheson, sobs and screams, begs for mercy, but Gustav doesn't falter. 'TWINS OF EVIL' (1971)  the first film, that  Peter Cushing had on the slate, when returning to work, a mere three months, after his wife, Helen passed away. He needed he said, to busy. To fill time. Not to be distracted, but to be of use. 

CONFUSED? TWINS WENT THROUGH THREE CHANGES OF TITLE!

Hammer's third dip into the Karnstein pot, TWINS presented Peter with exactly that. A role that took a great deal of concentration, as few roles could be further away, from the character of the  mild, mannered Peter Cushing. His efforts and energies resulted him appearing in a staggering NINE films from June 1972 to December 1973. Not all gold standard films, but you can be sure, Cushing's efforts, were never less than reliably highly entertaining, and often the highlight of the movie. Not seen TWINS OF EVIL? Below is a link to a feature to temp...! Thank you to MARVIN 'StrangeOne' VALDEZ, Chicago, IL for the requested #GIF

A FEATURE REVIEW WITH SOME NICE PICCIES: RIGHT HERE! JUST CLICK!

Remembering EDWARD JUDD, who was born on this day 4th October 1932. Judd achieved his biggest successes with a series of science fiction films The Day The Earth Caught Fire (1961) ,First Men In The Moon (1964) and co-starring with Peter Cushing in Island Of Terror (1966) fighting the silicates…..

ABOVE: EDWARD JUDD: THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE (1961)

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