GETTHECUSHIONSUNDAY! PETER CUSHING AS MERRYWEATHER IN THE HELLFIRE CLUB

#GETTHECUSHIONSUNDAY! Today we feature a clip from a largely forgotten film The Hellfire Club (1961) Starring Keith Michell, Adrienne Corri and Peter Cushing based on the infamous 'Gentlemen's' society of the 18th century. It's often wrongly sighted as a Hammer Films production probably because the film was co-written by Jimmy Sangster and features Peter Cushing and other Hammer regulars Francis Matthews & Miles Malleson in small roles.

Directed by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman who co-directed several films with scripts by Jimmy Sangster such as the horror/crime film Jack The Ripper (1959) and the historical drama film The Siege of Sidney Street (1960). A fun film while not entirely successful, it's a good swashbuckling adventure film. Is the film at hit or miss for you? 

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  

#TOOCOOLTUESDAY: TOGS THREADS AND DUDS : SHARP DRESSER AND NO SCHMATTA

#TOOCOOLTUESDAY: Look around you. Today, it's all too easy to slip on a tee-shirt and a pair of joggers and go to the store. Just the other day, sitting on a train, the majority of my fellow passengers looked like they didn't have a mirror in their home! Back in the day, not so, Peter Cushing. Ok, the 1950's and 60's did have a certain class, no onesies back then. Individuals had dressers and consultants, who would purchase clothing for them, AND dress them.

BUT, NOT MR C. There are some who can wear a hat, 'You have a head for a hat' I've heard people say, or there are men who put on a suit and look a million bucks. Like Peter Cushing. Maybe it was his height, his slim build? He certainly could carry a suit very well. It wasn't always this way.

TRIVIA: PETER CUSHING  was a member of the 'WAISTCOAT CLUB', which was founded in 1953, by actor Jon Pertwee. Above we see Cushing at a Waistcoat Club New Years Eve Party function.

WHEN HIS WIFE HELEN, met Peter for the first time, she though he was a tramp! 'He wore an old velvet cap, with a hole in the crown and was carrying a very heavy old kit bag, like sailors use. A jacket beyond description AND repair. A white shirt, that was spotless, but worn at the cuffs and collar, a pair of once dark corduroy trousers, most of the nap worn away from constant wear and a pair of down-at-heel shoes of grey suede. I was later to find that the shoes had holes in their soles, as large as half crowns. His woolen socks had never known the comfort of a darning needle. BUT I knew I would love him, for the rest of my days...and beyond...' Cushing's attire did certainly improve once he and Helen were married in 1943. Cushing clothing was of enough merit, i think to mention here today. And if you are wondering where this feature will archived? You'll find it in the same file, as 'Christopher Lee's wigs'! It's all good! - Marcus

COME JOIN US AT OUR FACEBOOK FAN PAGE : UPDATED EVERY
DAY! JUST CLICK HERE

ANOTHER GIF GALLERY AS REQUESTED BY YOU!

AND SO.... another #GIMMETHEGIFWEDNESDAY, and another collection of Peter Cushing GIFS as requested by you. It's a BUMPER crop, here for your convenience to add a smile or shiver to facebook account, email or blog. Thank you to all who requested such great snips, you see your name at the bottom of the gallery! See if you can name the films, these gifs were taken from?? MORE next week! - Marcus

IF YOU WOULD LIKE to request a snip of yhour favorite moment from a Cushing film, and see it play in a never ending cycle (!!) Just drop us a line at petercushingpcas@gmail.com or come say hi, and tell us your request, at our ever so popular FACEBOOK FAN PAGE ! ROGUES GALLERY OF REQUESTERS THIS TIME ROUND:  WENDY BECKMAN, JONATHON AGUIRRE,  ALICE PERDUE, DENISE KIMBRELL, TIM DEMPSEY, JOSE ROSSER, KAREN RANDOLPH, LOTA ROSS, MARYLYN GLOVER MICHAEL WILLIAMS, ROB SMITH and JAMES TRASK.

COME JOIN US AND CLICK LIKE AT OUR PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE!

WATCH THE LEGEND OF HAMMER VAMPIRES AND REVIEW

CAST YOUR MIND BACK to late last year, and one of our most popular #PETERCUSHING competitions. It was the chance to win several sets of, TWO of Donald Fearney's documentaries on dvd, the classic LEGEND OF HAMMER VAMPIRES and his latest release, 'THE AMICUS VAULT OF HORRORS'.  NICK COLBOURNE was one of our lucky friends who bagged the double doc prize and he has just this week sent us a quick review of his thoughts on the Hammer Vamps documentary. . . . First up, apologies for taking so long to review the first of two DVDs I was lucky to win in your competition last year.
 

THE LEGEND OF HAMMER VAMPIRES: 'I was very fortunate to be a winner in one of your competitions last year. I am savoring the watching of the documentaries, and having watched 'The Legend of Hammer Vampires' thought I just had to share with you, how much i enjoyed it!  and It's a lovely watch, not just filled with wonderful memories, the velvet voice of Edward De Souza narrating and interviews with the likes of Jimmy Sangster, Tudor Gates, Dave Prowse, the eternally gorgeous Caroline Munro, Peter and others, but it has two extremely important attributes that make it essential viewing. Firstly it is refreshingly honest, it says what we we all know, that some of the movies were bad, they flopped and despite having a cast filled with our favourites, they still made a poor final product. Of course those movies still played their part in the Hammer story and they all still have a place in our collections....'

'SECONDLY, it's a treat to see such extensive mention of everyone who contributed, most notably Michael Ripper, treasured by any lover of Hammer, the DVD remembers him fondly. There's two brief extras, a further interview with Tudor Gates and a poor audio quality, but still fascinating one with John Gilling, which despite the quality, I'd rather have than not have! It's a lovely DVD, as I have said and one that belongs rightfully in anyone's Hammer collection. Thank you.'  Nick Colbourne 

THE LEGEND of Hammer Vampire is now off the sales listings, but you can watch the whole documentary here in three parts, with Donald's blessing! It's always appreciated to get any feedback on the posts here and at our facebook site, and a thank you for a prize. It rarely happens. So many thanks to Nick for this valuable feedback! Nick is also bracing himself for a screening of the other half of his prize, Donald Fearney's 'Amicus : The Vault of Horrors' documentary soon and will be sending us his thoughts thoughts on that one too!

JOIN US AT OUR FACEBOOK FAN PAGE : JUST CLICK HERE! 

OUR HALLOWEEN 60TH YEAR COMPETITION!

HALLOWEEN IS ALSO A TIME FOR GIVING! Help us celebrate the Peter Cushing Appreciation Society SIXTY years since it's founding! We have a prize for EVERY year! Just watch the 45 second video clip below, follow the instructions, it's simple . . . but maybe a TEST of your Amicus skills?? GOOD LUCK!

JOIN US ALONG WITH 26,000 LIKES AND FOLLOWERS AT OUR FACEBOOK

FAN PAGE 

GUESS THE FILM AND THE ACTRESSES : ON SET SATURDAY

#ONTHESETSATURDAY: We have a couple of choice behind the scenes and on set photographs and rare colour transparencies for you this week. A little different this time around, I would like you to tell US which film these great snaps come from, and of course the only thing they really have in common, is they are all from Peter Cushing films. HAVE FUN!

TO FINISH OFF...This is one of my all-time personal favourite 'behind the scenes' photographs from a Peter Cushing film! It's wonderfully busy, a real slice of life from the set of Hammer film at lovely ol Bray studios... Peter Cushing compares notes and script with director Terence Fisher, while an assistant to wardrobe mistress Rosemary Burrows,quickly fixes a stitch or seam on the belt of Cushing's waist coat, while actor Thorley Walters stops and pauses to rethink that line of dialogue... actress Susan Denberg wanders by, playing with her bonnet!.... absolutely charming!

THIS YEAR, 2016 marks the 60th anniversary of PCAS, help us celebrate Peter Cushing life and career, by sharing our post on any of our sites.

Facebook Fan Page:HERE  Youtube: HERE  

Tumblr:HERE  Website:HERE

ATROPOS GODDESS OF DESTINY : WHO IS THAT GIRL?

CONTINUING THE THREAD from yesterday's #MONSTERMONDAY post. Here is  ATROPOS, GODDESS OF DESTINY; in the left hand, the skein of life, in the right, the shears of fate. Each coloured thread represents a human life, and the shears have the power to cut it short.”...but who is the actress that played her in Amicus films, 'Torture Garden' (1967). We'll have the ANSWER HERE tomorrow..

JOIN US FOR MORE POSTS EVERYDAY AT OUR FACEBOOK FAN PAGE 

TREADING THE BOARDS OF BOREHAMWOOD AND ELSTREE

HERE IN THE UK, we don't have a 'Hollywood Walk of Fame'... and until quite recently we only had the Blue Plaques acknowledging, buildings or places of connections to the entertainment industry, though not exclusively. But in the Elstree / Borehamwood area, these great interpretation boards have sprung up, commemorating people and places connected with Elstree studios! Here are THREE which might interest you, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Hammer films... I think they are quite special and help remind us of people and places now gone...in the places 'they once were'!

MORE post, photographs and features at our

 Peter Cushing Appreciation Society Facebook Fan Page

WHAT WE DIDN'T SEE! DRACULA 58 HARKER'S VAMPIRE #MONSTERMONDAY

Today's MONSTERMONDAY features something that has been part of Hammer films lore for as long as I can remember. With the emergence of unseen publicity stills and contact sheets from Hammer films 1958 Dracula, the prompting of all kinds of theories around the missing or censored shots from the final cut of the film can be read on many forums on the net. The release of the remastered blu ray a few years ago, caused a few of us to smile smugly about the inclusion of the footage of Dracula's disintegration. We suspected it was shot, the problem was finding it! Most of that hunch was based on a colour photograph of Lee's Dracula in the final moments of the film, lying on the floor wearing make up that hinted of another stage in his grisly death appearance.

The still of John Van Eyssen as Jonathan Harker in our banner, hints at maybe something similar. We know the character is bitten by Valerie Gaunt, we see Peter Cushing's Van Helsing stake him, finding him in the castle crypt and judging by Van Helsing's grimace on looking on his vampire state, he wasn't a pretty sight! For whatever reason, what Van Helsing saw, was snipped out of prints for the European market. Though, it could have been included in the Japanese print, which provided the source of the missing footage of Dracula's death. As reels 1,2,3 were rendered unusable and damaged after finding the print, the scene where this shot appeared in the feature, was lost to us. Many argue the point that this shot was never included in ANY print, it was never shot...but I'll go with the point I made when the Dracula death photograph was found...Director Terence Fisher I suspect, would not have spent time setting up this scene, without shooting it. Time was premium at Hammer and was never wasted. Cushing himself has stated multiple takes were rare, because of costs...and I can't see Anthony Hinds signing off on a SFX - Make Up head of Harker, with no intention of using it! Hammer did not waste money on a budget that was already tight...

VALERIE GAUNT as the Vampire Woman from

Hammer films'Dracula' / 'Horror of Dracula' (1958)

 ...and Harker's VAMPIRE undead-head at the left

 of the photograph...

 Dracula (1958 film) Hammer Horror from Warner Bros. Christopher Lee

 

Still it looks great, a pity we have yet to see this shot in the film. There is further evidence of this make up head in a publicity photograph of Valerie Gaunt, included in the thread below. It's an interesting pic and story...and for that reason alone, we present it as this week's icky item for ‪#‎MONSTERMONDAY‬ ...what do you think? - Marcus
 

Hammer Horror from Warner Bros. Christopher Lee Horror Film