THE STORY OF THE CUSHING NOTES AND BUREAU

#‎cushingcollectable‬ : WEDNESDAY: You may remember these posts from two Wednesday's ago? And after posting them, I promised to share the story of how I came to own those handwritten autobiography notes of Peter Cushing's...Well....the top post is Peter Cushing's Bureau, purchased just a few years ago. I was lucky to purchase it from a lady, who lived a short distance from Peter Cushing's home at Sea View in Whitstable.

HER HUSBAND HAD BEEN a great fan of Peter's work and he purchased the bureau at the Cushing Collection Auction in Canterbury after Peter Cushing died. Sadly, he too passed a year or so before I purchased the bureau, and his wife was slowly down scaling down her home and relocating.

WHEN THE TIME CAME to go along to her home to collect the bureau, it was quite an emotional parting for her, it was her husband's pride and joy. But when she found out 'where' the bureau's new home was going to be and about PCAS, she was over-joyed! During our meeting at her home, we had some tea and cake and chatted, and found out geographically, we had much in common too!

AFTER AN HOUR OR SO, the time came to carry the bureau out and carefully pack it up for it's journey to my home. I thanked her and told her how extremely pleased I was to be it's new owner, that it would be very well looked after and also pressed into use too!

IT WAS AT THIS POINT, she asked ' Oh, would you also like to take away these too?' She held out a plastic slip folder. Through the ageing and yellowing plastic, I could see inside, a wad of paper, and on the one corner, held by two large paper clips I could just make out lines of handwriting, in blue fountain pen ink! At the same time, I immediately recognised that distinctive style.. it was Peter Cushing's handwriting.

WHILE CAREFULLY SLIDING the paper out from the folder, I looked at her..she was smiling! I said, 'It's Peter's handwriting!!' She beamed back at me, 'Yes!', she said, she was as excited as I was! 'My husband said it was, but I have no idea what it all means. Is it an unfinished letter, he seems to be writing...is it his story and are all those titles his films too?' I barely heard what she had said, I was quickly scanning the pages. It was pretty obvious, these were notes about the contents of Peter's autobiography, in his own hand. 'It's Peter's notes.!', I said 'It's his autobiography. How wonderful! They are very rare indeed, you must be sure to take great care of them.' I said, 'Oh no..' she smiled, 'I want YOU to have them!'

QUICKLY, I DID THE SUMS in my head of their value and blurted, ' Well, that's extremely kind of you, but, I could not buy these today, I have...' but before I could finish, she laughed saying, 'Oh nooo. I WANT you to HAVE them. They should be with you!' I started to explain their value, a nice little break away with the proceeds maybe? But, she wouldn't listen, 'No. I am quite happy with the sale of the bureau...'

IT WAS THEN SHE said something that made my jaw drop so hard, the bump of it hitting the hall carpet could probably be heard down at Sea View.... ' My husband, didn't pay for them anyway..' I was puzzled, 'So, how did you come by them?' I asked. 'Oh, they were just inside THE BUREAU......!' 'What?' I said. 'They were in the pull down desk, in that folder!' she explained. 

I THEN REMEMEBERED what many collectors had told me about the Canterbury auction. There had been so many lots, Peter had so much packed into his home and studio, when it came to dividing things into lots, often someone winning a bid on a book that belonged to Peter, got home and opened it to find an autographed note paper inside. People who purchase items of his clothing found scarves, silk handkerchiefs, cuff-links and pens tucked into them! It was something special, some extra item, however small, a thank you for your purchase..as there was mountains of items to sell. The bureau had been in the auction catalogue, as one of the very few pieces of Peter Cushing's furniture for sale... an expensive antique and a good price was expected, and archived!

AND SO, that is the astonishing story, of how I came by those notes...and the generosity of two women, the lovely lady who owned the bureau and Peter's long time friend, Joyce Brougton, who put the lots together for that auction! Bless you, ladies!

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REMEMBERING SANDOR ELES : BORN TODAY

TODAY WE REMEMBER Hungarian born actor SANDOR ELES…. Known for a lot of work on TV he guest starred in shows such as The Saint, One Step Beyond, The Avengers, Danger Man and a regular role in the UK Soap 'Crossroads'.

HIS FILM WORK includes roles in Hammer's Countess Dracula (1971) with Ingrid Pitt and The Evil Of Frankenstein (1964) with Peter Cushing where he played Baron Frankenstein's loyal assistant Hans. One of his most memorable film roles was as the mysterious Paul in the Brian Clemens thriller And Soon the Darkness (1970)

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COMPETITION: WIN WARNER BROTHERS HORROR CLASSICS VOL ONE BLU RAY BOX SET NOW!

Warner Brothers HORROR CLASSICS VOL ONE is available to BUY NOW from AMAZON.COM CLICK HERE

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DR TERRORS HOUSE OF HORRORS STEEL BOOK SNEAK PREVIEW EXTRAS FROM OED

Here's a HEADS UP and a SNEAK PREVIEW of the extras coming our way in the LIMITED EDITION REGION FREE STEEL BOOK BLU RAY release of Amicus films 'DR TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS'. It's available now as a pre order from http://www.odeonent.co.uk with an official release date of September 21st 2015.

PRESS PLAY FOR SNEAK PREVIEW

Available on DVD from http://www.odeonent.co.uk
 

Scanned at 4k by Pinewood Post Production and with newly commissioned Steel Book art by the renowned Graham Humphreys, this collector's version is limited to 4,000 individually numbered Steel Books. Dr Terror (Peter Cushing) is a mysterious fortune teller who boards a train and offers to tell fellow passengers (Christopher Lee, Roy Castle, Donald Sutherland) their fortune with tarot cards. Five possible futures unfold: an architect returns to his ancestral home to find a werewolf out for revenge; a huge flesh-eating vine takes over a house; a musician gets involved with voodoo; an art critic is pursued by a disembodied hand and a doctor discovers his new wife is a vampire. But they all end in the same result…..death. A fascinating and fast paced example of portmanteau film-making with a deadly twist in the tale.

DRACULA RARE STAKE: HOW MANY TIMES WAS THE COUNT STAKED?

#LISTSTUESDAY : Earlier today,  over at our facebook fan page we asked you, how many times was DRACULA staked in the Hammer Dracula series... by stake we mean, in the tradition vampire mythology-sense, a short, sharp, pointy wooden stake! THEN...count how many times he was staked, pieced, impaled, cut or stabbed with other objects. These were the findings.... SO, How MANY?

THE PETER CUSHING SCRAPBOOK : SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW PETER CUSHING? COMPETITION

NEXT WEEK'S COMPETITION: Great responses to our 'So You Think You Know, Dracula ? and Captain Clegg ? Competitions.. Now we have one to really test your gray matter! 'So You Think You Know PETER CUSHING?' Look out FOR THIS COMPETITION this next week, answer TEN multiple choice question on Peter Cushing and you could be winning one of the THREE copies of Peveril Publishing's 'THE PETER CUSHING SCRAPBOOK' that are up for grabs! ! A superb 328 pictorial book packed with Cushing memorabilia that showcases his private and professional life. A Peter Cushing fan MUST HAVE!

If you can't wait until the competition, and want to order yourself a copy, just click this link, and the guys at Peveril will very happy to wing you a copy! http://peverilpublishing.co.uk/the-peter-cushing-scrapbook/ Look out for our competition promo banners, get digging through your scrapbooks and dvd's for that info. I think, we're going to have some fun!

'ISLAND OF TERROR' AND 'NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT' ON BLU RAY FROM ODEON ENTERTAINMENT

Odeon Entertainment have announced the release of TWO Peter Cushing blu rays. 'ISLAND OF TERROR' (1966) also starring Edward Judd and Carole Gray and 'NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT' aka 'ISLAND OF THE BURNING DAMNED' (1967) also starring Christopher Lee, Patrick Allen, Kenneth Cope and Jane Merrow. BOTH films were directed by Terence Fisher.

'NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT' is expected to be released first, and very soon. The 'NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT' Blu Ray IS REGION FREE. It is hoped that both releases and will include extras. More info to come....

'THE COUNT'S LAST STAND, AND THE GANGS HERE TOO!' A TALENT TO TERRIFY : STEP OUT!

After the disappointment of seeing his maiden voyage as a production executive run away from him, Lee reluctantly signed on the dotted line for yet another Hammer Dracula film.  Like Dracula AD 1972, The Satanic Rites of Dracula would update the Count’s (mis)adventures to modern day London.  Like every Dracula film he had done since 1968 (with the exception of a jaunt to Spain to make El Conde Dracula for maverick filmmaker Jess Franco), Lee was openly disdainful of the material and swore up and down that he would never do it again.  This time he meant it – this would prove to be his last “real” Dracula film, though the delightful French-made parody Dracula and Son (1978) would allow him to revisit the character (or a variation on it; Lee has insisted that he’s not playing the Count in the film and indeed, his makeup and costuming is quite different) in a script which actually allowed him plenty of screen time and dialogue.

The Satanic Rites of Dracula reunited Lee and Cushing with director Alan Gibson and screenwriter Don Houghton in a tale of a suicidal Dracula, doing his damnedest to spread the bubonic plague as a means of taking down the rest of civilization with him.  It was a darker and altogether more serious entry than AD 1972, but it’s also not quite as much fun.  Even so, Gibson and company give the film production gloss and it’s fun to see (or rather hear) Lee disguising his identity by speaking in one scene with a pronounced Bela Lugosi accent!

Cushing is relegated to the sidelines for much of the film, allowing Michael Coles’ Inspector Murray (another holdover from AD 1972, here sporting a much less Scotland Yard-appropriate hair cut) and William Franklyn’s sardonic MI5 agent to do much of the heavy lifting.  Fan reaction would be less than enthused, but seen today it’s possible to appreciate The Satanic Rites of Dracula as an interesting, offbeat finale to the series that made Hammer the bulk of its profits.

 

After this final foray into Stoker territory, Lee continued to do his best to establish himself in more “mainstream” assignments, netting a plum role in the James Bond thriller The Man With the Golden Gun (1974) and enlivening the starry casts of such films as The Three Musketeers (1973) and Airplane ’77 (1977).  He would be lured back to Amicus one last time for Arabian Adventure (1979), largely because his role as the evil wizard would enable him to pay homage to one of his acting idol Conrad Veidt’s most iconic roles, as the villain of The Thief of Bagdad (1940).  This slice of hokum from director Kevin Connor was aimed square at juvenile audiences, and Lee’s villain was very much of the obvious, pantomime school – at least in theory; in terms of performance, he does not play down to the audience, making the character a credible menace.  The film also included a cameo appearance for Cushing as a deposed noble man who aids the hero (Oliver Tobias) in his quest.

While Lee’s career was thriving at this time, Cushing’s was not.  The actor had won some good notices for his role in George Lucas’ blockbuster hit Star Wars (1977), but this did not translate to many stellar acting assignments; he would spend the latter half of the 70s lending class and name value to one indifferent film after another, even spreading his wings a bit by going to Greece to film The Devil’s Men (1976) and to Florida for Shock Waves (1977).

PCASUK review and gallery: The Devil's Men

Also around this time, both Lee and Cushing were approached by young writer/director John Carpenter, who was anxious to cast one of them for the role of Dr. Loomis in his film Halloween (1978).  Cushing’s agent would snootily reject the script without even showing it to the actor, while Lee would later regret passing on it, correctly noting that it gave Donald Pleasence (who finally took the part after some initial trepidation) a whole new career.  Even so, becoming identified with a new horror franchise was surely the last thing on Lee’s mind, and both actors would go on record as being disdainful of the trend towards more and more graphic depictions of sex and violence in genre fare (though it must be noted that Carpenter’s classy shocker was not guilty of this, even if the films it helped to spawn most definitely were).

While Lee continued to explore the potential of Hollywood into the 1980s, Cushing’s career began to slow down.  Advancing age and increasing health woes would begin to limit his opportunities.  The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak, as it were.  Fortunately for fans, his health remained intact long enough for Canon Films to assemble a dream cast for a tongue-in-cheek horror comedy.  The House of the Long Shadows (1983) would unite Lee, Cushing, Vincent Price and John Carradine for the first and only time.  Though directed by veteran shock specialist Pete Walker, the film was an old-fashioned pastiche, a tribute to the old-school “old dark house” thrillers of the 1920s and 30s.  The veteran actors approached their roles with style and conviction, with Lee and Cushing probably coming off the best: Lee puts his aloof persona to good use, while Cushing impresses with his portrayal of the cowardly brother with a pronounced speech impediment, a la Elmer Fudd.  Their efforts are hampered by the charisma free young actors who dominate the proceedings, namely Desi Arnaz Jr. (miscast as the smart ass best-selling novelist who believes he can write a Gothic melodrama in one night, provided the setting is right) and Julie Peasgood.  The two actors have zero chemistry with each other and fail to make much of an impression on the viewer, but once the genre icons begin to take center stage the film has more than its fair share of pleasures, not the least of which is hearing a typically theatrical Vincent Price calling Christopher Lee a “bitch.”

Sadly, the combined power of the veteran actors did little to help the film’s chances at the box office, and the film would for all intents and purposes be dumped to VHS and cable not long after a perfunctory theatrical release.  Price would call the film a missed opportunity, whereas Lee later singled it out as a favorite precisely because it allowed the four actors an opportunity to have fun.  Cushing would contract bronchitis while filming at the drafty manor house, however, and his health would continue to deteriorate.

In 1986, many news outlets reported that Cushing had died. The fact of the matter is, he was still very much alive and would remain so for another 8 years but he was diagnosed with prostate cancer around this time, and the prognosis was not good. Cushing would find it impossible to continue acting, not because he didn’t want to, but because the insurance companies regarded him as a liability.  Lee would undergo open heart surgery to correct a recurring issue and would bounce back, continuing to work without taking much time off, even if most of the films he was doing failed to ignite much interest at the box office.  Towards the end of the decade, however, Lee would find himself being cast by long-time fans turned successful directors, including Joe Dante and John Landis.





In 1994, filmmaker Ted Newsome hit upon the idea of hiring Lee and Cushing to narrate his documentary on Hammer Films, titled Flesh and Blood.  It would prove a tricky deal to negotiate, especially with Cushing’s frail health going downhill rapidly and scheduling conflicts to overcome.  The film would provide Lee and Cushing one last chance to spend an afternoon in each other’s company, however, and Lee did his best to keep his old friend in stitches throughout the recording of the narration.  When Cushing was chauffeured away at the end of the day, Lee knew he would never see him again; sadly, it would to be true.

Cushing would pass away on August 11th 1994; he was 81 years old.  For Cushing, it was an end devoutly to be wished.  In his mind and heart he believed he would be reunited with his beloved Helen.  For his many fans, it was a loss which was felt very deeply indeed.
 

At the time of writing, Lee is now 91 years old.  He has begun looking more and more frail over the past few years, though he certainly aged very gracefully well into his 80s.  An accident on the set of Hammer’s The Resident (2011) resulted in a broken vertebrae – a serious injury at any stage of life, let alone for a man in his late 80s.  Lee didn’t let the accident stop him from working, however.  He remains in demand, doing cameos for directors who have long admired his talents.  A collaboration with Martin Scorsese on Hugo (2010) was regarded as a major career highlight by the actor, who has since said that he has now worked with just about every major name actor and director he has aspired to work with… except for Clint Eastwood.  The odds of that particular collaboration coming to pass seems slim in light of Lee’s inability to undertake large roles and difficulty with traveling (he was well enough to fly to New Zealand to do the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but director Peter Jackson had to accommodate him by shooting his scenes for the new Hobbit trilogy in England), but even so… his presence in films is a reassuring reminder of the class of actor we used to take for granted.  And to go back and revisit his many films with his beloved friend and costar, Peter Cushing, is to be transported to a time when it really was possible to see top class acting in even the lowest budgeted and most preposterous of genre films.

'A Talent To Terrify:
The Twenty Two Films Of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee',
was written by Troy Howarth with images and artwork
by Marcus Brooks.

 

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