AND FROM SHERLOCK HOLMES TOO! RARE BBC SHERLOCK VINTAGE AUTOGRAPHS!

#PETERCUSHING #AUTOGRAPHS : The 'going rate' for Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee autographs has always been quite heathy, for those who trade in such memorabilia. After BOTH Cushing's and Lee's passing, as one would expect, the value of their signed notes and 'best wishes' certainly went UP in value. For the past 20 years a signed photograph of Cushing has remained steady, with prices from £150 to £250. Many would include, after the passing of his wife, Helen in 1971 to include the sentiment of 'May God's Blessing Be With You Always, In All Sincerity,  Peter Cushing' That's NOT Force but God's Blessing' 😉 IF the signature also included a dedication of, for example 'To Fred' or 'To Aunty Mary', it would carry a value of  LESS than a autograph WITHOUT a dedication! All autographs, without the 'May God's Blessing' inscription, pre-1971 always carry more value, even if the autograph is JUST his signature, on a piece of paper or a photograph!

THE AUTOGRAPH that most are seeking these days of course is Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin from 'Star Wars' ... most desirable, with a dedication. These have sold for between £2,500 and £3,000.. again, in all these 'market-places' something is only worth, what I guess what they WILL actually pay for it.. unless either person sadly gets duped..and there are many, like THIS example of a .... FAKE!

ABOVE ANOTHER SHADY FAKE!... If you have a Peter Cushing autograph, enjoy it, look after it and keep it safe 😉A Tale of Caution : A few years ago, a very dedicated Hammer film and Cushing fan got in touch wanting some advice, on what I thought MAYBE the value of his EIGHT signed photographs of Peter Cushing... 'Well, I am no expert but I can take a look' says I 😊 So, I asked him how did he come across them, 'I bought them years ago from collectors!' he said. 'Are they in good condition' I asked. 'Oh yes...!' said he, 'I will take a photograph of them all now, laid out on the table, for you too see them' he replied. After twenty minutes, an email arrived of a grand display of all eight colour 10x8 photographs, laid out and all catching the light, from the living room window, upon their... plastic lamented SEALED covering!!! Eight colour photographs : Signed amazing! Sealed in plastic, every one of them : worthless.... 😮☹️😖 😢- Marcus

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WORK AND GOOD GRACE! CAPTAIN INVINCIBLE : DIANA RIGG AND VALERIE VAN OST

WITH MY APOLOGIES, I have had to spend a few days away from the website and FACEBOOK PCASUK FACEBOOK FAN PAGE, with annoying but 'had to do' matters, so only a few post this last week. However, here are the few that have entertained at the PCASUK Facebook Fan Page, this week. Glad to report, biz as usual here on in 😉😊 - Marcus

ABOVE BANNER:

#ChristopherLee Saturday! A little nugget of good advice, from the late Christopher Lee. He must have had nerves and patience of steel!! When you look through that filmography! One film that comes to mind is Amicus films, 'I Monster' (1971) A film he suggested young and new director Stephen Weeks to step into, after 'House that Dripped Blood' director turned it down. It was a script Lee liked, but the film rode a whole saga of issues in regard of the actual production . . a 3D process didn't work... 'the Pulfrich effect' anyone? Weeks did very well considering, even though the film ran out of lolly, before the last shutter... shut! Lee is VERY good, as is Peter Cushing in the role of Utterson. It's a shame that the film performed poorly at the box office, at the time, but as with many of these 'fantasy films from this time', the passing of the years has been kinder to the film and it is now seen as a very faithful adaptation.

'I MONSTER' BEHIND THE SCENES RARE STILLS  GALLERY

PART ONE: HERE 

I DID A FEW YEARS AGO, post two great galleries of rarely seen photographs from 'I Monster' of Lee and Cushing.. and in these pics you can see, both appear to be having fun..and showing ...good grace! 😊

PART TWO OF 'I MONSTER' BEHIND THE SCENES GALLERY WITH #PETERCUSHING AND #CHRISTOPHERLEE : RIGHT HERE!

#CHRISTOPHERLEESATURDAY: ABOVE IS AN INTERESTING PHOTOGRAPH with Christopher Lee and Australian actress Kate Fitzpatrick doing promotion at the Martin Place Amphitheatre Sydney for their film The Return Of Captain Invincible from July 1983 With The Lord Mayor of Sydney, Douglas Sutherland joining them. This sadly is another of Lee's many 'over-looked' films in his long and movie packed career. This film also gave him a chance to doing some singing on film, with Lee playing the main villain, Mr. Midnight

OVER AT THE  FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE we are asking if you are a fan of this one? or not 😊Please share your opinions in the comments in the comment thread!

ABOVE: ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL rare colour photograph we shared of Peter Cushing, as Capt. Richard Pearson, with Robert Stack in 'John Paul Jones' (1959) .. a 'meh' film, but PC is very good! Although, there's lots of comments about the film on the thread at the Facebook PCASUK Fan Page today HERE! This post comes with thanks to Lucy 😉😊

'WOMAN OF MY AGE ARE STILL ATTRACTIVE. Men of my age are not' ... so said, this amazing icon of entertainment last year. And you know, Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, DBE...does have point! Many actors from her era have either left us, or look like an unmade bed! We all know the Cushing Connection here, Mrs Peel in the Brit 1960's TV series, The Avengers, where PC played the very dashing Paul Beresford, a smooth operator, pushing all the buttons as romantic interest for Rigg's all action Mrs Peel and a finger on the button of death that commanded his deadly Cybernaut!

READ  MORE ON DIANA RIGG AND PETER CUSHING in the 'Return of the Cybernauts' 'The Avengers' episode in our PCASUK feature : RIGHT HERE!

DIANA RIGG'S CAREER also features the splendid 'Theatre of Blood' with Vincent Price. She also worked with Christopher Lee in the Avengers tv series.in 'Never, Never Say Die' in 1967. Having recently started in the international hit tv series, Game of Thrones, Rigg is in no hurry to retire, and I think like Mrs Peel, she'll be 'socking it to us' for a while yet! We celebrated Diana Rigg's birthday last week at the Facebook PCASUK Fan Page on July 20th! It was a grand Happy Birthday Diana Rigg, who was born in 1938... Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, DBE is still looking fabulous today!😉😀

YESTERDAY,  marked and remembered the birthday of the lovely Valerie Van Ost who was born July 25th 1944! As reference to her Peter Cushing connections, we mentioned the films 'Corruption', 'Incense for the Damned' and 'The Satanic Rites of Dracula' with Peter.

VALERIE WAS ALSO very popular in the Carry On series of film in the 1960's, in “Carry On Cabby,” “Carry On Don’t Lose Your Head,” “Carry On Doctor” and “Carry On Again Doctor,”. Van Ost’s sad passing was announced by agent Barry Langford who said in a tweet, “A sad goodbye to beautiful Valerie Van Ost, who passed away this week. Valerie gave up her successful acting career to become a respected casting director and was beloved in both profession. A native of Herkamsted, Hertfordshire, turned to acting after she had been a dancer in her teenager at London’s famed Palladium theatre. 

IT'S BELIEVED that at one time, she was once considered to be a possible replacement for Diana Rigg as Emma Peel in “The Avengers,” having once appeared in an episode of the show. In 1973, Van Ost took on her other most famous role, in the Hammer horror movie, “The Satanic Rites of Dracula'.” Van Ost played the role of a Secret Service secretary who is kidnapped by a satanic cult. Van Ost was married to movie producer Greg Smith. Smith had been the producer of Britain’s other great bawdy comedy series, the “Confessions” series of movies in the 1970s.

LATER IN 1985, Van Ost married Andrew Millington, with whom she set up a casting agency. This coincided with Van Ost’s retirement from acting. The pair cast five movies and a television series during the 1980s. Two of those films, “The Boys in Blue” and “Funny Money” were produced by her first husband.
 

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FACE TO FACE 'WHEN BATES TRIED ON THE BARON'S BOOTS'

#PETERCUSHINGGEMS!  Here is a amazing pose photograph, posted at the  Facebook PCASUL Fan Page of both Peter Cushing and actor Ralph Bates...taken during a visit by Peter on set, for promo opportunities... 'A Younger Actor Takes Over The Role'! They posed for several, on the set of #Hammerfilms 'Horror of Frankenstein' (1970) but this SIGNED photograph is I think, the best I have seen of the bunch. For sometime during the release and years after, by some 'off target individuals', it was thought that Cushing wasn't really in favour of Bates 'taking over' the role... In our next post, we have some amazing evidence of quite the contrary, which I will be posting tomorrow!😉 Many thanks to Mr G for his assistance with excellent photograph 😊

#ChristopherLee Saturday! Here is a pic you don't get to see that often at all! In this movie, he once again played the opposite to Peter Cushing's characters good nature.... Over at the Facebook PCASUK Fan Page I asked everyone, if they can name the movie .. and if you can, the plot.... do you think it was all real or just all happening in the mind of PC's character?? 😊 There's been quite a reaction and lost of theories! Why not join us and tell us your take on quite a puzzler! - Meanwhile, please take care everyone, and look after yourselves and loved ones 😊- Marcus

ABOVE: Peter Cushing and director Freddie Francis, on set during the making of Tigon films, 'The Creeping Flesh' (1973)

STILL ON THE STEPS OF POPULARITY WITH AUTOBIOGRAPHIES THAT STILL ENTERTAIN!

#PETERCUSHING : Sherlock HOLMES! This rare photograph was shared this weekend at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE to an enormous response of LIKES and comments! Once again, proving that Cushing's interpretation of  probably the most popular detective in the world... is still just as popular as ever!

PETER CUSHING 'Past Forgetting' . . the publishing of Cushing's First autobiography . . 'Peter Cushing An Autobiography' in 1986.. was such a surprising and success to both him and his publishers, that another volume was quickly written and published in 1988, 'Past Forgetting' contained stories and anecdotes from his career before and after his time with Hammer films and his success appearing in fantasy genre cinema. 

MANY READERS FELT they wanted more, and maybe had his health improved, we may have also have received a third volume? A short time after the Peter Cushing Centenary in 2013 both the volumes were repackaged and published as 'Peter Cushing : The Complete Memoirs', with some new photographs... this book sold out within days, copies flew off the shelves in bookshops and drained the publisher!

ONE OF THE MANY positive things about the publishing of Peter autobiographers was, for both volumes he 'stepped out' and made signing sessions at book stores around the country. After a what was almost a 15 year period of quite reclusive living, leaving home in Whitstable only to work... Cushing was shocked by the love, affection and gratitude he received from the his public.

ABOVE: A LOVELY STORY from one of our followers and friends at the FACEBOOK fan page,  Jake! : RIGHT HERE!

FOR THE NEXT FEW YEARS, it was common to see him on his bike in his home town, eating in public and appearing on chat shows and radio.. writing the books would be and were indeed, as his good friend Sir John Mills told him, 'Wonderful therapy'! . .. So, I am curious as to how many of us at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE actually own a copy, of either or both or the combined book..and have read it? I have therefore, requested everyone to feel free to snap a selfie of you or your book and share with us at the page! Who would have thought, so many copies! 😮😀 Stay Safe everyone... love and take care 😉 - Marcus

 

QUOTES OF VALUE : CUSHING AND LEE : RARE DARTH AND TARKIN PHOTOGRAPH

A RARE SHOT and pose of #PeterCushing and #DaveProwse in #STARWARS ..that you won't see in the film, this was taken by the production stills photographer. What a terrifying duo!

PETER CUSHING'S  Golden Rule . . . Over at the Facebook PCASUK Fan Page we are asking if our friends and followers have one too?

 . . . AND SO AFTER PETER CUSHING'S ADVICE  . .  #ChristopherLee's. . .

IF YOU HAVE MISSED IT . .  there are still a few days to get YOUR answer in at the Facebook PCASUK Fan Page 😊 Good Luck and .. have fun! - Marcus 

NEWLY SOURCED CHRISTOPHER LEE INTERVIEW ON SET OF 'DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE'

OVER AT UK Peter Cushing Appreciation society Facebook Fan Page we have just shared a 'cracker ' of a newly source VINTAGE INTERVIEW with #CHRISTOPHERLEE shot on the set of Hammer films latest addition to their DRACULA series, 'DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE' in 1968. Lee talks about his Hammer films up to this point, the make used in playing his first role for Hammer with Peter Cushing, the creation in 'The Curse of Frankenstein' in 1957 and how he thinks Dracula is NOT a horror character, and how difficult he finds it to play the Count!' It's great to see Lee quite sparky and at the top of his game! You can go straight to this post at the FAN PAGE on what is our WEEKLY Christopher Lee Saturday! :  HERE!

MORE DRACULA but of a different kind...TODAY we also 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. It is good to see today and for the past few years, fans and critics alike now warming to Peel's playing of the Baron. It is sad he is no longer with us though, to see that reward . . .

AN UNHAPPY MAN, with troubles and issues. 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!