#MONSTERMONDAY: CHOOSE YOUR 3D : MUMMY DILEMMA : MAY THE ESCALATOR BE WITH YOU!

#MONSTERMONDAY! I have just posted this at the PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.There are a few great films to choose from and here they are: The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) Dracula / Horror of Dracula (1958)The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) The Mummy (1959) The Gorgon (1964) Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) The Skull (1965) She (1965) Island of the Burning Damned (1967) Scream and Scream Again (1970) I, Monster (1971) Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972) The Creeping Flesh (1973) Horror Express (1972) Nothing But the Night (1973) The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973) House of the Long Shadows (1983) . . . have fun!

#MONSTERMONDAY: KHARIS Monster OR Tragic Lover? The power of Love eh? You know the film, you know the story, were Kharis motives the actions of a madman? Did he deserve his punishment? I think I KNOW where is going to go! You decide in this week's #MONSTERMONDAY!

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. 

TWILIGHT TIME BRINGS HAMMER BASKERVILLE CUSHING CLASSIC TO BLU RAY FOR USA

NEWS: Hammer films classic THE HOUND OF BASKERVILLES, starring Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes and Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville... is coming to the US as a BLU RAY release set for JUNE 14th 2016...from Twilight Time. More details, with sleeve art and extras to come.....

 

 IT'S OUR 60TH ANNIVERSARY PCAS 1956 -2016!

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FRANKENSTEIN FRIDAY CONNECTION : GIF FEATURES AND VINTAGE LOBBY CARDS

Action Cushing: Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) swinging into action from Hammer's THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN (1964)…. Peter loved doing his own stunts, but he did get scorched while filming this scene…. #FrankensteinFriday

MORE on THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN and it's female co stars KATY WILDE and CARON GARDNER HERE  and VERONICA CARLSON in FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED : HERE 

GALLERY AND FEATURE ON  'THE EVIL OF FRANEKNSTEIN ' HERE

FRANKENSTEINFRIDAY: A poor ol smouldering Freddie Jones gets gets the 'flaming sheaf of papers' in the face treatment from Peter Cushing's, nastier than usual Baron Frankenstein in Hammer films, knock out 'FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED' (1969) Tis a pity they spend the whole film trying to retrieve these sacred notes, only for the Baron to set fire to them...and then drop and forget them... in the climax of the film!

MORE ON FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED HERE

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'NAME THE...AGGH!' EVEN THE BEST CAN GAFF THEIR LINES! GRAND MOFF TARKIN CUSHING

ABOVE:  GIF FILE OF CUSHING

TONGUE TIED TARKIN!

It's a well known fact, that Peter Cushing was a perfectionist. He prided himself on being 'off the book', not only knowing his lines, but everyone else's too. His use of using props while delivering his lines, was legendary, something that even Christopher Lee commented on, in being envious that Peter could light a pipe, fold a newspaper and kick off his shoes, and STILL deliver his lines. Lee admitted he was hopeless with props.

 ABOVE CLIP: CUSHING TONGUE

TIED TARKIN WITH AUDIO

The only noted time Cushing had trouble with lines was during the making of the BBC SHERLOCK HOLMES television series in the late 1960's. Many of these were broadcast live, with film inserts. Time was extremely tight for production, leaving Cushing with limited time to not only absorb the dialogue, but also the meaning. Cushing wasn't difficult, but wanted things done properly and felt compromised. It's one of the few times where on screen, in some scenes Cushing often looks uncomfortable. But, he coped and pushed on...

Our GIF above also shows the flip side of Cushing's frustration with dialogue.  Many of the cast of Star Wars over the years have commented on George Lucas's dialogue, Harrison Ford probably the most. Here Cushing forgets the line in his interplay with Princess Leia played by Carrie Fisher. It's fun to watch the usually well controlled Cushing 'loose it', exclaiming 'What is it called????' This recently found outtake, will no doubt join the other Cushing /Tarkin tale reguarding, filming most of his scenes in Star Wars..in his carpet slippers, after finding at short notice that his costume high leather boots were two sizes too small! The stuff of legend!

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SUSAN DENBERG: THAT FEMININE TOUCH : WOMEN IN GOTHIC : PART FOUR FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN

The Baron's most physically perfect creation was undoubtedly Christina, played by the enchanting Susan Denberg, in Fisher's return to the series, Frankenstein Created Woman (1967). Born Deitlinde Zsechner in Bad Polzin, Germany - which is now Polczyn-Zdroj in Poland - Denberg was a gorgeous blonde who had been a chorus girl in both London and Las Vegas.

She was the daughter of Austrian and German parents, having been raised in Klagenfurt, Austria, before making her decision to go into show business. Having adopted the name Susan Denberg, she became the centrepiece of a nationwide contest in America during the production of a film called See You in Hell, Darling, (AKA An American Dream)  in which Warner Bros had offered a $500 prize in a publicity campaign to come up with a new name for the actress.

There were 5,000 entries in the contest, including the bizarre 'Norma Mailer,' but they were all rejected and she remained Susan Denberg.

Acting against such veterans as Cushing, Thorley Walters, Peter Blythe, Barry Warren and Peter Madden, Denberg held her own. Given her relative lack of acting experience - the only other performance she is remembered for is as one of Mudd's Women in a Star Trek episode - she is, in fact, something of a revelation.

FRANKENSTEIN CREATED

WOMAN ORIGINAL THEATRICAL

TRAILER

Although her voice was ultimately dubbed in the film by another actress, Denberg's natural talent shines through. She is just as convincing as the 'crippled' Christina as she is portraying the 'created' one, who receives not a brain transplant, but a 'soul transplant' from her dead boyfriend.

THE UNRAVELING

This was not an easy role for an ingenue, and indeed would have taxed a more experienced actress, but she brings it off with passion and grace. Of course, what made playing the dual roles even more difficult was that Christina, once 'reborn,' was possessed by the soul of a man! In a genuinely disturbing scene, and one which the censor objected to, Christina has the severed head of her lover Hans (Robert Morris) skewered on her bedpost so that she can commune with her - his? - former self.

HEAD IN A BOX!

Later in the film, she carries the head around in a hatbox, and after her final murder - in which she avenges herself upon the last of Hans' three killers - she pulls it from the hatbox and speaks to it in Hans' voice in a scene reminiscent of the classic ventriloquist sequence in Dead of Night (1945).

 

CHRISTINA AND HANS

Although publicity photographs for Frankenstein Created Woman featured Denberg in a kind of 'bikini bandage' outfit with Peter Cushing nearby, seemingly proud of his 'creation,' no such scene was in the film. Those who wanted to see 'more' of Denberg had to settle for her Playboy layout, which had already been published in August, 1966.

Unfortunately, the postscript to Denberg's life story after Frankenstein Created Woman was not a happy one. Her drug use caused her to have a nervous breakdown and she made only two more appearances, both on American television, before returning home to Klagenfort. Broadcast interviews of the time show an obviously depressed Denberg alongside her mother. Eventually, fans began to circulate rumours that the actress had taken her own life, but in fact, she still lives in Austria as of this date.

The reputation of Frankenstein Created Woman continues to grow, perhaps in part because of Denberg's 'mysterious' disappearance from public life. The highest praise for the film has come from none other than Martin Scorsese, the Oscar-winning director who chose Frankenstein Created Woman to show as part of a National Film Theatre series of his favourite films. Introducing the movie, Scorsese (who had once considered becoming a priest before he was a filmmaker) said: 'If I single this one out, it's because here they actually isolate the soul, a bright blue shining translucent ball. The implied metaphysics is close to something sublime.' 

BEHIND THE SCENES ON 

FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN

AND PETER CUSHING ON HAMMER FILMS

 

More About SUSAN DENBERG in our Special Feature

'The Girl From Pomerania'

Here At The Website Quick Link: HERE

Did You Miss PART THREE of That Feminine Touch : Women In Gothic 

 The Evil Of Frankenstein: Featuring Katy Wild And Carol Gardner?

You Can QUICK LINK To It Right HERE 

Feature Written by: Bruce G Hallenbeck

Stills: Stephen Jones and Marcus Brooks

Feature Design: Jamie Somerville and Marcus Brooks

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