INVALID CAST : VINTAGE CORRESPONDENCE: KEEN GUSTAV AND DUBIOUS PRACTICES

#THROWBACKTHURSDAY: 'There is more evil around us here than I have ever encountered before. . ' Certainly a line of dialogue to get the pulse racing. This image is taken from the BBC television series 'Sherlock Holmes' which starred Peter Cushing as Sherlock, the episode is 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' which was broadcast in two parts . . Gary Raymond picture here,  stars as Sir Henry Baskerville.

#THROWBACKTHURSDAY! THE WONDERFUL thing about researching and documenting Peter's life and work is, being such a prolific letter writer and note maker, he has left a paper trail, and every now and then, something interesting bobs to the surface!. Here are two  good examples. These are genuine letters of correspondence between members of the public who have written to Peter, wishing him well and requesting an autograph or photo. Cushing was very good at sending replies, and 9 out of ten times, also including an autograph on a photograph, even if it wasn't requested.

#THROWBACKTHURSDAY: I THINK if Gustav Weil from Hammer films 'Twins of Evil' was around today, he would certainly be a regular monthly winner of the 'EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH'. He certainly stuck to his job description, and wasn't happy until he and his band of the 'brotherhood' met their monthly quarter!

#THROWBACKTHURSDAY: THE PROGRAMME cast page from the 1951 production of THE GAY INVALID, lots of names that were soon to be house-hold names in the UK, along with Peter Cushing... there are also other performers names who have 'fantasy genre' connections on the big screen too. Can you spot them??

HOUSEKEEPING: If you are wondering were our Competitions have gone...worry not! I have an excellent COMPETITION for you THIS WEEKEND ! Also, for those of you who have spotted a fair ol scattering or typos, errors and mistakes in my jottings over the past three months, my apologies. I haven't lost my marbles, I am taking some elephant strength painkillers, following a wobble in health last year. I do try and check everything I write, but often it's difficult when the words and page are doing a tango and double vision at times, makes it a tricky exercise. I am ok, but please bare with me, normal service will continue very soon!

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#MONSTERMONDAY : D.D. DENHAM MEETS VAN HELSING

#MONSTERMONDAY: Mr D.D. Denham. Was there ever a more frightening business man? Hmmm, maybe 😉 A vampire Count, taking down mankind with a deadly plague. I happen to really like 'The Satanic Rites of Dracula', for me it makes the evolution of the Hammer character all the more interesting...and the fact that the family Van Helsing are still on his tail and cramping his plans and style, makes me smile.

HE IS THIS Monday's Monster, the author of hell and damnation, Dracula's 'nom de plume'... D. D. Denham 😉 Worthy of the Monster Monday Crown? Tell us what you think . . .

ABOVE Highlights from The Satanic Rites of Dracula starring Peter Cushing Christopher Lee Joanna Lumley, Michael Coles and William Franklyn

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A MUG AND SOME MYSTERIOUS INITIALS : ON THE SHERLOCK TRAIL OF CUSHING'S DESK TOP

#petercushing A WONDERFUL GIF of Peter Cushing featuring his role as OSRIC in the Sir Laurence Olivier directed classic of 1948.... Another rare chance to see Peter's gift of comedy.

 

#‎sherlocksunday‬ ONE OF THE PROBLEMS with the BBC's Cushing Sherlock series was it's slightly staged appearance '... but when the script called for Cushing to react or quicken up the pace... I guess he was gagging to get going .. in this gif..he does just that!

#SHERLOCKSUNDAY: PETER CUSHING'S NIC-KNACKS, A CASE FOR DETECTION: This is the table top of a small portable desk top, that Peter used in his home study...displayed as a exhibit for visitors inspection at the PeterCushing@100 exhibition at Whitstable museum back in 2013. Some interesting items here, the Sherlock Holmes business card, and magnifying glass, headed not paper for Peter and Helen's address in London, pack of Peter's favourite cigarettes, some undelivered personal correspondence, a note for the newspaper shop, two photographs of Peter with his wife, Helen...BUT two curious things here, a china 'mug'. I can't ever see Peter drinking from a mug! Can you? A man who would not use or frequent tea rooms or restaurants that used sugar cubes, or those little foil packed squares of butter, would not, I think...drink from a mug! Second, that desk calendar? What do you suppose the initials of FBT would stand for??? Hmmmm?

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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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#CUSHINGCOLLECTABLES : PETER CUSHING'S WRITING BUREAU / DESK

HERE'S A NEW THEME for our Wednesday's here at the website... by your suggestion, CUSHING COLLECTABLES! Every week, I 'll post and share items from the PCAS Collection or from my personal bits and bobs! Most of the items have a story behind them, some are valuable, some not so, they're just lovely things to see and collect ...with a history!

This week we kick off with an item of furniture that Peter and Helen Cushing purchased for their home when they lived in Kensington London. An Edwardian writing desk / bureau, which then was moved to the home in Whitstable... it has three deep drawers and a pull down writing area with lovely little compartments. On top, behind the two glass wooden lattice doors are three, shelves.

On the banner above are two pictures of the bureau, one on the left in Peter's study, and on the right, today . This bureau was purchased at auction, along with several other items... there is a GREAT story connected to this bureau, which I will share with you, with some NEVER seen before photographs of something quite, quite unique...in the next post!

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REMEMBERING JOHN VAN EYSSEN BORN THIS DAY

Today we remember Hammer's first vampire hunter John Van Eyssen.Best known for starring in Hammer's DRACULA /Horror Of Dracula as Jonathan Harker. Eyssen also starred in Hammer's QUATERMASS 2 and a early Terrence Fisher Hammer film called The Four Sided Triangle in 1953.

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