DOUGLAS WILMER AND CUSHING AT THE BBC WITH HOLMES

Marking the sad passing of  #Douglaswilmer this week, here is some interesting background about Wilmer's and Peter Cushing's time at the BBC making the SHERLOCK HOLMES tv series in the 1960's

#douglaswilmer #petercushing #sherlockholmes

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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COMPETITION: THREE PETER CUSHING BBC SHERLOCK HOLMES BOX SETS UP FOR GRABS : COMPETITION POSTED AND NOW OPEN

All episodes star Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel stock as Dr Watson and were originally broadcast as the BBC television series 'Sherlock Holmes' in 1968. All programmes are in colour. The discs are region 2.

THE PRIZES:
We have THREE DVD BOX SETS up for grabs. Each box set contains the following episodes: The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Blue Carbuncle, The Sign of Four and The Boscombe Valley Mystery.... and here's YOUR chance to bag your own BOX SET!

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO:
Take a look at PHOTOGRAPH ONE and PHOTOGRAPH TWO above.... No. A CLOSE look. Several CLOSE looks. On closer inspection, you will notice there are some differences between the two pics. They are not identical. Some differences are easier to spot than others. We have hosted 'Spot The Differences In The Photographs' competitions in the past, and they have proven very popular. We post the pics, tell you how many differences there are, and you try and spot em! Where THIS 'Spot The Differences' competition is fiendishly different is, this time, we aren't going to reveal HOW MANY DIFFERENCES Photograph Two actually contains... it could be three, six, five, two or seven? It's your job to use your powers of detection and spot them ALL! There are NO trick differences. It's either THERE or it ISN'T !

WHAT YOU DO NEXT, WHEN YOU'RE FEELING QUITE NAUSEOUS, CAN'T LOOK AT THE PICS FOR A MOMENT LONGER, BUT THINK YOU HAVE SPOTTED ALL OF THEM :
When you think you have spotted all of the differences between Photograph One and Photograph Two...send your answers, telling us where the differences are and how many there are in total. You do this by sending us an email at theblackboxclub@gmail.com. You MUST include ALL the differences to qualify as a correct entry.

YOU HAVE SEVEN DAYS. JUST IN CASE YOU WANT TO BE QUITE SURE, YOU HAVE SPOTTED ALL OF THEM:
The competition is open until SUNDAY 13th (Oh Dear!) SEPTEMBER MID DAY GMT. THREE correct entries will be chosen at random and declared the winners, one hour later at 1pm GMT and announced on the page and contacted through your personal message button on your account! So, DO check your personal messages on Sunday.

Good luck everyone. HAVE FUN!

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SHERLOCK BOX SETS COMPETITION KICKS OFF TOMORROW

We have THREE BOX SETS of Peter Cushing's 'Sherlock Holmes' BBC series to giveaway in our competition TOMORROW. All you need is your powers if DETECTION and a MAGNIFYING GLASS... wearing your deer stalker hat, is optional! The competition will run for SEVEN DAYS, ending on AUGUST 12th 2015. Below are  our reviews complete with galleries of each episode in the box set.

Our 'Hound of the Baskervilles' FULL REVIEW AND GALLERY: HERE

Our 'A Study In Scarlet' FULL REVIEW AND GALLERY: HERE 

Our 'Sign Of Four' FULL REVIEW AND GALLERY: HERE 

Our The blue Carbuncle' FULL REVIEW AND GALLERY: HERE

Our The Boscombe Valley Mystery FULL REVIEW AND GALLERY: HERE 

Each BOX SET contains FIVE classic episodes from the 1968 TV series based on the famous stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, starring Peter Cushing as Holmes and Nigel Stock as Dr Watson. In THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (Parts 1 and 2)', based on the most well-known Sherlock Holmes story of them all, Holmes travels to Dartmoor to unravel the murder mystery that has haunted the Baskerville family for generations. 'A STUDY IN SCARLET' is based on the very first Sherlock Holmes story, in which Holmes must track down a relentless killer when the dead bodies of a string of victims are discovered, all with the word 'Rache' (German for 'revenge') written in blood next to where they are lying. In 'THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY', Holmes must prove that a young man found next to the dying, brutally beaten body of his tyrannous bully of a father is not guilty of his murder. In 'THE SIGN OF FOUR', Holmes and Watson are intrigued by the case of Mary Morstan, whose father disappeared ten years previously. Every year since, Mary has received a pearl from a mystery benefactor, and she now requires the Baker Street detective to act as her escort in a meeting with the unknown patron. In 'THE BLUE CARBUNCLE', a priceless jewel with a sinister history has been stolen from its owner, the Countess of Morcar. When it is found in a goose's crop, the events surrounding how it got there and who the true thief is are puzzles only a genius such as Sherlock Holmes can unravel. This was the last episode in this series (which was one of the first TV series ever to be shot in colour), and was originally screened on 23rd December 1968.

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STUDY THIS CAREFULLY! THE CASE OF THE DISPARATION DE CADEAU DE L'AFRIQUE

THIS TUESDAY September 30th, will be launching a 'sudden death' competition...lasting only six hours...and another opportunity for you to win ANOTHER FIVE copies of Shock's blu ray / dvd release of #hammerfilms 'The Hound Of The Baskervilles'.... here's a heads up... Study this publicity still from the film, featuring Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes, Andre Morell as Dr Watson, Francis De Wolff as Dr Mortimer and Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville..and get ready for 'THE CASE OF DISPARITION DE CADEAU DE L'AFRIQUE'....Tuesday and the Game will be afoot!

HOW TO BE SHERLOCK HOLMES : CHRISTOPHER LEE ON PETER CUSHING CLIP

REPOST REMINDER : Peter Cushing is featured in the BBC FOUR documentary 'How To Be Sherlock Holmes' at 10.00pm gmt TONIGHT. Here's a clip of Christopher Lee taking about Peter Cushing's performance as Sherlock Holmes..and that 'finger' http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01nwb3y

A MISLAID HAT AND CHRISTMAS GOOSE: PETER CUSHING IN 'THE BLUE CARBUNCLE' REVIEWED WITH GALLERY

A seemingly minor issue involving a mislaid hat and Christmas goose turns fascinating for master detective Sherlock Holmes (Peter Cushing) when a priceless gem is found in the bird's gullet...

The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle made its debut in January of 1892.  The story offered a tremendous showcase for showing off Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famed sleuth's ability to make precise deductions from the most mundane of materials.  It also shows off the character's rigidly applied personal code, in that he rejects a pushy dowageress' offer of a substantial sum to retrieve her stolen gem because the case (and the client) strikes him as petty at best, while he subsequently throws himself into the mystery for his own personal amusement because it's a riddle which captures his imagination.  In many respects, it's one of the most satisfying and intriguingly plotted of the Holmes stories - and yet, it remains a seldom dramatized tale so far as film and television are concerned.

The first - and as of this writing, last - version for cinemas emerged in 1923.  It was part of the long running Ellie Norwood series of Holmes films - and like the majority of the films in that franchise, it is believed to be lost today.  It would take until 1968 for the next version to emerge, this one as part of the BBC produced Sherlock Holmes series starring Peter Cushing.  It would take over a decade for the story to be filmed again, this time as a TV film produced in the then-Soviet Union. Granada added the story to their stable of Holmes adaptations starring Jeremy Brett in 1984, while an animated version was done for the program Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century (1999).

The BBC version presents a generally faithful adaptation, courtesy of screenwriter Stanley Miller.  Though suffering from some of the same cramped production values that dogged some of the other entries, this is, on the whole, a very satisfying and briskly paced entry in the series.  Cushing gets one of his best showcases as Holmes in this episode - he perfectly captures the character's arrogance and unerring sense of logic, and he also has a marvelous moment of realization wherein the long-suffering Dr. Watson is able to gloat over one of his deductions being inaccurate.

Nigel Stock, for his part, again proves to be a most satisfactory Watson - he has moments of befuddlement worthy of Nigel Bruce in the Basil Rathbone series, but on the whole he is allowed to play the role as Doyle intended, as a sturdy and reliable medical man.  The supporting cast performs quite ably, as well, including Frank Milddlemass in the role of Peterson.  Middlemass was a busy character actor who would go on to play one of the stuffed shirt lodgers that Cushing verbally lacerates in Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969).  Intriguingly, he would also go on to play the meatier role of Harold Baker - the gentleman whose loss of his hat and prized Christmas goose sets the mystery in motion - in the 1984 version with Jeremy Brett as Holmes.It has to be said that, overall, the Brett version is the stronger of the two versions - it offers up healthier production values and much more stylish direction (Bill Bain's work in that capacity in the Cushing version is very much of the "efficient" school), but it also tinkers with the finale somewhat, making it less true to the original story than the Cushing version.  Purists may therefore prefer this earlier version - and those who prefer Cushing's more controlled take on the character versus Brett's ultra-neurotic characterization are also bound to find this a much more tolerable viewing experience

Ultimately, it is to be regretted that the majority of the Cushing episodes have been lost to the mists of time.  While the majority of the earlier episodesstarring Douglas Wilmer have survived, many of the Cushing episodes were not so fortunate and fell victim to the BBC's practice of "wiping" old shows to make room for new ones.  Of those believed to be lost, one that seems of particular interest is The Naval Treaty, which featured such outstanding character actors as Dennis Price and Peter Bowles.

Price and Cushing would later go on to appear in Hammer's Twins of Evil (1971), by which point former matinee idol Price was reduced to appearing in small roles in low budget horror films just to keep the tax man away from the door.  Another lost episode, The Greek Interpreter, actually costarred Edward Hardwicke, the son of the distinguished thespian Sir Cedric Hardwicke, who would later go on to play Watson opposite Jeremy Brett's Holmes.  The loss of these episodes is indeed unfortunate, but in the "small miracles" category, at least Cushing's fanbase is not completely deprived of seeing their favorite actor playing Holmes on this series.

Indeed, The Blue Carbuncle would mark his final portrayal of the character for many years - until he was enlisted to play an aged, but still sharp, version of the detective for the Tyburn TV production Masks of Death (1984), costarring John Mills as Watson.  Cushing would later be offered a chance to play a choice supporting role in the Jeremy Brett vehicle The Last Vampyre (1994), but ill health made his participation impossible - and the role would be played instead by Maurice Denham.  Cushing's association with the role nevertheless remains quite strong for many, and he is frequently cited alongside Rathbone and Brett as being the definitive interpreter of the role on screen.

REVIEW: TROY HOWARTH
IMAGES AND FORMAT: MARCUS BROOKS

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