#toocooltuesday
: On May 29th 2000.... just a few days after Peter Cushing's B'day...
Bray Studios, the home of Hammer films was once again buzzing with the
actors, directors and technicians who had once worked there and helped
produced some of the finest films in the Hammer heydays. Only on this
day, there was no film or work. Hammer had long moved on...
All the guests had gathered under the watchful eye and co-ordination of
documentary maker, DONALD FEARNEY. This was the second of his BRAY
Studios Garden Parties..Don went on to do one more even bigger event
there...held on the lawn of Down Place, the very scene of the tussle
with Peter and Christopher Lee in 'The Mummy' of 1959. The event was a
hot ticket...only 200 places... if you were lucky to get one. It was
also the 50th anniversary of Hammer films with all proceeds going to
‘The Ralph Bates’ Pancreatic Cancer Fund’. Over a staggering 80 Hammer
guests attended, and the fans were kept busy collecting getting mostly
free autographs and having snaps taken with the cream of the industry.
Here is the roll call of just some of the guest who attended on the day:
Veronica Carlson, Ingrid Pitt ,Freddie Francis, Julie Ege, Yvonne
Monlaur, Andrée Melly, Michael Ripper, Suzanna Leigh, Caroline Munro,
Oscar Quitak, Martine Beswick, James Bernard, Ray Harryhausen, Ian
Scoones, John Forbes-Robertson, Francis Matthews, Aida Young (Hammer
producer), Eddie Powell (Christopher Lee’s stunt double), Freddie
Francis, Renee Glynne (Continuity Manager), Ralph Bates’ widow Virginia
Wetherell (DEMONS OF THE MIND), Edward De Souza (KISS OF THE VAMPIRE),
Dame Thora Hird (THE QUARTERMASS XPERIMENT) and many many others.
It was a day of glorious sunshine, though ironically, thunder and
lightning finally struck at the end of the day. Very spooky, but how
very appropriate and very cool! ! The perfect end for a perfect day at
Hammer Studios. Sample the atmosphere of the day in this tv news report
broadcast of the event. Were you there?
Footnote: This was sixteen years ago, and at that time the shaky future of Bray still being used as a production facility was as ever in doubt, but it had been just thrown a life line, which kept the studio open for a further fourteen years. Sadly, the studio lots have now been torn down, the studio is no more and in recent times the mansion house and grounds have been purchased by a private developer. The development of several apartments is on going, Down Place is also now in private ownership.
Footnote: This was sixteen years ago, and at that time the shaky future of Bray still being used as a production facility was as ever in doubt, but it had been just thrown a life line, which kept the studio open for a further fourteen years. Sadly, the studio lots have now been torn down, the studio is no more and in recent times the mansion house and grounds have been purchased by a private developer. The development of several apartments is on going, Down Place is also now in private ownership.
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