WATCHING AND LISTENING to the news tonight, I am so sad and shocked by
the horrific fire, that is destroying and consuming the beautiful and
historic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It's a place I have visited many
times since I was a teenager. No time in Paris can be spent, without
seeing 'The Cathedral'. With it's an amazing architecture, inside and
out, the paintings, the sculpture... the history, you could sense so
strongly when you walked inside. Peter Cushing visited it quite a few
times too and loved it, very much. He sat and painted in water colours
the spire, the arches and roof. It's truly, truly sad to see the iconic
spire and parts of the first tower, now vanishing in the flames. To all
our followers and friends in Paris and France... our hearts go out to
you...
BACK IN THE EARLY 80'S, it wasn't unusual to sometimes meet up with some of the 500+ people back then, who were international subscribers to the PCAS Newsletters and Journals. PCAS was then a team of three people. We treated managing the society as a hobby! Often we would spend a weekend in London, Sheffield or Bristol, meeting many of those members who loved Peter Cushing, Hammer films and anything connected! We would always take gifts of some stills or a press book, for anyone we were meeting! One trip, I remember well, was a three day trip to Paris. It was a hoot! We arranged to meet outside Notre Dame Cathedral. Peter Cushing always had, and still does have, a very healthy crowd of 'fans' in France! I only knew one of the people we were meeting in that crowd, one Jacqueline Carron! We had spoken on the phone and written a few times. this was PRE internet, remember! My French was a joke, but her English, perfect! The group we were meeting all knew each other, so we were the visitors. They were the kindest, most polite people, generous with time, they didn't want us to leave! Some brought their partners and Mum's along too! We walked, talked and eventually, all as planned spent the evening at Jacqueline's home, watching anything and everything, we had managed to record or copy of Peter Cushing on video! Jacqueline lived a short distance from the Cathedral, and the towers could be seen from her living room. The following morning, we met again for a coffee and took pics of our new 'Cushing friends' under the shadow of the Cathedral towers....it was a special time...
THIS IS THE FIRST PART of a series of features, focusing on THE MAKING OF THE LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF. This is quite a different series, compared to our usual theme of features on the work of PETER CUSHING. Each of our six parts will not just be looking at Cushing, the cast and a critque of the finished film, but we will also spend time hearing from the production crew, lighting, set design and the diector and producer. TYBURN FILMS were quite an unusual production company. At the time studios and companies were struggling to finance and make features, Tyburn approached the problem with a different concept, which makes this series all the more interesting. Peter Cushing appeared in four productions with Tyburn over the years. Three films, THE GHOUL (1975) THE LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF and THE MASKS OF DEATH, also a biographical tv programme called ONE WAY TICKET TO HOLLYWOOD. Tyburn's CEO Kevin Francis, first met Peter Cushing when he was working and finding his feet, for Hammer films. Both he and Cushing became friends, as Francis was such a fan of his work and Hammer films. The friendship helped too when Francis was looking for a top name, when casting his first Tyburn productions, it was a friendship that would grow even closer during and after Cushing's last few years.
ACTING UP!
OBVIOUSLY,
film acting has never been just a simply 'act' of learning your lines
and saying them with as much conviction as you can! There are various
technical things to think about, like keeping in frame, leaving seconds
at the beginning of takes, so the editor can get in, and keeping enegies
the same in the master shot, close ups and cut aways. The script for
THE LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF was like many scripts that director FREDDIE
FRANCIS worked with for another film production company to, AMICUS
FILMS. LEGEND had a script where actors were given a certain amount of
freedom in interpreting the script! Peter Cushing played the role of Paul Cataflanque, a skilled forensic surgeon. Here he explains his methods of performance for camera, and preparing for a role.
CUSHING AND THE LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF SCRIPT : CHANGES
PETER CUSHING:'I DO THE SAME THING on all film scripts. A play that's written for the
theatre, it's altered sometimes but it's done in a very different way. A
film script is such a technical thing, it's altered so much during the
original writing that sometimes the dialogue does get a little out of
hand. They've been concentrating on something else so much that in the
end they can't see the wood for the trees, but when an actor sees the
script for the first time he is able to see these little problems . Then
there are also certain ways of making exactely the same sense but
saying the line in a way that is better for the character. But one never
alters the gist of what is being said because obviously if you alter
that you alter the whole script. And then, a script is over written,
becauseit's much better to cut out, if you are over time, than to try
and add on if you are under, because it's when you add on, that begins
gto show a little, unless you have given it great thought to it. So
scripts are usually overwritten to about ten minutes so that you can cut
ten minutes offand come down to the required hour or hour and a half,
or whatever you want'.
CUSHING'S METHOD AND PREPARATION
PETER CUSHING:'I ALWAYS DO a tremendous amount of this, it's purely my way of working,
particularly in films, which is my favourite medium, But the actors get
very little rehearsal time, you see, so you must do your homework. I
naturally always ask the director, but the director has many things to
think of, not just me or the other actors, he got technical things,
lighting and so on, and what he's doing next week or next month. So
whatever you can do to help is good for everyone concerned. And
instinctively he knows immediately : it's marvelous and we'll add to it
or no, because I always do a little sketch of the clothes I want,
costume, because I think that is important. It helps with the character
to know, what you are goping to wear. This again is purely my 'method',
if you want to call it that. I think the more preparation you do the
better. I don't like the phrase 'technique of acting' because I don;t
think there is such a thing, but film making is very technical in as
much as you have to remember your 'marks', remember your 'key lights'
all sorts of things like that, and at the same time, you have to make it
all look as though, it's all just happening, when the camera films it.
"I DO A LOT OF WORK long before I start in the production and the shooting
begins. i know the whole script, because you never know what scene they
are going to do some days. They might suddenly change their minds, like
yesterday when we were a day and a half ahead of schedule. Well, had I
not known the scene, I couldn't have done that. But you see, when I get
home after a da's shooting there's not really time. I just check
through, and look at all my notes. By the time you get home it's seven
or eight o'clock and by the time you've had a meal and written a couple
of letters it's time to get to bed for half past five in the morning. So
that's why it's important to me at any rate, to do a great deal of work
before shooting starts".
WORKING WITH DIRECTOR FREDDIE FRANCIS:
PETER CUSHING : "EVERYBODY IS DIFFERENT, though I must say, I have been exceptionally lucky, with
all the directors I have worked for. Freddie has his way of doing
things. What I admire apart from his tremendous knowledge of the
buisness is Freddie's wonderful insight and instinct for how to treat
every indivdual on the studio floor. He knows those ones to lark with,
those not to lark with, he giot great kindness and yet absolutely the
correct kind of authority. The behaviour of everyone, obviously in
almost every industry, does stem from the top and go right the way down
through. If you get someone who's not very nice at the top it does tend
to inflitrate through the unit".
THE ROLE OF PAUL CATAFANQUE
PETER CUSHING : "HE IS A PATHOLOGIST,except that they weren't called pathologists in those
days, they were called judicial surgeons. But there's quite a lot of
humour this time, which is nice and makes a lovely balance to the mayhem
that goes on. But with any role you play your personality must come
across. From that you try to make something of the character, the author
has written into the part. This script was written by John Elder, he
was one of the directors at Hammer films. He wrote many of their early
ones and for eighteen years these Hammer films have been popular and the
mass of people who go to them, it's rather like those people who buy
their favourite chocolates; they know when they open the box, they'll
find the coconut cream and the truffles and that sort of thing, and they
know when they see this kind of film, they'll get what they are kooking
for. And so, they're catered for, by the scriptwriters".
THE SCRIPT MUST BE COMPLETE AND FINISHED
PETER CUSHING :"WHEN
I RECEIVE THE SCRIPTit is never a treament or second draft, it's the
final script, nearly always and it is something I have to insist upon,
because I know me, I know my limitations. I must have the script. It's
no good saying will you do it and you'll have the script the day you
arrive, I couln't accept because I know I couldn't do it. That's the
only reason, I am not being troublesome, it's just because I can't
workthe way I do unless I have it well ahead, to study and learn and
make what alterations I want to suggest. As soon as the script arrives, I
go right through it and if needed I make my suggestions which are then
sent through to the director and producer, they amalgamate them, when
they all get together. By the time I arrive to shoot, all the talking's
finished!!"
FOR DAVID RINTOUL 'The Legend of the Werewolf' was something quite different, it was his first film role. Although by this point he had played many theatrical roles, working in film was very much learning while working . . .
DAVID RINTOUL : "FILM IS TOTALLYdifferent! The first couple of weeks I was just trying to sus it all out! I was a bit lost, I think. I'm beginning to get more confident now. The technique is quite different. Hopefully with time you get the technical side of it, so it becomes an instinctive thing and all your concentraition goes on the acting. What I've found so far, is especially at the beginning of the film, was that, I had to concentrate on the tech things and tended to forget about the acting! But it's a question of experience, I guess. The first couple of days I seemed to have a problem hitting my marks, where to stop when walking, not to lean. I missed my walking marks because I was trying to do it without looking down!"
"YOU SEE WHEN a director says, could you move a little bit to the left, often he's talking about an inch or so. Whereas in the theatre when they say move a bit more to the left they mean FOUR FOOT! Even doing telly there's not the same precision of moves, as there is in film. Here lighting is so important. With telly, you do look for the lamps and that sort of thing, but it's not so central".
"WORKING WITH ALLthe werewolf make up, is alright. I have found it helps me. Different actors work differently. I like working off , without the costume or make up, so there's that boost for me when I go into make up. For example, in the theatre I don't like trying on bits of costume, until a day or two before we open the show, though some directors want you to rehearse in costume quite early. I always leave itthe end, because it gives you that extra boost, that extra charge."
"THE ROLE OFEtoile is pretty much an instintive type of part. Some parts you have to think about a lot, and others you say, yes, that' what the role is about. I talked with director Freddie a bit about the script, but it isn't all sacred and you can change it as you go along. I am lucky I haven't had to really change very much, because . . . he doesn't say that much! I've made it a bit more colloquial. It came across, in the reading, as not stilted, but a bit formal. So I changed little things, like 'you will' to 'you'll'. But you have to be mindfull that Freddie doesn't want it too colloquial, because it has to have a nineteenth century feel. It's a delicate balance bewteen the two. Etoile is described as a country lad. I'm not doing a country accent or anything like that, just making it a bit less formal...."
"WHEN CASTING STARTEDfor this film, I was busy auditioning for a theatrical play, I had already done two or three auditions for it, and was just about to go to the last one, when my agent rang and and said, go out to Pinewood studios tomorrow! So I did, nit really knowing much about it at all. I saw Freddie the director, talked for five minutes or so, met Kevin Francis the producer, talked to him for a couple of minutes and then went back to my flat in London not really knowing or having much idea of how I got on. The phone rang a couple of hours later and the agent said, you've got the part, That was that! We started about four weeks later. Though I was here at the studio, about a week before we started shooting, just to try out the Werewolf make up, and that turned out fine. A couple of minor adjustments when we began shooting, and that was that. As I remember there was just one make up test where they actually filmed it."
COMING SOON : PART TWO : JACK SHAMPAN ON SET DESIGN : THE BUDGET AND DIRECTOR FREDDIE FRANCIS INTERVIEW ON LEGEND!
WE
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NEWS! THE CAMERAS are ROLLING ONCE AGAIN at the ICONIC BRAY FILM STUDIOS . . FOUR years after it's last tenant moved out!
A NEW PROJECT is already underway at the former home of Hammer Horror,
with an Elton John biopic called Rocketman currently being filmed.The studio will be opened on a temporary basis, expected to be around nine months. Council leader Simon Dudley (Con, Riverside), said: “It’s incredibly
exciting, there are a number of projects that are being filmed. They are really exciting projects and there’s a possibility that there will be some investment.”
ROCKETMAN will star Taron Egerton, who stars in the Kingsman films, as Elton John.Cllr Dudley said the reopening of the studios makes the borough stand out even more. He said: “I think it’s something where the Royal Borough now has a real unique selling point. It’s very exciting because there are a lot of people here who are involved in the arts, media and entertainment.” Bray Film Studios is of course, as we know most famous for the work done there in the 1950s and 1960s. The original Hammer Horror films, The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula and the Mummy. with Peter and Christopher Lee were all filmed in Bray in the 1950s.
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW was filmed there in the 1970s, as well as parts of Ridley Scott’s Alien. The fate of the studios have hung in the balance after it was purchased
by developer Farmglade Limited in 2013, which made plans to convert the
site and surrounding areas into housing. According to Cllr David Coppinger (Con, Bray), the developer decided to reopen the site due to the high demand. In a video on the Maidenhead Conservatives website, he said: “The
demand for filming, mainly because of companies like Netflix, is
increasing and there is not enough studio capacity, so the owner of the
land has reinstated the studio. We will see yet again Hollywood film stars in Bray which has to be good for our local economy.”
TERRY ADLAM, who worked on the Gerry Anderson production Terrahawks,
filmed at the studios in the 1980s, said: “It’s brilliant news, I’m
really pleased. “It’s a huge part of the history of British films, and to have an iconic studio opening in Bray is great. It’s great for the new generations of filmmakers, who will now have this to enjoy.” Ian Pankhurst, of Farmglade, said: “The studio is opening for a particular production and we are allowing them to film here. There is planning consent that is currently shelved because of the housing market not supporting it.”
WE ALSO ARE WISHING YVONNE FURNEAUX a happy birthday today, she was born 11th
May 1928. As you would have read in the above piece on BRAY, Yvonne starred with Peter in THE MUMMY which was shot at the studio. 'VERY mixed and elective' is probably the best qualificative
that defines the career of Yvonne Furneaux, even though she always gave
believable and superb performances, her name and magical presence on
screen, has sadly never earned her a more memorable place in the public memory.
YVONNE
was born in Roubaix, in the North of France in 1928. She was
immediately placed under the sign of bilingualism, her father being
English and her mother French. As a result, once this alluring brunette
had become an actress, she could as easily play in an English or a
French film, which did not prevent her from being a regular in Italy and
in West Germany, with a foray into Spain.
FURNEAUX
has appeared in films noirs.... (Enough Rope (1963), The Champagne
Murders (1967), sword & sandal movies (Slave Queen of Babylon
(1963), The Lion of Thebes (1964) comedies (Temptation in the Summer
Wind (1972) to chillers (Repulsion (1965)). The quality of her films,
ranging from bombs (Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie (1984), mediocre
run-of-the mill products (The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse (1964) . . . and
has sadly always read as an actor, who in every sense of the word was 'a
working actor, an actor for hire.....but a very adaptable one!
MY NAME IS DOUG MCCLURE... and you may now me from films like....'
TODAY we also celebrate the birthday of McClure, born and educated in Los
Angeles, had small parts in the local film industry, starting with a
submarine drama, The Enemy Below (1957) Soon, television stardom
beckoned in The Overland Trail, as William Bendix's sidekick, and in a
private eye series, Checkmate, and John Huston made him Burt Lancaster's
younger brother in his western The Unforgiven (1960). He was a natural
man of the West, enlivening The Virginian, the first television western
series to have 90-minute episodes. In The Virginian, which ran from 1962
to 1970, McClure played Trampas, friend of the ranch foreman of the
title, played by James Drury.
IN 1975
McClure came to Britain to star in The Land That Time Forgot, based on
Edgar Rice Burroughs' 1918 science fiction novel. It was strictly
double-bill fare, and he appeared in three follow-ups: At the Earth's
Core (1976) with Peter Cushing as Abner Perry, The People That Time
Forgot (1977) and Warlords of Atlantis (1978).
AMICUS PRODUCTIONS did the producing duties, with co-operation on the last two from American International Pictures, temporarily deserting teenagers on motor-bikes. Fighting dinosaurs and such, McClure was energetic, especially as he looked as if he had had a heavy night. Later movie appearances included Cannonball Run II (1983) and Omega Syndrome (1986). McClure has been regularly parodied as Troy McClure, an ageing star of the 1950s, in the television series The Simpsons. David Shipman Doug McClure, actor: born Glendale, California 11 May 1934; married three times; died Los Angeles 5 February 1995. Remembered and Missed.....
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Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help
us reach all lovers of Peter Cushing's work AND Help Keep The Memory Alive!
SINCE PETER CUSHING'S PASSING IN 1994, some interesting details about his career and life have surfaced, for sure. I suspect many in the industry knew about this, and this little fact has been several published, but I suspect that this might get many you thinking. IF you do think you know the answer and want to added to the banner of 'those who cracked it' next week. Drop me a line : petercushingpcas@gmail.com . . . ANSWER NEXT WEEK. LAST WEEKS TOUGHY ANSWER BELOW . . .
THE ANSWER TO LAST WEEK'S TUESDAY TOUGHY! THIS CORRECT ANSWER COMES FROM MARCIA, who correctly identified the THREE following CUSHING SHERLOCK productions. But THERE IS we find, ANOTHER one TOO! MARCIA'S answers are:
ANSWERS: 1) The Abbot's Cry, the follow-up to Masks of Death. 2) Peter was offered a part in Jeremy Brett's 'The Last Vampyre' as the clergyman Merrydew 3) Not positive about this one, but producer Kevin Francis wanted to remake 'Hound
of the Baskervilles' with the Hound animated by Ray Harryhausen, with
Peter as Sherlock.
THE ADDITIONAL entry is what was to have been a one man show with Cushing as Sherlock. Peter passed on the opportunity and another actor filled the role.
Worth noting is Marcia's kind message about the website too! "Thanks for
the notice on the Zoo Gang bluray and the great Doctor Who article. As
neat as Moffat's including Peter's Doctor is, I still think of Peter's
Doctor as an actual part of the canon, not just as an actor playing a
role. I love his two films as the Doctor. And finally, I love The Last
Meeting clips!! I watch them repeatedly and enjoy every minute. Look forward to this page everyday!" Best wishes! Marcia Loisel
SOME GREAT NEWS for fans of some of PETER CUSHING's television work! CUSHING appeared in an episode of the ITC series called 'THE ZOO GANG' back in 1974. In THE COUNTERFEIT TRAP, CUSHING plays Judge Gautie and appears with the very neat cast of usual's who play the GANG, John Mills, Brian Keith, Lili Palmer and Barry Morse... the majority CUSHING had experience of working with in previous productions, from Amicus films to Sherlock Holmes! THIS is a GREAT release.
THE VISUAL QUALITY OF THE BLU RAY REMASTER LOOKS EXCEPTIONAL!
MANY OF US have been waiting for a REMASTER and BLU RAY of this series for a LONG time. MANY thanks to NETWORKS for doing a splendid job again. Below is the SPEC on the release. It seems almost like a LIMITED release as far as availability of copies is concerned, so if you WANT that copy, I wouldn't be hanging around placing your ORDER.
WHO ARE THE ZOO GANG?
Four veterans of the French Resistance, reunited nearly thirty years
after the war, join forces to meet adventure, danger and excitement in
this hit series based on Paul Gallico's best-selling novel. Starring
Brian Keith, John Mills, Lilli Palmer and Barry Morse, The Zoo Gang
has been newly remastered in HD from the original 35mm film elements
for this Blu-ray edition – it has certainly never looked better!
FIVE FRENCH Resistance fighters, known by their animal-based code
names (the Wolf, the Tiger, the Elephant, the Leopard and the Fox)
fought during World War II.
Their efforts came to a stop when one of their number, Claude Roget
(the Wolf) was betrayed to the Gestapo by a contact called Boucher. In
their interrogation, one of their number Roget, who as the husband of
Manouche (the Leopard) was shot dead before her eyes.
THIRTY YEARS LATER, Thomas Devon (the Elephant) spots Boucher (who
was going under the name Rosch) in his shop. The surviving members of
the Zoo Gang drop what they are doing and rendezvous for vengeance. The
series follows the adventures of the remaining gang of four resistance fighters reunited 30 years later to scam
habitual con artists and criminals in order to take their money and use
it for good causes. Despite their ages, they put their skills and
experience to use to raise enough money to construct a hospital in the
memory of Claude. The gang is (reluctantly) aided by the son of Manouche
and Claude, an inspector in the French police.
THE SERIES is set on the French Riviera in Nice. Guest stars included Philip Madoc, Peter Cushing and Jacqueline Pearce. Roger Delgado, best known for his role as Doctor Who villain The Master also appeared although he died in a car crash prior to transmission. SPECIAL FEATURES:
