IT'S NO JOKE! HELEN CUSHING AND THE SPOOKY ARM APPEARANCE PLUS DAVID PEEL AND LAST WEEKS TOUGHY ANSWER!

THIS WEEK'S TUESDAY TOUGHY! It sounds like a joke OR maybe there is a catch? Not so. Without giving too much away, all I can say is, this NOT about Cushing deciding he one day wanted a tattoo! I'll be giving you the answer NEXT TUESDAY. In the meantime, good luck!

THE ANSWER to last weeks TUESDAY TOUGHY is TOD SLAUGHTER, is the name of the  ominous face on the left. As JIM SHORTER commented on the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE Tod had quite the reputation as an English actor, who was best known for playing over-the-top maniacs in macabre film adaptations of Victorian melodramas. Slaughter made the films, for the most part, exactly as he liked, with all the larger than life, melodramatic acting of a bygone age, just as he did in the stage adaptions, in which he also starred. Born in March 1885 as Norman Carter Slaughter, during in his early stage career, hit gold and blood, when he appeared in SWEENEY TODD : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in 1936. He had started to pave the way to his thrills and spills reputation when he appeared in his first film, as a villain the previous year, in 'Maria Marten or Murder in the Red Barn'. He followed these with further OTT adventures in films like, 'The Crimes of Stephen Hawke' in also in 1936, 'It's Never To Late To Mend', 'The Ticket Of Leave Man' in 1937, 'The Face At The Window' and 'Crimes At The Dark House' in 39 and 1940. These quota-quickies, quickly made Slaughter into a British horror star, almost in some ways, as a precursor to the career of Peter Cushing's . .

ABOVE: PETER CUSHING PERSONAL THE GAY INVALID THEATRE PROGRAMME AND SIGNED NOTE-LET INCLUDING ALL CAST MEMBERS SIGNATURES!

THE PLAY in which both Slaughter and Cushing appeared in together was THE GAY INVALID by Sir Barry Jackson in 1951. Slaughter played Professor Purge and Cushing as a young soldier named Valentine. Opening for two months at the Garrick Theatre, London in September of 51, and called, 'Moliere without tears!', it ran until March 24th 1951.

 

THE FILM that in which Tod Slaughter starred , that was later adapted and starred Peter Cushing was called, 'The Greed Of William Hart and was released in 1948 and was based on the gory history of  body snatchers, Burke and Hare. Director and screen-writer John Gilling adapted the story and  Cushing went on to star as Dr Knox, in the remake and retitled, 'The Flesh And The Fiends'  in 1959. Congrats to ALEX WILSON who was the only one to nail all three questions, at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE . A thumbs up to Phillip Jones, who did name Mr Slaughter though . . .!

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE FLESH AND THE FIENDS WITH GALLERY HERE!

TODAY we remember actor DAVID PEEL who was born today 19th June 1920. There are few who have made such an impact as Peel. He only appeared in ONE film for Hammer films and I believe only appeared in one film with Peter Cushing.

ONLY ONE ROLE, one film and yet, enter VAMPIRE HAMMER into google images, and he will appear in most of the pages. Despite the success long after The Brides of Dracula was made...audiences felt a little cheated that it was a DRACULA film, without Dracula!....I suspect that Peel wasn't impressed with either the film or the subject matter either! You probably know, he left the industry early on and went into antiques and real estate, but life for Peel was certainly difficult. We remember him today though, for that one Hammer film and the impressive performance as Baron Meinster, the boy vampire who certainly pushed the boundaries of vampire film!

JENNIE LINDEN: THE ACTRESS WHO FACED DALEKS VAMPIRE GIRLS AND A NAKED OLIVER REED!

WITH IT'S infamous fireplace scene of two men wrestling naked, it was, in its day, one of the most controversial films ever made in Britain, with audiences flocking to cinemas to be shocked and scandalised. Ken Russell’s 1969 screen adaptation of D. H. Lawrence’s Women In Love was a vivid celebration of sensuality and sexuality.

THE STORY of the lives and loves of two sisters, Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen, it was provocative and erotic, and the abundant nudity – both female and male – provoked outrage. An updated version of Lawrence’s story was produced and broadcast by the BBC in 2011. Beautifully made and brilliantly acted, it has no less flesh on view than in Russell’s film and yet no one batted an eyelid.

IT WAS a sign of the times and an irony that was not lost on Linden. Her luminous beauty lit up the screen and set male pulses racing the world over. Although nominated for a Bafta for her performance in Russell’s film, she gave up the chance of Hollywood because she wanted to bring up her son Rupert in England. . . .

BUT, before all this drama and promise of super-stardom, back in 1965 Jennie played Barbara, niece to Peter Cushing's Dr Who in the first of AARU's big screen adaptions of the BBC television series Dr Who. The programme and it's most popular aliens. THE DALEKS were taking the country by storm, and DALEKMANIA had started. Sadly, when the producers decided to make another Dr Who Dalek film, Jenny's role was taken by another actress, Jill Curzon . . . the reason? Maybe in time, we may all find out!

IMMEDIATELY, after work on 'Dr Who' with Cushing, Linden followed him  onto the stage in a production of Ben Traver's 'THARK' from August 3rd at the Garrick theatre and then in the West End at the Yvonne Arnaud, until December 1965. 

IN AN INTERVIEW at the time the play was running in Guildford, Cushing remembered that his character Sir Hector was called to share a four poster bed with his nephew, Ronnie (Alec McCowen) in the 'Haunted House' of 'Thark'. The rake (slope) of the stage was exceptionally steep and the bed, on castors, would edge closer and closer to the edge of the stage. 'We were, in danger of going 'Over The Top'! Director, Ray Cooney suggested that they push the bed back up stage, to the encouragement of the audience..!

JENNIE LINDEN was born in Worthing to Marcus and Freida Fletcher, an architect and housewife. She attended the Central School of Speech and Drama at the age of 17 on a scholarship. Her classmates included Julie Christie and Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave. Her earliest film appearances were as the heroine in Hammer Film's 'Nightmare' (1964) and Barbara in 'Dr. Who and the Daleks' (1965).

HER MOST widely known film role was as Ursula in Women in Love (1969), for which she received a BAFTA nomination, and she also appeared opposite Lee Remick and Ian Holm in the film version of Iris Murdoch's novel 'A Severed Head' (1970). Her later film appearances included 'Vampira' (1974), 'Hedda' (1975), 'Valentino' (1977), and 'Charlie Muffin' (1979).

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNIE LINDEN

A Happy Birthday to JENNIE LINDEN who celebrates her birthday today December 8th.... and who fought the good fight against the Daleks with Peter Cushing as Dr Who in 'Dr Who and the Daleks' in 1965... TRIVIA: LINDEN also starred with Peter Cushing in the stage play, 'Thark' in 1965, during the westend run, though mysteriously vanished from the cast sometime during the run.

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