WHAT MAKES A GREAT SHERLOCK HOLMES : VINTAGE TRAILER : NAME THE MUSCLE MAN!

TWO FILMS and 16 Television Episodes! Over at the Facebook PCASUK Fan Page, I have asked : What Do You Think, Made Peter Cushing such a popular Sherlock Holmes? From 1959 and the Hammer film adaption of 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' the role of probably the world's most famous detective 'Sherlock Holmes', became quite permanently welded to Peter Cushing as one of his most entertaining roles... from a filmography containing over 90 motion pictures! From the many actors who portrayed Holmes, what was it in Cushing's performances that made him so popular?? . . . And as you wouks expect, there are some interesting theories and strong opinions... HERE!

A CHUMP AT OXFORD (1940) was the penultimate Laurel and Hardy film made at the Hal Roach studios. Stan Laurel played Stan / Lord Paddington, Oliver Hardy is Ollie! The film is of particular note to us, because Peter Cushing also featured in the cast.
 

#STANLAUREL was born Arthur Stanley Jefferson on the 16th June 1890, at 3, Argyle Street, Ulverston, Cumbria, England. He travelled to the US with the Karno trope, and after a long period eventually Laurel signed with the Hal Roach studio, so did Oliver Hardy, who was a member of the Hal Roach Studios Comedy All Star players...and the rest is history! If I were to pick anyone from this era of cinema history, Stan and Olly get my vote every time.

IF YOU HAVE NOT seen A Chump At Oxford, I highly recommend it, I have added the the theatrical trailer above! It's not just for an opportunity to see a young Peter Cushing at work, but also the joy of watching the skill and talent of the two 'boys'. It never got better. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Stan, you still remain head and shoulders above the rest!

#RichardBurton and Claire Bloom's 1956 production of 'Alexander the Great' might have been seen as 'not so great' at the box office, but #PeterCushing turned in a very good performance, even with such a damp squid of a script.. it also gave us a fabulous colour image like this this one, just months before Cushing's career would take such a dramatic turn!

ABOVE : HERE IS A GOOD FRIEND friend to Peter Cushing, who played more than one villain alongside him.. a STRONG character too! Over at the Facebook Fan Page, I have posted this and  asked if you name him and the two films in which he appeared with Peter Cushing? It's funny how some have complained that the question is too easy, while quite few.. are miles off and have ID the guy, incorrectly! 😀😉  

LAUREL AND HARDY CLASSIC 80 YEARS OLD THIS YEAR AND ONE EXTRA IS NO CHUMP!

THIS YEARS MARKS the 80TH year of the release of Laurel and Hardy's feature film, 'A Chump At Oxford' . . a great anniversary for Stan and Olly . . but also quite an amazing quirk of fortune for Peter Cushing back then. If ever Peter Cushing comes up in conversation, pop this little nugget of info into your chat...and people wont believe you! 😃I find it strange also that this film features a comedy fright scene with a 'ghost'! Ironic or what?? 😉

ABOVE IS A SHOT of Peter Cushing and the other scoundrel students of 'Oxford' getting their just deserves in the garden lake. He is one of the students singing 'Fee Fie Fo Fum' and appears in a couple of other scenes too. He was just 26 years old when this was made. When often asked about his time with Stan and Olly, Peter would fondly recall his experience as an extra on this film and said his outstanding memory was of how concerned Oliver Hardy was about the welfare of the extras in the film and demanded that the producers arrange for towels and fresh clothes be supplied for the extras who got soaked in the pond scene and personally brought in a large tray of doughnuts for the extras to enjoy during filming . . 

REMEMBERING OLIVER BABE HARDY TODAY

REMEMBERING Oliver Norvell Babe Hardy (Oliver Hardy) I guess, very few people have ever made me laugh as hard and long..as these two guys, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Today we mark the birthday of Olly. Many would know and remember their films, but maybe few would probably know of their Peter Cushing connection? Cushing appeared in their feature, A Chump at Oxford, directed in 1939 by Alfred J. Goulding and released in 1940 by United Artists, and was the penultimate Laurel and Hardy film made at the Hal Roach studios. 

Peter Cushing , front row first on left... with Stan and Olly in 'A Chump At Oxford' (1940)

Peter played a rather plummy student, who with his friends to play tricks on Stan! He had quite a bit of screen time, played some of the scenes with a very odd disguise of a bushy tash! But what a duo, a team and partnership..you couldn't have one without the other. But, just for today..we remember Olly and wish him a happy birthday!

COME JOIN US  for NEWS : RARE IMAGES : COMPETITIONS : FEATURES AND INTERVIEWS! The Peter Cushing Appreciation Society Facebook FAN PAGE JUST CLICK HERE AND CLICK LIKE THERE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY : STAN LAUREL REMEMBERED

#throwbackthursday A CHUMP AT OXFORD (1940) was the penultimate Laurel and Hardy film made at the Hal Roach studios. Stan Laurel played Stan / Lord Paddington, Oliver Hardy is Ollie! The film is of particular note to us, because Peter Cushing also featured in the cast..SEE the actual contract below!

STAN LAUREL was born Arthur Stanley Jefferson on the 16th June 1890, at 3, Argyle Street, Ulverston, Cumbria, England. He travelled to the US with the Karno trope, and after a long period eventually Laurel signed with the Hal Roach studio, so did Oliver Hardy, who was a member of the Hal Roach Studios Comedy All Star players...and the rest is history! If I were to pick anyone from this era of cinema history, Stan and Olyy get my vote every time.

IF YOU HAVE NOT seen A Chump At Oxford, I highly recommend it, not just for an opportunity to see a young Peter Cushing at work, but also the joy of watching the skill and talent of the two 'boys'. It never got better. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Stan, you still remain head and shoulders above the rest!

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PETER CUSHING: LAUREL AND HARDY : CHUMPS AT OXFORD CONTRACT

Peter Cushing's contract (bearing his signature) with Hal Roach Studios for A CHUMP AT OXFORD (1940) with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Cushing recalled it was in the evening when they filmed his final scene getting tossed into the pond. Laurel and Hardy personally made sure that every actor who got wet received towels and hot drinks. Cushing was star struck by Laurel and Hardy and would remember them fondly for the rest of his life.