Showing posts with label hammer films. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hammer films. Show all posts

Tuesday, 25 August 2020

INGRID PITT UNCUT! FLASHBACK FILES INTERVIEW 2000 : MAYBE OLDER BUT SHE STILL HAS BITE!

NAME DROP ALERT! 😖😟😆Back in the day, I had the very good fortune, to met up with Ingrid Pitt from around 1980 until 1995, we did some great and very amusing interviews too. Ingrid was a beautiful woman, very special and made everyone who met her feel very special too! I always thought, that the best chat was before and after the interviews though.

DURING THE YEARS when she was still working as an actress, you knew she told you 'things' that were off the record, that would make your ears singe, she spoke her mind and wasn't afraid to 'lay it out' with those she trusted... she never told you 'don't share that' but you just knew, and also wanted to protect her reputation and other people's involved! as Ingrid got older, she was further away from the industry and was writing... and was easier to meet, approach at conventions and events... and this is how THIS priceless interview I imagine, came into being...

MY GOOD FRIEND, Roel Haanen of the 'Netherlands' . . editor of a website called, 'Flash Back Files', had in his possession a mass of interviews with film folk, actors, directors, writers, that he had once had published in a Dutch print magazine which still exists. The problem was, it has a small readership in The Netherlands, so the rest of the world, didn't get the opportunity to be able to read the interviews.

CUT TO THIS YEAR, and Roel gets in touch to say, he is making good progress with the interviews and has started REPOSTING them onto a new site, translated into English for the first time and available to everyone, for free! He had a great interview with Ingrid Pitt, he would love to relaunch on the site... and I knew what was coming next... but this time, as he had more room on his page, UNCUT! 

ROEL ASKED IF THERE would ever be room on our PCASUK FB Fan Page and website, to share a link for the interview. After reading the interview and coming up for air, I said we would love to help and that I would even create a new banner, rather than just a link, he and the interview, along with Ingrid's very funny and 'gloves off' banter was the Ingrid, I remembered and deserved it!

IT REALLY WAS WONDERFUL to see that, even though she was older, wiser and still having fun.. she had lost none of her edge. She was as intelligent, quick and witty... with just as much bite, as she ever had!

BLESS INGRID AND THANK YOU ROEL for this opportunity, to share this gem here! This is YOUR LINK IS RIGHT HERE! Enjoy, you'll learn much... 😏😃Have Fun. We sure do miss her . . . - Marcus 

 
YOU ARE MOST WELCOME TO JOIN US at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE! With posts every day, rare images and photographs, features ad prize competitions.. all celebrating the LIFE and CAREER of Peter Cushing OBE

Sunday, 12 July 2020

FACE TO FACE 'WHEN BATES TRIED ON THE BARON'S BOOTS'


#PETERCUSHINGGEMS!  Here is a amazing pose photograph, posted at the  Facebook PCASUL Fan Page of both Peter Cushing and actor Ralph Bates...taken during a visit by Peter on set, for promo opportunities... 'A Younger Actor Takes Over The Role'! They posed for several, on the set of #Hammerfilms 'Horror of Frankenstein' (1970) but this SIGNED photograph is I think, the best I have seen of the bunch. For sometime during the release and years after, by some 'off target individuals', it was thought that Cushing wasn't really in favour of Bates 'taking over' the role... In our next post, we have some amazing evidence of quite the contrary, which I will be posting tomorrow!😉 Many thanks to Mr G for his assistance with excellent photograph 😊



#ChristopherLee Saturday! Here is a pic you don't get to see that often at all! In this movie, he once again played the opposite to Peter Cushing's characters good nature.... Over at the Facebook PCASUK Fan Page I asked everyone, if they can name the movie .. and if you can, the plot.... do you think it was all real or just all happening in the mind of PC's character?? 😊 There's been quite a reaction and lost of theories! Why not join us and tell us your take on quite a puzzler! - Meanwhile, please take care everyone, and look after yourselves and loved ones 😊- Marcus


ABOVE: Peter Cushing and director Freddie Francis, on set during the making of Tigon films, 'The Creeping Flesh' (1973)

Thursday, 9 July 2020

HAIR RAISING ISSUES WITH DRACULA : VINCENT PRICE INTERVIEW 1986 : A THROWBACK-THROWING BACK?


#CHRISTOPHERLEE We HAM and EGGED it!' Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in TWO rare photographs . .Lee here sharing thoughts on his work and long friendship with Peter Cushing . . .


#VincentPrice YESTERDAY, over at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE I shared  a lovely interview with Vincent Price in 1986, rebroadcast in 1993. ..as ever, charming, entertaining and funny 😊 'Madhouse' and 'House of the Long Shadows' were Peter Cushing appeared with Vincent Price, I think are a joy to watch them together! I hope you enjoy THIS INTERVIEW too 😉

 
#THROWBACKTHURSDAY: THROW YOUR MIND BACK about three years ago..... and the rare photograph I posted you can see on the RIGHT. It's an image of writer Chris Knight from Cinefantastque 'behind the scenes' at Elstree Studios, during the making of 'Dracula AD 1972', with Christopher Lee. The photograph, an exposure on a contact sheet from photographer and good friend of Christopher Lee's, Peter Nicolson, wasn't actually titled or labelled. But it looked pretty obvious to me and several others, that this was taken, during the shooting of AD. Nicolson took several amazing behind the scenes shots during filming, some were used in a feature on AD in volume 2 number 2, of Cinefantastique . . an issue until recently, I have never seen before until just a few days ago. Some thought on the Facebook PCASUK Fan Page it was taken during the making of 'Taste the Blood of Dracula'... why not slip along to the page and tell us, what you think? - Marcus


MORE ON THIS ABOVE : RIGHT HERE! 

Saturday, 6 June 2020

THE RED NOSE YOU DIDN'T SEE PLUS SIXTY YEARS OF BRIDES CELEBRATION COMING SOON!


#CHRISTOPHERLEE SATURDAY! Here is something you have probably never seen before! Not something you see everyday.. and I am pretty sure, after some deep research over the past two days.. this may not have been seen by anyone! 


CHRISTOPHER LEE wearing a RED NOSE! The reason? '#ComicRelief - #RedNoseDay 1989' I know that this started in the UK and that the US have also been doing this for some time now too 😊. Las t year, March 15 was Red Nose Day in the United Kingdom and May 23 was Red Nose Day in the United States. For those who are not aware... it's a charity day called Comic Relief / Red Nose Day. Comic Relief started Red Nose Day in 1985 in the U.K., where it's an every-other-year event and has raised $1.2 billion so far. Millions of pounds are raised for charities by the public and celebrities of film, music, and TV who put a hold on their plans for a day or two and help to raise money. The RED NOSE has been a motif I think since it began. In 1989, Christopher Lee also joined in. Weeks before the event, a whole new gang join in and a new band of promotional posters, photographs and tv campaign promos appear everywhere to get everyone ready to part with their lolly and join in! This was Christopher Lee's contribution in 1989.. 


THIS YEAR 2020 marks the 60th anniversary since the release of Hammer films classic 'The Brides of Dracula' with Peter Cushing making his return to the big screen as Van Helsing Vampire Slayer in July 1960. Despite the title, there was no Count Dracula to be seen . . but there was David Peel's Baron Meinster! He may not have been Christopher Lee but I think he too managed to pack quite the punch, in the scary stakes.. no pun intended... as this great rare colour transparency shows! 60 years, wow! I'll start prepping and baking the cake ready for our party?? Over at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE, I've asked you if 'Brides' one of your fav Hammer / Cushing classics? Feel free to join the chat! and comments! - Take care everyone : Marcus

Sunday, 24 May 2020

HAMMER DRACULA TRAILER FOR GEEKS AND ANORAKS! CAN YOU SPOT THE EXTRA??



#ISOLATIONENTERTAINMENT #WatchWithCushing2020! The THEATRICAL trailer for Hammer films 'Dracula' 1958, is something most #Hammerfilms, #PeterCushing and #ChristopherLee fans will know very well indeed, from countless viewings of what has to be one of best #FantasyCinema trailers ever! The trailer was the same throughout it's release in 1959, other than in the US it where it was called 'Horror of Dracula', but the expected different voice overs for the trailer narration, the dubbing languages and a changed the title also, a few snips here and there maybe for censorship, were all standard. 



BUT IN THIS version, there is something that appears, that wasn't seen anywhere else... not even in the actual full film!! It's very quick, fleeting . . an 'extension' but it's there! Question is, can you spot it? There is a terrific competition being launched here at Facebook PCASUK Fan Page on Tuesday, with a fabulous prize! 🙂 😉 This should... whet your whistle 😉 Have fun, stay safe and look after each other 😉 - Marcus

Saturday, 23 May 2020

WONDERFUL WANDA : INTERVIEW : BLOOD BEAST : DOCTOR WHO : UFO AND MORE!


#WATCHWITHCUSHING! POSTING AND SHARING  a great INTERVIEW with actress WANDA VENTHAM today here and at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE certainly has taken off! It's a pretty neat interview with a very relaxed and most informative #WandaVentham! LOTS to learn here about the making of her and Peter Cushing's 'The Blood Beast Terror', on working with Cushing, the director Vernon Sewell, others in the cast, #DoctorWho, #PatrickTroughton, #Hammerfilms and the tv series #UFO! Mr H does well with the questions and some answers are quite surprising! Wanda has a great fan club site too RIGHT HERE!: Enjoy! Keep safe, stay well and look after each other 😀😊😉- Marcus


ABOVE :  A #MONSTER MONDAY BANNER from a whole ago, when Wanda's MOTH went through our weekly MONDAY trial! 


ABOVE : PETER CUSHING AND WANDA VENTHAM'S 'THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR' is also part of our #WATCHWITHCUSHING! 2020 #LockedDown season of posts at the Facebook PCASUK Fan Page. YOU can still watch it! RIGHT HERE! 


ABOVE : PETER CUSHING  chats with producer Tony Tenser on location shooting 'THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR' 

Thursday, 21 May 2020

CAN YOU NAME THOSE FACES???


POSTED TODAY over at The UK Peter Cushing Appreciation Society Facebook Fan Page Peter Cushing and a gathering of other film and tv stars, who came together to help Save Hammer Films Bray studios in 1990. Cushing was actually helicoptered to the site, from his home in Whitstable, Kent to Bray studios on the day and landed on the green, just at the side of the Thames river! I put out the question of, how many of those four other faces did everyone recognise?? A question that proves that PCASUK is an international society and that there are certainly more followers and fans of Peter Cushing at the PCASUK sites from the US and Europe than there are from the UK! It was a tough question, with only a few correct suggestions! Can YOU name those faces? I will post the answer here tomorrow!

Tuesday, 28 April 2020

KINO FLESH AND THE FIENDS BLU RAY WITH EXTRAS PLUS VINTAGE HAMMER POSTERS FOR SALE! BUT HOW MUCH ARE THEY WORTH?


#WATCHWITHCUSHING! We all know that vintage and original press and promotion materials for much of #PeterCushing's 1950's and 60's films are now worth a pretty penny. If they also hold an autograph the value is even higher! Here in this clip at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE! are TWO superb examples. Just for FUN . . BEFORE you watch this clip of these posters being sold, I would like you to comment on the post and tell me how much YOU think both the 1958 '#Dracula' UK #cinema quad poster, in pretty good condition and the almost mint 1965 Amicus 'Dr Terror's House of Horrors' UK cinema poster, could individually be worth? Write your figure in the comment section on the page BEFORE you watch this clip 😉No cheating 😏😊 I guess you can always state that the price of what something is #worth, is really . . how much someone is willing will pay? 💰💰😲But at FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE, in this clip . .  they are prepared to pay A LOT! This clip is around four years old, so chances these #posters are worth even more today! Have fun, stay safe and look after each other- Marcus 😉


AN UPDATE ON THE KINO BLU RAY release of 'FLESH AND THE FIENDS' is that the things are still set for JULY 7th 2020 AND that this John Gilling directed, based on a true story 2K restoration will also be carrying some extras too!


'THE FLESH AND THE FIENDS'
Starring Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasence, June Laverick, Billie Whitelaw, George Rose, Renee Houston and Dermot Walsh – Shot by Monty Berman (Jack the Ripper, The Crawling Eye) – Music by Stanley Black (War-Gods of the Deep, Valentino) – Co-written by Leon Griffiths (The Grissom Gang, The Squeeze) – Co-written and Directed by John Gilling (The Reptile, The Plague of the Zombies).



THIS RELEASE IS COMING AS A TWO DISC package, because not only do you get the 2k RESTORATION BLU RAY but there's also a FULL ALTERNATIVE CUT which also carries the USA title of 'The Fiendish Ghouls' and 'Mania'. You would be forgiven for thinking, that maybe Amicus films producer, MAX ROSENBERG, may have had a dabble and offered for free with one of his OTT titles at their press office too? Not so. . . .



OVER THE YEARS, there have been quite a few different cuts made available on the home cinema market. Right now, there is a DVD available from Image Entertainment who list their running duration for the "uncut" original theatrical version at 94 minutes, but they also carry a slightly extended, wait for it . .  "Continental" version—produced only for European markets with more permissive, boob and bottom nodding censors— running at 95 minutes which includes extra shots, short sequences or alternative takes with more nudity. 'THE FLESH AND THE FIENDS' was released by Valiant in the USA using the titles 'MANIA' and 'PSYCHO KILLERS' . . .  (Guess which box office smashing Hitchcock film was released also in 1960)  . . . using the censored British theatrical cut, but it didn't stop there... FIVE years later in 1965 a re-release by Pacemaker Pictures under the title 'THE FIENDISH GHOULS' cut a whole 23 minutes from the film's runtime! Both the UK and the continental cut of the film are included in the KINO BLU RAY RELEASE!



ALSO INCLUDED in thus release is an 'Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas'. Disc Two also includes the 1960  theatrical TRAILER for 'THE FLESH AND THE FIENDS' I am not sure how many 'units' of this film have been  produced for sale, but those smiling after awaiting a long while for this remastering and would like to guarantee a copy of this gem to your library shelf, now might be a good time to nail that order 😊- Marcus 




SEE OUR POST FIRST at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE! NOW  and LATER EXPANDED here at the PCASUK website / Blog! Join and be part of  the FAN PAGE with OVER 33 THOUSAND FOLLOWERS and FRIENDS you won't be on your own and you will be MOST WELCOME!  Come COMMENT, come CHAT and come KEEP THE MEMORY of Peter Cushing alive and celebrated! 

Friday, 10 April 2020

THE 1960'S DR WHO TARDIS IS A 'WRITE' OFF IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE!!


BACK IN THE MID 1960'S Peter Cushing appeared and starred in not one but TWO feature films, as Dr Who. 'Dr Who and the Daleks' (1965) and 'Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 AD. When I say, Dr Who please do not for all is sacred, mistake THIS Dr Who for the BBC Doctor Who that has been gracing our television screens for the past ?? years, also that Doctor and tv show, well... originally ran from 1963 to 1989. There was an unsuccessful attempt to revive regular production in 1996 with a backdoor pilot, in the form of a television film titled Doctor Who. The programme was relaunched in 2005, and since then has been produced in-house by BBC Wales in Cardiff. Also as dedicated viewers of said tv show and Doctor Who often tell me, 'The first film 'Dr Who and the Daleks' features a much different Doctor from the one we currently know, on tv. 



TO START WITH, he is entirely human. Barbara Wright from the tv show is no longer his granddaughter's teacher, but another granddaughter of The Doctor himself. Still with me? William Hartnell, tv Doctor Who was quite  annoyed at being passed over for the role of Dr Who and that Peter Cushing was cast in the role. The reason? Cushing was seen as a better known face to the cinematic world and therefore more capable of launching Dr Who to a wider audience, in was a children's film and family entertainment. Cushing does actually play the part with more warmth and childish humour than the famously grumpy Hartnell, and is for all intents and purposes a fantastic Doctor. So yup Cushing's Dr Who certainly IS NOT canon. Cushing himself always maintained that his Doctor was a proper Doctor, though not necessarily the First One, that he was so clearly based on. 



BUT CUSHING'S Dr Who did have a pretty neat TARDIS! It looked the same as the one in the tv series, but this one in TWO films and BIG SCREEN was ..IN COLOUR! Like the Tardis, all the DALEKS were in colour for the first time too! What a blast and . . what a COUP! 😉 Not THE Doctor, but full colour TARDIS and stars of both shows and films, the DALEKS as well.. for the first time!




THE INFLUENCE of the colour DALEKS did I am sure, go some way to what would soon become an international hobby... making YOUR OWN DALEK! Even though the TV series promoted some spin off full colour covered annual books for the kids at Christmas, it was only when the films displayed to the public and fans, DALEKS in FULL COLOUR and presented on a BIG SCREEN, that anyone had the opportunity to see them up close, moving in FULL TECHNICOLOUR, for the first time. . . and THE TOPS OPENED, to reveal a scaly thing on the floor ! Magic! 😀😊😉



THE DALEKS LOOKED AMAZING, but as a five year old boy, the thing that interested me the most, was THAT TARDIS! Looking at it now, as an adult, it does look uncannily like someone has thrown the contents of a dodgy self employed cowboy electrician's van onto a film set, to me at that time it was MAGICAL both INSIDE and OUT. After the films were wrapped, so was the interior of the time machine. But the exterior, of course survived! 




IT SEEMS THE TARDIS had survived and was finally purchased by a 'wood-turning-and-machine-company' who... 'can supply everything for the woodworker from machinery, hand and power tools to hundreds of accessories and of course the one thing that all woodworkers require – Timber' .... in Somerset, England! Well, sadly wood-turning, screw drivers, any chisels or DIY and all things that go buzz are all very uncharted lands to me. I know as much about any of these things, as I do brain surgery. Though, I have watched Cushing's 'head-work surgery' in 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed' quite a few times! On finding this company and trying to figure what their connection was to Cushing's olde Tardis, it still took me a quite while to fathom out what it actually was they were selling! Unlike their vast variety of tools on offer, sadly I am not that sharp!


THEN THE PENNY DROPPED . . PENS! Or indeed, Pen Blanks: 'Pen blanks are little pieces of wood common to the pen turning industry. Many other wood workers find these pieces of wood to be perfect for their niche, they are  easy to turn and finish and are very tactile when fashioned into a writing instrument'. So, these are strips of wood, pieces of the tardis, that can be turned on a machine and used for the barrel of a pen! YOU WRITE with it! Hmm an interesting hobby, if that floats your boat or flies your Tardis!


SO HOW DID THIS COMPANY, come up with this idea, it's weird choice to arrive at when in fact they have a WHOLE piece of movie Doctor Who sorry... Dr Who . . movie history in their possession? Then came the bad news in the product description: 

'Doctor Who Tardis Plywood pen blanks. This is the very first Mk1 Tardis that was created for Peter Cushing for the film 'Dr Who and the Daleks' and was originally constructed in 1965'.  


'Can we just point out that this Tardis was in terrible condition, the sill fell off in transit and when we moved it on its own wheels the actual door fell off. Sadly it's been left outside and as it's a 54-year-old film prop it wasn't designed for the outdoor English weather, we've managed to salvage what we can and these are the first blanks available from what must be one of the most iconic and well known film-related prop.'


'These plywood blanks we would only recommend for the more experienced turner, I've made a dozen or so now and I found you cannot put any pressure when turning, so takes time plus you must have sharp tools.The blanks measure 5 inches x 20mm x 20mm and come complete with a certificate.'


MY GOODNESS! 😕  How depressing reading was that? 😔😑 So THAT is what has happened to the Cushing's Dr Who Tardis! Cut up into 5 inch pieces!!? Blimey! Well, I guess 'tis better than what happened to so many painted glass matts, props and goodies during Hammer films move from Bray studios in the 1960's. That was a lot to do with SKIPS, and I am not referring to the dance or gym rope kind! At least, there is something I can have and hold, the TARDIS in the body of something useful and to keep in my pocket.. to eventually leak in my jacket pocket! Can I STILL write? Do I have £44.99 in my piggy bank savings? Never mind, all is good! Now where do I buy a wood lathe and a sharp chisel? - Marcus Brooks


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