REMEMBERING ACTOR FREDDIE JONES ON HIS BIRTHDAY TODAY

QUITE EARLY ON in my tv and film watching habits, I learnt that the actor, Freddie Jones, was always worth watching. Even if it was a new tv drama, a film or even a radio play at my grans, whatever I was up to, while passing through the room, THAT voice would immediately capture my ear. You couldn't walk away. My Mum and Gran were huge fans too, 'It's Freddie JUNUCE!' she would say. My mother was brought up in the South Wales valleys and had a habit of mis-pronouncing certain words, names, as a somewhat strange 'Hilda Baker' wrapped and tongue twisting, weird mangled type malapropisms...'Jun....uce!' 'Yes!' I would smile and agree .'With a surname like that, he's obviously Welsh!', she would gleam with pride. He wasn't, but I wouldn't dream of breaking the spell for her.

WE HAD ALL SEEN JONES, in an ITV play version of 'Sweeney Todd' back in 1970. We were terrified. But something I noticed, far more than the tension or the murders..was his delivery. His words, his prosody! Next time I saw him was in Cushing's 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed' . . again there it was. The pauses, the rhythm. It was tense and it and he pulled you in with each pause. What is he going to say next? I don't think Freddie Jones actually was capable of being dull. Listen and watch his performance as Prof Professor Julian Keeley, with Peter Cushing in Christopher Lee's last Hammer Dracula film, 'The Satanic Rites of Dracula'. It's a master-class in 'How to terrify an audience, with no props, masks or make-up and yet a full tool kit of quivers, nuances and dialogue super charged  with, suggestion! Find yourself, five films or tv shows.. and you'll see, when he speaks, everyone is listening. I watched 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed' in a midnight double bill cinema, packed to the gills, with drunks, dribbling into free fall and slopping into back row seats just after closing time. Del Boy's with dates and 'men with dirty-macs'. Nearly all were diving into candy's, crisps, cans, scraping and trawling the bottoms of slimy twin ice cream tubs while sucking to collapse, their cardboard cartons of Kiora. It was annoying and noisy...except when Freddie was on the screen. Then, it went quiet and everyone tuned in. 

WE COULD POUR over the many, many gold star roles and others that do more than just twinkle, when the rest of the cast and film, were not even sparkles, in Jones' beady-eye 😉 ! I wish I had seen Jones in Ronald Harwood’s affectionate near-portrait of Sir Donald Wolfit in 'The Dresser' (1980), an old ham called “Sir” who faces disaster in the mirror while preparing to play King Lear. It was a huge success. You can see how he filled that role, that theatre. It is said, 'After his 1980 run, no following actor, in The Dresser – Albert Finney in the 1983 film, Anthony Hopkins on television in 2015, nor Ken Stott in the West End in 2016 – matched the rumbling thunder of Jones in Manchester and subsequently at the Queen’s in London!' Sadly, I didn't see it and we have to make do with snippets and a radio version on YouTube. Better than nothing. He was certainly better than most gave him credit for. But there's gems to find, for sure! Quality, if not quantity. And for that we say thank you, with bended knee, and surprised sadness, on realising it is a mere two months, since Freddie bowed and left us, for the last time. Happy Birthday, Freddie Jones. He once said, ' “My life springs from my wife, my family, my work and my whisky.” . . Well, in remembering, we'll celebrate and certainly toast to that

ACTOR FREDDIE JONES DIES AGED 91

THE VERY SAD NEWS of the passing of actor FREDDIE JONES reached us last night, has been marked with many comments and shared messages of condolences at the PCASUK Facebook Fan Page, yesterday and today. Freddie was 91 and had an impressive film, television and theatre career that stretched over a very busy sixty years.  Most #Hammerfilm and #PeterCushing fans will know him for  two Hammer classics, first Hammers Frankenstein Must be Destroyed and 'The Satanic Rites Of Dracula'. 

MORE ON FREDDIE JONES and 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed' HERE!

IN 'DESTROYED' Freddie gave us a Baron's creation that was full of pathos and sadness. Who can forget his duel with Cushing in the final moments, where Professor Richer cranks up the tension by trapping Cushing's Baron in a blazing house!? Jones's portrayal of Frankenstein's indulgence, is probably is most complex of all Hammer films 'Frankenstein Monsters', who manages to spin the title of 'Monster' neatly into the lap of Cushing's Baron. There are few actors who could so convincingly share the interplay between Cushing Hammer characters and themselves. The tension and  dread was pushed even a little further in the scenes which Freddie Jones and Cushing shared in #hammerfilms 'The Satanic Rites of Dracula'. Freddie's Professor Julian Keeley wobbles and sways from fear, to dread, lust and disgust in a shared A two-hander scene with Cushing, that is probably the highlight of the film. 

MORE ON FREDDIE JONES and 'The Satanic Rites of Dracula' in our PCASUK GALLERY and REVIEW : HERE!

FREDDIE JONES also frequently worked with David Lynch with roles in 'The Elephant Man' (1980), 'Dune' (1984) and 'Wild at Heart' (1990 ) His role as Inspector Baynes in Granada television's 'The Return of Sherlock Holmes' in 1988, with Jeremy Brett as Holmes is a gem. Freddie Jones always brought much to every role. You never knew quite what was going to be on the table, but it was always entertaining, convincing and very real.

#CHRISTOPHERLEESATURDAY! THE MANY FACES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

#CHRISTOPHERLEESATURDAY: Here is a great documentary with Christopher Lee hosting, an overview of Sherlock Holmes from the SHERLOCK from Arthur Conan Doyle pen, as portrayed on stage, on radio, television, and in motion pictures, by dozens of actors from, 1900 to 1985 . . 

IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us . . Keep The Memory Alive!. The Peter Cushing Appreciation Society website, facebook fan page and youtube channel are managed, edited and written by Marcus Brooks, PCAS coordinator since 1979. PCAS is based in the UK and USA  

GREAT GIFS! HEAD GIRL GETS THE CHOP : BYRON NEEDS MORE CREDIT AND FILM POSTER GAG THE FIRST?

#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY! : A fine SHOCK to push poor old Paul Toombes over the edge in Amicus films, 'MADHOUSE'. Toombes played by #VINCENTPRICE is really pulled through the mill in this fine little shocker. Added value of also having Peter Cushing and AIP groomed Robert Quarry in the cast too. There's a very dark thread of humor that runs through this film and the slight lifting of the veil reveals the tacky and catty spats behind the tinsel and glamour of the Hollywood set. A fancy dress 'A-List' party takes place with the usual hanger-on's and ex's in attendance. Price wonderfully, sits bored and boiling in a smoke puffing, pouty sulk, while Cushing glides around, champagne in hand, dressed in a vampire costume. Worth the price of my ticket alone! And  Julie Croswaithe in the gif here? She had it coming .....in the school of horror, she was the HEAD GIRL!

#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY! : If you are a regular to this site, then you'll know how much I love this story from #AMICUSFILMS, 'From Beyond The Grave'. It's a clever device I think, that both THE DOOR and the evil Sir Michael Sinclair are entwined! An axe blow to the fabric of the door, is a blow to Sinclair too! Stand by, as I once again, share glowing observations about the lighting in this story....it's a dream and cinematographer Alan Hume, was a gifted wizard! The set, lighting and dressings are the stars of this segment, not that #IanOgilvy, #LesleyAnneDown and Jack Watson don't do a fabulous job, it all works together. 'The Door' is the twin-terror treat, along with #PeterCushing's 'Poetic Justice' in the Amicus portmanteau party top table spread!

Just two weeks ago...I paid homage!!!

#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY! : 'What kind of plumage is this? For birds of paradise?' You have to love a scriptwriter who gives Peter Cushing, the opportunity to say a line like that! And to say, Gustav's first meeting with his niece's doesn't go well, is an understatement! There are fans who watch #HAMMERFILMS 'Twins of Evil' for different reasons, some for THAT plumage, some for Peter Cushing and some for the several satanic set-to's, between Damian Thomas and Cushing. Me? I get a double treat, not from the two performances, as good as they are, from Collinson Twins... but from Cushing AND KATHLEEN BYRON! It may bypass most viewers attentions that this is THE Kathleen Byron, who starred as Sister Ruth in the truly amazing 1947 classic, #BLACKNARCISSUS, alongside Deborah Kerr, Flora Robson and Jean Simmons.  

Byron also ticked several boxes in the Sherlock and fantasy genre too, with two appearances with Jeremy Brett's Holmes, casting in the Lee and Cushing 'Nothing But The Night', also the spooky 'Night of the Eagle', the cult tv series 'The Avengers' and just about every supernatural drama series that the BBC put out between the late 1950's,  until her sad passing just 2009 at the age of 88. A beautiful actress of substance, who for a time after Narcissus, frustratingly got typed in neurotic roles. Thankfully, she broke that mold and went on to give us many interesting and entertaining performances. Kathleen Byron : 1921 - 2009.

#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY!: I am probably missing something obvious here... but until I saw this shot in the #AMICUS film, 'Dr Terror's House of Horrors', that clever nod to the film, where Roy Castle's character spots a cinema poster, that's promoting the feature film. . . . he was actually appearing in...I couldn't remember another film, that had pulled that trick. CAN YOU?

EVERY #MONSTERMONDAY!

IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us . . Keep The Memory Alive!. The Peter Cushing Appreciation Society website, facebook fan page and youtube channel are managed, edited and written by Marcus Brooks, PCAS coordinator since 1979. PCAS is based in the UK and USA  

LATE GEOFFREY BAYLDON INTERVIEW STARTS VINTAGE SERIES!

#THROWBACKTHURSDAY: THOSE OF YOU WHO are old enough to remember the BLACK BOX CLUB AUDIO MAGAZINES of the 1980's, will no doubt also remember the great line up of interviews on audio tape and video that made up the series. Many of the guests were actors, directors, make up artists and producers who had worked with Peter Cushing, who were still working, sharp as a tack, and had great stories and anecdotes to share.

Some FORTY interviews were recorded for The Black Box Show over the ten years it was operational. Now all of the interviews, the raw tape, outtakes, jingles, sketches and are in the process of being remixed and digitized. We are shaking off the dust and cobwebs, and re-releasing the shows for a new audience, as well as those who were with us, the first time round!  The FIRST program will include an interview we recorded with the late Geoffrey Bayldon, recorded at his home, way back in 1988. Our second program will feature a UNRELEASED interview with Peter Cushing from 1980. You can also look forward to interviews with, actors Jeremy Brett, Edward Hardwicke, Michael Ripper, Vincent Price, Michael Gough, Ralph Bates, Judy Geeson, John Carradine, David Rintoul, actor-writer Terry Jones, Ingrid Pitt, director Terry Gilliam, Colin Baker, Tom Baker, Sophie Aldred, make up artist Roy Ashton, writers Brian Hayles and Gary Hopkins plus many, many others. The uploading of our first program as a POD CAST and YOUTUBE upload is scheduled for just a few weeks time. So, check out our PCAS sites for news and details!

IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us . . Keep The Memory Alive!

The Peter Cushing Appreciation Society website, facebook fan page and youtube channel are managed, edited and written by Marcus Brooks, PCAS coordinator since 1979. PCAS is based in the UK and USA. 

ANIMAL FAT, KENSINGTON GORE, KARLOFF, LEE AND A CLAPPERBOARD

#ONSETSATURDAY : MEANWHILE..... YIKES!... on a film set at Bray studios in 1968, Les Bowie Hammer films effects wizard is busy with his team, shooting THIS gory scene scene, not that hard to recognise it really. A mixture of Kensington Gore, liquid soap, animal fat and cornflour slowly slides down a rock...nasty!

LEXI CONROY commented at our FACEBOOK FAN PAGE : I am proud to say that after taking a London hop on hop off bus tour I finally get the joke that Kensington Gore is a real place ;). Incidentally, does the formula for producing KG still survive anywhere?

WE REPLIED: *Name Drop Alert!!* I'll have to look it up...but from my understanding, Hammer make up artist, Roy Ashton told me it happened, just at the time colour film was first being used in the UK. A make up artist, working on location...in 'KENSINGTON'; with a film crew, shooting on colour film discovered, that the usual bottle of 'whatever they used 'in black and white' films wouldn't register true on colour film, so legged it to a local chemist in KENSINGTON, who mixed up a compound that would do the trick OR I presume...that same make up chap, to his horror found he had misplaced or forgot to pack his bottle of blood while on location in KENSINGTON and went to a local chemist...so as the cosmetic blood having been made by a chemist in Kensington, the formula was christened after the town it was made in..etc... 

I have no idea, if the formula still exists, Lexi.  I would guess most buy it in, prepared...though from experience I know some of the movie blood DOES leave a purple-pinky stain on clothing and skin, there are some types you can purchase that does wash out, but more expensive...but that recipe from long ago, I think has long gone with that chemist maybe???

Once when Roy was showing me the contents of one of three make up cases he took to work ( '..one is for beautifying, the other for the other jobs' Roy's words!) ...He giggled when he showed me a tube of German made make up blood called, I think... 'Flix-Blut'. I have no idea why he found this funny?? I still don't...am I missing something?

LEXI HELPFULLY REPLIED: Well, knowing German to a reasonable degree, I can tell you that "Blut" is "blood"...as for "Flix," perhaps that is a corruption of "flicks," i.e., movies, making it "Movie Blood?" The joke escapes me as well...

  

#ONSETSATURDAY TOD MORTEN has written in to ask, 'Did Peter Cushing ever work with Boris Karloff?' Hello Todd and Welcome... no, it's a great shame that Peter never got the opportunity to work with Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee, yes...Peter sadly no. Here is a photograph of Lee and Karloff on set during the making of The Curse of the Crimson Altar', one of two films that Lee made with Karloff, the other being Corridors of Blood in 1958. Interestingly, Curse of the Crimson Altar was directed by Vernon Sewell who in the same year, 1968, also directed Peter Cushing in the 'Blood Beast Terror'.

#ONSETSATURDAY I think the one thing. above all else that I always noticed with Christopher Lee's performance as Dracula was ...his grace. Considering, HE considered himself, clumsy with props, having two left feet ...( Alice Lopes!! ) and very, very tall.. he was most impressive in his long black cloak...gliding through the sets at Bray, Elstree and Pinewood. The only other actors I think that had the same poise and elegance when playing Dracula were Jeremy Brett and Frank Langella... you agree??

AND FINALLY, Peter Cushing as General von Spielsdorf and Douglas Wilmer, wait for it . . . as Baron Joachim von Hartog, great name that...on the set of 'THE VAMPIRE LOVERS' at Elstree  film studios, during it's production run from 19th January 1970 until 4th March 1970.

MORE IMAGES, CHART AND STUFF EVERY DAY AT OUR FACEBOOK FAN PAGE UPDATED EVERY DAY!

NEWS: THE LARGEST SHERLOCK HOLMES EXHIBITION IN THE UK EVER!

NEWS: If you are a Sherlock fan in the UK, here's can exhibition you can not afford to miss!

The exhibition opens at a time when It is this endurance that is an underlying theme of the exhibition, and is explicit in the title, “The Man Who Never Lived and Will Never Die”, based on a similar observation made by Orson Welles in 1938. Thus there is a strong filmic element in the exhibition, featuring different actors who have assumed the role over the years – from Peter Cushing and Jeremy Brett to Robert Downey Jr and Benedict Cumberbatch, as well as a soundscape of radio plays, including the voice of William Gillette, and an assortment of original film posters from across the globe.

Sherlock Holmes: The Man Who Never Lived and Will Never Die which opened at the Museum of London on Friday 17 October 2014 can be visited until Sunday 12 April 2015. The exhibition is sponsored by Shepherd and Wedderburn and the technology partner is NEC. More information can be found at www.museumoflondon.org.uk/sherlock.

Adult tickets are £12 (£10.90 without donation), concession tickets (ages 12-15, students, over 60, unwaged and registered disabled) £10 (£9 without donation) and flexible family tickets for 3-6 people (must include at least one child and one adult) are £9.50 per person (£8.50 per person without donation). It is FREE, fast-track entry for Friends of the museum and FREE for children under 12.

For MORE info click this link: HERE