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 . . 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIC MORECAMBE : PETER CUSHING AND HIS MONEY LONGEST RUNNING GAG!

TODAY MAY 14TH 2018 marks the birthday of Eric Morecambe, one half of the most successful comedy team in the UK. Still missed, loved by all, with Eric's passing back in 1984, it left a hole not only in the entertainment world but also in people's hearts. With his partner, Ernie...they provided one of tv's longest running gags, 'Peter Cushing and his Money!'... he did eventually get it , but not until the boys, had a lot of fun with it, stretching over many years and several programmes. God bless, Eric, Happy Birthday and thanks for all those precious memories and laughs.

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 reach all lovers of Peter Cushing's work AND Help Keep The Memory Alive!

REMEMBERING TERENCE FISHER AND STAN LAUREL

A MAN WHO CERTAINLY  needs no introduction to anyone who regularly visits this page. Today we mark the birthday of the late Terence Fisher, a director whose trade mark blend of fairy-tale, myth and sexuality, gave us some of Cushing's and Hammer films greatest hits. The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, The Gorgon, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed..... and many, many others. All absolute gems. Happy Birthday Terence Fisher!

CUSHING, Thorley Walters and director, Terence Fisher take a break, at Bray studios, during the making of, 'Frankenstein Created Woman' (1967).  .

DURING POST PRODUCTION  work on The Devil Rides Out he was hit by a motor bike while crossing a road and suffered a fractured leg. This resulted in him being replaced by Freddie Francis as director on Dracula Has Risen From the Grave. Just few years later, the incident happened again, resulting in Fisher taking an early retirement . .

TODAY BACK IN 1965, we said goodbye to Arthur Stanley Jefferson... Stan Laurel. Laurel traveled 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. 

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. 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.

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.

REMEMBER! 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

#GETTHE CUSHIONSUNDAY! TAKE YOUR PICK : LAUREL AND HARD BEHIND THE SCENES : CUSHING CLIP AND AMAZON PULLS BOOTLEGS

#GETTHECUSHIONSUNDAY! Ok I have deliberately left this post until today, Sunday's are usually busy here and even more so, on our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE where readers can comment on the thread 🙂 I have been approached by a major player in blu ray and DVD distribution... and they have asked me to supply the following... ' Select ONE HAMMER film, ONE AMICUS film and ONE from any genre from the careers of BOTH Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee from any OTHER studio....' That's it. Here you can send us a email or message, using the comment button. Can you HELP please 🙂 Let's have your suggestions.... Thank you, Marcus.

#GETTHECUSHIONSUNDAY! Here's one you may want to copy and look a little close at. Behind the Scenes photographs of from the LAUREL and HARDY film 'A Chump At Oxford' (1940) which as you probably know, also features a young Peter Cushing! Some wonderful snaps here. I love the one of Stan putting on his make up! Cushing is the one bottom left.... when Peter spoke about the film, his memories were of Olly sitting at a trolley eating donuts to keep his weight up and Stan planning the stunts and business that was happening on the shoot on those days. LOVE Laurel and Hardy and love the fact that Peter Cushing got the chance to work with them, all those years ago..... — with laurel And hardy, Peter Cushing and A Chump at Oxford.

#GETCUSHIONSUNDAY! I wonder how many of you have managed to see this great little thriller starring Stanley Baker, Peter Cushing, Jack Eric Portman and Mia Zetterling . . . ? The Man Who Finally Died, it's a real tense little thriller, that had me guessing until the end. One of my top five non fantasy genre Cushing films. Here's a neat clip, for a taster.... 


ABOVE: BACK IN THE 1990'S THE HOLSTEN PILS COMPANY used footage from 'The Man Who Finally Died' in a spoof advert for the alcohol tv advertising campaign. The clip stars Petet Cushing and UK comedian,  Griff Rhys Jones . .

UPDATED! You remember our news about a 'company' that was putting out several REALLY poor quality dvds of Cushing's films on ebay and Amazon? Well following emails and messages to those sites, the bootlegs have now been pulled. Thank you for your help on this . . .

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   

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!

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#THROWBACKTHURSDAY: FROM CHUMPS TO PROFESSOR : THE HISTORY OF PETER CUSHING IN COMIC STRIP

#THROWBACKTHURSDAY: Some panels from the very rare and vintage comic, #MOVIECOMIC from September 1939. This issue, number six included in it's colour pages, a comic strip adaption of  a Laurel and Hardy feature film, that was to be released the following year, 'A CHUMP AT OXFORD', which also included one Peter Cushing in it's cast! But, 1939 was just the beginning . . .

 

WITH THE ARRIVAL of the internet, portraits, comic strips and studies of Peter Cushing arrived on a website and forum called, DeviantArt. It was started by Scott Jarkoff (Jark), Angelo Sotira (Spyed) and Matt Stephens (Matteo), who launched the site on August 7, 2000. There are literally thousands of examples of artwork on the subject of Peter Cushing, and many comic strips too. There have of course since 2001, been several other smaller adaptions of the Star Wars saga, and many other strips that have inclusion of a Cushing-like character plus some adaptions of stories where again, the Peter Cushing image has influenced the look of a villain, doctor, academic, in comic strips and comic art. The MOST IMPRESSIVE of all of these is the breath-taking THE PROFESSOR . . .

AND SO the image and influence of Peter Cushing is still very much with as an  a comic strip character. Something that he would ndever have dreamed back in 1939, when his image was first pressed into the comic strip panel of MOVIE COMIC....

COME JOIN US AT OUR VERY OWN FACEBOOK FAN PAGE : OVER TWENTY SIX 
THOUSAND FOLLOWERS : JUST CLICK : HERE

A MUG AND SOME MYSTERIOUS INITIALS : ON THE SHERLOCK TRAIL OF CUSHING'S DESK TOP

#petercushing A WONDERFUL GIF of Peter Cushing featuring his role as OSRIC in the Sir Laurence Olivier directed classic of 1948.... Another rare chance to see Peter's gift of comedy.

 

#‎sherlocksunday‬ ONE OF THE PROBLEMS with the BBC's Cushing Sherlock series was it's slightly staged appearance '... but when the script called for Cushing to react or quicken up the pace... I guess he was gagging to get going .. in this gif..he does just that!

#SHERLOCKSUNDAY: PETER CUSHING'S NIC-KNACKS, A CASE FOR DETECTION: This is the table top of a small portable desk top, that Peter used in his home study...displayed as a exhibit for visitors inspection at the PeterCushing@100 exhibition at Whitstable museum back in 2013. Some interesting items here, the Sherlock Holmes business card, and magnifying glass, headed not paper for Peter and Helen's address in London, pack of Peter's favourite cigarettes, some undelivered personal correspondence, a note for the newspaper shop, two photographs of Peter with his wife, Helen...BUT two curious things here, a china 'mug'. I can't ever see Peter drinking from a mug! Can you? A man who would not use or frequent tea rooms or restaurants that used sugar cubes, or those little foil packed squares of butter, would not, I think...drink from a mug! Second, that desk calendar? What do you suppose the initials of FBT would stand for??? Hmmmm?

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