MORE THAN EYE CANDY : A FIGHTER ON AND OFF SCREEN : JULIE EGE REMEMBERED

TODAY WE REMEMBER JULIE EGE, a model and actress, she starred in the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1968) also in the Creatures The World Forgot (1971) for Hammer….she co-starred with Peter Cushing in Hammer's 'Legend Of The Seven Golden Vampires' (1974). Julie was much MORE than eye candy and thankfully, after her acting career moved on to a whole new life. Here is a very good feature on Julie, that gives the bigger picture and shows how she excelled right until her sad end . .

'For Ege, graduating as a nurse fulfilled a childhood dream, but  like others on this website, it also saved her life. While studying for her final exams, Ege discovered the early signs of breast cancer and believed that it was her new found knowledge that helped her detect the disease. Undeterred by the extensive medical treatment, including a mastectomy, she went on to work as a nurse for 22 years, facing the disease head on, including subsequent diagnoses of ovarian and lung cancer. She wrote her autobiography Naked, and continued to attend premieres and events in Oslo while at the Buskerud Hospital in Drammen. “She was a nurse and loved the job,” said her daughter Joanna to The Express newspaper. “You would never have known she had this rich, glamorous past if you’d met her. You would have just been struck by her energy, her smile and her determination to help people."  JUST CLICK HERE!

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).

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  . 

#GIFS: SILENT BUT DEADLY WEDNESDAY: WHAT THE DICKENS TWINS? : A CLOAK AND ISABEL IS BIT!

#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY!: Amicus films, THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD   was a big hit, financially, and despite the OTT title or maybe because of, it's the one of three that seems to stay in the minds of the audience, long after, TALES FROM THE CRYPT  DR TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS  being the other two. It was with 'HOUSE' that maybe Milton first decided that, perhaps a little BLACK COMEDY would be a good thing, to introduce into the mix of the company releases. 

THE JON PERTWEE / INGRID PITT story 'THE CLOAK' was based on material, as were all four short stories that made up the film, originally written and subsequently scripted by Robert Bloch. I'll leave it to you to decide if it tickles your funny bone or not, for me it was GEOFFREY BAYLDON'S shop keeper, that certainty tickled me most. The above #GIF features Pertwee, trying out The Cloak, look carefully, and just for a few frames, he really does favor the young #TOMBAKER who was to follow him as the time-traveler, #DRWHO. Though at the time, of Pertwee's appearance in this film, he had not long taken over from Patrick Troughton . . .Cushing of course, played the non-canon Dr Who in the only theatrically released feature films, featuring the Dalek's in 1965 and 1966

MORE 'THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD' HERE!

#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY!: THIS SHORT and silent gig, should give you a teaser as to what is in store, should you decide to catch our UPLOAD at the PETER CUSHING APPRECIATION SOCIETY YOUTUBE CHANNEL THIS weekend! Cushing pulls out everything he has in playing Dr. Alexander Manette in the 1980 film adaption of Charles Dickens, 'A TALE OF TWO CITIES'. Joined by a young Alice Krige, yes she of  BORG QUEEN fame,  as Lucie Manette, his daughter. 

IT GOES UP on the PCAS YOUTUBE CHANNEL on SUNDAY, traditionally our #GETTHECUSHION! themed day. They will be no screams of terror this week, but certainly, screams and sobbing!

#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY! YUP, ISOBEL IS BIT ALRIGHT. Which is a bit of a shame too. No sooner does actress ISOBEL BLACK arrive on screen, than she is gone! In Hammer films, 'TWINS OF EVIL' (1971), her second Hammer after playing Tania 'KISS OF THE VAMPIRE' (1963), she played the rather ineffectual Ingrid Hoffer, a village school mistress and sister to the film's hero actor, David Warbeck. She sadly had little screen time. It was no doubt a weak part, where she did little but support the narrative. 

MORE ON PETER CUSHING : RARE PUBLICITY STILLS FROM HAMMER FILMS 'TWINS OF EVIL' : JUST  CLICK : HERE!

HER SUDDEN AND VERY DRAMATIC exit as a 'blood drained corpse' bundled in by Peter Cushing's Gustav Weil, during a school music lesson, is the one of the film's best scenes though. What little material Isobel had, she made the most of, but her limited time maybe connected to a conversation during the shooting, when she remarked to Director John Hough, about refusing to appear stark naked. She is known to have been told by Hough: "Well that cuts you out of my future films".

  

I WOULD HAVE LOVED to have seen Isobel play against Peter Cushing in a feature film. I think had Judy Geeson not landed the role of Peggy Heller in Hammer's FEAR IN THE NIGHT (1972), which she played superbly, Black had she been cast, would have put a completely different reflection that that role. Interestingly, Isobel did appear with Judy Geeson in director, Richard Fleischer's '10 RILLINGTON PLACE' (1971), the story of notorious mass murderer Reginald John Christie, which starred Richard Attenborough and John Hurt.

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  

#SILENTBUTDEADLY: MORE REQUESTED SILENT GIFS: WITH TALK OF FRIED EGGS STAKES AND STOLEN CASH!

#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY! FOR ANYONE READING this from the UK, why does this #GIF remind me of so many Dad's lighting fireworks on 'BONFIRE NIGHT'?! Peter Cushing here as Dr Brian Stanley, in that great little classic 'ISLAND OF TERROR' (1966). I think there are two things, apart from the terrific casting, that make this film, a cut above the other mini budget sci fi films that the UK turned out in the 60's. ONE, Terence Fisher's tight direction with Thelma Connell's editing..she did some excellent work with films like, A Dandy in Aspic in 1968, The Virgin Soldiers in 69 and Only Two Can Play with Peter Sellers in 1962. She also edited Peter's 'Dr Terror's House of Horrors' in 1965!....and TWO the deadly tentacled Silicates! 'Night of the Big Heat' the other sci fi film made after 'Island' with Fisher directing, also starred Peter Cushing, once again trapped on an island, but the cause of the disruption and the deadly heat, was a bit of a let down. When revealed, the creature resembled a fried egg, with a light  bulb inside!

I HAVE A HUNCH that Bill Robert's company, SHAWCRAFT who made many props and models for the film and movie industry, may have been behind the actual building and creation of the Silicates for 'Island of Terror'. SHAWCRAFT also made the Daleks that were featured in both of Cushing 'Doctor Who and the Dalek' films and a similar 'bog-type-monster' that was briefly seen in the Film 'Dr Who and the Daleks'. If anyone knows for sure, please let me know, it's one of those annoying bits of trivia that keeps me awake a night! This #GIF was requested by Brad Haynes UK, who says, 'I wish there had been a sequel to 'Island of Terror'. For me, as a kid, the Silicates were really frightening, I think they should have brought them back to fight another day. Maybe even turn up in a BBC Dr Who episode?' WHAT DO YOU THINK?

#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY! AN INTERESTING CROSS-OVER here in this #GIF requested by Tilly The Cat Lover of Texas! It's not just vampires that get staked in Hammer films, and if Peter Cushing is in the scene, one would expect, he would be doing the staking! It's Peter Woodthorpe as the evil hypnotist, Zolton, who get the pointy end of this interesting plot device in Hammer films, 'The Evil of Frankenstein' (1964).

PETER WOODTHORPE'S slimy and grimy double dealing, crook angers Kiwi Kingston's brutish 'monster' one time too many, and his hypo-control of Frankenstein's creation, for once fails him, with horrible results. Peter Cushing almost looks annoyed that he missed out on the deed! 'The Evil of Frankenstein' turned many of the 'Hammer-Frankenstein' conventions on their heads, making a less predictable story, that borrowed much from the earlier, Universal Frankenstein films. Cushing's Baron, just for once, seems sad and almost defeated, giving his performance a lovely melancholy air, the sets and laboratory look very impressive, but time and corporate meddling resulted in a sometimes less than convincing monster make up . . . 

#SILENTBUTDEADLY: WHOEVER AT HAMMER FILMS thought of casting Peter Cushing and Andre Morell together as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, should have been given a pay raise, because the results on screen were magic. But what resulted in them appearing again in a little dramatic, low budget thriller two years later, they should have been awarded a medal! 'Cash On Demand' produced in 1961 for the princely sum of just £37,000 (2009 estimate) has surely brought a handsome return on that investment. For many years, it turned up as a staple of Sunday afternoon tv matinees in the UK and since the arrival of home cinema and the web, it has probably shaken off it's once proud Hammer fan claim of, 'Hammer films little known masterpiece!'. 'Cash On Demand' is in some ways,  a reworking of Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol", and casts Peter Cushing as a cold, austere bank manager, a nagging petty tyrant to his staff, and Andre Morell as a cunning thief who one day turns up at the bank, and sends the prim Cushing into a tail-spin. The plot twists and turns, as Morell piles on the pressure.

MORE ON CASH ON DEMAND IN OUR FEATURE : HERE!

'CASH ON DEMAND' started life as a television play in the THEATRE 70 series, when it was titled, 'The Gold Inside'. Both actors Andre Morell and Richard Vernon reprised their roles for the big screen, director Quentin Lawrence followed too. And the casting? One would like to think that the bods at Hammer were considering the best of players for their drama, but I would think it was probably more down to chance and economics. Had Cushing and Morell's agents asked for a few quid more in their negotiations, we would have been robbed of two fine performances and a very entertaining film.

#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY' YOU WOULD think after all the story dissecting, plot analyzing and discussion that yesterday's posting of Vincent Price's Dr Browning as our #MONSTERMONDAY post prompted, I would be closer to understanding exactly what the story of 'SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN'  (1970) was all about?? Sadly no. However, what I do understand and appreciate of the film is, it certainly provides us with some top notch fight sequences, bizarre visuals ...and the slowest car chase in cinematic history! Ah well, you can't have it all. This #GIF requested by Lita Doohlan is a cracker though! Marshall Jone's Konratz gets to grips with Price's Dr Browning in the operating theatre...and even though having just the ONE HAND... don't ask.. with his super strength depleted, he still puts up an encouraging fight! 

 

IT'S ALSO WORTH REMEMBERING HERE,  it's thanks to producer Milton Subotsky's 'accounting skills, that Scream and Scream Again' does give us the opportunity to see the names of Lee, Cushing AND Price in the rolling credits, even if all three didn't get the chance to appear together on screen. One theory that Peter Cushing was cast late in the day, could well be the reason. Had the fact that Cushing was planned to join the cast, I am sure script writer Christopher Wicking would have made the most of the opportunity and wrote them in together maybe?  As it is, here is Marshall and Price wrestling for ever locked in a #GIF cycle. Nice blood drip that....!

If you LIKE what you find posted here . . Please visit us at our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE and help 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 and posts are made from both countries and
cross several time zones.