REMEMBERING ACTOR HERBERT LOM : CLOUSEAU : PHANTOM AND MUCH MORE

TODAY WE REMEMBER Herbert Lom a Czech-born British film and television actor who moved to the United Kingdom in 1939. In a career lasting more than 60 years, he appeared in character roles, often portraying criminals or villains early in his career and professional men in later years.Some of his best known roles are Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in 'Pink Panther' films & as Dr Roger Corderthe in the ITV TV series 'The Human Jungle' . ..

LOM STARRED with Peter Cushing in two films for Amicus, 'Asylum' (1972) and 'And Now The Screaming Starts' (1973). Other notable horror films include 'The Phantom of The Opera' (1962) for Hammer films, 'Murders in the Rue Morgue' (1971) , 'The Dead Zone' (1983) also 'Dark Places' (1972) & 'Count Dracula' (1970) both Christopher Lee... 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BERNARD CRIBBINS!

IT'S A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to BERNARD CRIBBINS TODAY! Born in 1928, Cribbins started his acting career at the tender age of 14! An actor since the age of 14 and was a major star on the London stage by his mid-20s. It would be another ten years before he became a national star with  success in film comedies, with likes of Peter Sellers and a string of hit records, the most popular probably being, 'A Hole In The Ground' and 'Right Said Fred'. He appeared in several of the "Carry On" series, and also achieved a great degree of success doing voice-overs for cartoons and TV commercials. One of his biggest successes being the 1970's children's animated puppet series, 'The Wombles'.

CRIBBINS was interviewed for the role of DOCTOR WHO in 1974, as the BBC prepared for Jon Pertwee, leaving the role. 'I didn't actually audition. But when Jon Pertwee was leaving, the producer Barry Letts - who died quite recently - interviewed a lot of actors, one of whom was me. I went along and sat down and he said 'now then what can you do?' I said 'I'm a very good swimmer, I was a paratrooper, I could fight' - and he said 'Oh no, no fighting no, the Doctor is never seen fighting at all!' So Tom Baker became the next Doctor, and one of the first things I remember him doing was knocking somebody out.'

BERNARD CRIBBINS also appeared in many tv drama programes as a guest star throughout the 1960's and 70's including the popular 'The Avengers' in TWO episodes. 'The Girl From Auntie' and the weird, 'Look, Stop Me If You've Heard This One, But There Are These Two Fella's'! Of all his movie roles, Cribbins has a fondness for 'The Railway Children' directed by Lionel Jeffries in 1970, where he played Albert Perks. Cribbins has a longstanding association with the science-fiction series Doctor Who (1963). Not only did he play a companion in the second Peter Cushing film, 'Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.' (1966), which was 40 years before his regular role as a companion, Wilfred Mott, in the Russell T. Davies version of Doctor Who (2005).

CRIBBINS also appeared with Peter Cushing in the Hammer films, 'SHE' in (1965). Peter also appeared as a guest on his  BBC light Entertainment show, 'CRIBBINS' in the 60's!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BERNARD! 

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

REMEMBERING VAL GUEST TODAY BORN DECEMBER 1911

HONORING the director Val Guest on today (what would have been his 101st birthday) is a pretty tough thing to do. After all, this is the man who gave us Hammer Horror, without the smash success of The Quatermass Xperiment and its sequels and follows up, we wouldn’t have had The Curse of Frankenstein and the gothic boom that followed. It’s a well-known fact that Quatermass creator Nigel Kneale had his differences with Guest in terms of his interpretations of the story, but the film itself is a masterpiece of British Sci-Fi Horror and perfectly captures a bleak post-war world. During my time at university I wrote a dissertation covering the post-war themes within the Quatermass television series and films and spent a great deal of time defending Guests adaptation. His Quatermass’s strength lies in its difference to the TV version, non-more explicit than it it’s titular hero…or in Guest’s eyes Villain. In his vision, Quatermass becomes an inhuman monster, representing the dangers of science. The world he inhabits is shown to the audience in an almost ‘documentary’ style, infusing it with a gritty realism. The next-two sci-fi horror films Guest did for Hammer, Quatermass II and The Abominable Snowman, were also adapted from Kneale screenplays and have a disturbing realism to them.

QUATERMASS II is, at least in my humble opinion, a massive improvement on its television predecessor, exorcising a somewhat frivolous space-journey at its climax that only served to undo all the tension built up to this point. With a somewhat softer Donlevy and several shocking and disturbing moments (‘they blocked the pipe with human pulp!’) it’s another classic. One of his best and easily my favourite of his science fiction films is his memorable collaboration with Peter Cushing, The Abominable Snowman. Adapted from Nigel Kneale’s The Creature, it’s a mesmerising exercise in a slow building sense of claustrophobic tension. All the more admirable considering the films set in vast snowy plains. Guest gets the best out of his performers and by keeping the Yeti mostly off screen, they become a genuinely frightening presence.

PETER CUSHING'S CO-STAR, EDWARD JUDD FROM ''ISLAND OF TERROR'' STARS IN 'THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE' GREAT GALLERY AND REVIEW:  HERE!

IT SEEMS unfair to just discuss these films though when Guest had a rich and varied career within the British film industry. Of course his most famous film is probably, 'The Day the Earth Caught Fire', another science-fiction film that adopts the same documentary eye as his previous works and tells the story of what happens when the earth begins to overheat. He was one of the directors on the masterpiece of mess that is the 1967 version of 'Casino Royale', and this was by no means his first stab at comedy either, having director both Up the Creek and Further up the Creek. Two of his best however were once again for Hammer, both war pictures and films that manage to be almost the opposite of each other. 

PETER SELLLERS WITH CUSHING'S 'SHE' CO STAR, URSULA ANDRESS, IN VAL GUEST'S 'CASINO ROYALE' (1967) Peter Sellers Facebook Scrapbook page: HERE

BARBARA SHELLEY IN VAL GUEST'S 'THE CAMP ON BLOOD ISLAND' (1958)

'THE CAMP ON BLOOD ISLAND' is a brutal tale of the horrors of a Japanese prisoner of war camp that caused quite a stir on its release in 1958. The following year came Yesterday’s Enemy, a film which Val Guest often said he was most proud. Based on a BBC teleplay it’s still a criminally unknown film, which is a shame as it’s a masterpiece. Featuring stunning performances from Stanley Baker, Guy Rolfe, Leo Mckern and Gordon Jackson, the film features no incidental music for the entirety of its run time. A relentlessly depressing film, it shows the horrors of war as they are and doesn’t shy away from condemning both the British and their enemies. In my opinion it’s Guest’s best and film that, if you have yet to see it, deserves your attention

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  . 

#CHRISTOPHERLEESATURDAYS! SCARS OF DRACULA : KLOVE VS KLOVE AND DRACULA IS LOOSE ON THE SHIP!

#CHRISTOPHERLEESATURDAY!' A requested post with TWO questions from Tony Price for today's #ChrstopherLeestaurday... ' Do you think Dennis Waterman was miscast in Lee's 'Scars of Dracula?' AND Did Patrick Troughton make a better odd-job man, KLOVE in Hammer's 'Scars of Dracula?' Tell us what you think!

#CHRISTOPHERLEESATURDAYS! A clip that is getting a huge response over at our Peter Cushing Appreciation Society Facebook Fan Page I'm a huge fan of the work of Peter Sellers and The Magic Christian, is certainly one of his strangest films, but what a bonus that it also features this fellow in a guest appearance . .chaotic, confusing, wacky... and yes, MAGIC!

ANOTHER ISSUE OF THE PROFESSOR IS ON ITS WAY! It will arrive between late September and early October and according to the team.. 'It will be wonderful!' So BRACE yourself!  #Lovetheprofessor #Comics #Theprofessor Lo state aspettando vero! Arriverà tra fine settembre e primi di ottobre e sarà stupendo! Siete pronti??? #LoveTheProfessor #comics #theprofessor

#CHRISTOPHERLEESATURDAYS! Majestic, cool and deadly . . .Christopher Lee as Count Dracula in #Hammerfilms Dracula AD 1972, owned every scene in which he appeared . . . Peter Cushing appeared as Vampire hunters, Lawrence and Lorrimer Van Helsing. It makes one wonder why it took 14 years to repeat the casting and chemistry of both Lee and Cushing in the roles that made such an impact with huge box office success in Hammer films, Dracula / Horror of Dracula back in 1958.

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.