#THROWBACKTHURSDAY!Next time you sit down and watch your favourite early Peter Cushing
Hammer film, and marvel at the beautiful gothic atmosphere, the rich
colours, the frightening shadows... that 'Hammer Look and Style',
remember this man, ace cinematographer Jack Asher BSC, a true magician!
He did indeed paint with light! Best known for his work with Hammer,
The Curse of Frankenstein, The Brides of Dracula, Hound of the Baskervilles, Dracula / Horror
of Dracula, The Mummy and The Revenge of Frankenstein. Jack was born in
London, on this very day in 1916. A REAL craftsman, who applied his
skills along with Terence Fisher and the Hammer team, and gave us these
rare feasts which live on, OUT SHINING many films and features today! Jack left us in April
1991, aged 74. Happy Birthday Jack!
ANOTHER OF JACK ASHER'S GREATEST: THE BRIDES OF DRACULA and below, another excellent documentary from DONALD FEARNEY on the making of this Peter Cushing and Hammer film classic . .
ABOVE: NEW SERIES STARTING FOR #CHRISTOPHERLEE SATURDAYS,
#TOOCOOLTUESDAY!
It's THAT time again. You know the rules by now. ONLY send your answers
using the MESSAGE button, no entries on the thread below. Many Many
thanks to Indicator and GOOD LUCK to everyone, this BOX SET is a
smasher! GOOD LUCK!
Release date: 19 February 2018 Limited Blu-ray Edition (World premieres on Blu-ray)
HAMMER VOLUME TWO: CRIMINAL INTENT
: THE SNORKEL (Guy Green, 1958)
NEVER TAKE SWEETS FROM A STRANGER (Cyril Frankel, 1960) : THE FULL TREATMENT (Val Guest, 1960)
: CASH ON DEMAND (Quentin Lawrence, 1961)
Release date: 19 February 2018
Limited Blu-ray Edition (World premieres on Blu-ray)
Four classic thrillers from the vaults of Hammer Films released on
Blu-ray for the very first time, including premiere presentations of the
complete, uncensored UK theatrical release versions of Val Guest’s The Full Treatment and Cyril Frankel’s Never Take Sweets from a Stranger
and a host of new and exclusive extra features. This stunning Limited
Blu-ray Edition Box Set from Indicator is strictly limited to 6,000
numbered units.
INDICATOR LIMITED BLU-RAY EDITION SPECIAL FEATURES:
• HD restorations of all four films
• Original Mono audio
• New title-specific documentaries exploring aspects of each film
• Audio commentary with film historian Michael Brooke and author Johnny Mains on The Snorkel •The Snorkel original script ending: reconstruction of the finale of Jimmy's Sangster's screenplay
• Two presentations of Never Take Sweets from a Stranger: with the original UK titles; and with the alternative US Never Take Candy from a Stranger titles
•Never Take Sweets from a Stranger introduction by actor and filmmaker Matthew Holness
• Two presentations of The Full Treatment: the uncensored UK theatrical cut; and the censored US version with alternative Stop Me Before I Kill! titles
• Audio commentary with film historians Jonathan Rigby and David Miller on Cash on Demand • New and exclusive interviews with cast and crew members, including actors Janina Faye (Never Take Sweets from a Stranger) and Lois Daine (Cash on Demand), props master Peter Allchorne (The Snorkel) and second assistant director Hugh Harlow (The Snorkel)
• Appreciations of composers Elisabeth Lutyens (Never Take Sweets from a Stranger) and Francis Chagrin (The Snorkel) by David Huckvale, author of Hammer Film Scores and the Musical Avant-Garde •Hammer’s Women: Betta St John (2018): Diabolique magazine’s editor-in-chief Kat Ellinger offers an appreciation of the American actress, singer and dancer
• Hammer’s Women: Gwen Watford (2018): British cinema expert
Dr Laura Mayne explores the life and career of the prolific English
film, stage and television actress
•Hammer’s Women: Diane Cilento (2018): Dr Melanie Williams, author of Female Stars of British Cinema, explores the life and career of the Australian theatre and film actress and author
•Hammer’s Women: Lois Daine (2018): critic and author Becky Booth on the popular English film and television actress
• Archival documentaries, interviews and featurettes
• Original trailers
• Image galleries: extensive promotional and on-set photography, poster art and marketing materials
• Exclusive booklets for each film, with new essays by Kat Ellinger,
Julian Upton and Kim Newman, archival interview materials, contemporary
reviews, and full film credits
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• World Blu-ray premieres of all four films
• Limited Edition Box Set of 6,000 numbered copies.
TODAY
WE REMEMBER Robert Quarry, a great actor best known for his roles in a
number of horror films in the 70’s such as 'Count Yorga Vampire' (1970)
and its sequel 'The Return Of Count Yorga' (1971) , 'Dr. Philbes Rises
Again' (1973) and 'Madhouse' (1974) with Peter Cushing and Vincent Price
. . Quarry was also featured in guest spots on such TV shows as "Studio
57," "The Lone Ranger," "Hallmark Hall
of Fame," "Mike Hammer," "The Fugitive," "Perry Mason," "Ironside,"
"Cannon," "The Rockford Files," and "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century."
OUTSIDE OF HIS WORK in movies and television, Robert also had a highly
distinguished stage career. Quarry acted in Broadway productions of "As
You Like It," "The Taming of the Shrew," "Richard III," and "Gramercy
Ghost." He acted alongside Cloris Leachman in "Design for Living" at the
Stage Society in Los Angeles and in 1966 went on tour with a traveling
roadshow production of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?".
HE REGULARLY studied his craft at the Actors Lab in Hollywood. Blessed with an IQ of
168, Quarry was a Life master at bridge. In addition, Robert studied
cooking at the Cardon Bleu School in Manhattan and was the author of the
best-selling cookbook "Wonderfully Simple Recipes for Simply Wonderful
Food." Robert Quarry died at age 83 on February 20, 2009 in Woodland
Hills, California.
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
#FRANKENSTEINFRIDAY:
The CALIFORNIA movie house opens with Hammer's 'The Curse of
Frankenstein' starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in June 1957 . .
. supporting is Dean Jagger in X the Unknown . . I LOVE the marquees
of old cinema's. That's style.
#FRANKENSTEINFRIDAY: A cutting from the release of 'The Curse of Frankenstein', starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee... and a fine example of the 'weird and wonderful' approach to the publicity pushing the release of the film in the US.
MONDAY here at PCAS means one thing... #monstermonday,
our weekly spot where we celebrate the scary, sinister and down right
terrifying Monsters and all things that creep, that have been featured
in Peter Cushing's film and tv work.. TODAY here on the website and at our facebook page, we take a close look...not
TOO close, at those fanged kung fu frighteners from Peter Cushing's 'The
Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires'.
One of the great things about Cushing's 'THE LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES' is the 'double-monster' value. Not only do you get the Seven
Deadly Kung Fu Vampires but also, The Zombies!
At first sight, the
hoping bobbing skipping undead seem a very strange sight.. it's only
after you see them on mass, doing their odd bob...like all things
asian-horror, it starts to look more than a little slightly warped and
psycho-twisted. A great idea, an interesting angle on Vampires, Dracula
AND Kung Fu...and Peter Cushing as the all fighting, fearless, Van Helsing vampire hunter!
Here Hammer's Kung Fu Undead echo another famous 'zombie scene' from ten
years before in 'THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES'. Again, the dead are awake and
walking...this time in China and Van Helsing and Dracula are along for
the ride too!
After his somewhat more mellow mood in both The
Evil of Frankenstein and Frankenstein Created Woman, the Baron's personality
darkened considerably in Fisher's Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969). Perhaps frustrated by his continued failed experiments, Frankenstein has never been more ruthless than in this film. Another fine cast was assembled, including Peter Cushing, Freddie Jones, George Pravda and Simon Ward, but who would be the mistresses of Frankenstein in this episode?
First and foremost was Veronica Carlson, who had
just been bitten by Christopher Lee in Dracula Has Risen From the Grave (1968)
and was being touted as 'Hammer's new star discovery.' Aged twenty-four at
the time, Carlson had been 'discovered' by Sir James Carreras after a revealing
photo shoot for the Sun newspaper.
The statuesque blonde actress had
been born in Yorkshire as Veronica Mary Glazer and had spent part of her
childhood in Germany, where her father was stationed with the British Army. She
later attended Thetford Girls' School
and High Wycome College of Technology and Design, where she studied art
and acted in several theatrical productions.
Prior to being spotted by
Carreras, Carlson had appeared in the Morecombe and Wise comedy The
Magnificent Two (1967) and a movie ironically titled Hammerhead (1968). An episode of The Saint' with Roger Moore in 68 also 'Crossplot' a film, again with Roger Moore also produced in 1969.
As Anna, the keeper of a boarding house
where Frankenstein decides to hide out and perform his experiments, Carlson has
never been better. One of the best scenes in the film - indeed, in any
Frankenstein film - features Anna having to haul a body out of a makeshift
grave in a flower garden after a water main has burst. Under Fisher's masterful
direction, the scene is as tense as anything in a Hitchcock film, and Anna ends
up completely drenched, but successful in transferring the corpse to another
hiding place so the police can't find it. It's an extraordinary scene and
Carlson is exceptional in it.
The most controversial element of Frankenstein
Must Be Destroyed is the inclusion of the infamous rape scene, in which the
Baron, overcome by lust, attacks Anna in her bedroom. Included as an
afterthought three days before the end of production and apparently demanded by
James Carreras by way of Warner Bros, the scene was ultimately cut in the US -
by Warner Bros, who had ordered it in the first place!
In her foreword to my book The Hammer
Frankenstein, Carlson recalled the incident thusly: 'We were setting the
scenes for the morning shoot on Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed when
James Carreras made a sudden, dramatic, noisy appearance. High above his head
he was brandishing sheets of paper. He snapped angrily, 'I've just been told
there's not enough sex in this picture - so here's the new scene that's just
been written!' He thrust the papers at Terry, who said simply, 'But we've set
the scene of the film - the mood - we've nearly finished shooting!' To no avail. Terry looked
through the sheets of paper whilst James Carreras made as sudden and loud a
departure as his entrance had been.
'Terry glanced round at us all, looking
straight at Peter and myself, then threw the papers into the air and abruptly
walked away, leaving the offending scene fluttering, then settling in disarray
upon the floor.
'We resolved to shoot that scene, as fans of
Hammer know. But I've always felt that it undermined the essence of just what
defined "Frankenstein." He was by definition the essence of a truly
asexual man, driven single-mindedly in his torment to form an animate creature
- especially Man.'
With all due respect to Veronica, whom I've been
fortunate enough to call a friend for over 25 years, there was certainly
nothing asexual about Frankenstein in The Curse of Frankenstein. He may
have ignored his beautiful fiancee, but he had impregnated his maid. The rape
scene in Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed is not really out of character. Hammer's
Baron had been a murderer (and something of a lecher) from the very first film.
Now he was a rapist as well. It really wasn't that much of a leap.
The Baron has never been more of a misogynist
than he is in Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed. From the time he first
meets her, he treats Anna like chattel. When her boyfriend Karl (Ward) pleads
to Frankenstein, 'You don't need Anna,' the Baron sniffs, 'I need her to make coffee!'
In that context, the rape scene can be seen to make sense as the logical outcome
of a master/slave relationship. During the history of the series, Frankenstein
has had only one 'normal' relationship with a woman - the one with Justine. But
with the maid murdered by his Creature - and by proxy, by Frankenstein himself
- the Baron's sex drive has been suppressed in favour of his experiments,
making him not only increasingly deranged, but more dangerous and unpredictable
as well.
Warner Brothers 'Horror Classics Volume One' Blu Ray Box Set is
