'THE NIGHT THEY TERRIFIED THE WHOLE COUNTRY' : BBC ORWELL'S 1984 INTERVIEWS

FROM 1960, Peter Cushing, Yvonne Mitchell, writer Nigel Kneale and director Rudolph Cartier reflect on the huge reaction to the live broadcast of the BBC Sunday Night Drama, '1984' aired 12th December 1954. For any television broadcast to prompt any reaction from the government at this time, was indeed quite rare. But watching Peter, Yvonne Mitchell and Morell here, gives a pretty good idea of THEIR fears too... To an extent it changed drama on the BBC and put Cushing into a another area of work all together, for many years to come... It's a short feature and certainly worth watching... 

REMEMBERING CARRIE FISHER PLUS THE MOMENT TARKIN HIT A TONGUE-TWISTER!

TODAY, WE ARE REMEMBERING  on her birthday the lovely Carrie Fisher a woman, who was never dull, touched all she met, was a mountain of energy and fun and yet sadly, like many of us, carried another life, that sometimes worked against her, making even the sunniest of days, dark and exhausting. Many here of course will know her connection to Peter Cushing, through the movie, STAR WARS 

WITH CUSHING playing the evil TARKIN and Carrie the vulnerable PRINCESS LEIA Tarkin, together they played a key scene, with Peter cranking up his performance, as the cruel and most Machiavellian of characters in the Star Wars universe. Carrie later shared how difficult it had been for her to find the motivation, to hate Peter's Tarkin. She too,like many before her, had been charmed and moved, by his kindness and manner on set, it was quite a task to actually say those lines. Even though she left us a wonderful library of work on screen and on the page, it's a weird feeling, knowing, she isn't around to cheer us up and make us laugh in her interviews. As a teen she was my first crush, she dazzled and shone very brightly . . on screen and in life, a real Princess! 😊 We remember Carrie today . ..

3D CUSHING PRICE AND LEE? YOU CHOOSE! REMEMBERING CAROL MARSH

OVER AT THE FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE,  we are asking everyone to choose ONE film from the careers of  Peter Cushing Vincent Price  and Christopher Lee that they would choose to be REPROCESSED for a release in 3D! There have been many, interesting answers. DO feel free to join in!

TODAY ALSO MARKS THE birthday of actress CAROL MARSH. who had quite a complicated career, that started with the highly respected movie, 'Brighton Rock' in 1948 with a young Richard Attenburough . . which landed her in her one and only role with #PeterCushing, in 'DRACULA' / 'HORROR OF DRACULA' as LUCY in 1958. Various roles in drama and comedy flicks followed, including the role of ALICE in another much loved version of ALICE IN WONDERLAND in 1949. It's for Hammer's first DRACULA though that she is most remembered...but her career was hardly a quiet one.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROL 

CAROL MARSH is one of many actresses, who worked with Peter Cushing that PCASUK has covered in its 'Cushing Femme Fatales' series of features. 'The Girl Who Fell Down The Rabbit Hole : The LIFE and CAREER of CAROL MARSH'  has rare clips, gallery images and rare photographs. It can be found HERE!

 

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY : ORIGINAL RECORDING OF PETER CUSHING 'NO WHITE PEAKS'

TODAY ON REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY:  Remembrance events will take place across the country to mark the 100th anniversary of the Armistice in 1918 that signaled the end of World War One. We mark this day with PETER CUSHING and his original recording of 'NO WHITE PEAKS'.

ABOVE: PRESS RELEASE INFORMATION used when the recording was first released in 1991.

REMEMBERING ACTOR JOHN HURT: ONE YEAR ON . . .

TODAY we remember actor, JOHN HURT. Hurts career spanned six decades. He initially came to prominence for his supporting role as Richard Rich in the film A Man for All Seasons (1966). He played leading roles as Quentin Crisp in the film The Naked Civil Servant (1975), John Merrick in David Lynch's biopic The Elephant Man (1980), Winston Smith in the dystopian drama Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984), Mr. Braddock in the Stephen Frears drama The Hit (1984), and Stephen Ward in the drama depicting the Profumo affair, Scandal (1989). He is also known for his television roles such as Caligula in I, Claudius (1976), and the War Doctor in Doctor Who. Seventy Seven seems no age to leave us these days. I think there will always be a very sizeable space, left behind now that Hurt is no longer with us...it would take a very considerable talent and skill, to even approach even the sides of that space... 😉 We Remember John Hurt today . .

John Hurt Alan Bates and Susannah York in THE SHOUT (1978) 

IT'S ONLY MY OPINION but, I have always thought, for an actor, a man with such an instantly recognisable face, Hurt did an incredible job in his characters. He wasn't really an actor who used false noses, teeth and other aids. His portrayals come form within, the heart. He truly did play from the inside out. There will always be 'The Elephant Man' and one or two others, where the addition of prosthetics were used. 

JOHN HURT  as THE WAR DOCTOR in DOCTOR WHO

BUT FOR ME, the roles that stand out, are the ones were it was, him vanishing by his skill. From very early on, in a film like The Ghoul, that face, those eyes...it's John Hurt! There after, he could be anyone, he chose. I only know one other actor today, who comes anywhere near that ability, and that is Gary Oldman . .

 JOHN HURT as KANE ALIEN (1979)

JOHN HURT as KANE from iconic scene from  ALIEN (1979) appearing in spoof SPACE BALLS (1987)

 

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   

#TOOCOOLTUESDAY: REMEMBERING ACTOR PATRICK MACNEE : TODAY

#TOOCOOLTUESDAY!: The late Patrick Macnee on how he almost lost the role of John Steed in the iconic UK television series, 'The Avengers'.  

PATRICK MACNEE, Peter Cushing and Joanna Lumley in The New Avengers episode, 'The Eagles Nest' in 1976

REMEMBERING PATRICK MACNEE who passed today in 2015. Was there ever a cooler chap? Peter Cushing worked with Macnee in Return of the Cybernauts episode of The Avengers in 1967, in 'The New Avengers' episode, 'The Eagles Nest' in 76. Peter and Macnee also appeared in 'Incense for the Damned' in 1970. School fiend of Christopher Lee and all round gentleman! Patrick Macnee 1922- 2015. A favorite with you?

Patrick Macnee and Roger Moore during the making of 'A View To A Kill' (1985)

Macnee and Christopher Lee made a fine Holmes and Watson!

Old school friends, Chrsitopher Lee and Patrick Macnee, study a school photograph during the making of  'Never Never Say Die' episode of The Avengers in 1967.

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.

A BIRTHDAY AND FOND REMEMBRANCE : MCCLURE AND FURNEAUX

#THROWBACKTHURSDAY: My name is Doug McClure... and you may now me from films like....' TODAY we celebrate the birthday of McClure, born and educated in Los Angeles, had small parts in the local film industry, starting with a submarine drama, The Enemy Below (1957) Soon, television stardom beckoned in The Overland Trail, as William Bendix's sidekick, and in a private eye series, Checkmate, and John Huston made him Burt Lancaster's younger brother in his western The Unforgiven (1960). He was a natural man of the West, enlivening The Virginian, the first television western series to have 90-minute episodes. In The Virginian, which ran from 1962 to 1970, McClure played Trampas, friend of the ranch foreman of the title, played by James Drury.

IN 1975 McClure came to Britain to star in The Land That Time Forgot, based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' 1918 science fiction novel. It was strictly double-bill fare, and he appeared in three follow-ups: At the Earth's Core (1976) with Peter Cushing as Abner Perry, The People That Time Forgot (1977) and Warlords of Atlantis (1978). 

AMICUS PRODUCTIONS did the producing duties, with co-operation on the last two from American International Pictures, temporarily deserting teenagers on motor-bikes. Fighting dinosaurs and such, McClure was energetic, especially as he looked as if he had had a heavy night. Later movie appearances included Cannonball Run II (1983) and Omega Syndrome (1986). McClure has been regularly parodied as Troy McClure, an ageing star of the 1950s, in the television series The Simpsons. David Shipman Doug McClure, actor: born Glendale, California 11 May 1934; married three times; died Los Angeles 5 February 1995. Remembered and Missed.....

THROWBACKTHURSDAY: YVONNE FURNEAUX, was born today 11th May 1928. 'VERY mixed and elective' is probably the best qualificative that defines the career of Yvonne Furneaux, even though she always gave believable and  superb performances, her name and magical presence on screen, has sadly never earned her a more memorable place in the public memory.

YVONNE was born in Roubaix, in the North of France in 1928. She was immediately placed under the sign of bilingualism, her father being English and her mother French. As a result, once this alluring brunette had become an actress, she could as easily play in an English or a French film, which did not prevent her from being a regular in Italy and in West Germany, with a foray into Spain.

YVONNE FURNEAUX AND JOHN ERICSON IN 'SLAVE QUEEN OF BABYLON' (1963)

FURNEAUX has appeared in films noirs.... (Enough Rope (1963), The Champagne Murders (1967), sword & sandal movies (Slave Queen of Babylon (1963), The Lion of Thebes (1964) comedies (Temptation in the Summer Wind (1972) to chillers (Repulsion (1965)). The quality of her films, ranging from bombs (Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie (1984), mediocre run-of-the mill products (The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse (1964) . . . and has sadly always read as an actor, who in every sense of the word was 'a working actor, an actor for hire.....but a very adaptable one! We celebrate here today for her connection to Peter Cushing as the beautiful Isobel Banning / Princess Ananka, in Hammer films, 'THE MUMMY (1959). 

FURNEAUX is an actress who because of her eclectic body of work, is so often over-looked. From La Dolce Vita (1960) to Helen in 'Repulsion' (1965) to Princess Ananka in 'The Mummy'......Without a doubt, Yvonne Furneaux's work deserves to be remembered in our hearts as well as our heads.... Born Elisabeth Yvonne Scarcherd 11th May 1928. Happy Birthday Yvonne Furneaux!

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 our 30K following total for Peter Cushing BIRTHDAY on MAY 26th 2017 AND Help Keep The Memory Alive!

HAZEL COURT REMEMBERED ON HER BIRTHDAY : AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY DETAILS

Today we remember the lovely Hazel Court who was born on this day, during her career she worked with several horror legends, Vincent Price in The Masque Of The Red Death (1964) , Boris Karloff and Vincent Price again in The Raven (1963) , Christopher Lee in Hammer's The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959) and of course with Peter Cushing in The Curse Of Frankenstein (1957) … What are some of your favourite performances of Hazel's?

 

 

ORDER YOUR COPY DIRECT FROM TOMAHAWK: HERE 

Her book 'Hazel Court- Horror Queen: An Autobiography' is a good read, not too deep or detailed, but with some very nice images through out. It took a while for this one to come round, health and time... also one image, that really put that cat among the pigeons..caused a certain amount of bad feeling, that made Court not so happy to explore the exposure of conventions and book promoting. In the Hammer films, The Man Who Could Cheat Death..a film that Cushing was originally slated to appear in... a shot of Court was filmed, topless...for inclusion in the famous, 'continental print'.. I am not sure of the history, if that shot ever was included in those prints, I am pretty sure it wasn't. There is a story that the footage was destroyed at the editing room, BUT a few frames were given to Court, as a memento.

 QUICK LINK: HAZEL COURT : WOMEN IN GOTHIC 
AND OTHER ACTRESSES IN OUR SERIES

Years later, some how one of these frames turns up in a certain fanzine... fill in the name here yourselves.... printed without consent from Court. She was furious. It wasn't the first time that this periodical had compromised individuals....in an interview with this magazine, a key player in the Star Wars saga had 'off the record' referred to another key players, 'silly facial hair', which as these things tend to, got back to that individual. They were not happy. Also the using of Roy Skeggs Hammer Films Ltd headed note paper as the header and title of a reworked version of the magazine, went down badly... but such is the world of fanzines, when you are trying to stand out from the crowd, give scoops and compete with others, in what was back then a crowded market, of good to very good fanzines, all competing and trying to make a name. But, eventually Court did come back to the frame, sadly...I think I am right in saying that the book was released posthumously, Court sadly leaving us in 2008, just months before the book was finally released...

IT'S OUR 60TH ANNIVERSARY PCAS 1956 -2016!

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