#TBT : VINTAGE PETER CUSHING FROM HOLLYWOOD CLIP

#THROWBACKTHURSDAY , Peter Cushing's role in this light sentimental drama was overlooked by audiences and critics. Here again Cushing does much with a small role. Supporting stars, Tim Holt and Virginia Gilmore. LADDIE was one of several films that Cushing appeared in during his stay in Hollywood. 

It is believed he also screen tested for a role in Gene Towne and Graham Baker's version of 'Tom Brown's School Days', It's not clear if he actually got the role, shoot hos scenes or was rejected, as he is absent from the 1940 release. During this time Cushing also appeared in 'The Man In The Iron Mask' and 'They Dare Not Love' directed by James Whale, 'Vigil In The Night' (1939) with Carole Lombard, Brian Aherne and Anne Shirley, 'The Howards of Virginia' (1940) and 'A Chump at Oxford' with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in 1939.

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WOMEN IN WAR AND CONE OF SILENCE : CUSHING IN UNIFORM

Cushing In Uniform: Peter Cushing in uniform from Women In War (1940) as Captain Evans and Cone Of Silence (1960) as Captain Clive Judd.

'WOMEN IN WAR' was released in June 1940, and stands as one of Peter Cushing's lesser known films. Made in line with four other films in 1940, 'Laddie',  'A Chump At Oxford', 'Vigil in the Night' and the short, 'The Hidden Master'. In these films, Cushing did at least receive a screen credit, in 'Women At War'... he did not. An uncredited role with fleeting screen time, playing the character Captain Hughes, he gets a couple of lines, but also in his limited screen time, flags up what could be the first of his 'Cushinisums' : 'a visual jesture, often repeated in performances through out his career. i.e '...the pointing of his index finger', appears in several films and tv performances from the 1958 DRACULA  to FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL in 1971.

Cushing pauses to wipe his brow and back of his neck with a handy handkerchief! What could be the first appearance of a Cushingnism!

'Women in War' tells the story of a "good-time girl", raised by her somewhat lax divorced father, finds herself involved in an accidental death, and the only way she's able to get out of it is to volunteer--albeit reluctantly--to be a nurse in the war effort. She travels to England and is assigned to a hospital under a very strict matron. What the girl doesn't know is that the matron is the mother she has never seen. The film is at this time unavailable as a home release.

An interesting aside... PATRIC KNOWLES who appeared with Peter Cushing in WOMEN IN WAR in 1940, is also known for playing protagonists in a number of horror films, including The Wolf Man (1941) and Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1943).

'CONE OF SILENCE / TROUBLE IN THE SKY' released in 1960 stars Peter Cushing as Captain Clive Judd. The film was inspired by true events surrounding the De Havilland Comet in the early 1950s.

The film tells the story of a seasoned pilot who is condemned for an error which causes a crash. The pilot later dies in a crash with similar circumstances and an examiner looks for scientific reasons for the crashes.

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