CLEGG HERO OR MONSTER : MONSTERMONDAY

#MONSTERMONDAY: Peter Cushing's Captain Clegg aka Rev. Dr. Blyss comes from the much loved Dr Syn pirate adventure books written by Russell Thorndyke.... Much has been shared here about the alternative titles used during the release of this Hammer film, 'Night Creatures (US) Captain Clegg (US) and the copyright problems with the name of Syn and the bad timing of being produced the SAME TIME as Disney's Dr Syn The Scarecrow feature film! ...Want to know more about that... you'll find extensively illustrated features starting  HERE at this website!

WAS BLYSS a good man, robbing from the Tax Collectors and Exercise Menand giving to the poor of his parish..OR was his treatment of Milton Reid's character... cutting out his tongue and banishing him to an island, a bit on the rough side of justice??? He WAS a pirate. He did fight and kill....the stories of his fights were legendary in the books.. he was a man to be feared! This still stands as one of the Cushing films that is least seen by most people here. If you haven't caught this one, now is the time... in the tradition of Robin Hood and Errol Flynn Peter LOVED playing this role and even spent time writing a sequel to this Hammer classic! So, Clegg...Villain, Monster and a Slayer on the High Seas....or a Hero? YOU decide!

TRIVIA: Above is the face well known of a quite well known British character actor who appeared in Captain Clegg / Night Creatures and at least TWO films with Peter Cushing... but can you name him and the title of the ONE television show he also appeared in with Cushing? ANSWER later....

#HAMMER FILMS: CAPTAIN CLEGG / NIGHT CREATURES YOURS TO WIN! TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE!

THIS SUNDAY 15th JUNE 2014! Can YOU take the test, and WIN? We have a PAIR of Final Cut Entertainment Blu Rays to give away this weekend!

TWO COMPETITIONS THIS WEEKEND AT PCASUK : DRACULA BLU RAYS, DRACULA SCRIPT AND CAPTAIN CLEGG BLU RAYS TO BE WON

Hello Everyone! Hope you've had a good week. It's Friday! #frankensteinfriday in fact! Couple of images then coming up for you later. Quite a crammed weekend over the next two days, ANOTHER competition 'So You think You Know Captain Clegg?, a chance to grab TWO COPIES of #finalcutentertainment's excellent blu ray release (on sale now out on 23rd June) There's still two days left to enter our 'So You Think You Know Dracula?' competition. (That wraps this weeknd Sunday 15th June) Plus we have some splendid stills for you tomorrow during our #onthesetsaturday posts... Plus all the usual stuff AND it's all World Cup Football free!!! Bargain!

https://www.facebook.com/petercushingblog

FINAL CUT ENTERTAINMENT: CAPTAIN CLEGG NIGHT CREATURES BLU REVIEW

#hammerfilms 'CAPTAIN CLEGG' ' 'NIGHT CREATURES' blu ray starring Peter Cushing is due for street release on Monday 23rd Jun 2014. NEXT WEEK we'll be posting a full review of the blu ray and it's extras... PLUS you can WIN yourself some copies too

BEHIND THE SCENES: SYDNEY BROMLEY OLD TOM KETCH : NIGHT CREATURES CAPATIN CLEGG (1962)

Peter Cushing as Captain Clegg / Dr Blyss in Night Creatures / Captain Clegg (1962)...and two behind the scenes shots featuring actor Sydney Bromley, who you may remember playing terrified Old Tom Ketch in the film. Bromley had to fall backwards into a frog filled pond behind him, and land on a sunken mattress. Well, poor old Bromley missed the mattress, and hurt his back. The image on the right shows director Peter Graham Scott, giving him a helping hand out of the bog!

CAPTAIN CLEGG : PIRATES, SMUGGLING AND MARSH PHANTOMS: SOON ON BLU RAY.

A small English village is beset by a horde of "phantoms" on horseback and it's up to the intrepid Captain Collier (Patrick Allen) to get to the bottom of things...

Author Russell Thorndyke hit paydirt in 1915 with the release of his book Dr. Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh.  The book proved to be so successful that he was able to revisit the character for further installments in the mid 1930s.  The story caught the attention of British filmmakers in 1937, when it was first adapted to the cinema as Dr. Syn.  The legendary stage and screen thespian George Arliss played the lead role(s): the mild-mannered parson Dr. Syn who is really just a front for his true, bloodthirsty persona of the smuggler, Captain Clegg.



The film was directed by the gifted Irish-born filmmaker Roy William Neill, who found success in Hollywood directing the superior Boris Karloff vehicle The Black Room (1935) before becoming identified with the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series of Sherlock Holmes sequels at Universal.

When Hammer decided to take a stab at the property in the early 1960s, they did so without realizing that filmmaking giant Walt Disney had already optioned the Thorndike property for a film of his own.  Hammer eventually got wind of this, however, and decided to change the name of the central character in  order to avoid any possible legal woes.  And so it came to be that Captain Clegg (as it was known in the UK; the film would be released in America as Night Creatures) went before the cameras, in slightly revised form. The film would beat the Disney version to the punch by one year and for many, it remains the superior film.

 

The Disney production had a top notch cast, headed by the great Patrick McGoohan (just a year from his turn as TV's Secret Agent, and several from his most iconic role as The Prisoner), but felt a bit watered down and too mild for its own good.  The Hammer version may have lacked the studio's traditional emphasis on bodice-ripping and Kensington gore, but it made up for it with oodles of atmosphere.

The film is inevitably dominated by the presence of Hammer's top star of the time, Peter Cushing.  Cushing approached the role of Dr. Blyss (as he had been renamed) with tremendous enthusiasm. Indeed, he was so pleased with his work on the film that he yearned to make a sequel of his own.  He even took it upon himself to pen a script outline, but it never went beyond that.  Captain Clegg thus presented him with his only opportunity to play the challenging dual role and he certainly made the most of every opportunity.  Cushing's studious and kindly persona is well suited to the outwardly meek character of Blyss but, true to form, he is able to switch off the charm at a moment's notice and play it properly ruthless when he lets his mask down and reveals his true nature as Captain Clegg.  Cushing's dedication extended to participating in some potentially dangerous stunt scenes, whether it be grappling with monolithic Milton Reid or indulging in some bouts of Douglas Fairbanks-esque derring-do.

In addition to Cushing, the film is graced with an outstanding supporting cast.  The delightful Patrick Allen is, well, a delight as the rather thick-headed but brave Captain Collier.  Allen's latern-jawed good looks and imposing frame make him an ideal adversary to Cushing's wily anti-hero and the two actors play off each other beautifully.  The scene wherein Collier tries to get the upper hand on Blyss but is too dim witted to be able to follow it through to its logical conclusion is a master class in acting, with Cushing subtly conveying a condescending air of contempt while Allen bluffs and blusters without realizing just how right he really is.

Oliver Reed is cast in the somewhat less rewarding role of Harry, the young juvenile.  Reed's magnetic screen presence helps to bring the character to life, but it's a wet towel of a role and there's only so much he can do with it.  Hammer fans will no doubt get a kick out of seeing him performing some love scenes with the statuesque Yvonne Romain, however, given that the previous year the two had played - get this - mother and son in Curse of the Werewolf!  Romain is adequate in her role, but the real meat is to be found in the character roles played so beautifully by the likes of Jack MacGowran (in his only Hammer horror), Derek Francis, Martin Benson and, most notably, Michael Ripper.

Ripper had played his fair share of grave robbers, village drunks and inn keepers for Hammer - he'd even been uncomfortably cast as a Japanese officer in Camp on Blood Island!  Few of these roles gave Ripper a great deal of screen time, but that changed with his appearance in this film as Mr. Mipps.  Mipps is Clegg's right hand man, a loyal and faithful retainer who is willing to lay down his life to protect his master.  Ripper is heartbreaking in the role, which gives him far more to do than any of his other roles for Hammer, barring his juicy parts in John Gilling's The Reptile and The Mummy's Shroud

The film is very well directed by the late Peter Graham Scott, who made his one and only film for Hammer here - fortunately for the fans, it's a good one.  Scott paces the action very well, ensuring that it seldom gets bogged down in overly padded dialogue scenes, and working in tandem with director of photography Arthur Grant, he creates some stunning images of the so-called phantoms (in reality, disguised smugglers) riding through the swamps at night.

It's a brisk and entertaining film, milder than the norm for Hammer, but still well worth seeing. Cushing and Ripper fans will find it to be essential, in particular.

Review: Troy Howarth
Images & Artwork: Marcus Brooks