DO YOU REMEMBER PATRICK TROUGHTON IN CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN?

MOST OF US are aware of Peter Cushing's first #FRANKENSTEIN film for Hammer films, 'The Curse Of Frankenstein', that it was made at Bray studios,  directed by Terence Fisher and rocketed Peter Cushing into 'Spooky Stardom' and opened a door to one, Christopher Lee who in a matter of months, would also be tripping the 'Spooky Light Fantastic', with his performance as Count Dracula, in Hammer films 'Dracula / Horror of Dracula' the following year in 1958. We are maybe also familiar with the supporting cast, the aforementioned Cushing as Baron Victor Frankenstein, Lee as the Creature, Robert Urquhart as the Baron's long time friend and assistant, Paul Krempe, Hazel Court as Victor's cousin and fiancée Elizabeth, Valerie Gaunt played the Baron's lover Justine, Melvyn Hayes played a young Victor Frankenstein and finally, Court's own daughter, Sally Walsh played the young Elizabeth. There is also a smattering of very good, UNCREDITED players.

A CLOSER LOOK AT MUCH of the early publicity material, press stills swatches and a copy of the ultra rare British press-book, reveals ANOTHER more surprising name, in the supporting cast, that seems to have bypassed many fans . . . .

ACTOR PATRICK TROUGHTON, he of most impressive acting career ( Doctor Who, The Omen and.. The Black Knight (1954), and...Olivier's 1948 Hamlet, which also starred Peter Cushing as Osric... Troughton appeared in quite a few TV dramas with Cushing too.) was also cast in The Curse Of Frankenstein. But I KNOW what you are thinking, you don't remember seeing him in the film? Don't get it? Stay with me . . . .

FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH, here is our theory, to what may have happened here. Sometime during the editing or the shoot, during that freezing cold November of 1956, it was decided that either, Mr T's footage had a problem, he was double booking at the Charnel House that day, or director Terence Fisher had a hunch, an epiphany and recast a different actor for the role of Kurt, the Charnel House Keeper. Yes, this role even though the actor's face isn't ACTUALLY SEEN, also had a name. How do we know this? BECAUSE it's in the PRESS BOOK, with Patrick Troughton's name along side it! I guess, no one thought to tell the Pres department, that Troughton was no longer in the show?! As it played out, everything came good for Troughton, in a few short years he would land the prize role of television's favorite doctor,  DR WHO when William Hartnell would sadly leave the role. But, WHO IS Kurt, if not Patrick Troughton?....Still with me?

ABOVE: THAT SCENE IN GIF FORM!

STAND UP AND TAKE A BOW JOSEF BEHRMANN! We have a hunch it is Behrmann who can be seen in this scene and was cast replacing Troughton. Those HANDS! Josef Behrmann was born on June 25, 1925 in Ventspils, Latvia. Behrman started his career as a jobbing actor in the early 50's . . having lived and survived through an incredible journey of survival during and immediately after the second World War in Latvia. Between 1941 and 1945 he passed through 14 concentration and work camps, including the infamous Buchenwald, surviving them all by astonishing luck, yet remaining scarred for life by what he had seen.... Read his story here. In an acting career, which also give him many theatre opportunities, under the name of Joscik Barbarossa, he also appeared in over 100 films, The Naked Runner with Frank Sinatra and Edward Fox (subsequently to be a great friend), The Ipcress File with Michael Caine, Gene Wilder's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Smarter Brother, 1984 with Richard Burton and Carve Her Name with Pride with Virginia McKenna – in which he played a brutal SS officer. Later he was an advisor for The Odessa File and Schindler’s List.

I SOMEHOW FEEL, this isn't going to end here... but for whatever the reasons were behind the casting in 'Curse', Patrick Troughton's loss was Josef Behrmann's and our gain! And isn't strange how sometimes, stories like these have neat endings?? Speed forward seventeen years later, where Terence Fisher and Peter Cushing are now marking the end of the Hammer Frankenstein cycle with the production of Hammer films, 'FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL' ...and who should be playing the grave robber, helping a young SHANE BRIANT, to find specimens? Not from the Charnel House this time though, but 'Body Snatcher', from the local spooky cemetery.... it's Patrick Troughton! I wonder if Fisher remembered Troughton, when he was bringing together some of the best of British character actors for this, his last Hammer Frankenstein film with Peter Cushing!  And yes, the press-book did contain Troughton's name.........

 

 

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JOHN HURT DIES AGED 77

VERY SAD NEWS to report the wonderful and talented actor John Hurt has passed away at aged 77

HIS CAREER has spanned six decades. He initially came to prominence for his supporting role as Richard Rich in the film A Man for All Seasons (1966). After this, 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.


ABOVE IS just a small sample of the wonderful chemistry between Hurt and Cushing in the Tyburn film, 'The Ghoul'... after watching this film for the first time in the cinema, the lasting impression was not left by 'the thing in the attic' or any of the gruesome deeds that unfolded during the ninety minutes... for me it was John Hurt's portrayal of the twisted, manipulative and unfortunate, Private John Rawlings, that made the impression.

PETER CUSHING'S DOCTOR Lawrence and Hurt's creepy grounds-man, where really unsettling together, you knew Veronica Carlson's Daphne, was doomed! What a huge loss to us all..but what a legacy too! John Hurt 1940 -2017 . . . . 

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#FRANKENSTEINFRIDAY: ANOLIS FRANKENSTEIN HOLLENMONSTER BLU RAY REVIEWED

Released by: Anolis Entertainment
Released on: September 9th, 2016.
Director: Terence Fisher
Cast: Peter Cushing, Shane Briant, Madeline Smith, David Prowse, Bernard Lee
Year: 1974

Video: Having owned FATMFH on both VHS and DVD, I was very satisfied of the increase in detail and resolution of the blu-ray. Fine details like in the (rather cheap) monster suit are even more pronounced, for better or for worse. Many of the close-ups, like on Shane Briant, for instance, allow us to see the skin pores and sweat on the actor. Some other details like the dummy of Prof. Durendel during the brain transplant sequence are even more noticeable with the improved resolution, although the brain transplant itself, as well as all other gore, are very well done. There are some softer shots which are inherent to the film, such as Peter Cushing's entrance - always a bit soft on other releases.

I didn't notice any edge enhancement or DNR. I also didn't notice any blemishes or marks on the print, but I also don't recall there being any from prior transfers. I did notice a few examples of shimmer or artifacts on some surfaces but they were fleeting and didn't distract me too much. While other recent Hammer releases have been rushed and done on the cheap, FATMFH seems to have been much better treated.

 

 

I always found the older releases to be somewhat dark and hard to see, hiding some of the details. Many of the shadows and blacks were quite crushed, for example. It almost seems like someone turned on a light in the movie for this release. Nothing is too bright (it IS an asylum after all), but I have a feeling this is just how Terence Fisher wanted it to be seen. It should be noted that this DOES include the famous artery clamping scene where Cushing holds an artery with his teeth. This was cut for most of the other releases and I was happy to finally get a chance to see it.

Audio: If there has to be a downside to the release, it has to be the audio. While dialogue is generally good and audible, I found the music to be a tad muffled and restrained, although this might have something to do with the technical limitations of how it was recorded or the time period. I thought the music, dialogue, and sound effects were somewhat constricted in the space and would've liked a bit more clarity. Still, it was adequate for the movie.

Extras: 

Extras start off with an audio commentary with Dr. Rolf Giesen and Uwe Sommerlad that is in German only without any subtitle. However, the menu does give you the option to choose ‘English’ and when you do that, rather than a traditional commentary you get a thirty-nine minute featurettes with Gisen and Sommerlad speaking in English about the history of the film. They cover the details of the set, the involvement of various players including the film’s producers, the state of Hammer in the early seventies, how they’d been grooming Briant in hopes of making more Frankenstein pictures with him and of course, Peter Cushing (describing him as Edwardian rather than Victorian) and the actor’s very specific ideals and old fashioned beliefs.

Carried over from the Australian and UK discs, however, is and English language commentary with Madeline Smith and Shane Briant moderated by Hammer historian Marcus Hearn. This is quite a good track, with Smith and Briant participants in good spirits and seemingly quite keen on talking up their work on the picture. They both look back on Cushing quite fondly but also talk about their experiences working under Fisher, some of their thoughts on the picture and more. When they aren’t talking, Hearn does a fine job of offering the listener his expertise in terms of who did what, the locations and sets, the costumes, the music, the film’s censorship issues and loads more. This is a pretty interesting track, one definitely worth taking the time to listen to.
 
I enjoyed seeing the surviving cast members talk about the film and, of course, about Cushing. I had assumed the monster's suit was more of a foam rubber material but Shane Briant commented on how plastic it felt. Interesting. The documentary on Terence Fisher was a bit brief but I appreciate that they included it at all.

*** out of **** stars. A solid Hammer release.

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SHANE BRIANT LAST LEAD STANDING

The above titled image is a caption that would I am sure, upon reading it, would have Shane Briant allowing himself a titter! As the title of his autobiography tells us, not only is he is always 'the bad guy', but today on his birthday, he stands as the only remaining lead male actor, from the the final days of that most treasured British institution and regal house of horrors, Hammer studios, still working. 

Looking at the titles of many of Shane's  films and characters, you quickly begin to understand that, he may be still standing, but often he has left our nerves on the floor,  shocking us with his young and deranged Peter Clive in 'Straight On Til Morning', Simon Helder in 'Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell', all for the Hammer studio, but Norma in the landmark BBC production of 'The Naked Civil Servant' in 1975, Sir Clifford Chatterley in Lady Chatterley's Lover in 1980, and Dr. Trayso Talnell / Kaarvok in tv's 'Farscape', prove that Shane is no stranger to the tormented and the slightly skewed and has brought us a feast of 'fabulous fiends', that often stand, hold rank and quite comfortably keep company , with some of cinema's best! 

We invited Uwe Sommerlad, to take a step back and take an over view of the man who has brought us many chilling chaps in the black hat, but in life, couldn't be a more charming, friendly and sensitive man. Shane Briant

Happy 70iest Birthday to Shane Briant! The British actor studied law before he decided on a, hm, less theatrical career as an actor, making his professional debut as Hamlet in Dublin. He then played in London with the splendid Yvonne Mitchell in "Children of the Wolf", winning the Best Newcomer Award.

He played several small parts on the screen before Hammer took him under contract, hoping that he would become a new major Hammer star. Alas, Hammer was going commercially downhill by then, and the four movies Briant did for them - the underrated psycho thriller STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING (1972; dir. Peter Collinson), the strange Freudian Gothic DEMONS OF THE MIND (1972; dir. Peter Sykes), the experimental CAPTAIN KRONOS - VAMPIRE HUNTER (1974; dir. Brian Clemens, with Horst Janson) and Terence Fisher's last movie, FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL (1973, with Peter Cushing) did not do very well at the box office.

In between Briant went to Hollywood and played Dorian Gray in the TV adaptation THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (1973; dir. Glenn Jordan), but no horror stardom followed (with Briant not really suited for the "slashers" and Zombie movies to come), but a solid career as a character actor in various movies and on TV. He was a killer in John Huston's THE MACKINTOSH MAN (1973, wiith Paul Newman and James Mason) and Jack Palance's evil son in the trash classic HAWK THE SLAYER (1980; dir. Terry Marcel).

He played a cross-dressing homosexual in the Quentin Crisp biopic THE NAKED CIVIL SERVANT (TV 1975; dir. Jack Gold, with John Hurt), not LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER (1981; dir. Just Jaeckin, with Silvia Kristel) but her wheelchair-bound husband, and was suspicious in the Agatha Christie adaptation MURDER IS EASY (TV 1982; dir. Claude Whatham, with Bill Bixby). 

Briant went to live in Australia in the Eighties, where he continued to appear in movies and TV shows, including the horror movies CASSANDRA (1986; dir. Colin Eggleston) and OUT OF THE BODY (1989; dir. Brian Trenchard-Smith), thrillers GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM (1988; dir. Mark Joffe) or TUNNEL VISION (1995; dir. Clive Fleury, with Patsy Kensit) and episodes of SF series TIME TRAX (1994) and FARSCAPE (2001 - 2003). He also became the main villain in children's TV series, namely MISSION: TOP SECRET (1994 - 1995) and SEARCH FOR TREASURE ISLAND (1998 - 2000).

Shane Briant has also turned to writing and had seven novels published between 1994 and 2011. His short film A MESSAGE FROM FALLUJAH, loosely based on Ambrose Bierce's "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge", won the "Best of the Fest" award at the 2005 Los Angeles International Short Film Festival and was in the final mix of ten shorts for consideration for an Academy Award. In 2013 he played Major Lawrence Miller in seven episodes of the HBO serial, Serngoon Road and last year competed work on the tv mini series GALLIPOLI as Sir Frederick Stopford.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MADELINE SMITH HAMMER FILMS SCREAM QUEEN AND MUCH MORE!

#TOOCOOLTUESDAY: PLEASE JOIN US IN WISHING MADELEINE SMITH a Very Happy Birthday today! She best known for her roles in three films for Hammer, Taste The Blood of Dracula (1970), The Vampire Lovers (1970) and Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell (1974).

FEATURED IN OUR BANNER is what is probably one of her best performances as Sarah (The Angel) in Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell co-starring Peter Cushing, and Shane Briant. Mind you, she was pretty good in the UK tv series, The Steam Video Company in the early 1980’s. She has a very good sense of humour and timing too!

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