#NEWS!Here is the #list of #EXTRAS goodies that we can expect on INDICATOR'S 28th of September Blu Ray release of the Amicus #ChristopherLee and #PeterCushing 1971 feature, #IMONSTER. These impressive details were released in a INDICATOR post today! It looks like this will be a much awaited title getting some EXTRA needed attention and a ANOTHER great release from #Indicator! Over at the Facebook PCASUK Fan Page we are asking if there is anything not included on the list here, that you would have liked to have seen added????. We think it's an impressive list of extras, and INDICATOR certainly gets a vote from us for the variety! It's a bargain purchase price too for a World Wide Premier release, with a rub of only 5,000 units to scoop up! Want YOUR copy? I'd get my order in NOW! ORDER HERE!
ABOVE :A GREATsection
of the PCASUK Two Part Feature and Gallery on the Amicus 1971 film, 'I
MONSTER' starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. 'Creating A
Monster' is a photo by photo study, using RARE STILLS taken in Harry
Framton's make up room, during the making of I MONSTER at Shepperton
Studios. See #ChristopherLee transform under the magic hands of
Frampton! RIGHT HERE!
MORE EXCITING INDICATOR NEWS IS, we noticed #ChristopherLee was #Trending on #Twitter today! The reason, is impressive too! The #Indicator tweet give some great news on their FU MANCHU box set and that one of the features included in the release is going to be, Christopher Lee's 1994 London
Film Festival interview, which is a HUGE plus is a
huge plus, as the interview will be presented for the first time ever, and
in full - all 87 minutes! It's the extras on many of their releases, just like this one like, truly makes Indicator such a
leader in home cinema Remastered blu rays and box set releases. Top Marks for Indicator!
#MEANWHILE IN A #TARDIS, not that far away!Here is a FINE piece of 'imagine IF' art from the twitter page of 'Timeless Tim'! #PeterCushingISDrWho! I have no idea who did this work, but would love to so I could congratulate them. IF only. You can see how the whole concept would work. The image of Peter Cushing is from around the mid 1960's 'Frankenstein Created Woman' time, the lab coat 1957, 'The Curse of Frankenstein', a wonderfully appropriate TARDIS interior . . an the 1970's K9, is the cheery on the cake...it crosses all kids of era's, styles and Doctor Who periods of time Just like all the best episodes, all about time 😊 Over at the Facebook PCASUK Fan Page we are asking, 'Would YOU have WATCHED this, as a TV series??' Feel free to join in on the opinions and comments!
CONNECTING NICELY to the post above, here's a great photograph on set
of Cushing's Dr Who in 'Dalek Invasion Earth 2150 AD' I remember when
first seeing this pic when I was I my early teen and being shocked that
the set was actually INSIDE the lots at Shepperton studios! Clever
chaps, these film makers 😃
ALSO MARKED AT THE FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE TODAY
MAY 14TH is the birthday of Eric Morecambe, one half of the most
successful comedy team in the UK. Still missed, loved by all, with
Eric's passing back in 1984, it left a hole not only in the
entertainment world but also in people's hearts. With his partner,
Ernie...they provided one of tv's longest running gags, 'Peter Cushing
and his Money!'... he did eventually get it , but not until the boys,
had a lot of fun with it, stretching over many years and several
programmes. God bless, Eric, Happy Birthday and thanks for all those
precious memories and laughs 😅😀
ABOVE is one of my favourite Peter Cushing guest spots with Eric and Ernie! Peter has come for his money, paying for when he is first appeared on their show. It's ironic that the BBC wanting value for money, also show a clip from that previous show, in this one!! Eric's teasing of Ernie for being tight with money was really a cover for the reputation the BBC had for being known as notoriously tight and mean with paying anyone... except their executives, in the 60's and 70's! Times haven't changed....
YOU CAN EASILY jump on board the PCASUK Facebook Fan Page, by clicking RIGHT HERE!. PCASUK, it's posts, features and competitions are open to EVERYONE, whoever, wherever you are!
#MAKINGAWEREWOLF was a 'Dawg Gone Problem!', in 1974 . . that's for
sure. And as we will probably learn from some of the 'extras'
'interviews' included on the soon to be released BLU Ray from #Indicatorfilms
of Amicus films, 'The Beast Must Die'.. it was quite a job! Here are
some photographs from the on set shooting days on the film, where 'The
Beast' was needed and in residence. The 'experts on hand from Ted
Samuels, make up Paul Rabiger and John Hilling from wardrobe, all
appear to have had a hand in coming up with a solution. I am not expert
and no nothing about dogs, I have a dribbling, furry log, who looks
wild boar, that passes himself off as a pedigree PUG called Barney, and I
believe him! 😮😃What breed of dog they are using here, I have no idea! Maybe you do?
But with some added fur, teeth and attitude, they pull it off I think...
just about 😊
FANS APPEAR to be as torn as a pair of 'postman's ravaged pants', on
this film. Which I find odd. It's Amicus they did their own thing, only
one Gothic film, mostly contemporary settings. Milton and Max left the
tradition horror films to Hammer, who had more cash to bash a horror
film. Amicus did different and took risks too!
ANYWAY, here are some
more pics from the #PCASUK clutter for you to have a look at. I think
it's worth noting that #INDICATOR / #POWERHOUSE has started to really
build itself a sterling and quite trusted reliable reputation for BLU
RAY and BOX SETS of considerable quality and content! SEVERAL of their
#HAMMERFILMS collections have treated fans and collectors alike to very
interesting titles supported with quite a stash of surprising extras
(The recent Indicator Hammer Box Set 'FACES OF FEAR' VOLUME FOUR'
included an impressive 4k remastering of 'The Revenge of Frankenstein'
with the inclusion of some very rarely seen 'On Set' and Behind the
scenes trims and footage of the #Braystudio floor during shooting with
#PeterCushing, Francis Matthews, Eunice Gayson and Oscar Quitak) As,
hoped, the '#THEBEASTMUSTDIE' blu ray also comes with its own bank of
extras and goodies! It's open for pre-orders of it's LIMITED release
right now 😉 - Marcus
#PCASUK NEWS FEATURE THAT WAS POSTED HERE A FEW DAYS AGO : SOME GREAT NEWS FOR PETER CUSHING AND AMICUS FILMS FANS FOR JUNE 2020!!The last of Amicus’ famed horror productions, 'The Beast Must Die' (1974) makes it's UK PREMIERE on BLU RAY in the UK on JUNE 29th 2020!
Audio commentary with director Paul Annett with writer Jonathan Sothcott (2003)
Interview with Max J Rosenberg (2000): archival audio recording of the famed producer in conversation with Sothcott
The BEHP Interview with Jack Hildyard (1988): an archival audio
recording, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project,
featuring the Oscar-winning cinematography in conversation with Alan
Lawson
The BEHP Interview with Peter Tanner – Part Two, 1939–1987
(1987): an archival audio recording, made as part of the British
Entertainment History Project, featuring the acclaimed editor in
conversation with Roy Fowler and Taffy Haines
Introduction by Stephen Laws (2020): appreciation by the acclaimed horror author
Directing the Beast(2003): archival interview with Annett
Super 8 version: cut-down home cinema presentation
Image gallery: publicity and promotional material
Original theatrical trailer
Kim Newman and David Flint trailer commentary (2017): short critical appreciation
New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Neil Young, an
archival article on Amicus Productions, a look at the James Blish short
story which inspired the film’s screenplay, an extract from the
press-book profiling actor Calvin Lockhart, an overview of contemporary
critical responses, and film credits
UK premiere on Blu-ray
Limited edition of 3,000 copies
BBFC cert: 15 REGION B
INDICATOR'S 'THE BEAST MUST DIE' is a LIMITED EDITION and is now available for PRE ORDER RIGHT NOW from POWERHOUSE RIGHT HERE!
PCASUK #WATCHPARTY! FOR A BUDGET of just £139,360 about £3,400.00 today, Aubrey Baring
Productions got a LOT of film for their money, plus a very good cast!
'Cone of Silence' aka 'Trouble In The Sky', currently LIVE at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE as our latest 'Watch-Party' post, is a 1960 British drama film
that was directed by Charles Frend and starred Michael Craig, Peter
Cushing, George Sanders, and Bernard Lee. Quite a big step away from
what had occupied Cushing for the past four years at Hammer films, the
role of Captain Clive Judd, gives us a view of his range we had
not see for sometime. The story centres around an investigation into a
series of crashes involving the fictional 'Atlas Aviation Phoenix'
jetliner
SHOT AT SHEPPERTON STUDIOS, budget
constraints led to the production using some miniatures to depict
airfields and aircraft, although principal photography took place at
Filton Airport in North Bristol, UK with the cooperation of the Bristol
Siddeley Engines Ltd. 'Cone of Silence' is loosely based on 1952 plane
crash in Rome and subsequent investigations into the structural
integrity of the de Havilland Comet airliner. . and how even the
highest skilled of people can sometimes get it all very wrong! Still
awaiting a blu ray release, this is a film that would look quite special
in monochrome. . . as would many of Cushing's black and white feature
films from this period... and why the recent Indicator blu ray release
of 'Time Without Pity' looks so impressive! 😀 - Marcus
PETER CUSHING POSES for a publicity pic around the mid 1980's during the
publication of his two autobiographies. Over at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE, we are asking followers to, note the walking cane... 'now
which Cushing film was that used in, do you think?'
BEHIND THE SCENES GALLERY on the set of BOTH Peter Cushing Dr Who movies : Just CLICK HERE!
THIS IS THE FIRST PART of a series of features, focusing on THE MAKING OF THE LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF. This is quite a different series, compared to our usual theme of features on the work of PETER CUSHING. Each of our six parts will not just be looking at Cushing, the cast and a critque of the finished film, but we will also spend time hearing from the production crew, lighting, set design and the diector and producer. TYBURN FILMS were quite an unusual production company. At the time studios and companies were struggling to finance and make features, Tyburn approached the problem with a different concept, which makes this series all the more interesting. Peter Cushing appeared in four productions with Tyburn over the years. Three films, THE GHOUL (1975) THE LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF and THE MASKS OF DEATH, also a biographical tv programme called ONE WAY TICKET TO HOLLYWOOD. Tyburn's CEO Kevin Francis, first met Peter Cushing when he was working and finding his feet, for Hammer films. Both he and Cushing became friends, as Francis was such a fan of his work and Hammer films. The friendship helped too when Francis was looking for a top name, when casting his first Tyburn productions, it was a friendship that would grow even closer during and after Cushing's last few years.
ACTING UP!
OBVIOUSLY,
film acting has never been just a simply 'act' of learning your lines
and saying them with as much conviction as you can! There are various
technical things to think about, like keeping in frame, leaving seconds
at the beginning of takes, so the editor can get in, and keeping enegies
the same in the master shot, close ups and cut aways. The script for
THE LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF was like many scripts that director FREDDIE
FRANCIS worked with for another film production company to, AMICUS
FILMS. LEGEND had a script where actors were given a certain amount of
freedom in interpreting the script! Peter Cushing played the role of Paul Cataflanque, a skilled forensic surgeon. Here he explains his methods of performance for camera, and preparing for a role.
CUSHING AND THE LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF SCRIPT : CHANGES
PETER CUSHING:'I DO THE SAME THING on all film scripts. A play that's written for the
theatre, it's altered sometimes but it's done in a very different way. A
film script is such a technical thing, it's altered so much during the
original writing that sometimes the dialogue does get a little out of
hand. They've been concentrating on something else so much that in the
end they can't see the wood for the trees, but when an actor sees the
script for the first time he is able to see these little problems . Then
there are also certain ways of making exactely the same sense but
saying the line in a way that is better for the character. But one never
alters the gist of what is being said because obviously if you alter
that you alter the whole script. And then, a script is over written,
becauseit's much better to cut out, if you are over time, than to try
and add on if you are under, because it's when you add on, that begins
gto show a little, unless you have given it great thought to it. So
scripts are usually overwritten to about ten minutes so that you can cut
ten minutes offand come down to the required hour or hour and a half,
or whatever you want'.
CUSHING'S METHOD AND PREPARATION
PETER CUSHING:'I ALWAYS DO a tremendous amount of this, it's purely my way of working,
particularly in films, which is my favourite medium, But the actors get
very little rehearsal time, you see, so you must do your homework. I
naturally always ask the director, but the director has many things to
think of, not just me or the other actors, he got technical things,
lighting and so on, and what he's doing next week or next month. So
whatever you can do to help is good for everyone concerned. And
instinctively he knows immediately : it's marvelous and we'll add to it
or no, because I always do a little sketch of the clothes I want,
costume, because I think that is important. It helps with the character
to know, what you are goping to wear. This again is purely my 'method',
if you want to call it that. I think the more preparation you do the
better. I don't like the phrase 'technique of acting' because I don;t
think there is such a thing, but film making is very technical in as
much as you have to remember your 'marks', remember your 'key lights'
all sorts of things like that, and at the same time, you have to make it
all look as though, it's all just happening, when the camera films it.
"I DO A LOT OF WORK long before I start in the production and the shooting
begins. i know the whole script, because you never know what scene they
are going to do some days. They might suddenly change their minds, like
yesterday when we were a day and a half ahead of schedule. Well, had I
not known the scene, I couldn't have done that. But you see, when I get
home after a da's shooting there's not really time. I just check
through, and look at all my notes. By the time you get home it's seven
or eight o'clock and by the time you've had a meal and written a couple
of letters it's time to get to bed for half past five in the morning. So
that's why it's important to me at any rate, to do a great deal of work
before shooting starts".
WORKING WITH DIRECTOR FREDDIE FRANCIS:
PETER CUSHING : "EVERYBODY IS DIFFERENT, though I must say, I have been exceptionally lucky, with
all the directors I have worked for. Freddie has his way of doing
things. What I admire apart from his tremendous knowledge of the
buisness is Freddie's wonderful insight and instinct for how to treat
every indivdual on the studio floor. He knows those ones to lark with,
those not to lark with, he giot great kindness and yet absolutely the
correct kind of authority. The behaviour of everyone, obviously in
almost every industry, does stem from the top and go right the way down
through. If you get someone who's not very nice at the top it does tend
to inflitrate through the unit".
THE ROLE OF PAUL CATAFANQUE
PETER CUSHING : "HE IS A PATHOLOGIST,except that they weren't called pathologists in those
days, they were called judicial surgeons. But there's quite a lot of
humour this time, which is nice and makes a lovely balance to the mayhem
that goes on. But with any role you play your personality must come
across. From that you try to make something of the character, the author
has written into the part. This script was written by John Elder, he
was one of the directors at Hammer films. He wrote many of their early
ones and for eighteen years these Hammer films have been popular and the
mass of people who go to them, it's rather like those people who buy
their favourite chocolates; they know when they open the box, they'll
find the coconut cream and the truffles and that sort of thing, and they
know when they see this kind of film, they'll get what they are kooking
for. And so, they're catered for, by the scriptwriters".
THE SCRIPT MUST BE COMPLETE AND FINISHED
PETER CUSHING :"WHEN
I RECEIVE THE SCRIPTit is never a treament or second draft, it's the
final script, nearly always and it is something I have to insist upon,
because I know me, I know my limitations. I must have the script. It's
no good saying will you do it and you'll have the script the day you
arrive, I couln't accept because I know I couldn't do it. That's the
only reason, I am not being troublesome, it's just because I can't
workthe way I do unless I have it well ahead, to study and learn and
make what alterations I want to suggest. As soon as the script arrives, I
go right through it and if needed I make my suggestions which are then
sent through to the director and producer, they amalgamate them, when
they all get together. By the time I arrive to shoot, all the talking's
finished!!"
FOR DAVID RINTOUL 'The Legend of the Werewolf' was something quite different, it was his first film role. Although by this point he had played many theatrical roles, working in film was very much learning while working . . .
DAVID RINTOUL : "FILM IS TOTALLYdifferent! The first couple of weeks I was just trying to sus it all out! I was a bit lost, I think. I'm beginning to get more confident now. The technique is quite different. Hopefully with time you get the technical side of it, so it becomes an instinctive thing and all your concentraition goes on the acting. What I've found so far, is especially at the beginning of the film, was that, I had to concentrate on the tech things and tended to forget about the acting! But it's a question of experience, I guess. The first couple of days I seemed to have a problem hitting my marks, where to stop when walking, not to lean. I missed my walking marks because I was trying to do it without looking down!"
"YOU SEE WHEN a director says, could you move a little bit to the left, often he's talking about an inch or so. Whereas in the theatre when they say move a bit more to the left they mean FOUR FOOT! Even doing telly there's not the same precision of moves, as there is in film. Here lighting is so important. With telly, you do look for the lamps and that sort of thing, but it's not so central".
"WORKING WITH ALLthe werewolf make up, is alright. I have found it helps me. Different actors work differently. I like working off , without the costume or make up, so there's that boost for me when I go into make up. For example, in the theatre I don't like trying on bits of costume, until a day or two before we open the show, though some directors want you to rehearse in costume quite early. I always leave itthe end, because it gives you that extra boost, that extra charge."
"THE ROLE OFEtoile is pretty much an instintive type of part. Some parts you have to think about a lot, and others you say, yes, that' what the role is about. I talked with director Freddie a bit about the script, but it isn't all sacred and you can change it as you go along. I am lucky I haven't had to really change very much, because . . . he doesn't say that much! I've made it a bit more colloquial. It came across, in the reading, as not stilted, but a bit formal. So I changed little things, like 'you will' to 'you'll'. But you have to be mindfull that Freddie doesn't want it too colloquial, because it has to have a nineteenth century feel. It's a delicate balance bewteen the two. Etoile is described as a country lad. I'm not doing a country accent or anything like that, just making it a bit less formal...."
"WHEN CASTING STARTEDfor this film, I was busy auditioning for a theatrical play, I had already done two or three auditions for it, and was just about to go to the last one, when my agent rang and and said, go out to Pinewood studios tomorrow! So I did, nit really knowing much about it at all. I saw Freddie the director, talked for five minutes or so, met Kevin Francis the producer, talked to him for a couple of minutes and then went back to my flat in London not really knowing or having much idea of how I got on. The phone rang a couple of hours later and the agent said, you've got the part, That was that! We started about four weeks later. Though I was here at the studio, about a week before we started shooting, just to try out the Werewolf make up, and that turned out fine. A couple of minor adjustments when we began shooting, and that was that. As I remember there was just one make up test where they actually filmed it."
COMING SOON : PART TWO : JACK SHAMPAN ON SET DESIGN : THE BUDGET AND DIRECTOR FREDDIE FRANCIS INTERVIEW ON LEGEND!
WE
UPDATE REGULARLY at our well support Peter Cushing Appreciation Society
FACEBOOK FAN PAGE! With over 33,000 followers, and archives of rare
images and gifs, you would be most welcome! PLEASE come join us!JUST CLICK HERE AND CLICK LIKE THERE!
CONSIDERING THERE ARE SO MANY film, actor fan pages and groups, across
facebook and the web, I only belong to a handful, mainly because, just posting a
fuzzy photograph or asking you name your top five films, every other
day. . .doesn't quite cut it for me personally. I want to see some
thought put in and some interesting and engaging material. . .
.please...! Rare photographs / memorabilia shared and a true insight to
the subject matter of said page / group. I want to feel when I have taken time to visit there, that I have learned something or and had fun.
THE SIR ROBERT STEPHENS APPRECIATION SOCIETY, has only recently been
launched, and I am very happy to say, that if what has been shared there
already, is anything like we can expect in the future.... Joanna Keani
Jones, who creates the posts and admins the group, is doing a fabulous
job.
"The Sir Robert Stephens Appreciation Society is a celebration of the
life & artistry of this incredibly gifted actor. Sir Robert always
gave his best in performance and in the process, created a myriad of
incredible character studies in which the viewer could relate to,
understand and very often, find sympathy with, regardless of the
character's intentions.
Because of Sir Robert's ability to create such emotion-fueled, nuanced portrayals in film, theatre, TV & radio, he
garnered many admirers of his work which continues on today, some
20-plus years after his passing. This group has been created to discuss
and share information with like-minded enthusiasts of all things Sir
Robert." -Joanna Keani
Jones
YOU HAVE TO BE PASSIONATE TO CREATE banners, images and content like
Joanna has. Rare theatre programmes, stills, reviews, clippings. It's
ALL there and shared in hi res. As I mentioned in our early post,
Stephens was a very rare talent indeed. A complicated man, with a
complicated life. I can assure you, the content at the 'Sir Robert
Stephens Appreciation Society Group', will never be dull, just because
Stephens was far from dull, and Joanna shares material that really does
show the breath of his career and the diverse roles he played.
I CAN'T PRAISE THIS GROUP enough and I am so happy to see someone doing
such a fine job. Don't take my word for it, first watch the excellent
promo trailer below and then if you have a facebook account, GO SEE FOR YOURSELF. THEN LIKE and come
back and tell us, what you think? .Thank you. - Marcus
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
