#WATCHPARTY 'DARK PLACES' 1974 CHRISTOPHER LEE JOAN COLLINS AND HERBERT LOM!

JUST POSTED AT FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE one of the last of our PCASUK #WATCHWITHCUSHING Facebook #WATCHPARTIES in our quest to entertain during the #LOCK-DOWN period of the last three months! 'DARK PLACES' is one of few lesser seen films of Christopher Lee. It's a ghost story, with a few twists and some nice little surprises. It's a film of time... when it was produced back in 1974, but a lot of fun.

 

WHEN CUSHING STOOD IN THE SHADOW OF NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL

WATCHING AND LISTENING to the news tonight, I am so sad and shocked by the horrific fire, that is destroying and consuming the beautiful and historic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It's a place I have visited many times since I was a teenager. No time in Paris can be spent, without seeing 'The Cathedral'. With it's an amazing architecture, inside and out, the paintings, the sculpture... the history, you could sense so strongly when you walked inside. Peter Cushing visited it quite a few times too and loved it, very much. He sat and painted in water colours the spire, the arches and roof. It's truly, truly sad to see the iconic spire and parts of the first tower, now vanishing in the flames. To all our followers and friends in Paris and France... our hearts go out to you...

BACK IN THE EARLY 80'S, it wasn't unusual to sometimes meet up with some of the 500+ people back then, who were international subscribers to the PCAS Newsletters and Journals. PCAS was then a team of three people. We treated managing the society as a hobby! Often we would spend a weekend in London, Sheffield or Bristol, meeting many of those members who loved Peter Cushing, Hammer films and anything connected! We would always take gifts of some stills or a press book, for anyone we were meeting! One trip, I remember well, was a three day trip to Paris. It was a hoot! We arranged to meet outside Notre Dame Cathedral. Peter Cushing always had, and still does have, a very healthy crowd of 'fans' in France! I only knew one of the people we were meeting in that crowd, one Jacqueline Carron! We had spoken on the phone and written a few times. this was PRE internet, remember! My French was a joke, but her English, perfect! The group we were meeting all knew each other, so we were the visitors. They were the kindest, most polite people, generous with time, they didn't want us to leave! Some brought their partners and Mum's along too! We walked, talked and eventually, all as planned spent the evening at Jacqueline's home, watching anything and everything, we had managed to record or copy of Peter Cushing on video!  Jacqueline lived a short distance from the Cathedral, and the towers could be seen from her living room. The following morning, we met again for a coffee and took pics of our new 'Cushing friends' under the shadow of the Cathedral towers....it was a special time...

YOUR UNDERRATED FILMS OF PETER CUSHING!

OVER AT THE FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE today, we've asked a simple question, and have received a skip load of answers, some quite surprising! You may want to add your opinion too? Below are just a few of the many suggestions you have suggested, in some of our past features and galleries . . 

OUR 'CASH ON DEMAND FEATURE and gallery : HERE!

ON THE SET during the making of 'CASH ON DEMAND' gallery : HERE! 

 ONE OF OUR features on the DR WHO films of Peter Cushing : HERE!

AND ALSO HERE!

OUR FEATURE AND GALLERY on DR PHIBES RISES AGAIN!

OUR FEATURE AND GALLERY ON  Peter Cushing and Hammer films 'SHE' : HERE!

BEHIND THE SCENES of Amicus Productions : 'I MONSTER' Gallery Part Two: HERE!

CUSHING'S 'NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT' and 'ISLAND OF TERROR' Feature and Gallery : HERE!

WHEN SOMEONE DROPPED IN ON CHRISTOPHER LEE AND REMEMBERING ACTOR MICHAEL RIPPER

YOU KNOW THE LINE OF DIALOGUE? 'I’VE SEEN THE LIKES TONIGHT that mortal eyes shouldn’t look at!’… say THAT line of dialogue and any Hammer film fan worth his or her salt, quick as a flash will reply, ‘Michael Ripper, as the poacher in 'The Mummy!’.. And it is Michael Ripper who we remember today on the day his birth, 27th January 1913. Ripper appeared in many productions for Hammer, seven with Peter Cushing, nine with Christopher Lee.  . . .

AND TALKING OF CHRISTOPHER LEE, Michael Ripper, it turns out, found out about Christopher Lee appearing at a book signing in London back in the 1990's  and dropped in to see his old friend! Giving everyone the wonderful opportunity to see these two icons, together again, relaxed, chatting about old times. These photographs were generously shared with us by James Murray, who was working 'on the door' that day! Thanks again, James 😌😉  

INN KEEPERS, coachmen, police officers, Ripper an accomplished stage and film actor it could be argued is as much part of the Hammer family as Cushing, Lee, Fisher and Francis. Christopher Lee once announced to a packed convention in Baltimore, with Ripper standing at his side.. 'This man IS Hammer!’ And for many of us, he always will be . . . 

BBC CHILLS IN LIVE DRAMA WITH MORE THAN SNOWMAN : THE FIRST TUESDAY TOUGHY OF 2019

 

HERE IS OUR FIRST CUSHING TUESDAY TOUGHY of 2019! You'll be pleased to see, I haven't spared the trickiness 😏 When Peter Cushing's BBC 1954 drama of THE CREATURE was broadcast LIVE over two evenings back in January and February of 1955, it was ONLY just FIVE weeks after Cushing and the BBC had shocked the whole nation with their live broadcasts of George Orwell's 1984. With front pages of newspapers screaming the cries of a trumatised telly watching public and questions being asked by the government in the House of Commons about if Cushing and the BBC had gone too far, all eyes were on Cushing's latest 'nail-biting' SUNDAY evening BBC television drama. 

THE KNEES OF THE BBC must have been really trembling, but not enough to stop this planned drama to not only star the lead responsible for last year's controversial show, but also the same director, Rudolph Cartier! This production was also granted a larger budget, with exterior shots of the snowy mountains and hillsides of the Himalayas filmed on location in Switzerland, just two weeks before the live broadcasts. Surprisingly, the production was allowed a substantial amount of filming to supplement the modest BBC studio facilities available for the otherwise live transmission. Location filming was essential to establish the mountainous environment of the play, though the play's designer Barry was uneasy with Cushing’s involvement in this location filming, fearing for the star’s safety, and suggested a double be used instead. Typically, Cushing said he disliked the use of doubles and the loss of continuity of performance that this entailed, and wrote to Barry to personally assure him of his preference to take part in the location expedition!

GALLERY OF RARE IMAGES from the BBC production, Hammer films version and more besides! Catch up on our PCAS feature on Peter Cushing's 'The Abominable Snowman' elsewhere at this website or go directly to it HERE!

DESPITE ALL THE PRE PUBLICITY and advanced column inches in newspapers, this script and story by Nigel Kneal, was a quite different affair to 1984. No torture, but lots in the way of tension and a moral for all to think about later. Hammer films, never one to miss an opportunity, invited Cushing to play his role of John Rollason, for their big screen version. Sadly actor Stanley Baker was not invited along to join him and US actor Forest Tucker, played the role of Tom Friend, producers following their mantra of always casting actors from across the Atlantic, to improve the box office potential when the film was released overseas. Cushing's Rollason was also guven a wife in Hammer's revamping. She was also called Helen. Richard Wattis returned for gentle comic relief as Rollason's assistant Peter Fox. Arnold Marle also repeated his performance as the Lama, giving a very memorable and yet weird performance. 'Act in the name of Mankind and act humbly' the Lama warns Rollason, as he sets out in search of the YETI. 'For man is ndear to forfeiting his right to lead the world'. A message from over 60 years ago, that in today's world means more than ever . . 

YOUR ANSWER to our previous CUSHING TUESDAY TOUGHY! How did YOU do with YOUR answer?

NOT ALL THE PC VAMPIRE SUPPORT WAS NICE! CALLUM MCKELVIE LOOKS BEYOND ROLES THAT WERE VAN HELSING NICE TIMES!

WHEN ONE THINKS of Cushing and Vampires, inevitably are minds are drawn to his excellent portrayal of Van Helsing in several of Hammers Dracula films. For many fans it’s one of his best roles and (if we count the two generations as one) a part he would return to four times. However, as defining as his portrayal as Van Helsing is, it somewhat over shadows that fact that he was in roughly four other vampire films (excluding Dr Terrors House of Horrors and The House that Dripped Blood simply as he does not appear in the segments featuring bloodsuckers). 

THIS WEEK AND THE NEXT I’ll be examining these ‘Other Vampire films’, starting with his two entries into the Karstein trilogy 'The Vampire Lovers' and 'Twins of Evil'. I’ve joined these two together, not only because they book ending entries in a trilogy, but also because they both feature Cushing as a sort of Pseudo-Vampire Hunter. Both roles are worlds away from a Van Helsing stereotype and at least one is remembered amongst his finest work.

THE 'KARNSTEIN TRILIOGY'  stands as one of Hammers finest achievements simply for the fact that it marks one of the few occasions, as the studio moved into the 1970’s that one it’s attempts to try something bold and new with its formula worked. Now in terms of some of the attempts that would be made later (Kung-Fu vampires anyone?) the changes here are not that extreme and merely reflect the studios reaction to an allowance of more extreme content.

MOST OBVIOUSLY it is the films explicit portrayal of Lesbianism that gained it a certain level of attention. The film is stolen by Ingrid Pitt’s first performance for the studio and first major role in a horror movie (though she was in 1966’s Sound of Horror). Whilst not her greatest work for Hammer (that would come later in Countess Dracula) it’s a strong start and one can easily see why she became a horror icon and early scream queen.

ABOVE: PETER CUSHING and INGRID PITT together in HAMMER FILMS 'THE VAMPIRE LOVERS'. BOTH look comfortable in the roles. BOTH had also become great friends, along with Peter Cushing's wife, HELEN . . . 

PETER CUSHING'S ROLE in the film on the other hand is somewhat small, though integral and although he looks superb in his military uniform, it’s not usually counted amongst his best roles. None the less it’s an interesting take on the role of the Vampire hunter within a hammer film and the quest is made deeply personal to the General, whose niece is a victim of Carmilla. 

THUS THE GENERAL is the character who puts an end to Camilla’s bloodsucking ways and in perhaps the most famous scene in the film, decapitates her. It’s a great moment and Cushing imbues it with a sort of grim satisfaction, we may have seen the gentle side of the General to begin with but we now understand why he’s a war hero.

BELOW: JUST weeks after the tragic death of his wife, HELEN, PETER CUSHING plays a NEW HAMMER VAMPIRE FILM role. GUSTAV WEIL, the savior and helper? OR is he just as EVIL as the VAMPIRE COUNT? 

THE FINAL FILM in the Karstein series, 'Twins of Evil', sees Cushing in a role far removed from that in 'The Vampire Lovers'. Here he plays Gustav Weil, a vicious religious fanatic who prowls the local countryside in search of witches to burn. Clearly inspired by 1968’s Witchfinder General and many films that followed in its wake including 'Mark of the Devil' and 'Blood on Satan’s Claw', it’s a rare chance to see Cushing being genuinely terrifying.

EVEN IN FILMS where Cushing plays a villain, there’s usually an element of charm in his performance (his earliest portrayals of Baron Frankenstein) that have his character play out more as an anti-hero. Indeed only Hammer films, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed in 1969, shows him in a position where he plays a character so utterly ruthless as to be genuinely frightening.

OF COURSE as his two young nieces find themselves under the sway of the evil Count Karstein, like the General Weil finds himself turning to the Vampire Hunting trade. In this film’s final moments, Cushing finds himself once again decapitating a vampire and it’s equally spectacular.

PETER CUSHING'S TWO non-Dracula vampire films for Hammer stand among some of the studios most interesting work. Cushing gives great performances in both and though one is clearly superior to the other, are interesting portrayals of Vampire hunters not in the Van Helsing mode.

WRITTEN by CALLUM MCKELVIE
TECH DEVELOPMENT: JAMIE SUMERVILLE
EDITED: MARCUS BROOKS
THE VAMPIRE LOVERS TRAILER: UvaSEP  HERE!

REMINDER OF TUESDAYS TOUGHIE : ANSWER TUESDAY 6TH MARCH!

 

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