PETER CUSHING: The Comfort of Slippers and a CAT! I am sure many of you
will enjoy this rare photograph, of Peter relaxing, not at home... but
sitting in the study of his long time friend and secretary, Joyce
Broughton, in Herne Bay, near Peter's home in Whitstable, Kent. For
those of you who know Peter's work well, I am sure you'll see the
interesting connections in this photograph . . despite the terrible
time his character Wilbur Gray endured in the 1977 film 'The Uncanny',
personally he did have quite a passion and love of animals, birds,
cats, dogs and wildlife. This cat lived in Joyce's home, a family
pet...along with a dog too.
TO MY KNOWLEDGE, neither Peter or his wife Helen, ever had pets at
home . . they preferred to enjoy the children and pets of their friends
. . and have a quiet life! The slippers...well, we ALL know the
connection there, I am sure . . 😊 This photograph was taken by and is the property of photographer Colin Bourner. 😉 Marcus *NOTE the book on the foot stool 😉
HAPPY BIRTHDAY director KEVIN CONNOR . .born today in 1937. He joined
the Amicus films train, a little late in their journey, but in his very
first outing as director, did amazing job on 'From Beyond The Grave' in
1974. It was also the first time he worked with Peter Cushing.
Connor's timing, having served as an editor, brought a tighter beat to
the Amicus style, managing to create what certainly looks like much
higher production values, but I am sure the budget was as tight as ever.
Released during the opening tip -toe, death march steps, of the
collapse and fall of the British film industry.. From Beyond The Grave
arrived a little late, when horror and fantasy films had moved on from
spooky supernatural to full on exorcisms and gore . . though it did
feature the lifting of nasty and mischievous Elemental demon . .
IT WOULD TAKE until the arrive of Home Cinema and the arrival of VHS and
BBC double bills on TV, before it started to get the praise and
recognition it deserved. Conner was also director and working with Peter
on the last Amicus film, 'At The Earth's Core', managing to make a good
ol family feature and get the best from Peter's almost second cousin to
his Dr who. It was a huge production to manage.. at the time filing
most of Pinewood studios lots with staggering jungle sets, caves, lava
and men in suits! Hey! It's for the kids!
SOMEWHERE around this time, Peter stepped in with a guest appearance in
another Connor directed feature called, 'Trail By Combat' aka 'A Dirty
Knights Work' with John Mills... Connor also directed other very popular
Amicus / AIP fantasy films too.. The Land That Time Forgot (1975), The
People That Time Forgot (1977), Warlords of Atlantis (1978) by this
time, Connor was certainly off Milton Subotsky's Christmas card list...
but he did manage one more with Peter Cushing, 'Arabian Adventure' in
1978, with Peter making a guest appearance alongside it's star,
Christopher Lee with...Milo O'Shea, Oliver Tobias, Emma Samms
and...Mickey Rooney!
SINCE THOSE DAYS, Connor now spends most of his time and working and
living in Hollywood directing films like Motel Hell (1980), The House
Where Evil Dwells (1982), Sunset Grill (1993) and Domestic Import
(2006), as well as many TV miniseries and films, including Goliath
Awaits, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, Great Expectations, Diana: Her
True Story, Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story, Mother Teresa: In the Name
of God's Poor, In the Beginning, Frankenstein, Blackbeard, Marco Polo
and many more, as they say...
TODAY, we thank Kevin Connor for bringing out some very entertaining
films which thankfully also included Peter, if not starring, certainly
in the mix. Beyond The Grave for many, is in their top three of the
Amicus portmanteau productions, and deservedly so...as we will all see
when it is released on blu ray by Warner Brothers next month.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEVIN CONNOR, have certainly entertained us, took us
BEYOND the grave, into the CORE, all while certainly making your mark as
part of the Amicus adventure !!
A REMINDER: BACK LAST WEEK we shared the news that Warner Archive had just announced that the Amicus films 'From Beyond The Grave' (1974) . . . . .starring Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasence, David Warner plus a rostra of other stars names, in the true Amicus portmanteau tradition, and directed by Kevin Connor . . was coming to blu-ray. Warner have also announced that this release will be a NEW 2019 1080p HD MASTER too! The SPEC as we have right now is as follows: FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE (1973) Running Time 98:00.Sound Quality DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, 16 X 9 WIDESCREEN: Product Color COLOR Disc Configuration BD 50. TO PLACE YOUR PRE-ORDER JUST CLICK : HERE!
