'RARE LESSER SEEN PETER CUSHING SEASON': SOME MAY LIVE (1967)

SPOILERS: Here's a little PCAS exclusive, to start our 'Lesser Seen Peter Cushing Season'. 'SOME MAY LIVE' isn't a film you will see mentioned in many books on Cushing, if it is it will be a short synopsis, cast and distributor. It's a title that has out foxed most researchers, and has sadly been largely forgotten since it's short release by UK distributors Butchers in August 1967. Unlike many Vietnam War dramas, 'Some May Live' was produced while the War was still very much rolling on.

PRODUCED AT A TIME when GB was starting to feel the economic pinch and studios were looking for cheaper pot-boilers to bring in much needed work and finance, Foundation Pictures Krasne Entertainments, were looking for a film that could package Hollywood actors for the US market and secure a name for the home shores too, they offered Peter Cushing the leading role of John Meredith, shortly after he had wrapped work on Hammer films , 'Frankenstein Created Woman' at Bray studios and 'Night of the Big Heat' both with director Terence Fisher. Here Cushing is directed by Vernon Sewell, who in a just few weeks after completing this film, would go on to direct Cushing in 'Tigon films 'The Blood Beast Terror'.

'SOME MAY LIVE' tells the story of Kate Meredith, a decoder for American intelligence, who is compelled by her foreign correspondent husband, to give him classified information, which is then passed on to the Viet Cong. She is plagued with guilt, especially after her activities lead to an attempted assassination of a U. S. senator. In addition, she becomes disillusioned by her marriage and has an affair with the assistant to a high level army intelligence official. She becomes persuaded to relay false information to her husband even though she knows that it will likely result in his execution by the Communists. 

IT'S A GOOD WATCH, an entertaining film, with Hollywood actors Joseph Cotten and Martha Hyer adding name value, weight and drama, Cushing gets to flex some character muscles we don't see that often, which makes some scenes worth the watch in itself . .. MORE titles to come and another 'Lesser Seen' Peter Cushing film, next Wednesday...HERE! MANY thanks to film collector and archivist JEAN LAYETTE for helping us bring this little gem to your attention..You'll be hearing much about Jean in the coming weeks! MERCI JEAN!

ABOVE: One of the RARE airings of #SOMEMAYLIVE 

on television in 1993

TRIVIA: What is the connection between THS FILM and the BBC tv series, 'MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS'? 

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TROY HOWARTH REVIEWS: A LIFE IN FILM: PETER CUSHING DAVID MILLER

Of all the actors, writers or directors associated with the horror genre, arguably the most beloved and admired as a human being is Peter Cushing.  Much of this stems from the multiple accounts of his good nature and professionalism.  Unlike his frequent co-star and good friend Christopher Lee, he seldom spoke ill of the films he appeared in.  He approached each role with dedication.  Surviving documents show that his preparation was remarkably detailed, right down to the choice of costumes and hair pieces.  He was, by all accounts, a class act.  Like so many people who have been enshrined, however, the reality is somewhat more complex - yet it is seldom reported, let alone alluded to.  A number of writers have tried to come to grips with Cushing and his legacy, but few have attempted anything beyond the most routine of biographies, with an emphasis on the many films (91, in total) he completed between 1939 and his death in 1994 at the age of 81.  David Miller's book Peter Cushing: A Life in Film would have seemed an ideal opportunity to paint a proper portrait of the man himself, but it, too, charts a safer course.

 

The book kicks off with a loving introduction by Cushing's co-star from Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed and The Ghoul, Veronica Carlson.  Carlson was able to get to know Cushing before the death of his beloved wife Helen, and she also saw how her passing affected him when he appeared at his most forlorn in The Ghoul.  She notes the change in his character and recounts her time with him with genuine affection.

After that, Miller takes over with a bit of biographical background.  Miller's prose is engaging enough, but he fails to dig beneath the surface or ask any probing questions about his subject.  Instead, we are subjected to the usual portrait of Cushing as a hale fellow well met - a reputation which was undoubtedly well earned, but which doesn't allow one to really understand him and what made him tick.  As a biography, the book doesn't really bring anything new to the table - we hear much the same anecdotes that have cropped up in the other books on Cushing, thus giving the book a sense of deja vu.

Miller is more successful at charting the films and Cushing's meticulous work therein, though even here he resists the urge to buck convention by towing the conventional line that the actor was always at the top of his game.  The closest he gets to being openly critical is in his write up of the minor Vernon Sewell cold war thriller Some May Live (1967), which does indeed feature Cushing in one of his less memorable performances.  Cushing's rather difficult-to-take "old duffer" portrayals in the Dr. Who films and At The Earth's Core would appear to be as accomplished as his iconic turns as Dr. Van Helsing and Baron Frankenstein in this context, but ultimately it is very much a matter of opinion.

 

Ultimately, one doesn't wish to be too hard on Miller or his efforts.  Writing about Cushing is a difficult task.  He is so revered, so beloved, that any attempt to cut through the cliché and find the three-dimensional human being underneath is bound to be met with suspicion, even hostility.  Miller doesn't elect to take that approach and one can't really fault him much for it - after all, he is a true blue fan and his passion for the subject is evident on every page.  The end result may not be the definitive tome on Cushing, but that's perfectly OK.  It's an enjoyably breezy read, beautifully illustrated, which allows one to take in the diversity of Cushing's career - which went well beyond the confines of low budget genre fare for Hammer and Amicus.  The folks at Titan Press are to be congratulated for making this such a polished and classy looking production, one befitting the nature of its subject only too well. 

Troy Howarth

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