REMEMBERED IAN SCOONES: EFFECTS WIZARD AND CUSHING OBE

TO MANY IAN SCOONES is a name that would be associated with film and television special effects, working with the LES BOWIE Special Effects team and at the BBC. TV shows like the Hammer House of Horror show, Dr Who. Films like 1984, Thunderbirds working for Hammer films Bray studios, many films in which Peter Cushing appeared like, Frankenstein Created Woman, She, Night Creatures. Ian graduated from the Medway College of Art in 1960 and finding himself without employment, made some inquiries to Peter Cushing, who he had been a fan of, since he was a child. Cushing, in turn after meeting Ian, was instrumental in helping him gain employment with Les Bowie . . and the rest as they say, is history.

IT WAS SOMETHING THAT IAN NEVER FORGOT, that had Peter not helped him on his way, he may never have got a foot in the door, let alone employment, in such a competitive area. It was Ian's idea to sponsor the application, for Peter to be award an OBE, an 'Order of the British Empire' Medal, awarded by the Queen and government of the day, for services to the entertainment industry . . . Here for the first time on this page, is the actual letter that Ian received from the Prime Minister's office, telling him, that Peter Cushing was to be award the OBE . . . quite an achievement! Peter Cushing was extremely surprised and very humbled to receive the news of his award and Ian Scoones made all that possible! From 1994, Ian lived in retirement, first in Spain, then in Bulgaria, where he died on January 20th 2010, aged of 69. We remember Ian today, with thanks. . . 

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#HAMMERFILMSATURDAY AND LAUREL AND HARDY!

ON COMPLETING his first Hollywood film with 'The Man In The Iron Mask' shot in 1939 with 'Frankenstein' director, James Whale, he learned that Hal Roach Studios required English actors for his latest Laurel and Hardy picture, A Chump At Oxford'. Cushing auditioned and was accepted to play the role of Oxford student Jones.

CUSHING worked with the legendary comedy duo for one week. Cushing was very lucky to appear in one of the duos funniest comedies. The film contains some priceless comedy moments. 'A Chump At Oxford' print was later extended for European release by adding a chaotic dinner-party scene during the opening of the film. This was in fact, a remaking of an early Laurel and Hardy silent short form 1928 called ' From Soup to Nuts!'. Sadly Cushing was not included in this addition footage. 

ARRIVING at the collage, they arrive by cab wearing ETON collars, much to the amusement of Cushing and the fellow students, 'But, you are wearing ETON collars' says one of them. 'Well, that's swell..' says Stan, '..We haven't EATEN since breakfast!'. It's noticeable that Cushing gets more lines than the fellow students, possibly because he was the only genuine English sounding actor there! He looks every inch a star, with his pencil mustache, waved hair and his rakish mortar board hat. CATCH A CHUMP AT OXFORD in co,our just uploaded to our PCAS YOUTUBE Channel!

#HAMMERFILMSATURDAY: TWO great peeps behind the scenes on Hammer films, 'Dracula Has Risen From The Grave' (68) Veronica Carlson up in the roof top set and Les Bowies, 'Dracula's Remains!'

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NEW! HOW ILM BROUGHT TARKIN AND PETER CUSHING BACK TO THE SCREEN: SPOILERS!

NEW! SPOILERS! AN AMAZING short of just how INDUSTRIAL LIGHT AND MAGIC brought Peter Cushing's Grand Moff Tarkin back to the big screen in #STARWARS #ROGUEONE !

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GARETH EDWARDS AND TEAM WERE NERVOUS OF CGI CHARACTER FOR ROGUE ONE

CONFIRMATION CUSHING ESTATE WAS INVOLVED WITH ROGUE ONE TARKIN

Kathleen Kennedy on the set of Rogue One with Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed and Producer Allison Shearmur Credit: Jonathan Olley

THE TELEGRAPH NEWSPAPER UK 16th December 2016: 

#STARWARS producer Kathleen Kennedy has confirmed that the Cushing estate was involved in the CGI appearance of Peter Cushing in the film  #ROGUEONE. She has revealed in an interview with The Telegraph that the technology was full of "small, subtle adjustments – constant conversation and scrutiny". But Cushing's family only saw the final result at the London premiere of the film.

"WE WERE RIGHT DOWN to the wire,” she said. "And it never came down to one thing. If we tweaked one aspect, it threw something else off."

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#ONSETSATURDAY: DALEKS AND WEREWOLVES!

#ONSETSATURDAY Peter Cushing with Calvin Lockhart shooting THE BEAST MUST DIE (1974) for Amicus films. This film was the last horror film produced by Amicus which had the involvement of co-founder Milton Subotsky. Despite director Paul Annett's objections, producer Milton Subotsky (who hated the film) insisted on the werewolf break gimmick where the viewer is invited to guess who the werewolf is. Due to the film's small budget, the werewolf was played by a German Shepherd. . . . see on the thread below...!

It's a DOG! It's An GERMAN SHEPHERD! It's...a werewolf?????

#ONSETSATURDAY: Bernard Cribbins and Jill Curzon during the making of the SECOND Cushing Dr Who Dalek movie, Daleks Invasion Earth 2150AD. Produced for a estimated budget of £286,000, the 'end of the world locations' for this film were, the Thames River side jetty at Battersea church Road London, and the derelict Bendy Toy factory, Ashford, Kent, England, UK ! TRIVIA: When Tom (Cribbins) and the Doctor (Cushing) are searching the warehouse in the film, for a crowbar, Tom is ACTUALLY carrying one in his hand!

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#TBT '?UOY PLEH I YAM' CUSHING TOP SECRET!

#‎tbt‬ RELEASED JUNE 1984, Peter Cushing in 'TOP SECRET'. When Peter Cushing first appears in his scene, he is looking through a magnifying glass, pretty much the same way he had done in countless other films. The trick in this case is, when he lowers the glass...his eye REMAINS HUGE!

'FORWARDS,BACKWARDS, it's all the same to me,' said Peter Cushing in the film's pressbook, 'I've done so many pictures by now that I try to do what's asked of me to the best of my abilities and trust that all is well. My scene in 'Top Secret' was a very interesting exercise in technique and I enjoyed it very much...' Even though his scene is brief, the amount of prep and time spent on his make up appliance and the rehearsing and blocking of shooting his dialogue and action ..BACKWARDS... must have taken considerable time and effort. How do you think it LOOKED??

... THE GUY on the bottom left is STUART FREEBORN make up artist who made the Cushing prosthetic... he is also quite famous for something else... do you know what that is??

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TOOCOOLTUESDAY : ROY ASHTON'S MONSTER MAKE UPS

#TOOCOOLTUESDAY Carry on from yesterday's post about make up artist's Roy Ashton's 'tailor's dummy'... here is a cool montague of Roy at work. Photograph A is me at Elstree watching Roy making some werewolf ears! Take a look at the other pics here and see if you can work out any of the films he is working on, or can you name any of those 'bits and pieces' of monsters??? ANSWERS LATER..

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CUSHING CLIP: MYSTERY ON MONSTER ISLAND

OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL is now open, and here is a recent upload and a clip that was shared on our Peter Cushing Appreciation Society Facebook Fan Page yesterday, for our #throwbackthursday post.

IT'S PETER CUSHING in the rarely seen film, Mystery on Monster Island (1980) loosely based on a Jules Verne novel and co-starring Terence Stamp....... It wasn't so  well received at the time, and certainly makes you think about who the producers were aiming this film at? For the kids, this was a miss. The special effects are quite dated, when you think families had been treated to the wonders of Indiana Jones and Star Wars sequels around this time. As you can see from the screen cap below, we are back in the land of At The Earth's Core-men-in-suits-monsters, and the whole film seems likely inspired by the Kevin Conner/John Dark monster-fantasy productions that began with THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT (1975) and ended with WARLORDS OF ATLANTIS (1978). BUT we do have Cushing, it's brief, but as usual even this late in his career...classy and he LOOK good too, take a look at  his script below, and again we see his knowledgeable hand in the choices of costume and  his props.

MYSTERY ON MONSTER ISLAND CAST:
Ian Sera (Jeff Morgan), Terence Stamp (Taskinar/Skinner), Peter Cushing (William T. Kolderup), David Hatton (Thomas Artelect), Gasphar Ipua (Carefinatu), Blanca Estrada (Dominique Blanchard), Ana Obregon (Meg), Frank Brana (Birling), Paul Naschy (Flynt), Gerard Tichy (Captain Turkott)
Directed by Juan Piquer Simon.

WHAT WE DIDN'T SEE! DRACULA 58 HARKER'S VAMPIRE #MONSTERMONDAY

Today's MONSTERMONDAY features something that has been part of Hammer films lore for as long as I can remember. With the emergence of unseen publicity stills and contact sheets from Hammer films 1958 Dracula, the prompting of all kinds of theories around the missing or censored shots from the final cut of the film can be read on many forums on the net. The release of the remastered blu ray a few years ago, caused a few of us to smile smugly about the inclusion of the footage of Dracula's disintegration. We suspected it was shot, the problem was finding it! Most of that hunch was based on a colour photograph of Lee's Dracula in the final moments of the film, lying on the floor wearing make up that hinted of another stage in his grisly death appearance.

The still of John Van Eyssen as Jonathan Harker in our banner, hints at maybe something similar. We know the character is bitten by Valerie Gaunt, we see Peter Cushing's Van Helsing stake him, finding him in the castle crypt and judging by Van Helsing's grimace on looking on his vampire state, he wasn't a pretty sight! For whatever reason, what Van Helsing saw, was snipped out of prints for the European market. Though, it could have been included in the Japanese print, which provided the source of the missing footage of Dracula's death. As reels 1,2,3 were rendered unusable and damaged after finding the print, the scene where this shot appeared in the feature, was lost to us. Many argue the point that this shot was never included in ANY print, it was never shot...but I'll go with the point I made when the Dracula death photograph was found...Director Terence Fisher I suspect, would not have spent time setting up this scene, without shooting it. Time was premium at Hammer and was never wasted. Cushing himself has stated multiple takes were rare, because of costs...and I can't see Anthony Hinds signing off on a SFX - Make Up head of Harker, with no intention of using it! Hammer did not waste money on a budget that was already tight...

VALERIE GAUNT as the Vampire Woman from

Hammer films'Dracula' / 'Horror of Dracula' (1958)

 ...and Harker's VAMPIRE undead-head at the left

 of the photograph...

 Dracula (1958 film) Hammer Horror from Warner Bros. Christopher Lee

 

Still it looks great, a pity we have yet to see this shot in the film. There is further evidence of this make up head in a publicity photograph of Valerie Gaunt, included in the thread below. It's an interesting pic and story...and for that reason alone, we present it as this week's icky item for ‪#‎MONSTERMONDAY‬ ...what do you think? - Marcus
 

Hammer Horror from Warner Bros. Christopher Lee Horror Film 

THE YOUNG PETER CUSHING AND THE 49TH PARALLEL

A little bit of fun this morning on the our Peter Cushing Appreciation Society Facebook Fan Page concerning Peter Cushing's time in Canada during 1940 and staying at the YMCA while trying to find work.

Cushing Connections: The film the 49th Parallel staring Leslie Howard, Laurence Olivier who can tell us the PETER CUSHING connection with this film??? And how he nearly got himself arrested?? 

ANSWER

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MONSTERMONDAY RETURNS

REQUESTED! We are never short of requests, photographs and features to post, sometimes it gets a little busy with competitions to schedule and features, so we drop a regular feature for a while. But following quite a few enquiries about  '#Monster Monday'... by your request, I am sure you'll be pleased to hear, today, we are bringing it back! So, please send us your requests for images and photographs of your favourite monsters, creations and stuffs from the bowels of hell! It's great if it's is a monster from a Cushing film, but this time around, we are extending it to ANY monster...from ANY film. Let's expand our knowledge of nasties!

Remember, this is your website. I am very grateful for any suggestions for features, requests or photographs...anything you think would make our page extra special. So, your MONSTERS please! We'll pick the best for today and the following Monday's.

 

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SKULLS ROLLER SKATES AND IMAGINATION : WIN EUREKAS AMICUS NIGHTMARE 'THE SKULL' HERE

Anyone watching Amicus Films, THE SKULL starring the grand masters of terror, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee would not fail to be impressed by some of pretty nifty camerawork and special effects. Effects and trickery, that one wouldn't expect to see on a film with such a limited budget.

So, just how did they achieve that floating camera effect? This was way before the arrival of the 'Steadicam', a tool so commonly used in films today, one no longer takes notice of those effortless guiding tracking shots. What looked great and was a groundbreaker, on the steps of the city hall, where Sylvester 'Rocky' Stallone runs through the city and leaps up those steps, the camera following him ALL the way, is now taken for granted. But back in 1965, the laying of tracks and hiring of camera cranes took time and money. Money and time that this film, did not have.

Well, take a look at the photograph above. That's director Freddie Francis, award winning cinematographer, who even back then, obviously stood by the old adage of, 'I wouldn't ask you to do anything, that I wasn't prepared to do myself! The camera was required to glide and give us an effortless 'Point-of-View' shot, as if the camera were the 'Skull' floating across the room. For this, to be achieved cheaply and effectively, Francis strapped on a pair of rollerskates, had a simple harness made, which secured the camera to his chest. With a gentle push from an assistant, and another holding him steady, both camera and camera operator as one, glided across the hard studio floor, as if on ice!

If you remember, the camera while floating was actually looking THROUGH the 'Skull's' eye socket! For this, Francis had a simple light weight 'mask' made of paper-mache, bolted onto a framework, that held the sockets, in front of the camera lens. Enabling, the camera to see THROUGH the sockets!

Cheap? Yes. Eccentric looking? Yes. Effective? Certainly. And THE SKULL looks all the better for it. They say, 'Necessity is the mother of invention!'. Indeed, when there is no money in the pot, the script is 30 mins short, skilled technicians like Freddie Francis, found a way.

Amicus films, THE SKULL is a master class in how to get the most from your director and cast, with as little money as possible. Producer, Milton Subotsky made sure his productions that had casts, that some main features, with triple his budget, could only dream of. The secret, was to write characters that only appeared in three or four scenes, before you either kill them off or they leave the action. This is how THE SKULL boasts a cast of Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough, Patrick Wymark, Jill Bennett, Nigel Green and Peter Woodthorpe. The wonderful thing about Amicus productions is, they may not have cost much to make, but I suspect every penny, and we may well be talking about pennies here... is up there on the screen!

You can WIN one of THREE copies up for grabs in our SKULL COMPETITION. A brand new, remastered BLU RAY and DVD DUO package, from EUREKA! Check out the panel below, answer the question and send it to us at theblackboxclub@gmail.com ... and try your luck. Like Freddie and the effects team, have a go, you could be right. You might just crack it!

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED HERE ARE THE WINNERS!

You can PREORDER your copy of THE SKULL blu ray/dvd dual edition RIGHT NOW from AMAZON.CO UK. HERE 

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