HAPPY BIRTHDAY ACTOR DAVID WARNER : THE OMEN : STRAW DOGS : TIME BANDITS AND FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE

PLEASE JOIN US in wishing DAVID WARNER a Very Happy Birthday Today! Warner's Cushing connection is the role of Edward Charlton (segment 1 "The Gate Crasher") in Amicus films 'From Beyond The Grave' in 1974. A great story, a fine performance...particularly enjoyed his play with Cushing in the Temptations Ltd store... but what a sticky end!

Andrew Coupe who writes at the Fan Page ' A really nice guy. He told me he wasn’t a fan of horror films as he finds them too scary!'

Steven Christina who says of his meeting with David Warner 'I was lucky enough to meet 2 years ago. Had a lovely chat with him. Really friendly guy.

WARNER'S breakthrough role on screen was his lead performance in the Karel Reisz film Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment, for which he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

'I KNOW SOME ACTORS TAKE ACTING TERRIBLY SERIOUSLY. I TAKE IT SERIOUSLY IN THAT, IF SOMEONE PAYS ME TO DO IT, I KNOW I HAVE TO DELIVER! : David Warner

There were certain young actors I had trained with at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art who had always got the big parts and I was always the spear-carrier. Suddenly the roles were reversed and I couldn't understand why, and nor could they. David Warner
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/david-warner-quotes

WARNER HAS ALWAYS BEEN QUITE A DIVERSE actor, who has portrayed both romantic leads and villainous characters across a range of films, including The Ballad of Cable Hogue, Straw Dogs, Cross of Iron, The Omen, Holocaust, The Thirty Nine Steps, Time After Time, Time Bandits, Tron, A Christmas Carol, Portrait in Evil.

Andy McNeill meets David Warner at a signing!

WARNER HAS ALSO DRAWN quite the following for his performances in 'Star Trek The Final Frontier', then as Gorkon the chancellor of the Klingon High Council in 'Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country' and as Gul Madred in the 'Star Trek The Next Generation' episodes "Chain of Command Pt. I & Pt. II"

'IF PEOPLE ARE GIVEN GOOD QUALITY STUFF TO WATCH... THEY

WATCH IT! David Warner

Tricia Hayes with David Warnerwho says on the Facebook PCASUK Fan Page 'Happy birthday, such a lovely man and fantastic actor!'

TODAY THE ANNOUNCEMENT of David Warner's Birthday, has brought quite a crowd, sharing their appreciation of roles and his very friendly and approachable attitude to fans who meet him at signings and conventions. Here's to many more years and superb entertainment, from quite a gentleman who always brings very interesting and entertaining work to the screen... Happy Birthday David Warner!

COME JOIN US AT THE FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE,where everyone is welcome, to celebrate the life and career of Peter Cushing, with features, rare photographs, prize competitions and much more.... JUST CLICK HERE!

LEGENDS PORTRAIT : THE SHERLOCK STAMP : KUNG FU FOR U WITH BITE???

POSTED AT THE FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE WITH OVER A 1,000 LIKES, is this fine full colour photograph, that I am sure you have seen many time in black and white by the late and super talented photographer, Terry O'Neil. Four legends in this pic, . . #PeterCushing, #VincentPrice, #ChristopherLee and #JohnCarradine in 'House of Long Shadows' (1983)... each left us with a stellar filmography, full of variety and cinematic history... .... I've been asking, could you select THE film that you think, in your personal opinion was the pinnacle of their movie careers though??? Suggestions please at the post on our Facebook Fan Page !

ON #SHERLOCKSUNDAY at the FAN PAGE we posted when Peter Cushing's Sherlock, got the 'stamp' of approval . . 

ON SUNDAY TOO lots of interest, when we posted this :Today we are wishing HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the lovely ALICE KRIGE. Her first feature film role was in Chariots of Fire (1981) as the Gilbert and Sullivan singer Sybil Gordon.

Some of her best known roles are the dual role of Eva Galli/Alma Mobley in Ghost Story (1981) ,Mary Brady in Stephen Kings Sleepwalkers (1992) and the Borg Queen in the Star Trek franchise, beginning with the film Star Trek: First Contact and then reprising the role in the Star Trek Voyager finale 'Endgame'.

She co-starred with Peter Cushing in A Tale of Two Cities (1980) as Lucie Manette..... 

ON MONDAY we posted this and marked this BIRTHDAY! Join us today in wishing DAVID CHIANG a VERY Happy Birthday! David Chiang Da-wei was born on the 29th June 1947 in Shanghai, (Republic of China) Chiang is a very famous actor and director, producer in Hong Kong. Chiang was very much a martial arts superstar in the 1970s, working under the Shaw Brothers Studio. He has appeared in over 130 films and over 30 television series.

IN 1974, Chiang starred along side Peter Cushing in Hammer films first of two co-partner feature films with Hong Kong based studio, Shaw Brothers. 'The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires' Peter for the last time resurrected his character of Van Helsing, and together with Chiang, Julie Ege and Robin Stewart, took on an oriental Dracula played by actor John Forbes Robertson and a hoard of Kung Fu zombie vampires!

PCASUK ON FACEBOOK COME SEE COME JOIN! HERE! 

CALLUM MCKELVIE REVIEWS : A TALE OF TWO CITIES : CUSHING KRIGE AND SARADON

At least in my experience, 1980’s A Tale of Two Cities, often seems to receive decidedly little discussion by Cushing fans. Perhaps due to it not receiving an official UK DVD release, being a TV movie and not part of an established fan-base (such as many of his Horror films, Star Wars and the Dr Who movies) it has slipped into obscurity. This is a shame because (along with 1984’s The Masks of Death) it’s not only one of his last great roles but one of his very best performances. 

The two cities of the title are of course London and Paris, with the film taking place in the run-up to the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror. It tells the story of Dr. Manette (Cushing), a man wrongly imprisoned in the Bastille for eighteen years. He has never met his daughter Lucy, who now remains in England. The film follows events concerning them and Lucie’s lover, Charles Damay who has an uncanny double in Sydney Carton who (you guessed it) also loves her. I’ll keep the plot explanation brief for those who have yet to see today’s upload!

The adaptation was the tenth film/television version of Charles Dickens novel, and was produced by Hallmark Hall of Fame who assigned Jim Goddard to direct. By this point, Goddard was well known as the director of the original The Black Stuff the play that went on to launch the Boys from the Black Stuff series and had made a name for himself as a successful TV Movie director. Hallmark appear to have splashed out as the film is lavishly produced, with impressive sets and large crowd scenes. Oddly enough the production was criticised for showing: ‘Little sense of the mob, or of an overall social sweep’[1], though I found this to be one of its strengths! Scenes showing the general poverty (such as one where a crowd sups wine from the floor) are amongst the adaptions most powerful. Whatever was felt to be its misgivings, it was nominated for both an Emmy and the Golden Globes in 1981, though it won neither. 

Cushing himself is on top form and I in particular count it among his best performances. One particular scene in which Cushing meeting his Daughter for the first time, is arguably his most moving portrayal of a character. Having been a prisoner for so many years, he has become frail and senile, almost at breaking point from the years of imprisonment. It really does stand amongst his best work and considering that this happens within the first ten minutes, you really have to prepare yourself for what is a pretty emotional ride! The really genius of Cushing’s performance however is how he shows his character of Manette slowly regaining a lot of his self-esteem and confidence, culminating in a rousing sequence where he urges the crowd to free an innocent man and take him instead. Unsurprisingly, Cushing steals the show!

The supporting cast is full of recognisable faces. Chris Sarandon, perhaps most well known as Jerry Dandrige in Fright Night (1985) and the voice of Jack Skellington in The Nightmare before Christmas (1993), plays the dual roles of Lawyer Sydney Carton and Charles Dannay, providing a few recognisable differences for the audience between the two. 

Alice Krige, who would later become primarily known as the Borg Queen plays Manettes Daughter Lucie. Kenneth More puts in a memorable performance as Dr Jarvis Lorry, all the more astounding considering he was suffering from Parkinson’s disease. However, Billie Whitelaw…nearly very nearly manages to steal the show from Cushing with her malicious Madame Defarge. Whitelaw, channelling a completely different type of viciousness to that that gave her such power as Mrs Baylock in the Omen, being utterly repulsive yet utterly watchable.

There are a few notable Cushing connections in some of the supporting cast and bit-players. Robert Urquhart, who appeared alongside Peter Cushing in The Curse of Frankenstein as Paul Krempe, has a very small role as the Chief Adjudicator whilst Kevin Stoney (from The Blood Beast Terror) appears as the Chief Lord Justice. Also look out for a very young and pre- Poirot David Suchet In his first on-screen role.

One another odd note, very possibly it was scheduling conflicts with this film that stopped Cushing appearing in Lucio Fulci’s The Black Cat (1981)[2]. Though the actual reasons are unknown, it is perhaps something of a blessing.

It’s hard to believe Cushing would have been comfortable with Fulci’s penchant for extreme gore and we would have missed out on a role that is both a joy to watch and one that was clearly very close to his heart.

As previously stated the film has no official UK DVD or Blu-Ray release, but Shout! Factory did put out a very good Blu-Ray that is currently still available in the US.

WATCH THE FILM WHOLE  ABOVE!

Screen Caps and Gifs: Jamie Somerville
Feature: :Callum McKelvie.
Callum McKelvie, is the new head features writer at the Peter Cushing Appreciation Society. You can read more of his reviews and features here at the PCAS website, and shortly at the relaunched THEBLACKBOXCLUB.COM website and Black Box Club Facebook Fan Page. 

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[1] Miller, David: Peter Cushing: A Life in Film p161

[1] Glavin, John: Dickens on Screen, p213 

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