AND FROM SHERLOCK HOLMES TOO! RARE BBC SHERLOCK VINTAGE AUTOGRAPHS!

#PETERCUSHING #AUTOGRAPHS : The 'going rate' for Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee autographs has always been quite heathy, for those who trade in such memorabilia. After BOTH Cushing's and Lee's passing, as one would expect, the value of their signed notes and 'best wishes' certainly went UP in value. For the past 20 years a signed photograph of Cushing has remained steady, with prices from £150 to £250. Many would include, after the passing of his wife, Helen in 1971 to include the sentiment of 'May God's Blessing Be With You Always, In All Sincerity,  Peter Cushing' That's NOT Force but God's Blessing' 😉 IF the signature also included a dedication of, for example 'To Fred' or 'To Aunty Mary', it would carry a value of  LESS than a autograph WITHOUT a dedication! All autographs, without the 'May God's Blessing' inscription, pre-1971 always carry more value, even if the autograph is JUST his signature, on a piece of paper or a photograph!

THE AUTOGRAPH that most are seeking these days of course is Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin from 'Star Wars' ... most desirable, with a dedication. These have sold for between £2,500 and £3,000.. again, in all these 'market-places' something is only worth, what I guess what they WILL actually pay for it.. unless either person sadly gets duped..and there are many, like THIS example of a .... FAKE!

ABOVE ANOTHER SHADY FAKE!... If you have a Peter Cushing autograph, enjoy it, look after it and keep it safe 😉A Tale of Caution : A few years ago, a very dedicated Hammer film and Cushing fan got in touch wanting some advice, on what I thought MAYBE the value of his EIGHT signed photographs of Peter Cushing... 'Well, I am no expert but I can take a look' says I 😊 So, I asked him how did he come across them, 'I bought them years ago from collectors!' he said. 'Are they in good condition' I asked. 'Oh yes...!' said he, 'I will take a photograph of them all now, laid out on the table, for you too see them' he replied. After twenty minutes, an email arrived of a grand display of all eight colour 10x8 photographs, laid out and all catching the light, from the living room window, upon their... plastic lamented SEALED covering!!! Eight colour photographs : Signed amazing! Sealed in plastic, every one of them : worthless.... 😮☹️😖 😢- Marcus

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QUOTES OF VALUE : CUSHING AND LEE : RARE DARTH AND TARKIN PHOTOGRAPH

A RARE SHOT and pose of #PeterCushing and #DaveProwse in #STARWARS ..that you won't see in the film, this was taken by the production stills photographer. What a terrifying duo!

PETER CUSHING'S  Golden Rule . . . Over at the Facebook PCASUK Fan Page we are asking if our friends and followers have one too?

 . . . AND SO AFTER PETER CUSHING'S ADVICE  . .  #ChristopherLee's. . .

IF YOU HAVE MISSED IT . .  there are still a few days to get YOUR answer in at the Facebook PCASUK Fan Page 😊 Good Luck and .. have fun! - Marcus 

RICHARD E GRANT THE INSPIRATION FOR GENERAL PRYDE AND A SELECTION OF CHOICE BLU RAY AND DVD CASES

A VERY POPULAR POST AT the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE! right now. I wonder if any of you missed this message from actor Richard E Grant last year too? How wonderful for Peter Cushing to still be inspiring others, '..in his moment of triumph' 😉 The 'HEAD in the BOX' here is the amazing bust figure of Cushing's Tarkin, by Californian based sculptor Jordu Schell. It still stands as an amazing work of art!

AT THE FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE TODAY, I asked our friends and followers, how many of them have a collection of #PeterCushing DVD's or Blu Rays. The answers of YES or No, came flooding, which paved the way for our next post today, 'Can You Tell Us YOUR favourite TOP THREE covers to your Cushing Blu Rays, DVD's or even VHS or BETA  releases'. Everyone was asked to maybe send in selfies of the covers, so everyone could enjoy and identify their choices too! It's a post that is slowly growing, right now. The choices have been interesting, with everything from the Final Cut blu ray 'Captain Clegg and the dvd 'The Abominable Snowman' to the Second Sight twin release of 'The House That Dripped Blood' and  'Asylum' limited editions to covers featured on the front of lesser known European releases! This is how the feature was kick-started . . .

"I KNOW MOST OF YOU out there have told me today, you are the proud owners of several gems of #PeterCushing dvd's, #blurays and even #VHS films. Some of you have just started collecting, others have been adding 'case by case' to that series of sagging shelves or book cases for decades. . ." 

WELL, THIS ISN'T ABOUT the quality of the film INSIDE, this is all about and focusing on that little extra value you expect these days, when you purchase the release. The COVER DESIGN! It's no longer enough for distributors to just slap a 30 - 50 year old #cinema poster on the front of the case. We want something that looks amazing! So, from your private collection, be it blu ray, dvd or indeed VHS or Beta box, show us your THREE favourite Cushing film cases designs. It's your choices, for whatever reason, but I would love to know why you made those choices? 😊Take a #selfie or pic or even use ads or promo posts of the cases covers, it's your choice. #JUSTTHREE!"
 

ABOVE : A SECTION FROM THE FEATURE ON THE FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE 'I do not know the other cases of releases. I am guessing both are collections and compilations. Someone did send me scans of the sleeves though a while ago now. I do like the gamble of lesser known distributors releases though. They take more risks with their case sleeve designs, usually working with limited resource visuals. The one on the far left looks like they didn't have the resource to check what they had to work with, so flipped the lovely colour photograph of Peter. A habit some of the tabloid UK newspapers and magazines still have a annoying knack of doing, based on the weird rule of things looking into the spine of the pages!! So buttons on coats along with breast pockets, facial moles and hair partings are the wrong way around!' 

FINALLY ABOVE! I'll throw this one in, just because it's quite rare that a vintage #PeterCushing film gets the whole 'triple treat-treament' : blu ray extras, restoration and #STEELBOOK package with #GrahamHumphries artwork cover! This was the work of Screenbound Films in #2016, who very generously donated TWO of these beauties for me to offer up as prizes in a promotional PCASUK #competition. I cried and waved goodbye, when they were packed and dropped into the sack at the post office, for our two very lucky winners!

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TIGHT BOOTS AND THE TARKIN TEN TOES!

UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH WE CAN REVEAL TODAY!

 

TALKING TARKIN : WHEN FAN ASKS MARK HAMILL THE BURNING QUESTION!

WHEN A FAN RECENTLY asked Mark Hamill on Twitter which actor from Star Wars he wished Luke could've shared a scene with if there was a chance, Hamill posted a touching reply. Not only did Hamill start with the late and great Peter Cushing, who played Grand Moff Tarkin, but he said basically everyone else from the films, calling out the sequel trilogy actors in particular. In a funny way it's a quintessential Luke Skywalker response 😊

REMEMBERING CARRIE FISHER PLUS THE MOMENT TARKIN HIT A TONGUE-TWISTER!

TODAY, WE ARE REMEMBERING  on her birthday the lovely Carrie Fisher a woman, who was never dull, touched all she met, was a mountain of energy and fun and yet sadly, like many of us, carried another life, that sometimes worked against her, making even the sunniest of days, dark and exhausting. Many here of course will know her connection to Peter Cushing, through the movie, STAR WARS 

WITH CUSHING playing the evil TARKIN and Carrie the vulnerable PRINCESS LEIA Tarkin, together they played a key scene, with Peter cranking up his performance, as the cruel and most Machiavellian of characters in the Star Wars universe. Carrie later shared how difficult it had been for her to find the motivation, to hate Peter's Tarkin. She too,like many before her, had been charmed and moved, by his kindness and manner on set, it was quite a task to actually say those lines. Even though she left us a wonderful library of work on screen and on the page, it's a weird feeling, knowing, she isn't around to cheer us up and make us laugh in her interviews. As a teen she was my first crush, she dazzled and shone very brightly . . on screen and in life, a real Princess! 😊 We remember Carrie today . ..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK HAMILL : VIDEO 'WHEN SKYWALKER MET TARKIN!'

IT'S A VERY Happy Birthday to actor Mark Hamill we post today 😃 Hamill who is probably best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars Films and the role of providing the voice behind the animated BATMAN series of The Joker .

HAMILL co-starred with Peter Cushing in the first Star Wars film 'A New Hope' (1977) However, Hamill was disappointed to learn that he had no scenes with Peter's character Grand Moff Tarkin, so he took the time to visit the set on the days Peter was working, to meet with him.

PACKED WITH CLIPS interviews, rare behind the scenes footage, films and EXCLUSIVE features. The Peter Cushing Appreciation Society YOUTUBE CHANNEL is now OPEN and FOR YOU! Just CLICK HERE!

NEW CLIP: HOW ARE THINGS IN GUATEMALA? THE LAST MEETING OF PETER CUSHING AND CHRISTOPHER LEE

AS PROMISED as part of today's Peter Cushing Birthday Celebrations.. here is a brand new, freshly edited addition to the series, 'Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee : The Last Meeting' I hope you enjoy it 🙂 This candid footage was shot on a camcorder, without prep, tripod or lighting. The day was May 17th 1994 and the location at a small studio in Canterbury, a short distance from Peter's home in Whitstable. At just under ten minutes long, it's our longest clip and is probably the most interesting. There is of course lots of Peter enjoying himself, laughing, weeping with giggles and Christopher Lee once again crushing any theories of what many though was, a man with no sense of humor! Here we see Lee present Cushing with a birthday card, Peter admits he has one for Lee too, and will save the cost of a postage stamp! 

BOTH CUSHING, LEE AND VINCENT PRICES'S birthdays were just over a week away. It would be Cushing last, a point that is poignantly given pause when with black humor Cushing asks Lee a question that, for once Lee bound with emotion, found very hard to give a reply, and defuses it with humor. Cushing almost blows the gaff on a some private work, Lee was undertaking on a film featuring Rasputin, their love of Warner Bros cartoons and their shared appreciation of actor, singer and comedian 'Snoozzle' Duarnte is displayed again, to great enjoyment and Cushing howls. Cushing introduces again, his assistant and close friend Joyce Broughton, to Lee, and asks for a 'Scotty' nose tissue! Cushing also floors Lee with a question about Guatemala! There is much to see and enjoy, and for first time too, we get to see the man who brought Peter and Christopher together for this day, Ted Newsom.

YOU'LL FIND THE WHOLE TWELVE CLIP PLAY LIST at the PCASUK YOUTUBE Channel RIGHT HERE! 

IT WAS TED NEWSOM'S IDEA to bring Lee and Cushing together for one last time to record the narration for his great tv documentary, 'Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror'. We have him to thank really for making this meeting possible. There is also a interesting piece on Lee being interviewed about his thoughts on remaking the Hammer film, 'The Devil Rides Out' There's lots to see and I hope you enjoy this clip . . feel free to leave your comments on this in the thread below, feel free to share with others and have fun, THEY most certainly did 😉😊 - Marcus (pcasuk)

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU TODAY! TARKIN BANNER!

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU TODAY . . and always 😉😊 . . . Tarkin's not too happy about it, but over at the Facebook PCASUK Fan Page we are asking, 'How will you spend yours?

DO YOU STILL HAVE THIS KENNER FIGURE?

THE KENNER Peter Cushing TARKIN figure. Most of you collectors will know the story of this Kenner series figure 🙂 But over at the facebook pcasuk fan page we are asking, just how many of you actually STILL have it? And there are a LOT of answers and comments!

WITHOUT GETTING PLASTERED TARKIN MAY NEVER HAVE RETURNED PLUS A HAMMER GLAMOUR BIRTHDAY!

THINK ABOUT IT! This #THROWBACK THURSDAY post at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE today, has prompted some memories. Make up artist, the late STUART FREEBORN was responsible among many other excellent creations, like the appearnce  #STARWARS YODA, made the prosthetic giant EYE for Cushing Book Store character in the 1984 film, 'Top Secret'. The practice of getting an actor to come into the workshop, and have his ENTIRE face in latex rubber or plaster, was common practice back in the day. Hammer make up artist, Roy Ashton had a whole collection of actors and actresses faces and heads, that he used to produce the latex attachments of some of the studios, best monsters and creatures! 

I GUESS, Freeborn would never have guessed that HIS plaster face of Peter Cushing would go on to be quite central and MAJOR and contentious step in the creation of the CGI Grand Moff Tarkin in the film, 'ROGUE ONE'. FX creators Industrial Light and Magic, found there was little on file, of actual helpful and accurate reference material on Cushing's features and face. A mass of artwork, but only Freeborn's plaster head, could provide the measurements and dimensions that were needed, along with footage of Peter Cushing's performance on the big screen as Tarkin in 'Star Wars: A New Hope, from 1977, to make the CGI possible. The role of the Book Store Owner, was a small guest role and one that Cushing could have easily have passed on. A fact no doubt, that could have effected the potential of making Tarkin's return, along with Guy Henry's assistance . .  a non starter! 

TODAY WE ALSO MARK the birthday of Stephanie Beacham. Beacham has had a very full career on stage, screen and television. Star of tv's 'Tenko', 'The Colbys' 'Dynasty' 'Bad Girls' and 'SeaQuest'... she has also slipped in an episode of 'Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense'. Her Peter Cushing connection links to two films, 'Dracula AD 1972' playing Jessica Van Helsing, granddaughter to Peter Cushing. and 'And Now, The Screaming Starts'... Please join us in wishing her a Happy Birthday!

STEPHANIE BEACHAM: 'My mother Joan had chicken pox when she was pregnant so I was born with no nerve endings in my right ear. I’m totally deaf in that ear and I have just 80% hearing in my left ear. I’ve never heard in stereo and where most people’s hearing is three dimensional, mine is all on the same plane. Background and foreground sounds flatten, out so a car coming down the road is as loud as a person’s voice right next to me. I was taken to a specialist when I was four. They said, ‘She’s perfectly intelligent,’ and my mother said very snappily, ‘I realise that. I know she’s intelligent, she just can’t hear’.
 

'ONE OF THE BIGGEST problems was that deafness and stupidity were often linked together because a speech defect often accompanies the deafness. I’ve never had a speech defect but I still got called ‘Deaf Steph’ at school and because I often didn’t know people were talking to me I’d walk right past them and they assumed I was snooty. In my adult life I’ve always struggled with people sitting to my right at dinner parties as I can’t hear a word and I’ve had to avoid pop concerts or noisy clubs because of my lack of nerve endings. As for my future health, I fully intend to age naturally without cosmetic surgery and there’s nothing that can be done about my saggy neck, apart from a bulldog clip. I’m convinced mental and physical flexibility is the secret to staying young and yoga provides that for me. I’m also aware that you become what you eat so I’ll continue to steer clear of fizzy drinks and too much sugar or salt." - Daily Mirror Newspaper 2107