A TRIP TO THE CELLAR PLUS CHRISTOPHER LEE ON CUSHING AND HAMMER FILMS

 

I WONDER HOW MANY of you remember this, clip that I shared at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE TODAY??? Clever editing and timing using footage of Peter Cushing from the 1963 film, 'The Man Who Finally Died' which also starred actor Stanley Baker . . 

#ChristopherLee SATURDAY! Here is a shot you don't often see, from a contact sheet of many from this day during the production. Director Freddie Francis, with producer Aida Young with Christopher Lee during the making of '#DraculahasRisenfromtheGrave' at Pinewood. Francis had just finished '#TortureGarden' with #PeterCushing for Amicus, and four episodes of the tv series, 'The Man in the Suitcase'! What a variety! Hmmm.. those were the days 😊

AND FINALLY TODAY, another #WATCHWITHCUSHING! Here is a great clip from the people at #Cinemax 😊 #ChristopherLee shares some memories of working with #PeterCushing and the fun he and Peter had working for #Hammerfilms. As you probably know both he and Peter were CAST in 22 films though not always appearing in scenes together, I wonder which film do YOU think stands as their best collaboration and WHY??? 

YOU MIGHT FIND this little list helpful! The 22 films are : Hamlet (1948) .. no scenes together, Moulin Rogue (1952) .. no scenes together, The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958) The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), The Mummy (1959), The Gorgon (1964), Dr Terror's House of Horror's (1965), The Skull (1965), She (1965), Night of the Big Heat (1967), Scream and Scream Again (1967)... no scenes together, One More Time (1970) ... no scenes together, The House that Dripped Blood (1971) ... no scenes together, I, Monster (1971), Dracula AD 1972 (1972), Horror Express (1972), The Creeping Flesh (1973), Nothing But the Night (1973), The Satanic Rites of Dracula ( 1973), Arabian Adventure (1979).. no scenes together, The House of the Long Shadows (1983)

ME? I will go between Horror Express and maybe The Creeping Flesh! Why? I am not quite sure, I have a theory🤔🤔 ... but at the Facebook Fan Page, I am asking maybe you can tell me? 😉 - Marcus

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REMEMBERING ERIC PORTMAN : THE MAN WHO FINALLY DIED

REMEMBERING Actor Eric Portman, who was born today 13th July 1901 in West #Halifax, Yorkshire, UK. He was so convincing and extremely good at playing 'in the cinema audiences perception' mean and calculating German spies and /or #Naziofficers, that many believed he actually was German, or at least #Austrian. Eric had a very distinguished career on stage and in many much admired and respected British films. Among his many film credits are “49th Parallel”, “Went the Day Well”, “Daybreak” and “Millions Like Us”. Eric only appeared in one film from #Hollywood, “The Prince and the Pauper” in 1937.

PORTMAN APPEARED in an absolute gem of a 1963 Peter Cushing film, entitled 'The Man Who Finally Died'. For what sounds something like, associated with one of PC's many fantasy genre films, this one is nothing of the sort. A tight, dramatic and often very suspenseful thriller, starring Stanley Baker, Georgina Ward, Nigel Green, Niall MacGinnis and Mai Zetterling, and directed by Quentin (#Cash On Demand) . . .it's a film that in recent years emerged on dvd and if it's £5 or £25, you'll find much worth every penny. It keeps you guessing and all cast are on their toes, with Porter, Baker and Cushing working together so well. Eric Porter sadly died in Cornwall in 1969. 

I FIND IT CURIOUS that these days, so little is known about Eric Portman’s work as he appeared in many major British films of the Gaumont era, and many with some of our best directors. Happy Birthday Eric Portman, never dull, always entertaining 😉 Trivia : I am today sat in the home of a friend, whose house is less than four houses away from the home where Stanley Baker was born and lived until he was a teenager! 

DOUBLE BILL OF CUSHING : RIGHT HERE!

A GREAT DOUBLE BILL OF GREAT PETER CUSHING DRAMAS has just been uploaded on to our PCAS YOUTUBE CHANNEL. The 1961 ' CASH ON DEMAND and 'THE MAN WHO FINALLY DIED' (1963). As mention on our posts at our FACEBOOK FAN PAGE during the weekend, look out for a whole series of very interesting uploads at the channel, featuring some of Peter Cushing's non-fantasy work, over the coming weeks. 'CASH' and 'MWFD' were made at a time when Cushing was trying to break, what he saw as, the threat of type-casting.

After an amazing run of work at the BBC through-out the 1950's, which continued up until the mid 1960's, the majority of Cushing's film opportunities after the broadcast of the BBC play '1984' and his first toe dip into Horror films with Hammer films, THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, were all with one foot, in the grave, so to speak. Horror or Fantasy themed. From 1960 until 64, Cushing was a little more selective in the the titles he chose..sadly, those titles didn't always lead to sound scripts and interesting characters. But, there are gems to be found and the two films presented here, give us a glimpse at the range Cushing was indeed capable of, when away from the dark shadows of the horror genre, that would soon consume his career.

 
 
A firm favorite, Cash On Demand and another from the selection of dramas that Peter Cushing made during the early 60's. It's a great watch, with a fine two-hander performance from Cushing and Morell. Yes, it does have a Christmas angle, but this one can be watched any time of the year. To hi-jack a certain pharse . . . 'A rogue IS'NT just for Christmas'- Marcus

MORE TO COME....!

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'THE MAN WHO FINALLY DIED' PETER CUSHING AND STANLEY BAKER PRESS STILL

 

"The Man Who Finally Died" released December 1963, was a BBC serial that originally aired in 1959, with this feature version following three years later, with an entirely different cast. Stanley Baker stars as British subject Joe Newman, formerly the German-born Joachim Deutsch, who has believed his father Kurt dead for 20 years, until receiving a phone call from Bavaria claiming to be Kurt Deutsch. Upon arriving, he locates his father's grave before visiting the Deutsch widow, Lisa (Mai Zetterling), currently living in the country home of Dr. Peter von Brecht (Peter Cushing), his every move watched by the local police, plus the insurance investigator (Niall MacGinnis) responsible for Newman's phone call, who feels that the deceased may still be alive. Holds up rather well despite its television origins, thankfully not lost though unseen for decades, reuniting Baker with Peter Cushing, five years after 1957's "Violent Playground." Cushing initially appears sympathetic but gradually displays more sinister shadings, but has only one lengthy scene during the film's first half (the von Brecht home is Bray studio's familiar Oakley Court). The fine supporting cast includes Nigel Green, who previously appeared with Cushing in 1960's "Sword of Sherwood Forest," which also featured Niall MacGinnis (playing Friar Tuck), who again supported Cushing in 1966's excellent "Island of Terror."

THE MAN WHO FINALLY DIED: PETER CUSHING AND GEORGINA WARD (1963)