RARE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL CUSHING PHOTOGRAPH PLUS ACTORS NIGEL GREEN AND ROBERT URQUHART REMEMBERED

A VERY RARE PHOTOGRAPH OF PETER CUSHING in 1948 FEB until OCT!! Now That is a LONG tour! Granted 'Richard III was also part of the tour, but knowing how Cushing found the repetitive nature of eight or nine performances a week, extremely difficult... I don't know how he did it. But here is where he learnt his trade, skills and attitude, that would prepare him for tv work in the 1950's and days that could be long and draining on the set of film work . . come November 1952 and one of his first roles on LIVE BBC tv in 'If This Be Error' .. HE certainly, would not be making errors

TODAY we are marking the birthday of that fine English character actor NIGEL GREEN . . . Green left us at only 47 years of age, with a very impressive career already at that point. In our banner can be seen on the far right, in a little get together on the set of the cast of Amicus films THE SKULL (1965) with Peter, Patrick Wymark far left, Patrick Magee sat down on the right. Green had a small role of Inspector Wilson, in the film.

ABOVE: PCAS FULL REVIEW AND LOBBY STILLS GALLERY OF 'THE SKULL'  Just CLICK HERE!

ABOVE: FULL REVIEW FEATURE OF TWILIGHT TIME REMASTERED BLU RAY RELEASE AND GALLERY! 'Sword of Sherwood Forest' tarring Peter Cushing, Richard Green, Nigel Green and Oliver Reed : JUST CLICK HERE! 

BECAUSE OF HIS STRAPPING build and commanding height, (6 feet, 1 inch) & regimental demeanour he would often be found playing military types and men of action, in films such as Jason and the Argonauts, Zulu, Tobruk and The Ipcress File. His large physique also led to his being cast as Little John in Hammer films THE SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST (1960), with Peter Cushing.Green also appeared in a number of horror films including Corridors of Blood (1958), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), as the father of Jane Asher's character, The Skull (1965) also with Cushing, Let's Kill Uncle (1966) and Hammer's COUNTESS DRACULA with Ingrid Pitt(1971)
 

REMEMBERING Robert Urquhart. 'Quiet, well-read and a lover of classical music, Robert Urquhart was an actor who grew frustrated with his career as he grew older. It was, he bemoaned, an honourable profession but so much of the material he was offered did not deserve any respect...' Robert Urquhart Obituary. 'The Independent' newspaper, 24th March 1995. In the early 1950's Urquhart was building himself quite a reputation for his theatre work. A reputation that would eventually bring him to the attention of studio casting agents and land him supporting roles on the big screen. But it was in the medium of film, that Urquhart was not such a happy chap...

THAT ONE FILM WAS 'The Curse of Frankenstein' with Peter Cushing in 1957 for Hammer film. He detested it. It is said he left the premier screening, refused to make appearances to promote it and only in the last years of his revived career on television, could he find the stomach to even mention it, if it was brought up in interviews. By 1980, Urquhart had cooled off a little..and appeared in another Hammer production, the Hammer House of Horror' television series, in an episode entitled, - Children of the Full Moon. However, we remember him today for his sterling performance in The Curse of Frankenstein'!

WHOSE PANTS ARE THESE AND WOULD YOU BUY THEM?

FAMOUS PANTS FOR SALE! There is a kinda Cushing connectionl They were once involved in a very cloak and dagger scenario.... so who do you think wore them and in what Peter Cushing movie??? Answers and suggestions are being asked for over at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE right now  . . .

PETER CUSHING AS CHRISTOPHER MAITLAND... yup that surname again, in an Amicus film... in 'The Skull' (1965). The director Freddie Francis often said that Subotsky's screenplay for The Skull, was when he received it, little more than just a story outline. Much of the dialogue, of which there was far less, than the usual Amicus film, was devised on set, along with blocking of the action. Subotsky wasn't a lover of dialogue laden scripts.

HERE ARE TWO EXCELLENT reviews complete with great image and photograph galleries from Peter Cushing's `1965 Amicus film, 'THE SKULL'  HERE  and  HERE!

PCAS actually owns a copy of the Francis, Robert Bloch script... there are many pages of notes and added dialogue in Francis handwriting. The additions made it one of Amicus films best movies, wonderful roles for the cast and for Cushing, a really dramatic character opportunity, in which he shines.... Is 'The Skull', one of your Top 5 Amicus films?

PATRICK WYMARK REMEMBERED ON HIS BIRTHDAY!

TODAY WE REMEMBER British character actor PATRICK WYMARK. An experienced actor of stage, TV, film and Radio, whose life was cut short suddenly due to an heart attack at age 44…. Some of his best known film roles are Where Eagles Dare (1968) , Repulsion (1965), The Blood On Satan’s Claw (1970) and Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun (1969) and Cromwell (1970)… He co-starred with Peter Cushing in Amicus’s The Skull (1965)

THE WYMARK family: Patrick Wymark and family in 1965, the year of #THESKULL release .. his wife Olwen, with their children (L-R) Dominic, Tristram and Rowan, at their home.

CUSHING AND WYMARK ready to make their bids at auction in Amicus films, THE SKULL.

FIND OUT MORE about WYMARK and CUSHING in THE SKULL in our SEVEN part feature series on CUSHING'S AMICUS FILMS. Just CLICK HERE! 

YOU'LL FIND EVEN MORE rare photographs and comments from lovers of Peter Cushing's work at our Peter Cushing Appreciation Society FACEBOOK FAN PAGE, which is JUST A CLICK away! Come join over 33 thousand other fans and followers. JUST CLICK HERE and then CLICK LIKE THERE!

REMEMBERING NIGEL GREEN : THE SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST AND THE SKULL

TODAY we are marking the passing of that fine English character actor NIGEL GREEN . . . Green left us at only 47 years of age, with a very impressive career already at that point. In our banner can be seen on the far right, in a little get together on the set of the cast of Amicus films THE SKULL (1965) with Peter, Patrick Wymark far left, Patrick Magee sat down on the right. Green had a small role of Inspector Wilson, in the film. Because of his strapping build and commanding height, (6 feet, 1 inch) & regimental demeanour he would often be found playing military types and men of action, in films such as Jason and the Argonauts, Zulu, Tobruk and The Ipcress File.

HIS LARGE physique also led to his being cast as Little John in Hammer films THE SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST (1960), with Peter Cushing. Green also appeared in a number of horror films including Corridors of Blood (1958), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), as the father of Jane Asher's character, The Skull (1965) also with Cushing Let's Kill Uncle (1966) and COUNTESS DRACULA (1971). 

IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us reach all lovers of Peter Cushing's work AND Help Keep The Memory Alive!

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN PC AND HITCHCOCKS PSYCHO! THIS WEEKS TUESDAY TOUGHIE!

HERE IS THIS WEEKS PCAS TUESDAY TOUGHIE! As the banner says, it ISN'T a connection with writer ROBERT BLOCH who did a great job of adapting and writing the scripts for a few of the AMICUS films that PETER CUSHING appeared in down the years. IT IS'NT the film THE SKULL which has an interesting BONE HEAD not unlike the preserved HEAD of  MRS BATES. Amicus films THE SKULL also has some nasty STABBINGS with DAGGERS and KNIVES, but they are not the connection either. SOME OF YOU may guess it, some of you will be MILES out, though it's nothing to do with distance, but certainly if you use all your SENSES, you might get it! THere's no prizes for guessing, but do feel free to drop us a link a petercushingpcas@gmail.com if you think you can SEE IT! Otherwise, ANSWER NEXT WEEK !

DID YOU CATCH Callum McKelvie's SUNDAY CUSHING FEATURE this WEEKEND? IF NOT, NOW is your chance to click and catch it! FULL of GIFS, PICS and Callum's story on how he first came to SEE and REALLY appreciate Hammer films, BRIDES OF DRACULA and PETER CUSHING. JUST CLICK  HERE!

THE CUSHING DOUBLE BILLS NUMBER 2 : THE SKULL AND THE CREEPING FLESH : CALLUM MCKELVIE ON SUNDAY

BEGINNING LAST WEEK, I started a series examining three pairs of films that I felt would make ideal ‘Cushing Double-Bills’, concentrating primarily on thematic links.  Last time, I looked at Hammer's The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and its first sequel The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958). We continue this week with a pair of films slightly less obvious than our previous selection, 1965’s The Skull and 1972’s The Creeping Flesh. Ostensibly two unrelated films (excluding the fact that both feature Cushing and Christopher Lee and are directed by Freddie Francis) our discussion this week concerns the dark thematic subtext that links both.

MADE IN 1965, The Skull is often cited as one of Cushing’s very best whilst The Creeping Flesh (despite getting a great deal of attention from fans and this page in particular) is still sadly something of an undiscovered gem. The Skull is one of Amicus’s non-portmanteau features and is based on the short story The Skull of the Marquis De Sade by Robert Bloch. A masterpiece of atmosphere, The Skull has a powerful dreamlike quality that manages to be supremely unsettling. The Creeping Flesh, on the other hand, is one of Tony Tenser’s Tigon productions and is far more visceral in its execution, with some genuinely disturbing scenes..

SO WHAT THEN IS IT, that causes me to group these two films in particular? Well to begin with both demonstrate British horror studios attempting to do something different with the Hammer mould and are incredibly experimental in nature. The Skull, as well as being a modern day piece it’s far less explicit in exactly what its threat is than Hammer tend to be, preferring  a slower, subtler build-up. Visually The Skull is particularly arresting, be it the haunting shots from the Skull’s perspective or the Kafka-esque dream sequence. Similarly the film embraces a darkness to an extent that Hammer rarely did, from the depressing ending to the character of Maitland himself.

ABOVE AND BELOW: THE KAFKA-ESQUE POV SHOTS APPEAR IN 

BOTH 'THE SKULL' AND 'THE CREEPING FLESH'

MAITLAND, whilst not unlikeable, is hardly a charmer and as an audience we are invited to look upon his morbid hobby with a critical eye. We care about him and wish him no ills but the obsessiveness that permeates his character causes us to question his gruesome pastime. 'The Creeping Flesh' on the other hand is from, arguably, the most radical British horror studio in business from the mid 60’s to mid-70’s. 

ABOVE: THE OBSESSIVE MAITLAND OF 'THE SKULL' (1965)

IT MUST BE REMEMBERED that whilst Tigon were behind the gothic pot-boiler The Blood Beast Terror (1967), they were also the studio famed for producing Michael Reeves his magnum opus, Witchfinder General (1968) and his earlier The Sorcerers (1967). Away from Reeves, Tigons output is rich with a ‘radical’ and ‘alternative’ sentiment and whilst not always successful never cease to be interesting. Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968), Neither the Sea nor the Sand (1972), The Flesh and Blood Show (1972), The Beast in the Cellar (1970) and of course Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971) are among the most innovative and experimental British horror films in this period.

ABOVE: BORIS KARLOFF AND IAN OGILVY IN TIGON FILMS 'THE SORCERERS' (1967)

ABOVE: THE EQUALLY OBSESSIVE EMMANUEL HILDER FROM THE CREEPING FLESH (1972)

THUS The Creeping Flesh similarly contains elements that go against the traditional mould. Namely, like The Skull, there are few likeable characters and our main this time, Emmanuel Hildern is equally as obsessive as Maitland. This time it is science and particularly the desire to make a great discovery, rather than collecting that absorbs him. The same can be said of his sadistic brother James (Lee), who covets his brother’s success. The film questions the nature of evil and in particular uses the Victorian scientist to do this. The usual hero of Hammer is here reverted to selfish obsessors whose desire for success and discovery makes them far more horrific, than the devil-creature that appears at the climax.

ABOVE: THE SADISTIC BROTHER JAMES, PLAYED BY CHRISTOPHER LEE IN 'THE CREEPING FLESH' (1972)

AS PERHAPS I’m already beginning to demonstrate, 'The Skull' and 'The Creeping Flesh', are without doubt two of the most sub textually rich and intelligent films that Cushing has been involved with. In both, it’s possible to feel that perhaps more than his other Gothic productions Freddie Francis is able to identify themes and motifs throughout the stories that interest him visually. Building on themes of obsession, madness is a prominent factor in both and indeed can be one of the central elements of fear that emanates from the films. In 'The Skull' we are invited to question whether Maitland is actually going insane and the nature of his haunting is a highly personal one, attacking his mind over his physical body (at least until the films climax). 

ABOVE: MAITLAND HIGHLY PERSONAL MADNESS

ONCE AGAIN in The Creeping Flesh we are invited to wonder whether our main character is indeed mad, though far more explicitly. Here the framing structure of the film has Cushing narrating his story, before at the end revealing that he is an inmate in the asylum ran by Lee. A final shot leaves us to wonder whether his story is true or not. However the theme of madness permeates the story far deeper than this, with Cushing living in fear of hereditary madness that leads him to inject his daughter with the serum grown from the remains of the skeleton.

IN SHORT, I think of all the double bills I’ll be discussing, this is easily the most personal. Whilst I love the films of Hammer these two simply blew me away with relentlessly dark tales that made comments on obsession, madness and the nature of evil. Whilst calling them Cushing’s two ‘Artsy’ horrors may sound somewhat insulting, I think it perhaps sums them up best. These films are Freddie Francis’s masterpieces and demonstrate a sub textual and visual storytelling intelligence far above and beyond any of his other horror work. Whilst Dracula has Risen from the Grave is certainly beautiful to look at and contains interesting commentary on religion, it’s not as rich or as subtle as these two films. 

IT'S A REAL SHAME that whilst The Skull has r been given a superb Blu-ray treatment, The Creeping Flesh is neglected to a mill-creek triple feature. One lives in hope that boutique label along the lines of Arrow will recognise the merit in the film and surprise us with a brand new HD transfer and a wealth of features. If you’re looking for two of Cushing’s darker, less comfortable films then these make the perfect double bill.

THE BEST OF A DOUBLE? CASTING AND FILMS, CUSHING AND LEE IN 'THE SKULL' (1965) AND 'THE CREEPING FLESH' (1972)

OH AND THEY BOTH feature skulls. Just saying. Join me NEXT SUNDAY, for another classic DOUBLE BILL!

REMEMBER! IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us . . Keep The Memory Alive!. The Peter Cushing Appreciation Society website, facebook fan page and youtube channel are managed, edited and written by Marcus Brooks, PCAS coordinator since 1979. PCAS is based in the UK and USA