#ISOLATIONENTERTAINMENT#WatchWithCushing2020! The THEATRICAL trailer for Hammer films 'Dracula' 1958, is something most #Hammerfilms, #PeterCushing and #ChristopherLee fans will know very well indeed, from countless viewings of what has to be one of best #FantasyCinema
trailers ever! The trailer was the same throughout it's release in
1959, other than in the US it where it was called 'Horror of Dracula',
but the expected different voice overs for the trailer narration, the dubbing
languages and a changed the title also, a few snips here and there
maybe for censorship, were all standard.
BUT IN THIS version, there is
something that appears, that wasn't seen anywhere else... not even in
the actual full film!! It's very quick, fleeting . . an 'extension' but
it's there! Question is, can you spot it? There is a terrific
competition being launched here at Facebook PCASUK Fan Page on Tuesday, with a fabulous prize! 🙂😉 This should... whet your whistle 😉 Have fun, stay safe and look after each other 😉 - Marcus
A POST I SHARED TODAY at the which became very popular with almost a THOUSAND LIKES, is this colour photograph of Peter Cushing, in his home at Whitstable in 1974. Until today, it was very rarely seen . . thanks to your shares at the 'fan page' now everyone has the pleasure of seeing it!
I LOVE IT WHEN friends and followers, send in artwork of PC. This one was sent by George T, of the
very talented artist Colin J Fenwick . . posted on New Years Eve I
believe, Colin wanted to share it at midnight I guess, though explained
the pattern on Cushing neck tie took him hours longer! Many identified the character captured in the artwork portrate, as Peter Cushing as Doctor Know, from the 1959 film ''THE FLESH AND THE FIENDS' a not so well know film or role of Cushing's, and has been quite a find, if when fans have managed to source a good dvd. THANKFULLY, KINO have NEW 2K REMASTERS OF BOTH CUTS OF THE FILMand have set a release for this early this year, which will be quite the treat, I am sure! As soon as I have any details, I will of course, let you know! can get to see it.- Marcus
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'!
HAMMER FILMS 'THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA', narrowly missed being landed with the crass
title of ' Dracula is Dead...and Well and Living in London' when
shootinmg began in November 1972. When the film was distributed in 1979
by Dynamite Films in a heavily edited version, the curse of having bad
title came back to haunt it, when it was released as 'Count Dracula and
His Vampire Bride' The Legend of the Seven Golden
Vampires, was also released and stamped in the US by Dynamite Films in
1979 in a heavily edited version as 'The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula', and
was alternately known on the US trailer as The 7 Brothers and their One
Sister Meet Dracula. Subtle? Hardly... Christopher Lee was never
comforatble with the dragging of his rep and the Count into 1970's
London, and 'jumping on a Number 21 red double decker bus, to Battersea'
Thankfully, it never got to that point and did quite well. But these
titles almost pushed it past that point...
INTERESTINGLY,
Dynamite Films was owned by Max Rosenberg, the one time, one half of
the Amicus films partnership, with Milton Subotsky. Throughout the 60's
and 70's, Amicus were sometimes seen as Hammer's competition, though
they never pulled the box office receipts that the Hammer House of
Horror pulled. Although Tales from the Crypt did VERY well. How ironic,
that Rosenberg would one day be distributing his own 'hack edit' job of
Hammer's two final vampire films!
THE USA TRAILER trailer for Amicus films, 'I, MONSTER' starring
Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. A film with a production story, that
sometimes is even more dramatic than the film! You can read all about it
in a NEW feature at our PCASUK website shortly. In the meantime, enjoy
this RARE trailer and the first of TWO great rare stills galleries, with
many behind the scenes and on set photographs, never seen before. YOU
can see PART one RIGHT HERE!
ABOVE:WHEN AMICUS FILM I,MONSTER and MR BLAKE made our weekly #MONSTERMONDAY selection! Everyone without a pause, voted BLAKE a monster of some standard!
THE FILM 'I MONSTER' will be taking the platform at the PCASUK sites in several posts over the next two weeks. Be sure not to miss the I MONSTER RARE STILLS GALLERY and a new feature, with addition gallery at this website over the next few days. Gallery Part TWO will be here on MONDAY 6th 2018. Most posts that are daily posted here, are also posted and shared at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE where fans and lovers of Peter's work and life, are able to debate and comment on the content of that day's posts. PLEASE feel free to join us and over 33 Thousand other followers at the FAN PAGE. JUST CLICK HERE and CLICK LIKE there!
LAST WEEKEND I examined in-depth the firstof Peter Cushing’s two ‘Dr Who’ movies,
1965’s Dr Who and the Daleks. I made the decision to examine links between
the film and TV version in an attempt to understand the hate piled towards it,
a great deal of which I feel is explicitly aimed at the first film. Indeed, a
lot of people’s issues with the Who movies (continuity issues, Cushing’s performance,
the child-like atmosphere) are certainly toned down in Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. For one, Terry Nation’s original
television script on which this story was based, 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth', is a LOT darker than 1963’s 'The Daleks', meaning this film is a
little bit more serious than its predecessor.
SET DURING A DALEK OCCUPATION there is heavy use of WW2 imagery,
including camps, the black market, a Dalek commandant, Daleks giving Nazi-esque
salutes and a rubble strewn blitz inspired London. Of course Subotsky has done
his best to make it all ‘kiddie’ friendly but the essence of the piece remains.
Perhaps responding to this, Cushing tailors his portrayal of the Doctor, becoming
a firmer, stronger figure, the leader type that is visible in the television
series but lacking in the first film.
ALSO GONE ARE any explicit references to
the building of the Tardis and the nature of the Doctor, all that is actually stated
is that his name is still ‘Dr. Who’ and not ‘The Doctor’. Of course these
elements from the first film never particularly troubled myself, it was simply
the nature of the adaptation. Perhaps though it’s one of the reasons that this
sequel receives a slightly warmer reception than its predecessor.
ONCE AGAIN THE NATION SCRIPT receives something of an
overhaul, streamlining the narrative of the six-part television serial but
(like the first film) keeping the rough story structure. Notable emissions this
time round include a sequence in which the Daleks attempt to fire bomb London,
a journey through an Alligator infested sewer and most notably the ‘Slyther’. The
Slyther appeared in episodes four and five (individually titled The End of Tomorrow and The Walking Alley)and was identified as a ‘pet’ of the Black Dalek leader and a sort
of guard dog.
ONE HAS TO WONDER WHY on earth this sequence was exorcised,
particularly when we have an overly long and (admittedly painful) scene in
which Bernard Cribbins participates in a slap-stick comedy routine with a bunch
of Robomen. However several of the changes are welcome. Whilst the TV version
is designed for an entirely different medium and not to be watched in one go,
it does drag. Several characters (such as Ann Davies’s ‘Jenny’) are exorcised
completely and for the better, whilst other characters such as Craddock are
given far more dramatic deaths.
BERNARD CRIBBINS policeman, Tom is an entirely
new character and the wrap-around element of him failing to prevent a robbery
and then being taken back in time by the Doctor in time is a nice opening and
closing segment as well as providing an easy way in for viewers unfamiliar with
the premise of the television programme. Also noticeably different is the way
the Daleks are destroyed by the ‘magnetic core of the earth’ rather than being
blown up. One suspects this is to account for the fact that Daleks ALL OVER the
earth need to be destroyed and not just those in Bedfordshire.
VISUALLY, like its predecessor, the film is a big
step-up from its smaller scale television counter-part but this time, even more
so. The Robomen and the Dalek Saucer are wonderful designs, that far surpass
the television versions of both which were noticeably cheap looking, even for a
sixties BBC budget. Indeed, the movies redesigns even managed to find their way
onto the cover of the 1977 television novelisation.
ONCE AGAIN ACTION sequences
are increased and expanded, the sequence in which the truck drives through the hordes
of Daleks is particularly memorable as is the wonderful final shot of the
saucer getting caught by the magnetism and sucked into the ground where it
crashes. The visual style of the film is also a little darker than the first,
even the Daleks base is an odd faded lime colour when compared to the bright
oranges and blue of the first film.
CUSHING'S DOCTOR TOO is given a more
restrained make up job, the hair slicked back instead of wild, and the
moustache trimmed and refined…Which brings me of course to Cushing’s performance. I
hinted in my last piece that I found his performance in this film to be
superior to the one given in the first film, watching them back to back however
I noticed not only that but how different
the two are. He’s still a warm, grandfatherly figure but here he is
slightly more resilient, far more active and seems to have adopted some of the
‘master planner’ aspects of his television counter-part.
WHEREAS IN THE FIRST FILM Cushing appeared constantly stooped over with a voice that was slightly
mumbly and strained, here he speaks in a clipped-upper class accent and walks
with his back straight. Sequences such as when he expects Brockley to betray
him in order to find his way into the Dalek base, give Cushing an opportunity
to demonstrate this by smirking slightly at his own cleverness, before slipping
his gloves on, staring at the Daleks gravely and giving Brockley one last look,
before being led away.
WHEN BROCKLEY BECAME A CANDIDATE FOR OUR #MONSTERMONDAY THEMED MONDAY AT THE PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE
HOWEVER IT ALL PALES in comparison to those final sequences within the Dalek base, from
entering and going immediately to the microphone (giving the audience some hint
of what he’s planning) to his final speech towards the Daleks. His
confrontation with them in the final moments of the first film, where he and
Susan are caught in a force field as the Daleks prepare to activate their bomb,
shows him as somewhat weak- indeed that’s what the story requires, as Ian
bursts in with the Thals and saves the day. Here however, it is the Doctor who
is in charge and Cushing knows this, strutting determinedly around the set as
he explains the Daleks fear of Magnetism. It is without doubt one of his
greatest on-screen moments.
THE SUPPORTING CAST here is even better, with Bernard
Cribbins giving a slightly more restrained performance than Roy Castle, but
still expected to participate in a number of ludicrous slap stick moments.
Roberta Tovey returns as Susan and works surprisingly well with the films best
supporting actor, Andrew Keir. Keir is ridiculously entertaining as the gruff
rebel Wyler and his scenes with Susan as they escape through the forest provide
a few nice moments in a mostly action packed film.
IN AN INTERESTING side note it appears there was plans
for a spin-off radio series to be produced and a pilot entitled ‘Journey into
Time’ was recorded, with Cushing in the lead. However very little material
remains documenting the show and the pilot itself has never been found.
ALL IN ALL: 'Invasion Earth 2150 A.D' is clearly
the superior film. Now that’s not to criticise or lambast Dr. Who and the
Daleks, but I feel that due to the continuity issues that are more strongly
expressed in the first film, the sequel is often over-shadowed. Now honestly I
enjoy both films. There the perfect example of Sunday afternoon entertainment, now
issues they may have but very few films don’t. The entertainment factor for the
Dalek movies is so high and they look SO good, that to miss out on them is to
do yourself a huge disservice. Not only that, but Cushing’s portrayal in the
first film is often so criticised that the subtle changes made by him between
the two films often go unnoticed. A shame, as Cushing’s Doctor in this film
rivals some of the best television incarnations.
PART ONE OF CALLUM MCKELVIE'S TWO PART FEATURE : HERE!
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