DR WHO AND THE DALEKS : RELEASED 50 YEARS AGO TODAY

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the release of AARU Productions of 'DR WHO AND THE DALEKS' starring Peter Cushing as Dr Who, supported by Roy Castle, Jennie Linden and Roberta Tovey. The film is based on the second serial of the British science fiction Doctor Who television programme, The Daleks, produced by the BBC. Shot in Technicolor, it is the first Doctor Who story to be made in colour and in a widescreen format.

Peter Cushing's portrayal of Dr Who was never intended to form part of the ongoing storylines of the television series. His role in neither this film or sequel, Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 AD are not considered canon. Elements from the programme were used, however, such as various characters, the Daleks and a police box time machine, albeit in re-imagined forms.

Produced by Milton Subotsky and his partner, Max Rosenberg who formed Amicus Productions in the early 1960's, Dr Who and the Daleks production was managed by an off shoot company AARU, specifically form for the two Dr Who enterprises.The film was at the time, the twentieth biggest British box office moneymaker in 1965.

Good old fashioned family entertainment, from a more innocent time, Dr Who and the Daleks celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the day of it's cinema release in the UK today!

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NEWS: ROGUE WARS TO FEATURE DIGITALLY RECREATED CUSHING GRAND MOFF TARKIN

NEWS: AS REPORTED IN MAIL ON SUNDAY TODAY : AUGUST 23RD 2015

As the grim-faced star of countless horror films including Dracula and Dr Frankenstein, Peter Cushing raised life from beyond the grave, But now the British actor, who died in 1994, will be raised from the dead himself.

 

Cushing, star of many Hammer House of Horror movies, will be digitally recreated in the new Star Wars spin-off Rogue One, which is being filmed at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire and is due to be released late next year.

In the original 1977 Star Wars, Cushing played evil Grand Moff Tarkin, commander of the Death Star and 'boss' of Darth Vader. In the new film Cushing, who died of prostate cancer aged 81, will be painstakingly brought back to life using the latest Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) techniques.

A source told The Mail on Sunday: 'This is one of the most complex and costly CGI re-creations ever. Cushing is a pivotal plot line as he was the one to create Darth Vader and there's a whole back story that will come out.'

But the film-makers face one particularly tough task – creating Cushing's legs and feet.

When director George Lucas filmed the original Star Wars, he gave Cushing and other Galactic Imperial officers ill-fitting leather riding boots. Cushing complained so bitterly that Lucas let him wear slippers, forcing cameramen to shoot from the knees up or have him stand behind the Death Star conference table.

'They are going through hours and hours of old footage from the horror movies to recreate his legs and feet to produce realistic movements,' said the source. 'It is eerie to see someone who has been dead for so long come to life on a screen.'

CGI has been used before to complete movies when actors have died during production, including when Oliver Reed suffered a fatal heart attack while filming Russell Crowe's Gladiator in 1999.

 Story:  Caroline Graham for The Mail on Sunday

MILESTONE HIT AT CUSHING FACEBOOK ACCOUNT : OVER TWENTY THOUSAND AND RISING!

PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE HITS TWENTY THOUSAND MILESTONE!

Keeping The Memory Alive: Many, many thanks to all of you who have made this wonderful milestone possible. For those who have been with us from the beginning and those who joined today..THANK YOU for keeping the memory of Peter Cushing his life and work, not just a memory, but a living one, that you all take time to visit here and pay tribute and have FUN too!. From us all again, TWENTY THOUSAND THANK YOUS!

Photograph: Peter Cushing even in his twilight years, could still give a scare...even if his tongue was firmly in his cheek ;)

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KINO TURNS ON THE LIGHTS IN NEW LONG SHADOWS BLU RAY RELEASE SEPT 2015

KINO's latest offering from their Studio Classics Line, House of the Long Shadows on blu ray, offers an attraction that no video / dvd or blu ray has been able to furnish us with yet... a print of the film, that you CAN actually SEE! KINO's release is presented in AVC encoded 1080p high definition framed at 1.85.1 widescreen...and looks all the better for it. C'mon there are SHADOWS and there is just too plain DARK! 

I spotted a review by Ian Jane at the DVDTALK.COM website and I'm attaching the link here and at the bottom of this piece, so you can read for yourself, about this release....Here also for the very few who don't know what they're missing, if you've not SEEN this film, pardon the pun... there are some good points I've pulled out from Ian's review... 

:"Director Pete Walker's horror comedy The House Of The Long Shadows never got a domestic DVD release outside of an MOD/DVD-R release from MGM (which featured a shoddy full frame tape sourced transfer), which is surprising when you consider the pedigree of talent involved in the picture." In KINO's blu ray release you can actually see what's going on inside the shadowy interiors now and detail and texture are strong across the board." 

:"On the extras interview with Pete Walker he says,  how this movie basically got him out of retirement, working with Golan and Globus, how the film was basically a nostalgia piece and how everyone in the world absolutely loved Peter Cushing" 

"The House Of The Long Shadows maybe could and should have been more than it is but as it stands, it's a blast watching four screen legends unite (in the only film the four of them would appear together in) for a genuinely enjoyable mix of humor, horror and mystery. Kino's Blu-ray release offers a massive upgrade over the previous release and it throws in some quality supplements as well, giving this amusing and charming picture the special edition it deserves. Highly recommended.... Now all you lucky folks in the US, it's safe, the LIGHTS ARE ON....go get your copy!

The FULL REVIEW by Ian Jane is HERE @DVDTALK.COM

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU: SHANE BRIANT

Please join us in wishing SHANE BRIANT a very Happy Birthday Today! Shane's Cushing connection is of course his role as the young Dr. Simon Helder in Hammer film's, Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974), with Peter Cushing, Madleine Smith and Dave Prowse. Cushing's last Frankenstein and director Terence Fishers last film, he also appeared in several other Hammer films Straight On Til Morning, Demons Of The Mind, and Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter.

Shane has been keeping busy recently filming in Indonesia for the tv series 'Serangoon Road' and 'Gallipoli'... plus there are his books, for which he has won much acclaim. He writes a good horror! Worth looking them up. Shane played one of Cushing's more interesting assistants in Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell... not afraid to get his hands bloody! and had some very good scenes with Cushing...and I think, he helped the Frankenstein series go out with a lot of dignity! Happy Birthday, Shane!

 

THAT FEMININE TOUCH: PART THREE: KATY WILD AND CAROL GARDNER : EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN

The Revenge of Frankensein in 1958 - one part horror, one part black comedy, one part love story - was a high water mark of Hammer's Frankenstein series. It wasn't until 1964 that the Baron returned, for the first time directed by someone other than Fisher. Cameraman turned director Freddie Francis took the helm this time and the female aspects were somewhat 'muted.'

In fact, one of the female characters in the film is a mute, played by twenty-two-year old redhead Katy WIld, who had appeared in such television series as The Avengers and The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre. Her role as 'Beggar Girl' in The Evil of Frankenstein was the closest the film had to a leading lady, despite the fact she had no dialogue.

The only other woman of note in the cast was Caron Gardner, a buxom blonde who had decorated Robert S Baker's and Monty Berman's The Hellfire Club (1960) and served as the foil to Benny Hill on television. Gardner would find herself elevated to a higher 'plane' later in 1964 when she was cast as one of the pilots in Pussy Galore's Flying Circus  in the third 007 movie, Goldfinger.

Meanwhile, she was Evil of Frankenstein's sex bomb, 'Burgomaster's Wife.' Hammer's approach to sex was becoming more and more blatant, and Gardner filled out the character's corselette deliciously.

Financed by Universal, Evil was a throwback to their Frankenstein series of old, and Cushing's Baron - in a screenplay written this time by Anthony Hinds under his pen name of John Elder - certainly seems to have mellowed with age. Interestingly enough, Frankenstein actually defends a lady this time, when the Machiavellian hypnotist Zoltan (Peter Woodthorpe) attempts to force himself on the Beggar Girl. Zoltan is eventually kicked out of the Baron's castle.

In fact, the Baron seems to be the one who is put-upon in Evil. Having created a Karloff-like monster (Kiwi Kingston) years before (there is virtually no continuity to the two previous films), he returns to his ancestral home to find that most of his possessions have been stolen. To recover his property, he stages a raid on the Burgomaster's house that is something of which Douglas Fairbanks would have been proud.

As the burgomaster's voluptuous wife graces a bed that was once Frankenstein's own, the police arrive and attempt to gain entry into the bedroom, which he has locked. Frankenstein grabs the bedclothes and ties them to the bedpost, climbing out of the window on his makeshift rope. He bids the fair lady 'Goodnight' before leaping out the window, pulling the bed across the room in the process.

This is one of the most enjoyably light-heared scenes in the entire series, a tribute to Cushing's dashing dexterity and to Gardner's sweetness as the bemused wife. 

Written by Bruce G Hallenbeck

Images and Design: Marcus Brooks Jamie Sumerville

DID YOU MISS PART TWO? CLICK RIGHT HERE