STARLOG: PETER CUSHING REMEMBERS STAR WARS : ISSUE 96 PART ONE

CUSHING, LEE AND PRICE: BEHIND EVERY GREAT MAN . . . .

Behind Every Great Man: Birgit, Helen and Coral....

ALEXANDRA BASTEDO 1946 - 2014

 

We are very sad to hear of the news of the passing of Alexandra Bastedo tonight. Model, actress and animal rights campaigner, Bastedo starred alongside Peter Cushing, John Hurt and Veronica Carlson in Tyburn Film production of The Ghoul in 1975. You can find out more about Alexandra's life and work at her website:http://alexandrabastedo.com/

HOW TO BE SHERLOCK HOLMES : CHRISTOPHER LEE ON PETER CUSHING CLIP

REPOST REMINDER : Peter Cushing is featured in the BBC FOUR documentary 'How To Be Sherlock Holmes' at 10.00pm gmt TONIGHT. Here's a clip of Christopher Lee taking about Peter Cushing's performance as Sherlock Holmes..and that 'finger' http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01nwb3y

AN ADVENTURE IN TIME AND SPACE: SPOT THE PETER CUSHING PHOTO

Peter Cushing's fleeting appearance in the BBC Doctor Who drama 'An Adventure In Time And Space' written by Mark Gatiss. Broadcast in the UK on 21st November 2013...

STEVEN MOFFAT : FILM POSTERS RIGHTS PUT HALT ON CUSHING CANON DR WHO IDEA

MAKING THE MOVIES: DR WHO AND THE DALEKS MAGAZINE INTERVIEW

SHERLOCK HOLMES: MUST BE THE TRUTH : BBC SHERLOCK HOLMES

BBC FOUR : 'HOW TO BE SHERLOCK HOLMES'

Thanks to Becky Jarrett and John Cooper for this info: BBC Four are going to air a documentary called 'How to Be Sherlock Holmes' at 10.00pm on Sunday the 12th of January. Christopher Lee is a contributor & Peter's tenure as the Great Detective is covered. The following link has more information, some nice little clips, & details of repeats xxx http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03pzsd9

ON THE RECORD: QUOTES THOUGHTS AND NOTES : PETER CUSHING

From a resource of over 40 years of interviews, from his diaries and notes. Peter Cushing in his own words and on the record. Here at petercushing.org and our facebook fan page. Beginning this weekend.

SIR RUN RUN SHAW DIES AT 106.

Legendary media mogul Sir Run Run Shaw has died. He was 106.

Best known in the U.S. for his role as a producer on the Ridley Scott classic Blade Runner, Shaw was instrumental to the development of Chinese cinema, producing dozens of films over the course of decades. He and his brother first started work in cinema in 1926 and became incredibly prolific producers of film and television, particularly of martial arts films. Some of the films that may be recognizable to American audiences include Five Deadly Venoms, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and The Supreme Swordsman.

In 1974, he jointly produced 'The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires' and 'Call Him Mr Shatter' with Hammer Films, both starring Peter Cushing.  Also that year he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He received a knighthood in 1977 from Queen Elizabeth II and the Grand Bauhinia Medal (GBM) from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government in 1998. In 2007, coinciding with his 100th birthday, Shaw was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Hong Kong Film Awards, and in 2013, Sir Run Run Shaw received the BAFTA Special Award for his outstanding contribution to cinema.

2899 Runrun Shaw, a small main belt asteroid discovered by Chinese astronomers in 1964, is named after Sir Run Run Shaw. In 2004, he established The Shaw Prize, which he called “The Nobel Prize of the East.” It awards up to $1 million each year in the categories of astronomy, mathematics, life science and medical science.

In 2000, through his company, Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Limited, he sold his unique library of 760 classic titles to Celestial Pictures Limited. Celestial is currently restoring the Shaw Brothers’ movies and distributing them to cinemas and the worldwide television and home video markets.

Source Text: HERE  

CAPTAIN CLEGG : PIRATES, SMUGGLING AND MARSH PHANTOMS: SOON ON BLU RAY.

A small English village is beset by a horde of "phantoms" on horseback and it's up to the intrepid Captain Collier (Patrick Allen) to get to the bottom of things...

Author Russell Thorndyke hit paydirt in 1915 with the release of his book Dr. Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh.  The book proved to be so successful that he was able to revisit the character for further installments in the mid 1930s.  The story caught the attention of British filmmakers in 1937, when it was first adapted to the cinema as Dr. Syn.  The legendary stage and screen thespian George Arliss played the lead role(s): the mild-mannered parson Dr. Syn who is really just a front for his true, bloodthirsty persona of the smuggler, Captain Clegg.



The film was directed by the gifted Irish-born filmmaker Roy William Neill, who found success in Hollywood directing the superior Boris Karloff vehicle The Black Room (1935) before becoming identified with the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series of Sherlock Holmes sequels at Universal.

When Hammer decided to take a stab at the property in the early 1960s, they did so without realizing that filmmaking giant Walt Disney had already optioned the Thorndike property for a film of his own.  Hammer eventually got wind of this, however, and decided to change the name of the central character in  order to avoid any possible legal woes.  And so it came to be that Captain Clegg (as it was known in the UK; the film would be released in America as Night Creatures) went before the cameras, in slightly revised form. The film would beat the Disney version to the punch by one year and for many, it remains the superior film.

 

The Disney production had a top notch cast, headed by the great Patrick McGoohan (just a year from his turn as TV's Secret Agent, and several from his most iconic role as The Prisoner), but felt a bit watered down and too mild for its own good.  The Hammer version may have lacked the studio's traditional emphasis on bodice-ripping and Kensington gore, but it made up for it with oodles of atmosphere.

The film is inevitably dominated by the presence of Hammer's top star of the time, Peter Cushing.  Cushing approached the role of Dr. Blyss (as he had been renamed) with tremendous enthusiasm. Indeed, he was so pleased with his work on the film that he yearned to make a sequel of his own.  He even took it upon himself to pen a script outline, but it never went beyond that.  Captain Clegg thus presented him with his only opportunity to play the challenging dual role and he certainly made the most of every opportunity.  Cushing's studious and kindly persona is well suited to the outwardly meek character of Blyss but, true to form, he is able to switch off the charm at a moment's notice and play it properly ruthless when he lets his mask down and reveals his true nature as Captain Clegg.  Cushing's dedication extended to participating in some potentially dangerous stunt scenes, whether it be grappling with monolithic Milton Reid or indulging in some bouts of Douglas Fairbanks-esque derring-do.

In addition to Cushing, the film is graced with an outstanding supporting cast.  The delightful Patrick Allen is, well, a delight as the rather thick-headed but brave Captain Collier.  Allen's latern-jawed good looks and imposing frame make him an ideal adversary to Cushing's wily anti-hero and the two actors play off each other beautifully.  The scene wherein Collier tries to get the upper hand on Blyss but is too dim witted to be able to follow it through to its logical conclusion is a master class in acting, with Cushing subtly conveying a condescending air of contempt while Allen bluffs and blusters without realizing just how right he really is.

Oliver Reed is cast in the somewhat less rewarding role of Harry, the young juvenile.  Reed's magnetic screen presence helps to bring the character to life, but it's a wet towel of a role and there's only so much he can do with it.  Hammer fans will no doubt get a kick out of seeing him performing some love scenes with the statuesque Yvonne Romain, however, given that the previous year the two had played - get this - mother and son in Curse of the Werewolf!  Romain is adequate in her role, but the real meat is to be found in the character roles played so beautifully by the likes of Jack MacGowran (in his only Hammer horror), Derek Francis, Martin Benson and, most notably, Michael Ripper.

Ripper had played his fair share of grave robbers, village drunks and inn keepers for Hammer - he'd even been uncomfortably cast as a Japanese officer in Camp on Blood Island!  Few of these roles gave Ripper a great deal of screen time, but that changed with his appearance in this film as Mr. Mipps.  Mipps is Clegg's right hand man, a loyal and faithful retainer who is willing to lay down his life to protect his master.  Ripper is heartbreaking in the role, which gives him far more to do than any of his other roles for Hammer, barring his juicy parts in John Gilling's The Reptile and The Mummy's Shroud

The film is very well directed by the late Peter Graham Scott, who made his one and only film for Hammer here - fortunately for the fans, it's a good one.  Scott paces the action very well, ensuring that it seldom gets bogged down in overly padded dialogue scenes, and working in tandem with director of photography Arthur Grant, he creates some stunning images of the so-called phantoms (in reality, disguised smugglers) riding through the swamps at night.

It's a brisk and entertaining film, milder than the norm for Hammer, but still well worth seeing. Cushing and Ripper fans will find it to be essential, in particular.

Review: Troy Howarth
Images & Artwork: Marcus Brooks 

NEWS: NIGHT CREATURES / CAPTAIN CLEGG AND PHANTOM OF THE OPERA GET BLU RAY RELEASES

Final Cut is to release Peter Cushing's 'NIGHT CREATURES / CAPTAIN CLEGG' plus Hammer Films 'PHANTOM OF THE OPERA' on BLU RAY and DVD for March - June 2014. Barbara Shelley's 'SHADOW OF THE CAT' gets a release on dvd too. Unfortunately no hi def avaiable for a blu ray. All come with subs for the hard of hearing...Are we happy? More news on these releases coming up.

 

 

 

 

IF PENGUIN PAPERBACK EVER PUBLISHED DOCTOR WHO . . .

Here is a great concept from Sheffield-based graphic designer and illustrator, Sean Coleman. Sean has designed a series of 12 postcards, using the familiar 'Penguin Book Format' as an imagined Penguin-style book cover. And bless him, he's included Peter Cushing's outing as the Dr, in 'Dr Who and the Daleks' (1965). If you'd like to grab yourself a set, follow the link to where you can bag them! JUST CLICK HERE! 

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DAILY MIRROR : HAMMER DRACULA CHEEKY VAMPIRE PHOTO SHOOT

It's 1972 and Christopher Lee has come to the end of his rope. In his opinion, stumbling around drafty old churches, clinging to flimsy plots and trapped by type casting, was not what he had in mind, when he signed on the dotted line to play Dracula for Hammer Films, some twenty years previously. But the Horror film loving public and media still want more.

Dracula AD 1972, also starring Peter Cushing making his return as Van Helsing, was in the final stages of production, and a little pre release publicity was called for. Probably as per contract, Lee was called on for a photo shoot for a series of snaps that would be published in the then, nations favourite 'red top tabloid' The Daily Mirror newspaper, featuring female models. Two versions of the snaps would be taken, one with silky top garments, and one without, guaranteeing exposure, as all tabloids at the time gave page space to 'anything' with long legs and ample piept. As you can see from these 'exposures' Lee was a little testy. But the photographer, along with Lee's nerves, just happily kept snapping. It made page three and Hammer Films turned one more page towards their final chapter.....