REMEMBERING: Born today in 1940, RALPH BATES. Sadly, no longer with us. A talented actor and a truly gentle and kind man.
RALPH BATES WAS THE GREAT, GREAT nephew of the renowned French scientist Louis Pasteur
developed into a strangely handsome dark haired, pale complexioned
English actor. Ralph Bates was born in 1940 in Bristol, England and
attended the University of Dublin and studied at the Yale Drama School.
His dramatic talents first came to audiences attention playing the evil
Emperor Caligula in the well received BBC TV series The Caesars
(1968). However, the Hammer studios resurrection of the horror genre
was then in full stride, and Bates was soon engulfed in the swirling
cloak of Hammer's success as he appeared in several horror films in
quick succession.
ABOVE: A few fated coincidences here with these two chaps that appeared in 'The Caesars' tv series . . .Ralph Bates and Freddie Jones
FIRSTLY IN A SUPPORT ROLE as demonic Lord Courtley in Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970), followed as the lead character Baron Frankenstein in The Horror of Frankenstein (1970), then as Giles Barton in the sexy Lust for a Vampire (1971) and as the well meaning Dr. Jekyll in an unusual spin on the Robert Louis Stevenson story in Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde
(1971) and 'Fear in the Night' with Peter Cushing in 1972. Bates brought a new zest to Hammer and with his stylish
dialogue delivery and film acting methods, he quickly won himself quite a
few fans in both critics and regular film goers!
UNFORTUNATELY,
by the early 1970s there had been a downturn in Hammer studios fortunes,
and Bates then found himself turning to more traditional character work
in other production houses and he appeared in several films before
snaring other superb villainous role as George Warleggan in the 18th
century period piece Poldark (1975).
ABOVE: RALPH BATES and JUDY GEESON : HAMMER FILMS
FEAR IN THE NIGHT (1972)
AFTER POLDARK, Bates himself kept busy in TV shows
and television film roles which did not really do justice to his
remarkable talents. In the late 1980s his health rapidly deteriorated,
and he sadly passed away from cancer aged only 51 on 27th March 1991.
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
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
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
#PeterCushing
Femmefatalesfriday! Here's an interesting musical motif connection,
between Valerie Gaunt and Christopher Lee. Btw Valerie is the subject of
next week's #femmefatale feature here at the website!
PETER CUSHING AGED NINE, with a letter from his school, that was requested by his father, George. It's interesting to read how even back then, he was consciousness and stood out, even at school!
THE ABOVE BANNER was posted today at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE. With it was a message to everyone who follows and comments at the page, that this is the last post for a while, on the page. FACEBOOK is a for PCAS is a great tool, to connect with fans of Peter Cushing's work, to devise competitions and get together with others, who have a love of Peter and the whole world, that connects to his work and life. But all of that shudders to a halt, if the followers can nit see the posts we make three to four times daily. Some are reporting seeing none at all, for DAYS!
ABOVE A FACEBOOK MESSAGE we received seconds after posting the news of taking a some time out from posting on the PCAS facebook fan page. If it wasn't so stupid and manipulative, it would be funny . . BELOW the revised header banner
THE SOLUTION appears to be clicking a button, making a prioritization of the posts you see on facebook..without it, you will not see the PCAS posts, and the account, is starved of the interaction that facebook insists it receives, OR it buries the account. We are taking a few days off from the PCAS PAGE, and waiting to see, if things change . . . .Posts will continue here, unchanged. Thanks to YOU both this website and our PCAS YOUTUBE CHANNEL are very healthy indeed! I'll keep you posted - Marcus
WHILE WE MAY BE EXPERIENCING visibility issues at our FACEBOOK PAGE, we are still very happy to promote and raise awareness of other society, groups and in this case, excellent video documentaries. I received a message from the chaps at the DARK CORNERS YOUTUBE CHANNEL a short time ago, asking if we could possibly, post a LINK to their channel. There reason, I had already discovered that very morning. TWO SUPERB documentaries called HAMMER AND THE FRANKENSTEIN FRANCHISE. Written and presented by Robin Bailes, directed and edited by Graham Trelfer, the docs are in TWO parts, and each are well worth your time, as are many of video docs. Packed with tons of images and clips, both are very well edited and presented, making these many steps above, what usually passes for docs and reviews on Youtube and also many extras on current blu rand DVD releases. Don't take my word for it, go look them up pr click these links for PART ONE and PART TWO HERE!
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
