ACTOR JOHN FRASER DIES AGED 89

 

SADLY, today we say goodbye actor John Fraser... a Scottish actor and author. His partner of 42 years, Rodney Pienaar confirmed that John had died on Saturday after returning home from a stay in hospital. Throughout his career, John Fraser was a very busy actor, on both the big and small screen from about early 1960's until the late 80's. Quite a few notable roles and the reputation of being touted as the 'most handsome man in Britain' for a while

#JohnFraser was cast as #PeterCushing 's son, Christopher Trevenyan in the film 'Fury at Smugglers Bay' in 1961, an interesting widescreen movie, that almost seems like a relation to Cushing's #Hammerfilm 'Night Creatures' aka 'Captain Clegg' which came swashbuckling along a few months later in 1962!

FRASER WORKED with an impressive line up of top billing actors, including #PeterSellers and Alec Guinness, but first came to public notice in 1955 as the doomed Flt Lt J V “Hoppy” Hopgood DFC in 'The Dam Busters' in 1955. Later, Fraser had leading roles in films such as 'El Cid', 'The Trials of #OscarWilde' (playing Lord Alfred Douglas), #RomanPolanski's Repulsion, Isadora and Schizo. He made appearances on television series including Danger Man (1964), Randall and Hopkirk (1969), #Columbo (1972), Doctor Who (1981) and The Bill (1995).

NOTABLY IN THE 1960'S his novel 'Clap Hands If You Believe in Fairies' was a first in bringing the devastation caused by the #thalidomide drug to the attention of a wider public. In the late 1990's, Fraser retired from film making and acting to Tuscany in Italy. In 2004, he published his autobiography, Close Up, in which he wrote frankly about his gay life and friendships.

A WELL RESPECTED actor and gentle man, Fraser died yesterday aged 89... This post has also been shared at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE where everyone is sharing their memories of John Fraser, his life and work... please free to share and to join them today . .  - Marcus 

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RARE #CHRISTOPERLEE PRINCE OF DARKNESS PUBLICITY STILL

THE UK PETER CUSHING APPRECIATION SOCIETY also has a presence on INSTAGRAM and for the last few days has been winging it's fast growing total of followers PAST the 1K mark. Thank you to everyone who have joined and have been reposting 😊If you want to support or keep up with what is happening at the site, feel free to join up! HERE! 

#ChristopherLee Saturday! Hammer's Dracula, played by Christopher Lee in 'Dracula, Prince of Darkness' 1966

PLEASE COME JOIN US at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE! With posts every day, rare images and photographs, features and prize competitions.You'll have good company with over 34 thousand followers, all celebrating the LIFE and CAREER of Peter Cushing OBE!

WARNER BROTHERS ARCHIVE : DELUX TWO DISC CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN BLU RAY RESTORATION COMPARISON FOOTAGE

THE NEWS OF #WARNERBROTHERS now releasing a REMASTERED blu ray of the 1957 #PeterCushing and #ChristopherLee Hammer films classic, 'The Curse of Frankenstein' has been met as very good news for Cushing and Hammer film fans alike. The release of the news at the was met with quite a few concerns and queries on the experiences felt by many who had purchased the previous 'remastered' blu ray release of the film back in July 2013, from Lionsgate. It certainly had it's share of problems with a strange tint, contrasts and what many saw as weird cropping of the screen image. To answer these concerns, #WarnerArchive released a short clip of comparison footage from THEIR release today on their YOUTUBE channel and Facebook page. 

ABOVE: THE PCASUK NEWS POST WITH FULL DETAILS AND SPEC FROM NOVEMBER 5TH 2020 HERE! 

THE WARNER ARCHIVE remaster looks amazing! A massive improvement! It has to be said, anyone who purchased Warner Brothers remastered blu rays of Hammer's #DraculaAD1972' and #TheSatanicRites of Dracula' two years ago, no doubt had more faith in the work of the team at Warner, to finally put past imperfections right! This looks to be another amazing Warner package of the remastering of a fabulous Hammer / Cushing and Lee classic with a big bag of very promising extras! The release date is yet to be announced, a PCASUK Competition will launch at the same time, so STAY TUNED!

'Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging (MPI) presents a "Before & After" video comparing an unrestored version of The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) with the brand-new version featured on our Two Disc Special Edition Warner Archive Blu-ray. The new presentation is derived from a recombination of separation masters scanned at 4K 16 bit by MPI, before undergoing full restoration and color correction. Take a look and see for yourself!'

#petercushing #hammerfilms #curseoffrankenstein #warnerbrothers

 

 

PETER CUSHING APPRECIATION SOCIETY ON INSTAGRAM OVER 1K FOLLWERS : RIGHT HERE!

PLEASE COME JOIN US at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE! With posts every day, rare images and photographs, features and prize competitions.You'll have good company with over 34 thousand followers, all celebrating the LIFE and CAREER of Peter Cushing OBE!

A #CLOSECALL £250K #PALITOY STAR WARS COLLECTION ALMOST ENDS UP IN THE GARBAGE!!

A STAR WARS collection which includes the “holy grail” of #StarWarsfigures is expected to fetch up to £250,000 at auction today — after being saved from being binned! The seller was going to throw the whole lot away after he was left the collection of more than 500 items by his neighbour, who died earlier this year, and had no idea of their value. Among the treasures are two figures thought to be among the rarest in the world.

A STAR DESTROYER COMMANDER is one of only two known to exist in the original packaging. It is so sought after that auctioneers Aston’s, of Dudley, West Midlands, has not been able to put an estimate on it. The “holy grail” Jawa, wearing a black vinyl cape, is thought to be one of only ten in a similar condition, is valued at £25,000.

SADLY, at this time, there was no Grand Moff Tarkin #PeterCushing figure, so he isn't in with the treasure! .. Are YOU sitting on a stash and treasure trove of Star Wars vintage figures too? I'd love to see them or hear about them at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE  of this post today! - Marcus!

PLEASE COME JOIN US at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE! With posts every day, rare images and photographs, features and prize competitions.You'll have good company with over 34 thousand followers, all celebrating the LIFE and CAREER of Peter Cushing OBE!

NEWS: WARNER BROTHERS RELEASE NEWS OF TWO DISC 4 K RESTORATION 'THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN' DELUX SPECIAL EDITION BLU RAY

NEWS: #WarnerArchive have just announced a blu-ray of #Hammerfilms classic 'The Curse Of Frankenstein', a two disc special edition featuring a new 4k restoration, starring #PeterCushing and #ChristopherLee. Release date TBA 

SPECS HERE:
THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1957) - 2 DISC SPECIAL EDITION

New 2020 1080p HD Restoration Masters from 4K Scans of Preservation Separation Elements
Run Time: 83:00
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio Specs: DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English
Aspect Ratio: Disc One-1.85:1-16x9 Widescreen and 1.66:1-16x9 Widescreen
Product Color: COLOR
Disc Configuration: 2-BD 50

Special Features: 

New feature commentary by Screenwriter/Film Historian Steve Haberman and Filmmaker/Film Historian Constantine Nasr, Newly Remastered 1.37:1 Open Matte version of feature. New Featurettes include: The Resurrection Men: Hammer, Frankenstein and the Rebirth of the Horror Film, Hideous Progeny: The Curse of Frankenstein and the English Gothic Tradition, Torrents of Light: The Art of Jack Asher, Diabolus in Musica: James Bernard and the Sound of #HammerHorror, Original Theatrical Trailer (HD) 

The first, and perhaps the best of the long-running series of horror films from the house of Hammer, #PeterCushing and #ChristopherLee star in this landmark interpretation based on the famous #MaryShelley story. Baron Victor Frankenstein becomes friends with one of his teachers, Paul Krempe. At first, both men are fascinated by the potential of their re-animating experiments. Eventually, though, Krempe refuses to help with Frankenstein's human experiments. However, he is drawn back into the plot when Frankenstein's creature kills a member of the house staff.

The #WarnerArchive adds The Curse of Frankenstein to their impressive #PeterCushing.#ChristopherLee and Hammefilms classic library of marquee titles, they released both REMASTERED #DraculaAD1972 and #TheSatanicRitesofDracula to their releases this time last year and also Hammer's #HorrorofDracula too. Below part one of our PCASUK Feature and gallery on both Curse and Horror of Dracula : HERE! 

For its U.S. Blu-ray debut, #WarnerArchive is proud to present this deluxe 2 Disc Special Edition, featuring two theatrical aspect ratio presentations, meticulously remastered and restored from preservation separations, as well as bonus disc with the restoration presented in "open-matte" format, as was seen for years on television, plus four exciting new retrospective featurettes, an expert commentary, and the original theatrical trailer.
#warnerbros 

PLEASE COME JOIN US at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE! With posts every day, rare images and photographs, features and prize competitions.You'll have good company with over 34 thousand followers, all celebrating the LIFE and CAREER of Peter Cushing OBE!

#ONSET WITH #PETERCUSHING AND #CHRISTOPHERLEE DURING #HAMMERFILMS CLASSICS

A BEAUTIFUL candid shot of Peter Cushing and Ursula Andress on set at Elstree film studios UK, during the making of Hammer films epic 'SHE' in 1964.

A LOCATION SHOT at Black Park of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee rehearsing the prologue scene of #HAMMERFILMS 'Dracula AD 1972'

IT'S #TEATIME!

PLEASE COME JOIN US at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE! With posts

 every day, rare images and photographs, features and prize competitions.You'll have good company with over 34 thousand followers, all celebrating the LIFE and CAREER of Peter Cushing OBE!

CUSHING AND LEE UNPUBLISHED AND ON SET!

 

#Frankenstein #Friday! #ONSET Peter Cushing and Francis Matthews while making #Hammerfilms 'Revenge of Frankenstein' at Bray studios, just before the camera rolls, with clapper loader, Anthony Powell between Cushing and Matthews, holding 'something' to the camera! Over at the Facebook PCASUK Fan Page, we offered a gold star😁😁 . . . to anyone who can tell us what this process is called? This behind the scenes shot has been taken from the raw, trim end of the actual edited film footage!

 

#UPDATE The answer to the question below is WHITE BALANCE 😊 Back in the day and until recent times, there was no white balance setting on a film camera, because white balance is determined by which film you use and that is not a variable characteristic. Daylight balanced film, for example, is only balanced for daylight. To shoot in other kinds of light, like the studio light in this environment, the would use a pure white card or board, which would bounce the light, to the camera and the setting on the camera would be manually adjusted...this would have to be done, every time, the location of the camera would be changed. 

 

SOMETIMES a filter would be used, if filming was taken place in a real home with artificial light indoors...and a real window could be seen or casting light into the room, the windows would be covered with transparent but tinted 'blue or interior coloured light source' cellophane, which would compensate / adjust the exterior light to mix with the exterior coming into the room. Sometimes very subtle to the human eye but a huge difference to the sensitive film in the camera. Without doing this white shirts would be light blue, complexions of faces, would all have a blue tint, looking deader than the murder victim! 

 

#ONSET PHOTOGRAPH of #ChristopherLee, in the background approaching #PeterCushing's stuntman Peter Mount, and talking to Lee, Eddie Powell his stuntman for the prologue of #DraculaAD1972 . . Lee isn't wearing his cloak right now, But Eddie is wearing HIS...and if you want to know what that cloak is worth? I'd say about £26K😏😆

 

ABOVE: A RARE COLOUR photograph of, Director Terence Fisher working at the backlot of #Braystudios with #ChristopherLee during the shooting of the final scene . . . on ice in #Hammerfilms 'Dracula Prince of Darkness' (1966)

ANOTHER UNPUBLISHED on set promo photograph of #ChristopherLee from 'Scars of Dracula' ... a very rich looking Count this time, gold and red furnishings, a young cast, but sadly no #PeterCushing #VanHelsing . . how do you rate this one??

 

PLEASE COME JOIN US at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE! With posts

 every day, rare images and photographs, features and prize competitions.

You'll have good company with over 34 thousand followers, 

all celebrating the LIFE and CAREER of Peter Cushing OBE!