Note: My apologies for the delay in this review finally reaching our PCASuk platforms, arm-wrestling and blind fudging with the likes of Facebook and Twitter kicking and deleting images, has made what should have been a simple job of 'sharing' very frustrating. Never mind, persistence and not bowing to automated IT and Facebook numb fumblings, has won the day. Thank you for your patience... - Marcus
WHEN I FIRST shared the excited news on our daily PCASuk feeds, that a NEW 95 minute Blu-ray documentary, on Peter Cushing and the story behind his Hammer films Frankenstein movies, was on the blocks and ready for release, I smiled when one of the first comments on the PCASuk Facebook Fan Page thread cynically asked, 'Cushing? Frankenstein? Hasn't all been said, already? An interesting but predictable point, I thought, but maybe sadly short-sighted. Yes, there have been many TV docs, miles and of column inches, in magazines, fanzines, newspapers plus short featurettes included in recent times on Hammer films Blu-ray, 'extras menus'. Interestingly though, one of my personal top five of such 'Extras', 'The Making of The Evil of Frankenstein' was produced by the same director editor, Donald Fearney, who is responsible for this latest release!
'PETER CUSHING: The Man who Created Frankenstein' is a 90-minute documentary, which not only gives us a refreshing and very detailed take on the history of Cushing's Hammer Classics, rolled out and skilfully delivered in an informative and tight script by Jonathan Hamilton, but also a detailed account of Cushing’s life from his birth in Kenley, England in 1926, to his start in the world of work, his departure to Hollywood, on a one way ticket, working with director Hal Roach, appearing with Laurel and Hardy, his time during WW2 and his engagement with ENSA, entertaining the country's fighting forces, the meeting of his co start, Helen Beck, who would soon become his devoted wife, to the very fortunate event of catching the eye of Laurence Olivier, then being cast as Osric in Olivier's flagship film production of Hamlet, finally then engaging in a lengthy tour of the UK, New Zealand, Australia and Canada, with Olivier's touring company. All of this is beautifully illustrated with some great photographs of the time, which brings us neatly, to the television production, that changed his life and the direction of Peter Cushing's career, the BBC television 1954 production of George Orwell's 1984 . . .
AND SO, the fascinating story of Hammer film's Peter Cushing Frankenstein saga begins, with an in-depth visual study of 'The Curse of Frankenstein'. I say visual, because thankfully, Donald Fearney is a visual director. He, like myself, isn't a fan of the now lazy and well overused concept of 'The Talking Head', a concept of feeding information to the viewer via endless fill the gap, dull clips, produced 'on the -cheap'. For me personally, nothing is more unimaginative than breaks from clips of far more interesting rare images of a particular section of the story, to present time, blue or green screened 'someone'. Now, if no images are available to accompany and support the story, I can sometimes give that situation some grace, but too often, in so many documentaries, an unconnected expert is brought in for five minutes to give their interpretation of this tale, often shot in a hotel room, used as a shooting space, to house a waiting line of other experts with their opinions. And this is where Fearney wins the day.
FORTUNATELY, Donald has a vast collection of vintage images and clips to grace the screen, a vintage clip of the director, the performer or scriptwriter, is visually presented as reference, along with the individual's name, while an audio clip of suitable content from said person is played underneath. They tell the story, the facts, because they were there, at the time. A simple process, that does mean more work and finding appropriate resources . . Ah and there's the rub! But, Fearney has it covered and has done the work. You'll not find, thank heavens, any anonymous, 'who he / she' inserts in this documentary...
IT'S THE HUGE PRESENTATION of sharp, beautiful stills and images, that feature throughout the story, that will no doubt make fans of Cushing's Frankenstein's, very happy with this documentary. The inclusion of rare documents, correspondence, on set stills and promotion clips, that really make the production values, a real gem. Film critic, Peter Noble, putting out a call on his weekly Odeon Cinema Film Newsreel, to the captured cinema going public, for suggestions on 'How should Hammer films Frankenstein creation actually look?' is a real find, from a long gone era. The Cushing interview inserts are really worthwhile too, again visually supplemented with on set footage and more stills. Here IS Peter Cushing in his own words. These are supported by interview clips with Hammer producer Anthony Hinds, scriptwriter, Jimmy Sangster and others. Eventually, we arrive at the end of the tale, the production of Cushing last Frankenstein feature for Hammer films, with the 1973 Terence Fisher directed, 'Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell' and a touching and emotive fall of the final curtain. Again, there's much to see from the on set archives. But it actually doesn't stop there . . .
ALSO THERE IS A MUCH appreciated bonus, in Fearney's 'Peter Cushing : The Man Who Created Frankenstein' this is a two pronged treat for any Peter Cushing Hammer film fan. After enjoying your Blu-ray, you can then enjoy a browse through the 50 page A4 booklet, that contains many of the stills contained in the documentary. All the vintage stills are full size on each page, without wasted framing space, in high resolution, printed on quality gram paper. The stunning full colour front and back covers are A4 lavish photographs, also presented on the front and back covers of your Blu-ray! No matchbox or mini pixelated matrix printed stills here!
AND SO, as a wrap, I'll state that Donald Fearney's documentary and supplement book is, like the many other works he now has under his belt, worth adding to your collection. If you are an admirer of Peter Cushing's work, this presents quite a comprehensive and entertaining package and at a very reasonable price. And, if you enjoy it as much as I did, you maybe hoping there is going to be more? The good news is, Fearney's Christopher Lee documentary, is already wrapped and if the promotion and presentation follows as planned, it will come with a pretty cool extra, attraction . . . - Marcus Brooks : Peter Cushing Appreciation Society Manager / Editor
Donald
Fearney's 'Peter Cushing : The Man Who Created Frankenstein' All NEW 95
minute BLU RAY documentary, that comes presented inside a NEW A4 SIZE
booklet, full of vintage photographs and stills, from all SIX of Peter
Cushing's Hammer film classics!
This
release is LIMITED to 250 COPIES ONLY. Orders can be made via PAYPAL
using the 'Goods and Services' payment ONLY containing customer name and
address details. No 'Family and Friends' orders can be accepted . . .
Make YOUR order to
mktecon1@gmail.com.
Price: £25.00 PLUS £6.00 P&P (UK)
Postage to Europe £7.00
Postage to USA £15.00
Postage to Australia £16.00
How
To Order Peter Cushing : The Man Who Created Frankenstein' on Paypal :
Open your PayPal Account. Enter the email address that we have provided
(mktecon1@gmail.com) for this order. Enter the price of the Blu ray, add
the title and the amount of copies you are ordering. 1, 2 etc. Make
sure that YOUR name and address are also added and finally, select your
purchase as 'Goods and Services' NOT Family and Friends.
Peter Cushing : The Man Who Created Frankenstein'
is a REGION FREE blu ray release
Questions or Queries : FearneyDonald@gmail.com
SHARED PRAISE AND SUPPORT
Donald Fearny's
'Peter Cushing
The Man Who Created Frankenstein'
Blu-ray documentary and book
'Thank you so much for the Peter Cushing book and Blu-Ray that arrived yesterday. Me and Tina watched the documentary last night and thought it was fantastic and the book of photos is also a lovely companion piece. Well done mate on producing such a wonderful documentary and book.' - Paul Cotgrove
'Donald Fearney’s fabulous tribute to one of my all time favourites: Peter Cushing - a 95 minute Blu-ray documentary and accompanied by a great A4 size booklet with many stills/images. Excellent!' - Denis Beresford
'Peter Cushing; The Man Who Created Frankenstein is an interesting and entertaining look at Peter's life and work, focusing on the 6 Frankenstein films that he made for Hammer. There are lots of lovely photos of Peter and his various co-stars, plus background information on the artistes and films. Edward Desouza's narration lends a certain gravitas to the project. Staunch Cushing enthusiasts who have studied Peter & the Frankenstein films may not find many surprises, but it is always nice to see things presented in a different way, with a different point of view. The accompanying photo booklet is superb, with no space wasted on text or captions'. - Colleen Crouch : USA
'Got
the house to myself this weekend, so what’s better than a glass or two
of wine and a box of discs. Started off with another look at Don
Fearney’s PETER CUSHING THE MAN WHO CREATED FRANKENSTEIN. I want to
peruse the stills and documents Don assembled in slow time, he really is
a marvel at digging out rare stuff. I love that shot of Thorley
Walters.
And, of course, I always get a kick out of seeing my name in BiG, RED,
GOTHIC letters! - Narration Writer of 'Peter Cushing The Man Who Created Frankenstein' - John Hamilton
'Thanks Donald Fearney!!! Job Well Done to all Friends involved!!! Great to hear Edward de Souza narration!!!' - Steve Knight
'Don never fails to offer a superb product. Brilliant book, wonderfully clear photos, many of which we had never seen, and a delightful blu-ray packed with info. Great narration, terrific script. A delight for Hammer fans and in particular those who loved Sir. - Sue Cowie
'Donald Fearney, the man behind the Hammer at Bray studios and Cine Lumiere events has just launched a new 95 minute documentary on Peter Cushing as Frankenstein. It is narrated by Edward de Souza and covers the 6 films he made for the studio. The documentary on Blu-ray is informative and flows well and features many unseen photos as does the 50 page booklet that comes with it. Don has previously made several documentaries including one on Amicus films as well as ones concentrating on Hammers vampire and Mummies films. I have been lucky enough to have been involved in some. I highly recommend it to any of my horror film buff Facebook followers. - Simon Flynn
'It's absolutely fabulous' - Andrew Wilson
Don Fearney’s documentary, expertly narrated by actor Edward De Souza
(who featured in Hammer’s ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ as well as in ‘The
Kiss of the Vampire’ and in Fearney’s ‘Grave Tales’) is chock full with
fascinating information, private, on-set and behind-the-scenes footage
and countless film clips. A ‘must have’ for every Peter Cushing fan! - Film-News.co.uk Review
'I watched the new documentary yesterday and I was impressed. Clearly Don Fearney appreciated Peter's portrayal of Baron Frankenstein and rightly so. I expect you will also have been advised that I am not a fan of the horror genre but then there have been few works of fiction that I have really enjoyed whether in literary or cinematic form. However I like to believe that I can recognize good acting. Fearney's documentary clearly alluded to this describing how less
censorship and changing public attitudes contributed to some of the more
gory aspects of Hammer's movies by the last of Peter's portrayal of the
character. I was pleased to note that Peter had not been too impressed
by this development. I was delighted to discover that the narration was done
by Edward De Souza whom I used to enjoy seeing in certain BBC dramas
many years ago. I enjoyed his work too and had not realized he was still
alive!' - Christopher Crouch USA
'I watched your Hammer Frankenstein documentary last night and thought it was excellent. Your documentary is very informative both for old and new Hammer Horror fans and the accompanying book makes a great companion to the Blu-Ray. I can’t recommend this documentary higher enough to anyone who is thinking of purchasing a copy. Very well done.' - Paul
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