Here's a bit of fun for tomorrow @ the UK Peter Cushing Appreciation Society Facebook Fan Page Hammer Socks! Now selling on ebay for silly money, you can bag a set for free! Sock It To Me Sunday! Ten sets to win. Three pairs of socks in a set depicting Christopher Lee
as the creature in 'The Curse Of Frankenstein' and Count Dracula in
'Dracula' (1958) and 'Taste The Blood Of Dracula' (1970)
Saturday 10 August 2013
SOCK IT TO ME SUNDAY! WIN A SET OF HAMMER FILM SOCKS!
Labels:
christopher lee.,
curse of frankenstein,
footwear,
hammer film socks,
monster feet,
novelty socks,
peter cushing,
stockings
Thursday 8 August 2013
BEWARE THE MOORS AT NIGHT! TROY HOWARTH REVIEWS PETER CUSHING'S BBC 'HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES'
According to legend, the heirs of the
Baskerville family are all doomed to meet untimely demises at the claws of the
Hound of the Baskervilles; Sherlock Holmes is called in to uncover the truth…
Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle’s career as a writer is inextricably linked to his most famous
creation, Sherlock Holmes. This was not what the author himself had in
mind, however, and indeed he eventually tired of the popularity of the
character and grew to resent having to serialize his adventures. He decided
to kill the master detective off in 1893, with The Final Problem, wherein
Holmes takes a tumble off Reichenbach Falls while struggling with his nemesis,
the criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty. Public outcry was so strong
that Doyle eventually felt compelled to revive the character. Published
in 1901 and 1902, The Hound of the Baskervilles – its action set before the
incidents dramatized in The Final Problem – was the first of the “new” Holmes
adventures; it has since become the most popular of the various Holmes
adventures. It also remains far and away the most heavily adapted for
film and television. A complete rundown of the various versions would
call for an article in itself; suffice to say, it was serialized in Germany on
at least two occasions during the silent era, in addition to several other
British and German versions, many of which are now believed to be lost.
The 1939 version from 20th Century Fox version is remembered less
for its (sometimes spotty) merits as a film than for being the first to
introduce the now-legendary pairing of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Holmes
and Watson. Rathbone remains the screen’s definitive Holmes, while
Bruce’s less-than-canonical account of Watson remains a sore point with many purists.
The Fox version has some nice set pieces but lumbers under the pedestrian
direction of Sidney Lanfield.
An obscure German version from the 1950s
would follow, but it would be up to Hammer Films to offer up the next
significant adaptation. Peter Cushing made his debut as Holmes, with
Andre Morell as a much-truer-to-Doyle incarnation of Watson. Capitalizing
on the success of their Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and Dracula (1958), Hammer
also saw fit to cast Christopher Lee in the role of Sir Henry Baskerville, thus
giving the actor his first chance to play a romantic lead. This version
has many fine points to recommend notably Morell’s Watson and a tour de force
bit of directing from Terence Fisher during the film’s extended opening
flashback sequence – but it suffers from taking too many liberties with the
text and has a generally cramped and claustrophobic quality, despite some
superb cinematography by the great Jack Asher. Cushing’s neurotic take on
the detective, however, did not really connect with audiences – and the film
failed to repeat the box office takings of Hammer’s straight horror films, thus
quashing the potential for a series of Holmes adventures.
The next
version is the one under discussion, produced by the BBC , with Cushing reprising
his turn as Holmes and Nigel Stock stepping in to play Watson, as he had done
for the entire run of the BBC series. Later versions would range from the
serious to the comical – Paul Morrissey’s slapstick-infused version from 1978,
starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, is often reviled, but taken on its own
lighthearted terms, it offers some genuine chuckles – with wildly uneven
results. A 1972 TV version starring Stewart Granger and Bernard Fox was
one of the worst, while Granada ’s miniseries version with Jeremy Brett and
Edward Hardwicke was something of a disappointment. Ultimately, for a
story adapted for the screen on so many occasions, the definitive version has
proved elusive; in many respects, this two-part BBC version is as good an
option as any, for at least it remains true to the basic particulars of the
story, and offers up a fine Cushing performance at its center. But like every other extant version to date,
it most definitely falls way short of the potential offered by the subject matter.
Like other entries in the BBC series, the film
suffers, aesthetically, from the mixture of being shot on film and video – the location
photography is much appreciated, however, and helps to add a sense of menace to
the proceedings. The script is dialogue
heavy, but this is hardly an issue when Cushing is on hand to help sell the
material. He again displays great
chemistry with Stock, and the two actors are quite skilled at bringing their
characters to life. Director Graham
Evans shows himself to be more competent than inspired, and the pacing tends to
slacken when Holmes is off screen – which, this being relatively faithful to
the text, poses a problem in the mid-section of the narrative.
The supporting cast includes Gary Raymond,
then part of the ensemble of the popular Rat Patrol TV series and later to
headline on the better episodes of The Hammer House of Horror, Two Faces of
Evil. Raymond does a capable job as Sir
Henry, though he inevitably lacks the sheer presence of Lee in the earlier
adaptation. Ballard Berkeley, later to
find small screen immortality as the delightfully dotty Major in Fawlty Towers,
puts in an appearance as Sir Charles Baskerville; he had earlier costarred with
Cushing in Cone of Silence (1960). David
Leland makes for a less blustery and overtly suspicious-looking Dr. Mortimer
than Lionel Atwill and Francis DeWolff, in the Fox and Hammer versions,
respectively; he would later pop up in comedic relief capacity in Roy Ward
Baker’s Scars of Dracula (1970).
This version of Hound may not offer up the blood and
thunder approach of the Hammer version, but it remains a very competent
adaptation in its own right.
It’s truer
in spirit and particulars to Doyle’s original tale, and it makes for a cozy way
of whiling away a couple of hours on a rainy afternoon; mystery lovers with a
love of old fashioned whodunnits will be properly entertained.
Review: Troy Howarth
Images: Marcus Brooks
Review: Troy Howarth
Images: Marcus Brooks
Please Join Us At The Official FACEBOOK FAN PAGE of The PCAS : HERE
Labels:
bbc,
dartmoor,
gary bond,
hammer horrors,
hound of the baskervilles,
nigel stock,
peter cushing.,
sir arthur conan doyle
Wednesday 7 August 2013
HAVE YOURSELF A FANTASTIQ FANTASY WEEKEND
The Fantastiq Festival of fantasy, Sci-Fi and Horror which takes place in Derby this weekend starting Friday 9th August! With the BBC having just announced the casting of Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor the Fantastiq festival celebrates Peter Cushing's portrayal as 'Dr Who' in the sixties movies Dr Who and the Daleks (1965) and Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.
(1966)! Alongside these and many more classic horror and
sci-fi film screenings, there will be screening of Peter Cushing's 'Hammer house of Horror' episode, 'The Silent Scream', 'The Beast Must Die' with an interview with director Paul Annett and a screening of Hammer Films 58' 'Dracula'. There's a great guest list also including Dez Skinn, the legendary creator of iconic seventies monster magazines House of Hammer and Starburst.
Here is a run down of the THREE DAY event:
Friday 9th August
1pm Hammer House Of Horror Double Bill
2pm From The Vault: Heavy Metal (15)
3pm Bug (15)
4pm Orson Welles’ The War Of The Worlds
5:30pm Ghostwatch (adv 15)
6:00pm Preview – Upstream Color (15)
7:15pm Stephen Volk In Conversation
8:00pm From The Vault – Heavy Metal (15)
8:40pm Book Signing Whitstable
9:30pm Spectral Press Presents…Dracula (12A)
10:00pm House (Hausu) (15)
Saturday 10th August
10:45am From The Vault: Silver Bullet (15)
11:00am The AckerMonster Chronicles
1:00pm Dez Skinn In Conversation
1:15pm Corruption (adv 12A)
3:00pm Jason And The Argonauts (U)
3:15pm The Sorcerers (15)
4:45pm Johnny Mains On John Burke & The Sorcerers
6:00pm The Beast Must Die (15)
6:30pm Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan (U)
8pm Paul Annett In Conversation
8:30pm From The Vault: Silver Bullet (15)
9:30pm Preview – Kiss Of The Damned (cert tbc)
Sunday 11th August
11:00am From The Vault: The Black Belly Of The Tarantula (15)
11:30am Horror Tour Of Derby with Darrell Buxton
1:30pm Dr Who And The Daleks / Daleks: Invasion Earth Double
Bill
2:00pm Filmmaker’s Forum Panel Discussion
4:00pm Zombie: The New Undead (adv 18)
5:30pm Cinema Retro Presents…Vampire Circus
6:00pm Orson Welles’ The War Of The Worlds
7:15pm Robert Young In Conversation
8pm From The Vault: The Black Belly Of The Tarantula (15)
8:45pm Closing Night Preview – John Dies At The End (15)
Labels:
daleks,
derby,
dez skinn,
dracula,
fantastiq,
festival,
house of hammer,
peter cushing,
tony earnshaw.,
vampire circus
Tuesday 6 August 2013
WHERE THERE IS NO IMAGINATION, THERE IS NO HORROR : TROY HOWARTH REVIEWS 'A STUDY IN SCARLET' PETER CUSHING
A corpse is found inside an abandoned house; nearby, the word “Rache” has been scrawled on the wall in blood. Scotland Yard is stymied, so Sherlock Holmes is called in to investigate…
“Where there is no imagination, there is no horror…”
These words, spoken by Sherlock Holmes in
this adaptation of A Study in Scarlet, could be said to represent the
philosophy of actor Peter Cushing, here cast as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s
immortal sleuth. The BBC brought Holmes to the small screen in 1964, in the form of the imposing character actor Douglas Wilmer. Wilmer’s
frustration with the lack of rehearsal time prompted him to depart
after two seasons, thus leaving the BBC in a bit of a bind. They
initially sought to get John Neville as a replacement, but the actor –
who had played Holmes in A Study in Terror (1965) – turned them down
flat. The net was then cast to Peter Cushing, who decided to ignore Wilmer’s warnings and elected to take the
part. It would not be a pleasurable experience for the
actor, and when he and Wilmer were later united on the Hammer/AIP
production of The Vampire Lovers (1970), Cushing remarked that he would
sooner spend the rest of his career sweeping Paddington Station than to
work for the BBC again under similar circumstances.
Cushing
would later argue that the strain affected his performance, indicating a
preference for his earlier, less hurried portrayal of Holmes in
Hammer’s The Hound of the Baskervilles (1958). With all
due respect to Cushing, however, I disagree – where his earlier
performance is a bit mannered, he seems far more relaxed and comfortable
in the role in the BBC series. Sadly, many of the episodes are now missing – but the ones that survive show just how effective
Cushing really was in the role. A Study in Scarlet wasn’t
the first of the run that he did for the BBC, but it is the first in
continuity of that surviving episodes.
The story itself, published in 1887, was actually the first of the Sherlock Holmes adventures. It
established the template for everything which would follow, and set the
stage for the public’s fascination with his super rational master
detective. It was first adapted in the silent era, with the approval of Doyle himself, but this version is considered lost. The earliest surviving version dates from 1933 and starred Reginald Owen as Holmes. As with so many adaptations of Doyle’s works, the makers saw fit to use the title and very little else. Completests may feel compelled to seek it out, but it remains a stodgy, stilted and hopelessly dated affair. Amazingly,
it would not be officially adapted again until this version from the
BBC, though an episode of the 1950s series starring Ronald Howard as
Holmes used it as a starting point for a “new” adventure. When Holmes went back into “vogue” courtesy of the Granada series starring Jeremy Brett, the story was passed over altogether. It was, however, loosely adapted for the recent hit series Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. In essence, the Cushing version remains the most “canonical” crack at the tale – and it arguably remains the best by far.
In addition to Cushing’s splendidly detailed
performance – note the wonderful bits of sly humor, as when he rolls his
eyes when Watson announces that even he was fooled by the murderer’s
deception, or the way he writes notes on his cuffs, a detail culled from
Doyle’s stories – there’s much to enjoy in the performance of Nigel
Stock as Watson. Stock, also to be seen as a disgraced
medic in Hammer’s off the wall The Lost Continent (1968), would finish
out his career playing a supporting part in the Steven Spielberg
production Young Sherlock (1986), thus reestablishing a connection to
the franchise which brought him the most popularity in the UK.
Stock
had already established a good rapport with Wilmer in the previous two
series, and would later remark that he felt that Wilmer was
impossible to replace; but he also had good things to say about
Cushing, for whom he had tremendous respect. Stock plays
the character with a bit of the comical bluster of Nigel Bruce in the
classic Basil Rathbone series, but he doesn’t reduce the character to
caricature; he is credible as a sensible ex-military man and medic, as
well. William Lucas, Cushing’s costar in Night of the Big
Heat (1967), makes for a solid Inspector Lestrade, while George A.
Cooper (veteran of the Freddie Francis films The Brain, 1962, Nightmare,
1963, and Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, 1968) impresses as
Inspector Gregson. Lovely Edina Ronay, previously seen as one of Jack the Ripper’s victims in A Study in Terror, is on hand as well.
A Study in Scarlet packs in enough incident
and deduction to fill its hour time slot quite nicely - and with such
skill in the acting department, it remains a joy from start to finish. It is not the best of the run of the series, but it’s a fine intro to one of Cushing’s most iconic portrayals.
Please Join us At The Official FABOOK FAN PAGE Of The PCAS:HERE
Sunday 4 August 2013
PETER CAPALDI IS DOCTOR WHO
Labels:
bbc,
dalek.,
doctor who,
dr who,
new doctor who,
peter capaldi,
peter cushing,
tardis
NEW DOCTOR WHO ACTOR : WE'RE ALL WAITING
If you are a fan of the BBC Doctor Who television series, it can't have escaped your notice that tonight at 7pm the BBC announce the name of the actor who will take over the role from Matt Smith.
Speculation on who would take over the role has been rife since Smith
announced in June that he would be leaving the sci-fi series. And so, we wait.....
Labels:
dr who,
matt smith,
name reveal.,
new doctor who,
peter cushing
NINETY ONE AND STILL THE REAL DEAL: CHRISTOPHER LEE
DANISH 'THE BRIDES OF DRACULA' CINEMA POSTER
The Brides of Dracula, Starring Peter Cushing, Yvonne Monlaur and David Peel. (1960) : Danish cinema
poster. Apparently, this actual poster once belonged to the film's co
star David Peel, who kept it in his collection because Denmark was the
only country to give him top billing!
Labels:
danish cinema,
david peel,
hammer films.,
peter cushing
FILM REVIEW: JULY 1969 VERONICA CARLSON PETER CUSHING 'FRANKENSTEIN COVER'
Labels:
baron frankenstein,
cinema,
cushing.,
film review,
magazine,
veronica carlson
WE HAVE A WINNER: SANDRA PASCOE: DR WHO AND THE DALEKS BLU RAY AND POSTER COMPETITION
Congratulations to SANDRA PASCOE winner in our Peter Cushing, Dr Who and the Daleks blu ray and poster competition! Thank you so much to everyone who entered what was a very popular competition!
Labels:
competition,
daleks,
dr who,
peter cushing.,
sandra pascoe
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