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Wednesday 22 October 2014

MARTIN SCORSESE : HAMMER FAN HINT FOR 2014 HALLOWEEN COMPETITION

Busy lining things up ready for our 2014 Halloween competition next week. Great prizes! What is the competition about this year? Here's a little hint from a big Hammer film fan....

LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF: 'I AM PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN YOUR WOLVES!'

Peter Cushing as police pathologist and amateur detective, Paul Cataflanque in 'Legend of the Werewolf' (Tyburn 1975)

.....'..Cushing seems to be enjoying himself enormously - almost all his scenes, until the last have a ghoulish humour about them. It is never forced, it is just a witty, clever, concentrated performance. Cataflanque is eating his tea as the newest cadaver is brought in. 'Ooh dear,' Cushing clucks, with his mouth full, peering under the sheet, 'that's very nasty...' He gets rid of his pompous superiors by mischievously presenting them with a gullet and when he does a bit of undercover research in the local brothel he is left bashfully holding a frilly garter!'
( David Miller, The Peter Cushing Companion. 2000)

Monday 20 October 2014

ANTON DIFFRING BORN TODAY AND REMEMBERED.

REMEMBERING: ANTON DIFFRING. Born today in 1918, Anton Diffring came from a family that boasted generations of actors. Cool and noble with a German accent, he was first in line when the casting call went out for German officers with a nasty streak. He quickly slipped into the role of Baron Frankenstein for the pilot episode of Hammer films and Colombia Pictures, 'Tales of Frankenstein' in 1958 and even quicker filled the role of Dr. Georges Bonnet in Hammer's 'The Man Who Could Cheat Death' in 1959, when the studio found themselves without Peter Cushing for the role.

Diffring is probably best remembered for his roles in 'The Blue Max' in 1966, 'Where Eagles Dare' in 1968 and François Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451 (1966) He was also cast in several film alongside Peter Cushing, 'Shatter' for Hammer in 1974, 'The Beast Must Die' for Amicus also 74 and Tyburn's 'The Masks of Death' with Peter Cushing as an elderly Sherlock Holmes in 1984. Anton Diffring died in 1989 aged 70.

Full review and gallery to be found on our supplement website theblackblackboxclub.com: HERE

BBC4 SCREENS CLASSIC HAMMER DRACULA 1958 TONIGHT!

Following on from our HEADS UP on Friday...here's a reminder to friends in the UK, that Hammer films 1958 DRACULA gets a screening tonight on BBC4 at 22.00 ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vffvv Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing meet for the first time in this UNCUT classic! AND here's a great feature compete with LOBBY STILLS and VINTAGE trailer frames to whet your appetite at our website: http://petercushingblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/peter-cushing-and-christopher-lee.html

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Sunday 19 October 2014

DEAD GOOD PRIZES TO COME! PCASUK HALLOWEEN COMPETITION 2014

Dead Good Prizes... your PCASUK Halloween Competition for 2014.

Stay tuned for details!

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SIMON WARD REMEMBERED : THE BARON'S APPRENTICE!

REMEMBERING: Born today, Simon Ward. If you take a look at the raft of obituaries for Simon Ward who sadly passed away in 2012, it's a common fault that they state that his career was kick started when he was 'plucked from obscurity' and appeared in Richard Richard Attenborough’s 'Young Winston' in 1972. Maybe that is how the press and publicity agents remember it....but for Ward, it was not so.

Ward acknowledged Hammer films 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed' made in 1969 as the film 'that started it all' and the generous help and assistance from his co star Peter Cushing, that made anything afterwards possible... In a interview with pcasuk in 1979, Ward acknowledges his debt to Cushing, who he said, '..had time and patience with me. I knew nothing of the technique needed for working with a camera or about the studio floor. Peter was extremely kind, taking time to explain the simple but very important rules of pace and nuance, so the editor can get in there. This and try to not fall over the cables. He did so much for me. Quite extraordinary. I mean, no one has the time to do that, everyone is busy. But he did it for me, many times through out the film. And it's something I've always remembered, and not come across since... a very kind, gentle, gracious man. He really did save my skin'.

Simon Ward sadly left us in 2012.

Saturday 18 October 2014

SHOCK WAVES: ON SET SATURDAY : PETER CUSHING WHITE GLOVE AND MAKE UP!

#onsetsaturday 2# : Peter Cushing in the make up chair getting his character's signature 'scar' in 'SHOCK WAVES' aka 'DEATH CORP' aka 'ALMOST HUMAN'.... soon to be released on blu ray and on limited cinema release!

THE GORGON 50TH BIRTHDAY AND A TELLING TALE FROM BARBARA SHELLEY

A great feature by KB Zorka on the life and career of Prudence Hyman with gallery. Just click: HERE

Friday 17 October 2014

50 YEARS OLD TODAY: HAPPY BIRTHDAY 'THE GORGON'

It's a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a grand ol lady! It's 50 years today that Hammer films 'THE GORGON' hit the big screen. Starring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley and Richard Pasco it certainly qualifies as one of Hammer films marquee titles. Made at Bray studios and directed by Terence Fisher. This post is dedicated to our 'number one' resident Gorgon fan, Joshua 'Mageara' Kennedy!

Thursday 16 October 2014

REMEMBERING ROBERT URQUHART : BORN TODAY 1921

REMEMBERING Robert Urquhart. 'Quiet, well-read and a lover of classical music, Robert Urquhart was an actor who grew frustrated with his career as he grew older. It was, he bemoaned, an honorable profession but so much of the material he was offered did not deserve any respect...' Robert Urquhart Obituary. 'The Independent' newspaper, 24th March 1995.

In the early 1950's Urquhart was building himself quite a reputation for his theatre work. A reputation that would eventually bring him to the attention of studio casting agents and land him supporting roles on the big screen. But it was in the medium of film, that Urquhart was not such a happy chap...

That one film was 'The Curse of Frankenstein' with Peter Cushing in 1957 for Hammer film. He detested it. It is said he left the premier screening, refused to make appearances to promote it and only in the last years of his revived career on television, could he find the stomach to even mention it, if it was brought up in interviews.

By 1980, Urquhart had cooled off a little..and appeared in another Hammer production, the Hammer House of Horror' television series, in an episode entitled, - Children of the Full Moon. However, we remember him today for his sterling performance in The Curse of Frankenstein'!

Tuesday 14 October 2014

FAMOUS MONSTERS: APRIL 1977: HAMMER FILMS DRACULA SERIES : THE YEARS OF FEAR!

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Monday 13 October 2014

SEVEN FOOT TALL AND ALL FLESH AND BONES! #MONSTERMONDAY TAKES IN 'THE CREEPING FLESH'

This #MONSTERMONDAY we ask you to consider the creep credentials of a skeleton with a difference...It doesn't sound very frightening... a paleontological bag-of-bones discovered in Papua New Guinea....and the 7ft tall skeleton doesn't do very much for the first hour of 'The Creeping Flesh'. However... chop off a digit and 'just add water..!'...and it becomes a flesh creeping, bone chilling tower of revenge. How do we rate this MONSTER?

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Sunday 12 October 2014

HALLOWEEN COMPETITION 2014 : PETER CUSHING HAMMER FILMS 80TH BIRTHDAY AND MUCH MORE MORE!

The UK Peter Cushing Appreciation Society Halloween Competition 2014! Launches on FRIDAY OCTOBER 31st .... winners names will be announced on SUNDAY 9th NOVEMBER, the week of HAMMER FILMS 80th Birthday! STAY CLOSE for more details..