REMEMBERING CALVIN LOCKHART : BIGGY SMALLS AND THE BEAST MUST DIE

BAHAMIAN BORN, Bert Cooper... soon to be Calvin Lockhart first caught many movie-goers' attention in those now ' a little off centre' maybe, super-slick cliche urban films like Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) and Halls of Anger (1970) before becoming a fairly steady fixture in the "blaxploitation" movies of the early-to-mid 1970s. It was what it was... Most serious film and TV roles for black actors were scarce at that time, so Calvin moved from the US to Europe.

OUR PCASUK feature and gallery on 'The Beast Must Die' (1974) starring Calvin Lockhart, Peter Cushing and Marlene Clark, can be FOUND RIGHT HERE! 

GIF ABOVE: BOO! Paul Foote and Newcliffe, play 'a-hunting' in the forest in 'The Beast Must Die' (1974) 

ABOVE: MARLENE CLARK as Caroline Newcliffe in 'The Beast Must Die'

IN ITALY Lockhart soon owned a restaurant and formed his own theatre company, serving as both actor and director. For a time, he also lived in Germany before settling in England, where he became the first black actor to play lead roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Soon he was starting to build up film credits with minor work in such British movies as A Dandy in Aspic (1968) and Only When I Larf (1968). He made news in another racially-motivated project entitled Joanna (1968), which centred around a "mod", interracial romance with 'Genevieve Waite'.

GIF ABOVE: Dr. Lundgren (Peter Cushing) offers to treat Newcliffe's (Calvin Lockhart) dog, 'slight flesh wound' . .  that turns out to be much more . . ! 

IT WAS 1974 when Milton Subotsky, producer and scriptwriter at Amicus films spotted him for the lead role, in a little something different from their portmanteau movies, a wolf-wolf who-done-it . . with a little, if not a wonky nod to the blaxploitation films of Lockhart's past...what resulted for some is one of their Peter Cushing favourites, Cushing playing German (?) Swiss (??) lycanthropy expert in 'The Beast Must Die' famous also for it's 'werewolf-break' the film is a hoot, and like many other Amicus films, has a great cast with Michael Gambon, Anton Diffring, Charles Gray and the lovely, Marlene Clark.

AFTER 'BEAST', Calvin's career grew a little lacklustre, and by the end of the decade, he was resorting to trivial guest parts in such TV shows as Good Times (1974) and Get Christie Love! (1974). He landed a recurring role on the night-time soap Dynasty (1981) In 1974, Calvin married a woman also from the West Indies and had three children! After his career subsided, he decided to return to his homeland in the mid '90s and resettled in Nassau with his fourth wife, Jennifer Miles. There he involved himself with the Freeport Players Guild as a director. He also returned to films after a 15-year absence, completing Rain (2008), a movie shot in the Bahamas, shortly before he suffered a major stroke. 

SADLY CALVIN died of complications on March 29, 2007, and his family are currently in the process of establishing a scholarship fund in his name, specifically for Bahamian students, pursuing an acting or film making career.  Today we remember Lockhart, who put more than a bit of a buzz into a Amicus film. Calvin Lockhart : October 18, 1934 - March 29, 2007

Banner stills: 

Top Right: Peter Cushing and Calvin Lockhart in 'The Beast Must Die' (Amicus 1974)
Bottom Right: Rare promo portrait still for 'The Beast Must Die', featuring Calvin Lockhart and co star, Marlene Clark.
Main Still: Rare publicity portrait of Calvin Lockhart as Tom Newcliffe.
'The Beast Must Die' (1974 Amicus films) Directed by Paul Annett

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE OTHER TARKIN AND HOUSE MAKES A HALLOWEEN SPLASH ON FILMFAX PLUS COVER!

TODAY WE ARE MARKING a birthday of an actor, that just a few years ago any Cushing or Star Wars fans and the actor involved would never have believed if you told them, how the three would connect! When the idea of bringing Tarkin back to the big screen, this  actor was very busily working in a UK soap drama... and then come the beginning of December2016 he was thrust into the spotlight, following huge anticipation for the arrival of the STAR WARS movie, #ROGUEONE. But remember, Henry wasn't just playing any character though, this was a role that would split the opinion of Cushing fans, movie goers and Star Wars Followers, the world over....  A Job Well done, Mr Henry 😉 A VERY Happy Birthday to you, have a great day!

A FOOTNOTE to this post, as it  appears on the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE  'On the subject of Tarkin CGI' 'This is one of those little nuts that is never going to be cracked. I think, like all things about film, it depends on your personal perspective... on the week Rogue One was released I did a live ...hour long...interview on WGN radio about the film. I knew, it was going to be tricky. The angle really was 'What do you think? should they have done it, was it ok to put a CGI Cushing of Tarkin in the film?'... and I stand on what I said back then. You'll never please everyone no matter how good the CGI is.. but more to the point, they had the OK of Cushing's estate to do it . . knowing PC well, I trust their judgement. As for the point of, 'It ain't REAL!'... well, I hate to burst your bubble, but hey, this is Star Wars.. it's a fantasy, nothing you are seeing up there is real.. it's a movie.vWould Cushing have ok'ed the idea? Well, as you would have seen from many posts we have shared with here, we are talking about a man who 'created' toy theatres and model actors, he spent months making figures, painted water colours and oils, spent time on the floor setting up his model soldiers, re-enacting battles in his 'miniature gaming', re-creating . . you decide... ;)' - Marcus (pcas)

OUT NOW! ISSUE 155 of the magazine '#FILMFAX' has the cast of the 1983 film 'The House of the Long Shadows' #VincentPrice, #ChristopherLee, #PeterCushing and #JohnCarradine... as part of their #Halloween issue, there is a feature on the film . . . it got a bit of a slapping on its release and after years of a grotty quality VHS release finally made a grand re entrance on blu ray.

ABOVE AND BELOW: 'The House Of The Long Shadows' : The House That Armstrong and Walker built!' Parts ONE and  TWO HERE!

DEPENDING on which release you buy, the extras will range from very good to 'well that is just weird' ... I will say no more. Nice cover. But that pose of Cushing, always looks cut and pasted to me...

RARE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL CUSHING PHOTOGRAPH PLUS ACTORS NIGEL GREEN AND ROBERT URQUHART REMEMBERED

A VERY RARE PHOTOGRAPH OF PETER CUSHING in 1948 FEB until OCT!! Now That is a LONG tour! Granted 'Richard III was also part of the tour, but knowing how Cushing found the repetitive nature of eight or nine performances a week, extremely difficult... I don't know how he did it. But here is where he learnt his trade, skills and attitude, that would prepare him for tv work in the 1950's and days that could be long and draining on the set of film work . . come November 1952 and one of his first roles on LIVE BBC tv in 'If This Be Error' .. HE certainly, would not be making errors

TODAY we are marking the birthday of that fine English character actor NIGEL GREEN . . . Green left us at only 47 years of age, with a very impressive career already at that point. In our banner can be seen on the far right, in a little get together on the set of the cast of Amicus films THE SKULL (1965) with Peter, Patrick Wymark far left, Patrick Magee sat down on the right. Green had a small role of Inspector Wilson, in the film.

ABOVE: PCAS FULL REVIEW AND LOBBY STILLS GALLERY OF 'THE SKULL'  Just CLICK HERE!

ABOVE: FULL REVIEW FEATURE OF TWILIGHT TIME REMASTERED BLU RAY RELEASE AND GALLERY! 'Sword of Sherwood Forest' tarring Peter Cushing, Richard Green, Nigel Green and Oliver Reed : JUST CLICK HERE! 

BECAUSE OF HIS STRAPPING build and commanding height, (6 feet, 1 inch) & regimental demeanour he would often be found playing military types and men of action, in films such as Jason and the Argonauts, Zulu, Tobruk and The Ipcress File. His large physique also led to his being cast as Little John in Hammer films THE SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST (1960), with Peter Cushing.Green also appeared in a number of horror films including Corridors of Blood (1958), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), as the father of Jane Asher's character, The Skull (1965) also with Cushing, Let's Kill Uncle (1966) and Hammer's COUNTESS DRACULA with Ingrid Pitt(1971)
 

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 honourable 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'!

FULL REVIEW OF WARNER BROTHERS ARCHIVE COLLECTION : FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE BLU RAY

WHEN WATCHING WARNER'S release of 'FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE' you get to realise very quickly, like all their other Cushing / Hammer releases, THIS isn't going to be giving you ANY annoying specks, audio cracks or visual blips. Again, Warner has delivered us THE print we were all hoping and waiting for. . . .

LIKE THEIR PREVIOUS BLU RAY releases of DRACULA AD 1972 and THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA, it's an excellent job, of a super-cleaned up blu ray. The smae must also be said of superb FOUR FILM selection of the HORROR CLASSICS COLLECTION BOX SET which includes  FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED (1968) in it's FIRST release on Blu Ray, THE MUMMY (1959) TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA (1970) and 'DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE' (1968). What we are getting, is a VERY good deal and when you think about it, how ALL remastered or cleaned up, restored BLU RAYS should be! If you are a Cushing, Pleasence or Amicus Horror films fan, this latest addition to the Warner Archive Collection and the Amicus portmanteau series is definitely one for your collection 😉

OUR PCAS FULL REVIEW of Warner Brothers Archive Collection of Hammer films 'DRACULA AD 1972' can be found HERE! 

THE PCAS FULL REVIEW of Warner Brothers Archive Collection of Hammer films 'THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA' can be found RIGHT HERE! 

OUR FULL PCAS FEATURE AND REVIEW OF 'WARNER BROTHERS : HORROR CLASSICS VOL ONE' you can find RIGHT HERE! 

SO WITH THAT BEING  SAID, I guess you can say we are VERY happy with the results of this release. The Warner Archive Collection release of this particular title, is the ONE all Amicus and Cushing fans have been awaiting on, a long time. THIS release, at last, completes the Amicus series of portmanteau films, available on blu ray. And WHAT A WAY to wrap it up!

THE VISUAL QUALITY: 

The good news is, as yet, the Warner Brothers Archive Collection of films that feature Peter Cushing, haven't put a foot or frame wrong. . . and I'll tell you why. Over the years, many a release on blu ray, just when the price, the anticipation and the viewing seems to be all that you wanted, the film begins a scene that suddenly, doesn't look right. It's a 'day for night' shot, and guess what ..  all the footage looks like it's mid day in Florida!! OR suddenly, the silent drama of the scene in the bedroom where, 'he's in the closet and he has a knife' is killed instead, by what sounds like someone has started frying eggs and bacon under the bed! You'll be pleased to read, that doesn't happen here. Great image quaily and no hiss, spit or crackle! Many of you regulars, will surprised that I haven't mentioned yet, one of my all time favorite scenes in an Amicus film. 

YES, 'THE DOOR'! 'From Beyond the Grave, features a story starring actor Ian Ogilvy and the wonderfully looking Lesley Anne-Down. . . They are great, look very good, but not as breathtaking as the lighting and sets of the tale. As I hoped for, Alan Hume whose cinematography would be later greatly appreciated on a series of Bond films and Return of the Jedi, looks breath-takingly good...and certainly several steps up from the familiar DVD quality. And it's the clarity again, like many of the Warner Archive Collection, that is so special. There is LOTS of detail, lots of props, bits and pieces, textures and some of it you will see for the first time. Take a look at what has been the soft bundles and piles of junk and antiques in Peter Cushing's 'Temptations Ltd' shop. You can see why now, people were incited to go inside! 😉 Simon Wakefield's set design decor LOOKS quite different and here is the reason why these days he works on films like 'Batman Begins', 'Casino Royale' ... The definition of light and shadow also works so well now, it all now helps to create the suspense and drama. In 1974 when 'From Beyond the Grave' was in production at Shepperton Studios . . producer Milton Subotsky's favorite haunt fr production of the Amicus films . . the UK film industry was on its knees. However, not for this film. The production values are quite different from say, 'Tales from the Crypt' or 'Vault of Horror'. I have no idea where then lolly came from, but NOW you can see, it's ALL up on the screen...as THEY intended 😀  This is the best the film has ever looked, and probably ever will look. It's ANOTHER outstanding job from the Warner Archive! 

THE AUDIO QUALITY: 

BACK IN 1974, mono audio on films like 'Beyond the Grave' was still all the rave! Hard to believe now. It's just as difficult to believe that the audio on this film truly is from a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio (Mono) track root! The film sounds unlike many you may be used to from this era. It's quite a feat to mix such a track and get what accompanies the beautiful visuals, so both compliment each other so well. But, Warner has indeed done that.  Douglas Gamley's music score, for the first time in my personal experience, has impact . . you can feel it! All shock sound effects and atmosphere enhancing sounds and notes, are just as you want them to be. HEARD, IN SYNC, MIXED and don't crackle or buzz! A supernatural event in itself, for a film of this age! The dialogue is very clear and crisp. Put your headphones on, you won't miss a trick. It's mono, but not as we know it, for sure!      

SO TO SUM UP. Warner has done an excellent job. One can only hope they have MORE Hammer, Amicus, Peter Cushing Christopher Lee titles in their locker. If they do, we are onto a winner. Good value for money, EXCELLENT results that would make the very dedicated and talent folk who produced these films, very proud indeed!

YOU CAN PLACE YOUR ORDER for Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu Ray release of Amicus films, 'FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE' : CLICK AND ORDER HERE! 

The GIFS and images used in this feature do not contain footage from the Warner Brothers archive release . .

TEMPTED? IT'S COMING HERE SOON!