SINCE PETER CUSHING'S PASSING IN 1994, some interesting details about his career and life have surfaced, for sure. I suspect many in the industry knew about this, and this little fact has been several published, but I suspect that this might get many you thinking. IF you do think you know the answer and want to added to the banner of 'those who cracked it' next week. Drop me a line : petercushingpcas@gmail.com . . . ANSWER NEXT WEEK. LAST WEEKS TOUGHY ANSWER BELOW . . .
THE ANSWER TO LAST WEEK'S TUESDAY TOUGHY! THIS CORRECT ANSWER COMES FROM MARCIA, who correctly identified the THREE following CUSHING SHERLOCK productions. But THERE IS we find, ANOTHER one TOO! MARCIA'S answers are:
ANSWERS: 1) The Abbot's Cry, the follow-up to Masks of Death. 2) Peter was offered a part in Jeremy Brett's 'The Last Vampyre' as the clergyman Merrydew 3) Not positive about this one, but producer Kevin Francis wanted to remake 'Hound
of the Baskervilles' with the Hound animated by Ray Harryhausen, with
Peter as Sherlock.
THE ADDITIONAL entry is what was to have been a one man show with Cushing as Sherlock. Peter passed on the opportunity and another actor filled the role.
Worth noting is Marcia's kind message about the website too! "Thanks for
the notice on the Zoo Gang bluray and the great Doctor Who article. As
neat as Moffat's including Peter's Doctor is, I still think of Peter's
Doctor as an actual part of the canon, not just as an actor playing a
role. I love his two films as the Doctor. And finally, I love The Last
Meeting clips!! I watch them repeatedly and enjoy every minute. Look forward to this page everyday!" Best wishes! Marcia Loisel
#CUSHINGGIFWEDNESDAY:
MICHAEL RIPPER as we all know, was one of the Hammer repertory players
of Hammer films. He played lots of small supporting roles, but
occasionally he got a larger slice and a larger role in a film. Amicus
films, 'TORTURE GARDEN' features Ripper in a supporting role, that is
quite a surprising 🙂 Do you have a favorite MICHAEL RIPPER role??
#THEGORGON is a Peter Cushing Hammer film, that has suffered from a quite horrible symptom since the first day of its release back in August 1964. I am not referring to the death gaze of Prudence Hyman's Magaera's baleful spell. The 'SNAKES". And as Hammer film fans, we all know it. The film IS a 'Hammer film Classic' made during that ten year golden era, of those Bray studio Magical Gothic Nightmares, that made Hammer more than just a step above, most that had gone before. THE GORGON has the perfect ROMANCE TRIANGLE, it has TRAGEDY, CONFLICT, superb direction, art direction and cast, but ever Hammer Horror HAS to have a figure that truly frightens. That with the help of Cushing, Lee, Shelley and Co however fantastical, is believable. Pru looked and performed amazingly. Those serpents however and that 'head' on the deck, did not then and doesn't now. The story of the struggle that the props and effects department had with the 'twitching head set', is well documented, so we'll pass here.
IN OVER FORTY YEARS, cries have remained largely the same, 'Shot with too much light!' 'You see her, too early' 'Why didn't they surround her in mist, dry ice, fog . . .anything!?' It's true. In 90% of Magaera's shots, she IS seen. Clearly. I still do love the film, I love the sets, the costumes, it looks beautiful. There were enough of the sets and props left around from the 1958 'Horror of DRACULA' 'Curse of FRANKENSTEIN' and 'Revenge of FRANKENSTEIN' that the film can clearly been seen to be more than a cousin, of those other Hammer classics. Such a pity.Maybe the tweaks and 're-imagining' of the SPIDER and the horse-bound
ANGEL OF DEATH, should be tried on MAGAERA too? Not that Studio Canal
or anyone else will ever be in a hurry to try that out again. Like some
great Greek Shakespearean tragedy, 'Some quarters, they doth protested
too much, methinks' . . . .
JOSHUA KENNEDY HAS PLANS to produce an amazing NEW FILM called, 'THE HOUSE OF THE GORGON' which will star Hammer film actors, Veronica Carlson, Caroline Munro, Martine Beswicke and Christopher Neame! FIND OUT MORE and how YOU can help to make this film a reality in our PCAS FEATURE CLICK HERE!
#CUSHINGGIFWEDNESDAY!
The film, 'ISLAND OF TERROR' (1966) has always been very popular here.
The love for those Silocates is always evident whenever, we post an
image of them. Considering the budget for this film, it looks as though
someone had the foresight to understand, a monster film, has to have
convincing monster and pose a threat that looks real. Someone, maybe
director Fisher thought to make sure a sizeable slice went to making the
special effects.
THAT SHRIVELED CORPSE that Cushing's Dr
Stanley finds, was quite a moment for me when I first saw this film when
I was around ten. In ANY Cushing film, can you think of any effect
'special or otherwise' that made an impression on you when you first saw
it???
AMICUS FILMS 'MADHOUSE' (1974) is a film that revels in the many cliques and well trod dramas and dilemmas of the celebrated thrillers and horror films of the 30's, 40's and 50's. Vincent Price plays Horror film star PAUL TOOMBES, driven crazy when off screen life unravels and starts to imitate the scripts of his DOCTOR DEATH movies. Like his 'PHIBES' films and 'THEATRE OF BLOOD' (1973) lots of ingenious scenarios of 'horrible deaths' follow and Peter Cushing's HERBERT FLAY tries his best to help his desperate friend, but despite his best efforts, DOCTOR DEATH came after TOOMBES time after time. Just like in the above GIF ;)
PART SIX of 'The Amicus Films of Peter Cushing' covers MADHOUSE and includes a gallery of RARE images. You can find it HERE!
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