Showing posts with label musical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label musical. Show all posts

Wednesday 3 January 2018

CHRISTOPHER LEE SINGS STUDIO VERSION OF NAME YOUR POISON

#TOOCOOLTUESDAY! CHRISTOPHER LEE gives a fun rendition of his song 'Name Your Poison' from the musical comedy film 'The Return of Captain Invincible' from 1983. The film starring Alan Arkin as Captain Invincible' and Christopher Lee as Mr. Midnight, grossed a mere $55,110 at the Australian box office despite a budget of $7 million.





LYRICIST RICHARD O'BRIEN Lyricist  and composer Richard Hartley, known for their prior collaboration on The Rocky Horror Show and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, contributed three songs, including "Captain Invincible" sung by O'Brien, "Evil Midnight" sung by Lee and Arkin, and "Name Your Poison" sung by Lee during which the evil Mr. Midnight tempts the alcoholic Captain Invincible with a well-stocked bar.





REMEMBER! IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us . . Keep The Memory Alive!. The Peter Cushing Appreciation Society website, facebook fan page and youtube channel are managed, edited and written by Marcus Brooks, PCAS coordinator since 1979. PCAS is based in the UK and USA

Wednesday 10 May 2017

#SILENTBUTDEADLY: TRIPLE BILL OF YOUR REQUESTED CUSHING GIFS : GORGONS MUNRO AND MONEY


#SILENTBUTDEADLY : #1 : AN EYE-POPPING GIF OF Peter Cushing as Sir John Rowan in the film 'CORRUPTION' (1968) We have covered some areas of this off-the-wall thriller over the past few days and this shot was mentioned by ALEX LEES of Preston, UK, JAY RANDELL, Skenfrith, Wales, IZZY PARKS, Gloucester, UK and SEB GALLAGHER, USA. Seems no-one knew PC's eyes were so blue! Ah but the character's heart was soooo black! Or was???


YOU CAN SEND YOUR REQUEST FOR NEXT WEDNESDAY'S #SILNETBUTDEADLY GIF GALLERY, BY SEND US A EMAIL OR MESSAGE: EMAIL TO petercushingpcas@gmail.con OR at our PCAS Facebook Fan Page : HERE


#SILENTBUTDEADLY: #2 :BARBARA SHELLEY in Hammer films 'THE GORGON' sees something, that isn't too easy to erase from your mind, after seeing it, for sure! THE GORGON was a 1965 feature that also included the popular casting of both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee together. They had by this time appeared in several films for Hammer, this time out, the usual casting casting of Lee as Black Hat, Cushing as the good guy, was switched. Cushing played the confused and comprised in a love triangle, Dr. Namaroff. Lee played a weird mix of Einstein and dusty type academic, Prof. Karl Meister. It was an interesting swap, but I am not sure that Lee was old enough for that role, and that it came out well.... This GIF has been requested by Robert Beach, Swansea, UK.


#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY: #3 : AND FOR TODAY'S last post.... here is a gif from Peter Cushing's THIS IS YOUR LIFE from 1990....but can you tell us WHO is that fine young lady, meeting Peter on the show????? Requested by Joe Price, Watford, UK


#SILENTBUTDEADLY: #4 WE HAVE REALLY ENJOYED making several posts over the past few days, that have been taken from Peter Cushing's numerous appearances on the 'MORECAMBE AND WISE SHOW' from 1968 until 1980. This was GIF footage is from the first of the Morecambe and Wise shows that formed part of their recent NEW contract with ITV, away from the coziness of the BBC, after a period lasting almost 20 years of shows together. ITV promised them money money, a longer contract and some one off musical specials...all of which they saw very little of, as Eric sadly died  three years after signing, on May 28th 1984. They left the BBC, But...the long running Peter Cushing, 'Pay Me My Money' sketch happily followed with them! Many thanks to Stuart Morgan, London, UK.


 
IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us reach our 30K following total for Peter Cushing BIRTHDAY on MAY 26th 2017 AND Help Keep The Memory Alive!

Wednesday 19 October 2016

#GIMMETHEGIFWEDNESDAY: DE SADE, WANDERING HANDS AND ALTER EGOS



#GIMMETHEGIFWEDNESDAY: Here's are this week's selection of requested GIFS, sent in by you the followers and friends of the PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE



THERE IS ALWAYS a good reaction to any posts we make that centre around the theme of Peter Cushing's 1965 Amicus film, THE SKULL. A tight and suspenseful drama, that poses a different kind of threat, namely the 200 year old skull of the Marquis de Sade, a French aristocrat, philosopher and writer of explicit sexual works, who was born in Paris in 1740! But, for Amicus films purposes, the naughty works and business is left for another day!   Again, producer Milton Subotsky came up with another excellent cast with which to furnish his latest horror on a budget flick. Lead Peter Cushing is supported not only by Christopher Lee, but also Patrick Wymark, Nigel Green, Michael Gough, Patrick Magee, Peter Woodthorpe and Jill Bennett. Actors who had been tried out by Amicus in previous outings, and had passed mustard in some Hammer films too. The film uses quick, basic and workable effects, via some strings, wires and some clever editing. Director Freddie Francis using his 'through-the eye sockets pov for the first time here.  A good example is the shot in the GIF above. Peter Cushing would have to be a tad-dab-hand with a dagger, to hit that eye socket the first, second ..even maybe fourth take, if he was lucky. However, placing the hand on the dagger handle, the blade in the eye socket, then pulling the dagger OUT, and cranking the motion BACKWARDS in post, would get you a hit every time! And, just like the movie itself, a HIT . . no matter how many times I have watched it! KEY MOMENTS: Cushing possessed by The Skull tries to commit murder. The nightmare abduction of Cushing and his on-the-edge-of-your-seat trial!

REQUESTED BY A. RANDELL

 

'AND NOW, THE SCREAMING STARTS' was Amicus films one and only step into the territory usually inhabited by Hammer films. Spooky castles, creepy graveyards, frilly cuffs and cloaks. Gothic ghost stories, was maybe something they tried, as a scene in a short story in their familiar portmanteau films, but as a full length movie, 'AND NOW, THE SCREAMING STARTS (1973)' was the only full length feature, and the result was patchy. Shot under the production title of 'Fengriffen', the name of the novel by David Case, Roger Marshall wrote a screenplay that at times manages to be, predictable, yet confusing and contrived. However, the cast are entertaining as, Cushing, Ian Ogilvy, Herbert Lom, Patrick Magee and Stephanie Beacham all go through the 'ghost story-by numbers' for what feels like forever. 'And Now . . ' also marks the debut of Peter Cushing's  wavey full head wig! In interviews Cushing compared his 'full mopped' appearance to that of actress Helen Hayes!. However, research has shown, it was Cushing himself who requested the wig and would go on to wear it in Hammer films, 'Frankenstein And The Monster from Hell' and as Count Gerard De Merret in LA GRANDE BRETECHE, an episode of Anglia Television's popular series 'Orson Welles Great Mysteries' in 1973. Fans hated the mop then, as they do now!


Probably the best scene in 'And Now . . . ' can be seen here, in our requested GIF. Desecrated tombs, smashed skeletal remains, a raving madman and face off with an axe, all played out in a lashing storm in a family cemetery, makes for high drama, as Cushing's Dr Pope tries to reason with a not too happy Ian Ogilvy. It's certainly worth a watch, for Cushing's Dr Pope. Although he doesn't get a whole lot to do, the film noticeably lifts, when he arrives and gives the story a high five...and no, I am not referring to the wandering severed hand, that pops up and clumps around either. Yes, the Amicus's clock-work, five fingered fiend makes an other appearance! Having already built up a following after it's debut in ''DR TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS' IN 1965, it turns up in Amicus future features  'SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN' and 'ASYLUM'

GIF REQUESTED BY K.BARNES

 


#GIMMETHEGIFWEDENESDAY: It's interesting that of all the requests we've received for GIFS since last week, and have shared over the last seven days on the PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE  , just under half were from the films that Peter Cushing made for Amicus films. Evidence that maybe Subotsky's and Rosenberg's efforts are getting their fair share of the recognition and a slice of the appreciation pie at last? However, no matter how that tide may turn, like Hammer films, Amicus also had their fair share of misfires. 'I.MONSTER' is not a failure by any standards. The short fall that can be seen and felt in the film, is the product of 'management mangling'. It's a film that frustratingly sits, through no fault of it's director and cast, somewhere between classic and clunky. Destructive meddling and tampering on a fools errand, with the laughable idea, of what was considered by it's producer, to be a cheap way of making a film, in 3D, caused much damage. The film that was ultimately released contained several scenes and shots that were filmed to accommodate that notion. Tracking camera shots from behind plants, obstructing test-tubes and pillars, to say nothing of 'objects being thrust' at the camera, that makes I, MONSTER at times, a very odd watch.


Stylish direction from a very young Stephen Weeks holds the story firmly together, and it's a version that many of the Jekyll and Hyde purists, seems to like*. Performances from Cushing and Lee are very good indeed. Lee owns his Mr Blake. Again, Cushing doesn't have a lot to do in the way of anything dynamic, but it's not that kind of role or film. And though the ending maybe quick, it's a good one, even though time constraints may have been the reason behind the obvious doubling of Lee's stand in, Eddie Powell, getting more than his fair share of the accidental close ups. The supporting cast does well, even with the weird appearance, of Radio DJ Mike Raven strolling through a late 1800's drawing room in full Victorian get-up! All play well and, look great.... the film indeed, DOES have a wonderful air and look of authenticity. Pinewood studio's still standing streets sets, from their mega budget musical 'OLIVER', do much to make the film look far more expensive than it really is. Sets were never Amicus's 'thing'. Many of their films were hurriedly shot at Shepperton and Pinewood, on the sets left behind from other productions, just DAYS before they would be struck or demolished.  For me personally, the problem is the score. A dreary string sawing quartet, pinches out the thinnest of tinny, depressing and mawkish sounds. When taking my annual viewing of this film, I SKIP the opening title roll, or I'd be 'hanging' from the rafters, by the last credit!

GIF REQUESTED BY PAULINE TANKERTON
* Producer Milton Subotsky, decided to rename the lead characters of this Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson  classic, Dr Marlowe and Mr Blake. It has been claimed that he changed the names on learning that Hammer films were  shooting their own variation on the theme, with Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde . When I interviewed Milton Subotsky for the camera in 1982, and asked him to explain his choice of changing names. Milton confidently told me, 'I thought it would be a fun thing to do!..I wanted to add, 'Like making a film in 3D???' but opted to keep my trap, shut tight!


 

WE ARE HERE ON FACEBOOK FAN PAGES

Saturday 1 February 2014

DAPPER CUSHING SIGNED PHANTOM PROGRAMME


Here's a great item of Peter Cushing memorabilia that Karen Sonnenberg has sent in for us to share. A very nice signed programme for Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Phantom of the Opera'. Thank you, Karen! Peter attended the show at Her Majesty's Theatre, London with Joyce and Bernard Broughton back in August 1987. We've attached a pic of Peter arriving looking very dapper as usual. His evening suit and white silk scarf can be seen at the Whitstable museum.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...