Showing posts with label baron frankenstein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baron frankenstein. Show all posts

Tuesday 14 July 2020

BEHIND AND BESIDE EVERY GREAT MAN : CUSHING'S KIND MESSAGE TO A NEW BARON


AS PROMISED, here connected to yesterday's post : Back in the 70's, anything to sell tabloid 'newspapers'... Ralph Bates playing Baron Frankenstein, 'taking the role' from Hammer films usual 'Baron of choice' was Peter Cushing and had been since the first Hammer Frankenstein film in 1957 with 'The Curse of Frankenstein' ... HERE is how Peter Cushing took the news... Many thanks again to, Mr G 😊😊


HELEN AND PETER CUSHING... Birgit and Christopher Lee and Coral Browne and Vincent Price 😊All interesting characters, wives and husbands . . despite rumours before and after their passing. If you think or gossip otherwise.. what you didn't see with YOUR eyes, don't witness with your mouth.... 


AND FOR THOSE, who would think anyone would compromise the message of  the 'couples banner' here is Christopher Lee. ' Yup, HE told me that! Christopher Lee is a gossip and compromiser of confidences. . . said NO ONE... ever!' 

 Man... some people . .

Tuesday 26 May 2020

CELEBRATING PETER CUSHING BIRTHDAY TODAY! COMPETITIONS AND MUCH MORE!


TODAY HERE AT THE PCASUK WEBSITE AND AT THE FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE we mark and celebrate the #BIRTHDAY of one Peter Wilton Cushing OBE born today May 26th 1913

HERE IS A LITTLE SOMETHING to think on today, BUT only today as this a QUICKY COMPETITION that closes 6AM GMT TOMORROW (Wednesday)! Here is YOUR chance to bag yourself a prize, marking Peter Cushing Birthday today. Back in the 60's, 70's and 80's it was a regular task to post and pass on any gifts that arrived for PC for his birthday. It was a busy time. Sadly, this is something we no longer have to do. But back in the day, many loved to shower Peter with gifts. There were many who never missed his birthday. Aftershave, chocolates, books, cufflinks, ties, teddy bears all with cards, notes or letters! 


BUT TODAY ..It's something in our PCASAEU 😃 (Peter Cushing Appreciation Society Alternative and Expanding Universe!! 😊😂) we can do 😂😉 So here is the deal, think of a IMAGINATIVE and INTERESTING gift you could have sent PC on his birthday, back in 1959!! There are no boundaries, it's a bit of fun! YOU could bag yourself a prize for your suggestion! Just post your BIRTHDAY PRESENT SUGGESTION on the thread today at the Facebook PCASUK Fan Page, BEFORE 6am GMT tomorrow! Have Fun and Good Luck!  Our PCASUK MAJOR PC BIRTHDAY COMPETITION will be posted here later today. So, keep your EYES peeled and remember, get IN or miss OUT! 😉 See you LATER - Marcus

Friday 10 April 2020

NEWS : BRITAIN'S FIRST FRANKENSTEIN MUSEUM READY FOR CREATION!


IT WAS THE ROLE THAT nailed #PeterCushing to the movie map and made both him and Christopher Lee into household names, with a mini budget movie produced by an even smaller UK film company called, #Hammerfilms. Jimmy Sangster wrote a scaled down script of the classic novel by Mary Shelley, #Britishfilm director, Terence Fisher called the shots, and 'The Curse of Frankenstein' not only hit huge box office success, it also changed the style of horror films and rebooted the Frankenstein film. Peter Cushing would go on to appear in a further FIVE Frankenstein films for Hammer.  'The Curse of Frankenstein' also presented Christopher Lee as an often child-like but savage 'monster-creation', his appearance compared to that of the traditional Universal #BorisKarloff Jack Pearce make up artist style, was quite a different. Hammer films continued their #Frankenstein series, but again in a different style to the Universal horror films, in a clever turn, they created a focus on adventures of  The Baron himself, instead of the '#TheMonster'. It was a brilliant and box office friendly plan, as not only did the audience get a different creation for every new story and title, but also Cushing's amazing Baron for the price of one ticket!


FOR DECADES the character of Baron Frankenstein has fascinated audiences with new theatre, television and cinema productions being produced every year. And it is maybe this and the fact that that the company behind the Frankenstein Museum , #Bath Attractions . . is based in the very city where #MaryShelley wrote the iconic 'Frankenstein' novel in 1818! READ ON . . .  


PLANS ARE BEING DRAWN UP for ‘Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein’ to celebrate the author’s “extraordinary life and her most lauded work” - much of which was penned in the Somerset city. #Bath Attractions Ltd are planning to convert Grade II-listed offices in Gay Street - a few doors up from the Jane Austen Centre - and hope it could open later this year. The  planning application says: “Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein is a new multi-sensory, fully immersive family-friendly visitor attraction proposed for the City of Bath, and the UK’s first attraction dedicated to #MaryShelley and her novel, Frankenstein, one of the world’s most famous, iconic and lauded creations.


“Exploring her complicated and tragic personal life, literary career and the novel’s continuing relevance today in regards to popular culture, politics and science, the attraction aims to deliver a sophisticated, entertaining and visceral experience like no other, and one which we hope the city of Bath can be proud of.”


THE AUTHOR'S LINKS to Bath are commemorated on a plaque at the site of 5 Abbey Church Yard, where she took lodgings arriving in the city in September 1816, then named Mary Wollstenecraft Godwin. It was there that she wrote much of #Frankenstein , which was published anonymously in 1818 and is now regarded as the world’s first #sciencefiction novel.


COME JOIN US! YOU ARE MOST WELCOME HERE

Saturday 2 December 2017

CHRISTOPHER LEE SATURDAY: REMEMBERING JIMMY SANGSTER BY CALLUM MCKELVIE


Today we remember Jimmy Sangster who would have been eighty-nine today. The welsh born screenwriter contributed his first script for the company as early as 1956, when for £200 he delivered X The Unknown. Sangster went on to become one of the key figures in Hammers crew, scripting both the ground-breaking adaptations The Curse of Frankenstein and Horror of Dracula. It’s well known that Cushing was not particularly fond of Sangster’s dialogue, yet he’s always been a screen-writer who I personally admire greatly.


It’s often been stated how clever these two adaptations are, Sangster’s interpreting of the Baron into a more debonair villainous figure and how he cleverly keeps the nuts and bolts of Stokers novel, but manages to keep it all in Transylvania, prime examples of this. More than this however, Sangster re-interpreted the Gothic with an added energy and pace, including a slew of action sequences that have gone on to be remembered as some of the greatest in the history of horror cinema. 


Even Sangster’s non-Hammer contributions to the horror genre are impressive, demonstrating immense talent. His late 1950’s films, The Trollenberg Terror, Blood of the Vampire and Jack the Ripper all have an edge of nastiness to them that made his work for Hammer so appealing. The final one in particular, whilst falling somewhat into obscurity is remembered for an incredibly gruesome ending. 


In 1972 Sangster also contributed one of the more popular Kolchak: The Night Stalker episodes ‘Horror in the Heights’, an incredibly dark and moving tale concerning an ancient Hindu spirit hunting down the elderly residents of a Jewish neighborhood.


This all pales in comparison to what I consider both his and Cushing’s greatest work, 1958’s The Revenge of Frankenstein. As far as sequels go Sangster avoids a rehash of the first film, taking both the character of the Baron and the story in new and exciting directions. From the Barons brain transplants resulting in the reversion of man into animalistic cannibalistic creatures, to the Baron himself no longer being the pupil but now the teacher.



Judy Geeson, Director Jimmy Sangster and Peter Cushing taking a rest
 and a cuppa during the shooting of Hammer Films 'Fear In The Night' (1972)

Jimmy Sangster with Ralph Bates
As its Christopher Lee Saturday it seems appropriate to discuss one of his and Lee's most popular contridutions Dracula Prince Of Darkness. Lee often commented that the dialogue within this sequel was so awful that he chose not to speak any of it at all. Again, having not read or being aware of the orignal dialogue what remains is delightfully entertaining and the plotting itself is once again remarkably clever.


Sangster expertly picks up the most obvious elements from Stokers novel that missed out on the first time, Thorley Walters Ludwig springs to mind, of course being an interpretation of the Renfield character along with Jonathan Harker's night in Dracula's castle forming the basis for the first act. 


He also makes some particularly braves choices, keeping Dracula off of the screen for the first forty or so minutes of the film and instead slowly building to his resurrection.


Instead if simply giving us a Val Helsing clone, Sangster creates an entirely new character in the form of Father Sandor, who would prove so that Dez Skinn would give him his own comic series in the pages of Hammer Halls of Horror.


Like Revenge before it Prince Of Darkness shows Sangster's writing can make the first sequel one of the most interesting entries in the series.    


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  . 

Friday 29 September 2017

THE ART OF DARYL JOYCE : AMAZING CUSHING FRANKENSTEIN GALLERY


#FRANKENSTEINFRIDAY! Today we are proud to share with you the amazing work of Daryl Joyce... I have selected just a few of his pieces that feature Peter Cushing and his work with Hammer films and the Frankenstein films, he appeared in. For me, Daryl has really hit the spot with these paintings. So often I see work that manages to capture a likeness, but the composition seems to have suffered for it! Not in Daryl's case though. Daryl has a link below, that you can contact, should you wish to chat with him..or have any questions. It's had for me to choose a favorite here...how about you??? -Marcus
YOU can CONTACT Daryl : HERE!
 

Daryl:'The Curse of Frankenstein: This is painted in gouache, over three evenings. Size A3'


Daryl:'When I did this painting in August 2017, I didn't want to count my chickens, but maybe after five years of not having much enthusiasm for painting, I was my mojo might have come back - 'course it helps that I love Hammer films and I'm enjoying revisiting them.This was painted in gouache over four evenings in August 2017'.
 





Daryl: 'The sixth and last Hammer film to feature Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein. It's also number 4 in my effort to paint this hexology, before I move on to a different Hammer baddie. Painted in Gouache (opaque watercolour) over approximately one week'.







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   

Monday 10 April 2017

THE BURST WATER-PIPE SCENE : GETTHECUSHIONSUNDAY!



#GETTHECUSHIONSUNDAY! THE BURST WATER PIPE SCENE: 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed' (1969)  In this week's scene, we have Veronica Carlson, who plays ANNA the keeper of a boarding house where Frankenstein decides to hide out and perform his experiments. Veronica Carlson has never been better.


It is without doubt, one of the best scenes, in a film, packed with tension and moments. - It's a simple premise, but very effective. It features Anna having to haul a body out of a makeshift grave in a flower garden after a water main has burst.... But talk about bad timing! This happens, as the local police are running a check on the house, after tip offs, that THE BARON, maybe staying there.  Under Fisher's masterful direction, the scene is as tense as anything in a Hitchcock film, and Anna ends up completely drenched, but successful in transferring the corpse to another hiding place so the police can't find it. It's an extraordinary scene and Carlson is exceptional in it.


'THE BURST PIPE SCENE' : There were many scenes in films from Cushing's career that were complex  to set up or were quite a spectacle. The drama of the preparation of the execution, has been in many cases lost. However, not in this case! We are fortunate that the studio stills photographer, was on hand and caught it all!









#GETTHECUSHIONSUNDAY! ABOVE A SHORT compilation of behind the scenes images of Peter Cushing, cast and crew during the making of this week's #GETTHECUSHION! theme : Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed'



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! 

Thursday 9 February 2017

UNIVERSAL BLU RAY BOX SET IS A MONSTER SUCESS!


#THROWBACKTHURSDAY : This weeks first Thursday nostalgia post is not Peter Cushing themed..but boy how I wish it was! Birthdays are wonderful things, well wishes and gifts are wonderful too... and even though my Birthday is a few weeks away yet, my sister treated me to an 'advance' on a gift 🙂 🙂 The Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection [Blu-ray] box set, is a VERY fine thing indeed.


IN MY TEENS I watched and read everything I could on these classic films, and watching them again is a thrill! I also love 3D films, and snap up anything I can find.. the Creature from the Black Lagoon 3D disc in this box set is worth the price alone! It's ALL here Karloff Frankenstein, Chaney Wolfman, Rains Phantom...and ALL remastered and looking and sounding superb on blu rays. Which leads me to ask..why couldn't the BEST of Hammer films be presented in this way?



THE EXTRAS, the booklet, even the lovely packaging is excellent. Is it because Lionsgate and co are cheap??? Hammer licensing distributors don't have the budget? They won't sell enough to make their money back on making a quality release...remastering is expensive??? Well, maybe it's all of those things. But over the years, we have had many re-releases of Cushing's Hammer films, and only WARNERS Horror Classics, Volume One has met anywhere near this Universal release, it's an outstanding presentation. I was very pleased that the remasters were well over what I expected, and they didn't cheap out on packaging either. So, both Universal and Warner, certainly show us how it could and should be done. So, let's stop with the cheapo releases, fans will always buy what's done well 🙂 Do you have this Universal box set? What do you think? How about the Warner Hammer set too?


THIS I ALSO RECOMMEND if you are a fan of the show. I know, Peter Cushing did himself enjoy the humor of Charles Addams... not sure if he saw the shows, but he did have a few of the Addams illustrations, in his scrapbooks! This box set kept me laughing all last weekend. Recommended.


JOIN US AT OUR FACEBOOK FAN PAGE ALONG WITH OVER 28,000 OTHERS FRIENDS AND FANS : JUST CLICK : CLICK HERE AND THEN CLICK THERE! 
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