Showing posts with label funeral. Show all posts
Showing posts with label funeral. Show all posts

Thursday 31 August 2017

#SILENTBUTDEADLY! : DOCTOR WHO AND THREE SIXES : DARTH AND MOTH GIRL SIZZLE!


#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY! WHO, ME AND THE NUMBER SIX! There are a few great shots in Cushing's first #DRWHO movie, 'Dr Who And The Daleks' (1965) and this, is one of them. Not only because, it's SIX..count em, Six Daleks in a row, but for a kid of SIX at the time, this was without doubt, after the slight of my first 'CHOPPER' bicycle, the coolest thing I had ever seen. I was pretty caught up in the whole Dalek thing at this time and got my Dad to queue with me in the pouring rain, to see this film, the first day it arrived at our local flicks. 


I didn't know who Peter Cushing was at this time, and wasn't bothered that he bore little resemblance to the Dr Who I knew from the tv series. It's the memory of this shot and the image of the dalek out of its armour suit, that I carried with me to school the following day. Such was my recalling of the drama, the excitement to my school pals . . . they too were soon pestering their parents, to trek to the 'Palace Cinema' and see for themselves. Thus, I got to see this film, SIX times that Summer. Happy days . . .



#SILENTBUTDEADLY! Christopher Lee and Barbara Shelley in Dracula Prince of Darkness. Peter Cushing had a guest appearance . . .un-credited...as Van Helsing in the prologue, the ending from the previous Dracula in 1958... some years had past since Lee's first appearance as Dracula in that film, do you think his performance as the Count was as good in this sequel??


#SILENTBUTDEADLYGIFWEDNESDAY! AMICUS writer and producer, Milton Subotsky once told me that, he saw films that ended with a 'FIRE', as in the film ends and it all burns down.. as a disappointing lack of imagination on the script writers part. He must have held some store in that theory, because i can only think of just TWO film that he wrote or produced that ended with a big boom or fire. AT THE EARTH'S CORE above, is one of the two, and I guess the source material of the book, that the film was loosely based on, did influence the climax of the film. So, ONE other Amicus film that ends with fire? Do you know which one?


#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY! THE GREAT THING about rubber is, it burns very well! Looking weirdly for all the world, like the death pyre of 'DARTH VADER' in 'RETURN OF THE JEDI', the 'Death-Head-Moth-Woman' bit the dust, just before we could get a good look at here. Monsters eh? 


Peter Cushing and Glyn Edwards play the investigating coppers in 'The Blood Beast Terror', entertaining performances, though Cushing thought the concept a bit weak. Edwards who had starred in the film Zulu, played quite a few policemen...and a certain barman in a much loved, long running BBC comedy too . . . 



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 30 November 2016

ACTRESS VALERIE GAUNT DIES AGED 84


VALERIE GAUNT: Terribly sad to hear that actress VALERIE GAUNT (Reddington Valerie) has passed away, aged 84 after a short illness.


VALERIE'S short career on the big screen featured only in two films, and they were along side Peter Cushing. Just two roles, but they left a lasting impact, that would outlast many longer career! Her playing of Justine in 'The Curse of Frankenstein' (1957) and her performance in Hammer films,1958 'Dracula' hold a special place for lovers of fantasy cinema. Born Valerie Shelia Gaunt, on the 9th July 1932 in Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, England, following an interest in amateur theater, after leaving school embarked on a career as a model, before auditioning for Hammer and landing her first professional role in 1957. Gaunt married her husband Gerald Alfred Reddington on May 17th,1958.


Valerie will be buried today (November 30th ) following a service at St Helen's, Seaview, Isle of Wight, She is survived by her husband, Gerald and their four children.



Monday 11 August 2014

REMEMBERING PETER CUSHING : MARKING TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF PETER CUSHING'S DEATH


Remembering the passing of a childhood hero is always a melancholy occasion. The 1990s were a wicked decade for me in this regard: 1993 saw the passing of Vincent Price, 1995 took Donald Pleasence, 1996 claimed Lucio Fulci, 1999 saw Oliver Reed succumbing to his demons.  In between Price and Pleasence, however, yet another icon was taken from us: on August 11th of that year, Peter Cushing passed away at the age of 81. And yet, for me, it marked the second time I mourned his passing.


Admittedly, what you are about to read amounts to little more than a trip down memory lane. I’m the first to admit that hearing people wax nostalgic about bygone years can be tedious, but bear with me here. In the summer of 1986, FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED (1969) aired on the WTBS network; it has since been abbreviated to TBS, but it’s the same channel. Anyway, being a horror buff from as far back as I can remember, I made a point of setting the timer to record the film while I was away doing something appropriately outdoorsy on such a sunny day. When I watched the film that evening, I was enthralled: here was a film which showed that Cushing—normally such a gentle man on screen—could play vile with the best of them. It was dark, downbeat, and nihilistic


I was still of an age where the lack of a conventional monster was a bit bothersome, but eventually it became quite apparent: the Baron himself was the monster. Anyway, the next day I was talking with a friend I had managed to “turn on” to these films—he had also recorded the film and was impressed with what he had seen. After a bit, he said something I’ll never forget: “Too bad Peter Cushing just died.”  I was gob smacked, as the Brits say. What?  Where?  When?  “The host said so during the movie.”  No, he didn’t—I saw the opening with him introducing the movie and he said no such thing. “Did you watch the part at the end when he came back on?” No.  I had not. That night, with much trepidation, I popped the tape back in the VCR (remember those?) and found the segment in question—and to my great disappointment and heartache, it was true: according to the host, Bill Tush, Peter Cushing had died earlier that summer. Somehow or other it didn’t make the papers around here—or if it did, nobody told me about it. I was crushed. It was like losing a grandfather.


Fast forward a few years. I was reading a copy of FANGORIA magazine and lo and behold, there was a reference to Peter Cushing. Apparently he hadn’t died after all. It felt surreal, but I was happy to discover that the grim news I had heard a few years earlier had been in error. I still don’t know whether Bill Tush ever corrected this error on his program. In any event, I was certainly pleased by the news but was less than thrilled to read that the reason Cushing had not made an appearance on screen for so long was because of severe health problems. The more I read about the man, the more it became apparent that he had, in effect, truly died in 1971 when his beloved wife Helen succumbed to emphysema. All he was doing was marking time until he could follow the same path. The sense of dignity and melancholy I felt while reading about the man was touching and made me admire him all the more.


Inevitably, the “real” death of Peter Cushing followed in time. It was close to suppertime when I heard my father call for me to come into the living room. “You need to see this,” he said. As I entered the living room, the classic finale of DRACULA (1958) was playing on the news. Clearly this was not good—if the news was airing this clip, it meant one of two things: either Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee had died. Inevitably, it was the former—and truth be told, the sting was far lesser than it would have been if it were the latter. Lee and Cushing were childhood heroes of mine, and they remain my favorite actors of all time, but I knew Cushing was ailing—that he had been lonely and unhappy since the death of his wife… It somehow seemed more “fitting” that he should be the one to leave us. 81 wasn’t a bad “inning,” anyway, and knowing that his suffering was finally at an end softened the blow somewhat. I am not, however, too proud to admit that I still shed some tears.


Twenty years have elapsed since that day—in a sense, it feels like it was yesterday. It’s a hoary cliché, but it’s true: Cushing may be dead, but in a sense he will never die. Like all artists, he has left behind a part of himself that continues to live on thanks to the interest and enthusiasm of fans across the globe. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t see some trace of him, whether it be in film clips, postings on line, tributes, recollections from co-stars, reviews of old films released to Blu-ray… ad nauseum. What would Cushing make of all this reverie? He’d probably be flattered—like all actors, he certainly enjoyed being lauded—but I think he would also be a bit puzzled by the enduring popularity of the films in which he appeared. He was an actor who honed his craft on stage and in “big” films and television productions, but he found his lasting cinematic immortality starring in low budget horror films. It was a legacy he had mixed feelings about. Some overly enthusiastic fans are quick to make the claim that he welcomed his typecasting and never resented it one iota; this is not entirely true.



The fact of the matter is, he deliberated long and hard over accepting this typecasting and only gave in due to the fact that the steady work would make it easier for him to pay for Helen’s extensive medical care and therapy. He sometimes tired of the sub-par material he was given to work with. He could be sharply critical of screenwriters when he felt they were not doing a good enough job. In private moments, he undoubtedly craved for more serious recognition and realized that it would never be forthcoming so long as he appeared in a steady stream of B horror movies.


Had Cushing’s health held out, he may well have enjoyed something of a renaissance along the lines of that of his good friend and frequent co-star, Christopher Lee. Sadly, it was not meant to be: years of multiple-pack-a-day smoking took their toll, and as his desire to cling to life dissipated with the passing of his wife, he gradually withered away to a mere shadow of his former self; the brain was still sharp, but the body couldn’t keep up anymore. He retired to a quiet life by the sea on Whitstable, gave interviews, charmed the local residents, and held on to the hope that, some day, he would get back in the saddle again. It didn’t come to pass, though some sporadic vocal work would occupy him from time to time. We fans inevitably are left wishing he had enjoyed that final “moment in the sun” enjoyed by Lee and his other dear friend and co-star, Vincent Price, but no matter: there’s more than enough material to sift through as it is.


Cushing was not above walking through the occasional role for a paycheck. He sometimes said yes to projects he would have been better off rejecting. Yet, he was seldom less than engaging on screen—and when he was fully committed to a project, he could give a performance of great depth and power. He remains an icon in a genre littered with icons, but he remains one of the best loved because he was so often dedicated to improving the material he was given (where the opportunity was present, of course) and for his charming, gentle, and self-effacing image off screen.


Thus, while we may feel a tinge of sadness at the thought of commemorating 20 years without Peter Cushing, take heart: he has never really left us and never will, so long as fans continue to revisit the many films in which he appeared.


Feature: Troy Howarth
Images: Marcus Brooks


Remembering Peter Cushing
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