The Peter Cushing Centennial Blogathon : Day Seven

And so we come to Day Seven. I’ll be posting new links today and the Peter Cushing Centennial Blogathon will wrap up around midnight.

To start off, if I may — my turn! — let me tell you about Peter Cushing…

I was introduced to Peter Cushing as a pre-teen one fabulous summer day in 1961, at a neighborhood second-run theatre. They were running a triple-bill. Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula and The Mummy. Can you imagine? A crash course in Terence Fisher, Jimmy Sangster, Cushing, Lee and the supremely talented crew at Hammer Films, all in one afternoon. It remains one of the most vivid, magical days of my life.

In my first exposure to Cushing, I saw him as the valorous Van Helsing, the intrepid John Banning wrestling Chris Lee’s relentless Mummy, and the driven, cold-hearted Baron Frankenstein. A few weeks later, they ran The Revenge of Frankenstein, and I was all caught up with Hammer. Soon after, I saw The Curse of the Werewolf, first run, and I would go on to see all the Hammer films, usually on the very day they came out, over the next two decades.

I loved Hammer Films. I loved the busy, wallpapered Victorian sets, stuffed with props and drenched in dark colors. I loved the percussive score that punctuated the inevitable carriage escape by The Baron, or Van Helsing’s race to reach Dracula’s coffin before the sun went down. I loved Frankenstein’s steampunk labs, the whirling Wimshurst generator. I loved how there was always a wheel stuck, a sticky lever or some piece of unreliable equipment bursting into flames. I loved Frankenstein’s dysfunctional creations, the spastic Chris Lee, the big blue Kiwi Kinston, the gorilla-like Dave Prowse and all the others. I loved the Hammer heroines, cleavage and all. I loved Christopher Lee, his magnificent presence as Dracula, as tall and still as the 2001 Monolith, turning animalistic after feeding, face smeared with gore, tears of blood. Most of all, I loved Peter Cushing. That gaunt skull face, those killer cheekbones. Those blue eyes.

As Van Helsing, dressed in baggy tweeds, carrying a doctor’s kit stuffed with holy water, a bible, a mallet and a supply of wooden stakes, Cushing’s blue eyes were soulful. As Baron Frankenstein, trust up in a tight waistcoat, narrow suit, turned up collar, seemingly starched head to foot, Cushing’s blue eyes were as cold as death itself.

Late in his career, Cushing played Grand Moff Tarkin in the first Star Wars film, introducing him to a whole new generation of fans. Perhaps more people have seen him in Star Wars than all his other films combined. I remember watching him up on the big screen. Hammer Films had disintegrated, but I was happy that he was still active, older, yes, but in full control, perfectly cast, a formidable villain with a bird of prey profile.

I often wondered what Cushing’s appeal was, what made him so compelling to watch, what made him so damn cool. I wondered what drove him to be so rigorous, so meticulous in his work.

In real life, by all accounts, Peter Cushing was a gentle soul, a generous sort, perfectly unassuming, and one who very much liked to laugh. When you read up on Peter Cushing, you like him even more. What made him so compassionate, so genuine?

I think I found the answer. Peter Cushing himself told us.

When Cushing wrote letters, when he signed an autograph, he always used the same formula. He would write, “May God’s blessings be with you always…” and then three word, followed by his signature.

Those three important words described his approach to acting, his dedication. Three words that oriented his private life and revealed his true heart. Three words…

“In all sincerity”.

At The Cameraman’s Revenge, James Russell offers smart appraisals of Cushing’s two mid-Sixties sorties as Dr. Who.

Did you know that Peter Cushing was originally cast as a co-lead with Vincent Price in The Abominable Dr. Phibes? And he could have been Dr. Loomis in Halloween, or Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars. 

Brian Solomon of The Vault of Horror contemplates the last stretch in Cushing’s career, and the missed opportunities in a piece called What Might Have Been.

Join Bryan White at Cinema Suicide as he offers up a video review of That Time Peter Cushing was Doctor Who.

RayRay of WeirdFlix continues to mine the Hammer Frankensteins with Who Wants to Live Forever, his analysis of Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969), one of the more cerebral entries in the series, and not only in the sense that it’s about a brain transplant!

There's one more review to go from Ray, coming up later this evening.

Joe Thompson of The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Dillusion whips out a calculator and his magnifying glass for a final examination of the Six Degrees of Peter Cushing.

His final computations are titled, And Now the Screaming Stops.

Mike Segretto offers up The Peter Cushing Reader, a compendium of articles devoted to Cushing, his films and TV work previously published on his blog, Psychobabble. 

From the Frankensteinia Archives, here’s my try at an in-depth article about the making of Frankenstein Created Woman (1967). I called it Who Am I?

Craig Edwards concludes his heroic attempt at cataloguing Peter Cushing’s career through movie posters, some of which have proven damned elusive. The Peter Cushing Poster Gallery, Part 5 is live, on Let’s Get Out of Here! 

Great job all around, Craig!

Zombie Rust, who has been dazzling us all week with his black and white portraits of Cushing in character offers up Dr. Maitland, and a warning… Keep Away From the Skull of Marquis de Sade!

This week, RayRay of WeirdFlix walked us through the Hammer Frankenstein series starring Peter Cushing. Now we come to the end when the Mad Baron, wearing what Cushing called his Helen Hayes wig, undertakes his last experiments, with predictably chaotic results. “This may be his swan song, Ray writes, “but in his final moments on film, he reminds us that he’ll never, ever stop.” 

Ray’s review of Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) is entitled All Good Things.

Our last Blogathon contribution deals, appropriately, with Peter Cushing’s last film. Biggles, from 1986, was an attempt at revitalizing the classic British pilot hero, with time travel thrown in. 

Peter Cushing’s Last Bow, posted on The Secret Sanctum of Captain Video, features links to a trailer and the whole film, available on YouTube. 



Over the last seven days, I have posted some 80 links from over 30 sources, all discussing and celebrating the exceptional work and the remarkable life of Peter Cushing on this, his 100th Anniversary.

I am amazed by the variety, the originality and the quality of research and writing that I have been privileged to share here. Thank you so much to all the contributors, and thank you to all our visitors — I hope you have all enjoyed the Blogathon as much as I did.

Peter Cushing has been gone now for almost 20 years, but his films are being preserved, his work is widely available and he may very well be as popular today as he ever was. To us, his fans, he remains a vibrant presence in our lives.

I’ll leave the last words of this extraordinary week to Peter Cushing’s colleague and very good friend…

“He really was the most gentle and generous of men. I have often said he died because he was too good for this world.”

— Christopher Lee, on Peter Cushing.

The Peter Cushing Centennial Blogathon : Day Six

Day Six already? Lots more coming!

I am proud to have John McElwee of Greenbriar Picture Shows contributing to our Peter Cushing Blogathon. Greenbriar is a persistently splendid blog devoted to classic films, packed with information, peppered with anecdotes and dressed up in rare stills, promotional material and film posters.

Here, John celebrates Cushing and examines three of The Baron’s efforts: The Revenge of Frankenstein, Frankenstein Created Woman and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell.

I suggest you linger and enjoy the archives on the site. You’ll thank me for the suggestion.

Steve Thompson at Booksteve’s Library makes a good, solid appraisal of Captain Clegg — Night Creatures in North America — a Hammer thriller based on Russell Thorndyke’s Dr. Syn stories. It was an unusual role for Cushing — and he nails it — with support from a young Oliver Reed, Yvonne Romain, and a meaty part for Hammer regular Michael Ripper.

A good selection of stills completes a great post.

Cushing illustrated... The Baron and all his Monsters, by Derek Charm, The Baron in linocut by Jason Krekel, and The Baron busy in the lab, by Francesco Francavilla.

This, folks, is not Peter Cushing. Look closely. Closer still… This is an astounding, hyperealistic likeness of Cushing’s Tarkin sculpted in silicone by California-based artist Jordu Schell.

See more marvels at Schell’s website and blog.

Today, Joe Thompson applies the Six Degrees of Separation theory to Cushing’s Doctor Who. Nicely illustrated with pix of the Doctor and his assistants.

The Computations are up now on The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion.

From the Frankensteinia Archives, here’s a link to my examination of Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, Hammer and Cushing’s final Frankenstein, the last film written by Anthony Hinds (as John Elder), the last film directed by Terence Fisher, even as Hammer was collapsing around them.

I called it Twilight of the Goths.

Cushing Gets Confused: Star Wars Outtakes is a short video parody created by the father and son team of Jason and Joshua Carter, especially for the Cushing Blogathon. Good, silly fun! See it on The Writer’s Journey.

Blogger RayRay continues his dissection of the Hammer Frankensteins with his careful examination of Frankenstein Created Woman. 

The still above is from my favorite scene, when Cushing’s Baron thumbs through a bible as if he’d never seen one and leaves it there, obviously unimpressed. It’s a brief, effortless moment for Cushing that says more about Baron Frankenstein than a whole page of dialog would.

Ray’s piece, on WeirdFlix, is called Frankensteins Prefer Blondes.

Zombie Rust’s ink portrait for today is Dr. Schrek, aka Dr. Terror. Go ahead, pick a card. On Slash The Zombie.

Stephen Jacobs reminisces about BBC2’s horror double-bills of his childhood, an introduction of classic Universal and Hammer films for a generation of Brits.

Stephen is the author of the Rondo Award winning Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster, an exactingly researched biography the horror icon.

A Childhood Spent Watching Peter Cushing is up on The Spooky Isles.

The Peter Cushing Centennial Blogathon : Day Five

Peter Cushing painted by the great Basil Gogos kicks off Day Five of our Centennial Blogathon.

In the late Thirties, even as the clouds of war gathered over Europe, Cushing traveled halfway ‘round the world to try his luck in Hollywood. Soon enough, he was drawn back to England, determined to contribute to the war effort, but getting home was problematic. He made it to New York, then up to Montreal where he had to wait for transportation and repatriation. His adventures there included ushering at the city’s largest theatre, and being pursued by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police!

Here’s a link back to a post I made about Cushing’s early Hollywood experience, and his wartime stay in my home town of Montreal.

Our friend David Saunderson of The Spooky Isles reports on the fabulous Peter Cushing stamp, part of the “Great Britons” series issued recently by the Royal Mail and goes on to examine other horror film-related stamp sets from all over the world.

Stick around, we’ll have another contribution from The Spooky Isles later today!

Craig Edwards continues his chronicle of Peter Cushing’s career in movie posters on his blog, Let’s Get Out of Here! Today’s collection covers 1966 to 1972, with such titles as Torture Garden, The House That Dripped Blood, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed and — illustrated above — One More Time, a sub-Rat Pack comedy that featured cameos by Cushing and Christopher Lee.

The art is by Jack Davis and one of several movie posters he did in the gangs-all-here Mad Mad World style. Note Frankenstein’s Monster (another Davis specialty) and Dracula among the runners. 

Our Peter Cushing Centennial Blogathon rates a mention on Keyframe, the information arm of Fandor, a movie streaming site. Reviewer David Hudson singles out contributions here by Tim Lucas and Richard Harland Smith. 

Also mentioned are two new books: David Miller’s Peter Cushing: A Life in Films, and Peter Cushing: The Complete Memoirs.

On WeirdFlix, in a piece called Best Served Cold, RayRay walks us through The Revenge of Frankenstein from 1958, which featured a beheading, loose body parts and a cannibalistic chimpanzee.

The image here is from my favorite scene, wherein Cushing conducts a job interview while carving a chicken.

Mike Segretto of Psychobabble contemplates the influence of classic horror films on the Star Wars saga. Darth Vader as a patchwork Frankensteinian character, aliens and monsters, down to the presence of Dave Prowse, Christopher Lee — as a “Count”! —and, of course, Peter Cushing’s Baron-like villainy.

It’s a thought-provoking essay entitled Twisted and Evil.

David Saunderson of The Spooky Isles has light-hearted — or is it light-headed? — fun with the tonsorial career of Peter Cushing, tracking whiskers, sideburns, ‘staches and crumb-catchers, goatees and all manner of beards and bristles, and one Helen Hayes wig sported by the actor in the composition of his roles.

Read, if you must, Hairy and Scary!

Here’s a second review from WeirdFlix today as RayRay pursues his exploration of the Hammer Films Frankenstein chronology. On tap: The Evil of Frankenstein, featuring a swashbuckling Baron, a Karloffian Monster frozen in ice, a mute wild girl, a dastardly hypnotist, mountain sets and a thunderous lab.

Ray’s piece is called The Evil That Men Do.

Artist Zombie Rust’s Cushing Portrait today is that of the mysterious Reverend Dr. Blyss, of Night Creatures (aka Captain Clegg, 1922).

Peter Cushing first played Sherlock Holmes when he was 46. He was 55 when he brought the character to television and his last stab at the role came when he was 71. Like his Baron Frankenstein and the stalwart Van Helsing, Cushing’s Holmes evolved over the actor’s lifetime. 

Patricia at Caftan Woman offers a heartfelt appreciation of Peter Cushing’s Sherlock Holmes.

Ben, of Breakfast in the Ruins, bravely offers up a list of his Top Fifteen Hammer Films. Part One is posted, collecting numbers 15 to 11, and Peter Cushing, naturally, is a constant presence.

James Russell at The Cameraman’s Revenge offers up a series of short, sharp and to-the-point reviews of Cushing films. Posted so far: A rare look at Nineteen Eighty Four, broadcast live in 1954, and a nice mix of films: Captain Clegg/Night Creatures, Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors, Dr. Phibes Rises Again, Horror Express and Madhouse.

Good stuff here, well-written and knowledgeable.


By the way, the BBC’s Nineteen Eighty-Four featuring Cushing’s remarkable performance as Winston Smith is up on YouTube. A must-see!

The Peter Cushing Centennial Blogathon : Day Four

Peter Cushing, distinguished horror movie actor, goofs around during an interview, in 1973.

The clip cuts short, but you’ll hear Cushing talk about Frankenstein. The video concludes with a British television report on a surprise party for a frail but cheerful Cushing on the occasion of his 80th birthday in 1993.

This one’s a well-done tribute to Cushing using film clips, and set to Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now.

And here’s comic Alan Davies performing Peter Cushing Lives in Whitstable, animated for British TV. If you prefer the original artists, listen here to The Jellybottys.

Over at Let’s Get Out of Here!, Craig Edwards continues to map Peter Cushing’s career in movie posters. Today’s titles cover 1959 to 1966. The collection includes such triumphs as The Mummy, Brides of Dracula and The Skull, along with more obscure crime dramas and rarely seen swashbucklers. Go look!  

Up on the movie blog The House of Sparrows, Dave Robson takes a look at The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974), the bizarre but curiously enjoyable late Hammer entry co-produced by the Shaw Brothers that took Cushing’s Van Helsing out to Chongqing, land of hopping vampires. Personally, I would have gone for a whole series of Seventies-style Kung-Fu vampires with Cushing as the action hero. 

Cartoonist Dave Lowe salutes the Big 100th with a four-panel strip featuring Cushing as The Grand Moff. Catch it on Dave’s art blog, Para-Abnormal.

In a brilliant little post called Sisters, David Cairns looks at George Stevens’ Vigil in the Night (1940) as a transitional piece in the directors’ evolution from light fare to serious drama. Of Cushing’s fine supporting performance, David ponders whether the actor, shortly before his sprint back home to England, was ever destined for Hollywood stardom. 

Cairns’ writing — sharp, astute and funny — makes me want to either throw in the towel and give up, or dig in and work harder at writing better. Hell, I don’t know what to do. Damn you, David Cairns.

Cushing’s Sherlock Holmes gets his due today. First up, Yvette of In So Many Words shares her enthusiasm for Hammer’s The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) and its great cast. The whole thing is illuminated with a generous selection of stills.

At The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion — which would make a great title for a Holmes adventure! — Joe Thompson computes Six Degrees of Peter Cushing: Sherlock Holmes. They’re all here, from Gillette, Barrymore, Wontner, to Rathbone, to Downey Jr., and Cumberbatch, and everyone in between. Elementary fun. 

Horror writer Orrin Grey reflects on the six Hammer Frankensteins starring Peter Cushing and draws up a list of favorite things from the series: Favorite Assistant, favorite lab, favorite creature — The Baron was prolific —, as well as his favorite Cushing performance and, ultimately, his favorite Hammer Frankenstein. See if you agree with Orrin’s sometimes surprising choices.

Today’s Cushing portrait by Zombie Rust is the tragic Arthur Grimsdyke, in revenant mode. 

The Peter Cushing Centennial Blogathon : Day Three

Peter Cushing has been gone now for almost 19 years, yet he is still featured regularly on magazine covers, attesting to his enduring appeal. Here, the current issue of Rue Morgue, devoted to British horror films, shows The Baron glaring back at us. The issue carries a fine portrait of Cushing on the occasion of his centenary and the publication of Peter Cushing: The Complete Memoirs, edited by Marcus Hearn.

We’ve only two days worth of posts up, but I’m sure you’ll agree that the diversity and the quality of the contributions to date is way off the scale. Cushing is truly a beloved man and a superior actor, and the respect and admiration given him — still strong after all these years — is a wonderful thing to behold. 

Now, on to The Peter Cushing Centennial Blogathon, Day Three!

It’s Maniacal Movie Poster Monday over at Let’s Get Out of Here! and Craig Edwards pulls out all the stops sharing a fantastic, referential collection of 20 movie posters, one for every film Peter Cushing film made between 1939 and 1959! Feast your eyes!

Brittney-Jade Colangelo covers horror in contemporary films and pop culture on her Day of the Woman blog. I’m delighted to see review an older film, deploying her unique approach and sharp, highly opinionated commentary on the offbeat Frankenstein Created Woman of 1967.

As our reviewer observes, rightfully, this entry was not about Cushing’s Baron at all. He is indeed peripheral to the action, yet Brittney-Jade doesn’t fail to note the great sincerity and honesty — her words — he brings to the part. Go and read Playing God Against Her Will: Frankenstein Created Woman.

And thank you, Brittney-Jade!

Plenty of Cushing photos here, and tons more to come, so let’s look at Ursula Andress instead. Besides, the image suits David Cairns title best. In a piece called State of Andress, David takes a magnanimous look at Hammer’s expensive if kitschy exotic adventure, She (1965), featuring Cushing, Christopher Lee, and assorted others orbiting Ms Andress’ ice-cold presence.

David holds forth on Shadowplay and you should make it a regular stop if you are partial to insightful and often funny online film reading.

Blogger RayRay is not fooling around. Today, at WeirdFlix, he undertakes a weeklong task of analyzing all six Hammer Frankenstein films and plotting Peter Cushing’s evolution in the part. First up, natch, is The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), the linchpin movie for Cushing, Lee, Terence Fisher, Jimmy Sangster and Hammer Films. The review is called Appetite for Resurrection. 

We’ll be keeping up and posting a link to every installment as they appear. Meanwhile, Please Try Not To Faint!

A coincidental companion piece to the previous post, artist Zombie Rust offers a portrait of The Baron, Victor Frankenstein, all cheekbones and starched collar in charcoal.

Are you on Facebook? Then by all means join The Peter Cushing Appreciation Society –— founded way back in 1956! There are tons of photos there you haven’t seen before, and information about Cushing you can’t find anywhere else. The Society also operates a first-rate blog.

If you’re a Peter Cushing fan, you need to make the PCAS your first stop on the web!