Showing posts with label irish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label irish. Show all posts

Tuesday 12 February 2019

REMEMBERED TODAY: ACTOR RALPH BATES



REMEMBERING: Born today in 1940, RALPH BATES. Sadly, no longer with us. A talented actor and a truly gentle and kind man. The great, great nephew of the renowned French scientist Louis Pasteur developed into a strangely handsome dark haired, pale complexioned English actor. Ralph Bates was born in 1940 in Bristol, England and attended the University of Dublin and studied at the Yale Drama School. His dramatic talents first came to audiences attention playing the evil Emperor Caligula in the well received BBC TV series The Caesars (1968). However, the Hammer studios resurrection of the horror genre was then in full stride, and Bates was soon engulfed in the swirling cloak of Hammer's success as he appeared in several horror films in quick succession.  


FIRSTLY in a support role as demonic Lord Courtley in Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970), followed as the lead character Baron Frankenstein in The Horror of Frankenstein (1970), then as Giles Barton in the sexy Lust for a Vampire (1971) and as the well meaning Dr. Jekyll in an unusual spin on the Robert Louis Stevenson story in Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde (1971) and 'Fear in the Night' with Peter Cushing in 1972. Bates brought a new zest to Hammer and with his stylish dialogue delivery and film acting methods, he quickly won himself quite a few fans in both critics and regular film goers!


UNFORTUNATELY, by the early 1970s there had been a downturn in Hammer studios fortunes, and Bates then found himself turning to more traditional character work in other production houses and he appeared in several films before snaring other superb villainous role as George Warleggan in the 18th century period piece Poldark (1975). After Poldark, Bates himself kept busy in a few forgettable UK made TV shows and television film roles which did not really do justice to his remarkable talents. In the late 1980s his health rapidly deteriorated, and he sadly passed away from cancer aged only 51 on 27th March 1991.



Wednesday 18 October 2017

VINCENT, KATY, EDDIE AND PETER ARE SHOCKED! GIFS! GIFS!


#SILENTBUTDEADLY! Here's #VINCENTPRICE as 'Sinister Man' in probably one of his sharpest put-downs on film in 'Blood Bath At The House Of Death' (1984), an interesting little black comedy staring Kenny Everett . . he is SHOCKED, and the line he delivers, is sadly unrepeatable here . .  our silent disposition serves us well!  I thought his jibbing before the delivery, was well worth posting . . .




#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY!: KATY WILD IS SHOCKED! But sadly her character, BEGGER GIRL, is MUTE! Hey, thought Anthony Hinds, she can't speak, she doesn't NEED a name! But Cushing gets it. There's nothing like a 7foot tall ex wrestling champion, in mashed-up make up, wearing diving boots and a mean look . . . carrying a wrought iron spear, to sharpen the senses. This leads into one of those scenes, that you can see, Cushing REALLY enjoyed. A right royal scuffle, with crushing grips, heroics, floppy fringe flying and Cushing's Baron comes out looking hair ruffled, but still sharp and smart! It's a pity the girls didn't get to play though... I just love the way, Cushing flings our poor 'Begger Girl' out...of..frame....! 'The Evil of Frankenstein' (1964), certainly is from the good ol days, when monsters were mean and big, and girls screamed, until a CHAP stepped in...!



#SILENTBUTDEADLY!: In #STARTREK lore, there's a there's a theory. If a cast member in the 1960's tv series was wear a red top as part of their uniform, they were for the chop. After they had set down on the planet, while checking out the sandy desert terrain, you could count the seconds before a scream went up, and the red top guy, had bought it! Dead. Not so the case with the 1966 Cushing film, 'Island of Terror'. Actor Eddie Byrne was the go to guy in the late 50's early 60's, if you wanted a strong, straight talking, serious detective, police office or doctor. Here he plays Dr. Reginald Landers, strong, straight talking, serious and tentacled silicate, tea time snack! You can see the shock in his eyes. Who could have known? In Hammer films, 1959 The Mummy, Bryne had played the SSS Detective Inspector Mulrooney. For him it was double added value, playing to his strengths Police AND IRISH! He played it very well, feeding Cushing's British archaeologist all the right questions, that lead us through a complicated flash back story about how, Christopher Lee's High Priest Kharis had ended up minus his tongue and wrapped in enough bandage, to stretch to Tut's tomb and back! So, that he should die, for me was a surprise and sad. I am not one of these cinema goers who spends their time wasting my ten bucks, trying to find the clues to end of the film, when I have paid good lolly, for them to tell me. I also happen to be a fan of Eddie's work. so, for him to leave film three quarters in, was a downer. Still, he died well. Convincing audiences you are being SUCKED to death, could be a tall order for some actors. Not Eddie. He's a strong, straight talking, serious doctor here. He was never going to suck in this role.....




#SILENTBUTDEADLY! 'Corruption' (1968) is a motion picture that is full of SHOCKS, and that's even without the CENSORED shock shots! Here Cushing shockingly bites the dust. It's interesting, despite how carefully director Robert Hartford Davies set up this clever shot, so that we get the full impact of the Laser Zap on PC, my dear ol Mum, when she saw this many years ago was distracted. 'Hasn't Peter Cushing got really BLUE eyes!', she exclaimed. And yes, he DOES. The weird thing is, if you look at at Cushing's death pose as Gustav Weil in Hammer films, 'Twins of Evil' (1971) and the last death shot of Cushing's Sir John Rowan . . .they are uncannily similar!


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 . . 
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