Alan Bell
For Peter
Cushing (sitting down here to discuss his career with [the off-screen] Dick Vosburgh) acting was always in his blood and it's all he ever recalls
wanting to do since childhood. To help him realize his dream, his father
purchased him a ticket from England to California. The kicker was the
ticket was only one-way. He'd pretty much have to make a living at it or
else he'd be stuck. Upon arriving in America, Cushing walked 5
miles from Los Angeles to Hollywood, put up his watch for collateral at
the local YMCA for a place to stay and soon after lucked out running
across director James Whale, who was about to start production on The
Man in the Iron Mask (1939). Whale allowed Cushing to play opposite
star Louis Hayward... except since Hayward was playing twins and
split-screen would later be used to complete the effect, Cushing was
merely filling in to help Hayward along in his dual characterization.
Whale did however allow him to play a second tiny role, where Cushing had
just one line and had to do some fencing. The film would begin of a long
and distinguished career.
Baby Cushing.
Cushing struck up a close friendship with Hayward, and went with him to
the set of High Sierra (1941) where he'd nervously meet such A List
stars as Humphrey Bogart and Hayward's then-wife Ida Lupino. Cushing went
to Hayward and Lupino's for dinner one evening and ended living with them for two
years. After working alongside Carole Lombard in Vigil in the Night
(1940) and taking on a few other small roles, Cushing (with financial help
from Hayward) went to New York City to try his luck there. Unsuccessful,
he went up to Canada where he eventually landed a job in the art
department at a movie studio in Montreal. He worked making swastika's for
the war movie The Invaders (1941) and other jobs, all the while saving up
money. Cushing had become extremely worried about his family and homeland
as World War II raged across Europe and eventually headed back home after
his short stint in North America. He joined an acting troupe, honed his craft on stage for many years
and met his future wife Helen along the way, whom Cushing credits owing
everything to. From there it was a comedic supporting part in Laurence
Olivier's Hamlet (1948) and - with his wife's help - employ at BBC
TV, where he worked his way up the ranks as one of their top talents in
various filmed stage plays (many of them aired live) such as Gaslight,
Home at Seven and Julius Caesar. He also starred in a
then-controversial adaptation of Nineteen Eighty Four and won three major
awards for his TV work; even earning the nickname "Mr. Television" by the
press.
With buddy Louis Hayward.
With Ida Lupino.
With wife Helen.
Cushing would not become an internationally known name until taking on the
role of Victor Frankenstein in Hammer Film Productions' THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1957), which was a huge hit all over the globe, particularly
in the U.S. and Japan. The film made back its entire budget in just one
week and immediately after Cushing became a worldwide star. We then get to
see clips from other Cushing films, such as HORROR OF DRACULA (1958),
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), The Mummy (1959), The Fury at
Smuggler's Bay (1961), She (1965), Frankenstein Must Be
Destroyed! (1969), Legend of the Werewolf (1975), Star Wars
(1977) and Sherlock Holmes and the Masks of Death (1984) as well as
his work on the TV series Sherlock Holmes and even a funny
commercial for Holsten Pils.
Cushing sings, does accents, dishes some behind-the-scenes dirt, talks
about some of his costars and goes into detail about overcoming a death
sentence (he was given a year to live in 1982) after being diagnosed with
cancer. He says fake smoking a pipe while playing Holmes made him feel
nauseous and discusses suggestions he made that were used to enhance some
of his films, having to shoot an entire scene backwards for the comedy
Top Secret! (1984), disapproving of the poster art for The Mummy
and his two best-selling autobiographies, which he says he wrote as a form
of therapy after his wife passed away. Cushing's love for both film and
his wife really shines through and both are simultaneously illustrated by
a poignant clip from TALES FROM THE CRYPT (1972).
Since there's much less material on Cushing than there is on his
contemporaries Vincent Price and Christopher Lee, this 76-minute
documentary is a treasure trove for fans of the star. It's filled with
film and TV clips, movie stills and personal photos, all well-edited
together with a long and casual discussion with the actor about his life
and career (shot by Freddie Francis). The end credits tell us that
in total Cushing appeared in 97 stage plays, 91 feature films and 117
television programs over the course of his 51-year career.
★★★
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