Peter Cushing - The Man Who Created Frankenstein

Independent UK director/filmmaker Don Fearney – a London-based horror aficionado who, in the past, released a 2011 anthology movie ‘Grave Tales’, hosted numerous Hammer Horror events and recently released this highly informative and entertaining documentary PETER CUSHING – THE MAN WHO CREATED FRANKENSTEIN on Blu-ray (narrated by character actor Edward De Souza), together with an accompanying A4 size booklet containing many on-set b/w photos of the much beloved actor.

In an prologue sequence, Fearney’s documentary informs us that on the 19th of November 1956, a small British film company started work on what they thought would be just another in a long line of low budget flicks. The movie – by Hammer Film Productions – was ‘The Curse of Frankenstein’ and much to the company’s surprise (not to mention delight) it proved to be one of the most popular and enduring British horror films ever made. Indeed, it set the blueprint for what would become known as Hammer Horror. Not only did it catapult its director, Terence Fisher, into rapid success as far as the horror genre goes but it transformed the film’s leading man, Peter Cushing, who up until then was primarily busy as a stage- and TV actor, into an international star! Despite his many roles in Hammer Horror films (twenty-two in total), to generations of horror fans he was – and always will be – ‘the Baron’. This insightful documentary charts the story of how Cushing, the perfect English gentleman, became one of the greatest horror stars of his generation.

The documentary continues with Cushing’s childhood. As a young adult, Cushing had no ambitions to pursue a ‘solid’ profession such as working in an office. Instead, he expressed a keen interest in drama – perhaps nurtured by the fact that as a toddler, his mother encouraged him to play games under the table whenever the threat of enemy bombings arose during the First World War. His interest in acting further came to the forefront thanks to him staging puppet shows for family members. Eventually, he applied for a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and, after numerous failed attempts, was eventually accepted and after his graduation, he participated in early professional stage performances. However, Cushing, a huge fan of the American actor Tom Mix, had aspirations to go to the US and appear in a Western! Unfortunately, this particular dream never reached fruition although Cushing appeared in several American productions, including as a second officer in the 1939 version of ‘The Man in the Iron Mask’ and as a student in the 1940 Laurel & Hardy comedy ‘A Chump at Oxford’. He also had a small part in the drama ‘The Howards of Virginia’ starring Cary Grant. His American dream came to a crashing halt at the outbreak of WW2, with Cushing returning to Ole Blighty as he felt he “had to do his bit”… only that he was unable to do so after failing his medical examination for active service. Instead, he signed up for ENSA (Entertainment National Service Association – aka Every Night Something Awful) and it was during this time that he met the actress Helen Beck, who soon became his ‘soul mate’. The two were married in 1943.

Eventually, Cushing had to leave ENSA due to ill health and struggling days lay ahead, marked by little income and few engagements. His luck changed for the better when, in 1947, none other than Laurence Olivier, whom he had met the previous year, sought him out to play the part of Osric in his film adaptation of ‘Hamlet. Despite the film winning plenty of praise and an Academy Award for Best Picture’ (a certain Christopher Lee, who was to become one of Cushing’s closest friends and on-screen partners, also appeared in the film), the following years were once again marked by the struggle to find work – leading only to small roles in films such as John Huston’s ‘Moulin Rouge’ (1952). Things fared better on the television front and Cushing’s biggest success from that period was his leading role as Winston Smith in the 1954 BBC production of Orwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’. The leaf turned when Cushing read in a trade publication that Hammer Film Productions were planning a low-budget production of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ – a novel which had been a favourite since childhood. He asked his agent to arrange a screening of something that Hammer had done recently, and when Cushing was invited to watch ‘X-The Unknown’ he was so greatly impressed that he committed to the Frankenstein project straight away!

After the enormous success of the aforementioned ‘The Curse of Frankenstein’, Hammer didn’t lose any time and was eager to cash in on the success of both the film and its leading man. In the same year followed ‘The Abominable Snowman’ and in 1958 came ‘Dracula’ (with Cushing as Van Helsing), which was to make a horror icon out of Christopher Lee. That same year, Cushing took on his Frankenstein role for a second time in ‘The Revenge of Frankenstein’ to mainly positive reviews. Over the following years, Cushing displayed his considerable skills by taking on varied parts, albeit often in horror films. Cushing’s diverse roles included parts in Hammer’s ‘The Mummy’ (1959), Sherlock Holmes in Hammer’s ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ (with Christopher Lee), Dr. Robert Knox in ‘The Flesh and the Friends’ (a 1960 Triad Production), the Sheriff of Nottingham in Hammer’s ‘Sword of Sherwood Forest’ (1960) or the Scrooge-like bank manager Harry Fordyce in Hammer’s underrated 1961 thriller ‘Cash on Demand’. Despite his continued success as a bona fide horror actor, it was the Frankenstein films which really cemented his reputation in the genre: ‘The Evil of Frankenstein’ (1964), ‘Frankenstein Created Woman’ (1967) and ‘Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed’ (1969) which has a particularly unpleasant rape scene between the Baron and his attractive landlady (played by Veronica Carlson). Both Carlson, Cushing and director Terence Fisher were in fact aghast that the scene had been written into the script at the last minute on the insistence of Hammer executive James Carreras. After the scene had been shot, Cushing – ever the perfect gentleman – went up to his female co-star and said “I hope I didn’t hurt you…”

At the start of the 1970s, Hammer decided that a new direction was needed to keep a younger generation of horror fans, who had tired of the traditional concept, interested. It was decided that Cushing would be replaced with a younger and more ‘hip’ looking Baron Frankenstein who was supposed to carry the franchise into the next decade. The choice fell to Ralph Bates and the film was called ‘The Horror of Frankenstein’. Despite Cushing not being in it, his on-set visits were used as part of the publicity machine. Unfortunately, the movie turned out to be a flop and plans for a sequel were quickly buried. Cushing himself would appear as Baron Frankenstein for the sixth and last time in ‘Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell’ (1974) – unfortunately also to rather mixed reviews.

Don Fearney’s documentary, expertly narrated by actor Edward De Souza (who featured in Hammer’s ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ as well as in ‘The Kiss of the Vampire’ and in Fearney’s ‘Grave Tales’) is chock full with fascinating information, private, on-set and behind-the-scenes footage and countless film clips.

A ‘must have’ for every Peter Cushing fan, the region-free Blu-ray including booklet (limited to 250 copies) can be ordered for £25 (plus £6 postage inside UK) using PayPal via: mktecon1@gmail.com. Any further questions or for orders abroad, please contact Mr. Fearney at: fearneydonald@gmail.com