peter cushing

[stoked]

I recently got hold of all 5 episodes on the BBC Peter Cushing Sherlock Holmes. I was glad to get them 'cause I seen everything else Holmes and this gave me my fix for something new.
But I'm not sure what to make of Cushing as Holmes. That's how I felt about Jeremy Brett too back in the 80s when I first saw them. Now I think he's the definative Holmes. Anyway, just wondering where some of you guys rate the Cushing portrayal?

 

[Centurian 803]

I lilked Peter Cushing but not as much as Jeremy Brett. When watching Cushing I was always remembering him in the old Hammer Horror films. Plus I didn't like the Holmes in modern times. They should have left him in the Victorian era where he belonged.

 

[gandalfpc]

I had no idea Peter Cushing did Holmes - I will have to track those down Me and Cushing go way back

 

[stoked]

Yeah, there are only 5 episodes that survived out of the series. I downloaded them with a torrent software. Not alot of peers so it took a couple of months to get them. The source is original but with spanish subtitles embeded (which I found easy to ignore after about 5 minutes). They are worth watching. Cushing was a serious actor despite all the horror genre films he did.

 

[Justpipes]

I remember Peter Cushing in the old Hammer films along with Christopher Lee. Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee were the masters of horror back then. Hammer films were my favorite horror films when I was a kid. Ahhh.......Saturday mattenees! I haven't seen him as Holmes.

 

[Doc Manhattan]

Love the Hammer horrors (Rasputin is my favorite, I think) but Peter Cushing will always be in my eyes Grand Moff Tarkin from Star Wars.

 

[babysinister]

The mention of Cushing takes me way back too. The Curse of Frankenstein was the first Hammer film I saw, followed by Horror of Dracula, the Mummy, the Hound of the Baskervilles, etc. He was a serious actor indeed, and raised the bar for acting in many of those movies. Unfortunately I've not been able to find a DVD or VHS version of a movie that was released in 1960-61, The Flesh and the Fiends, which I believe was based on a Dylan Thomas (believe it or not) screenplay on the "resurrectionists" Burke and Hare - the same theme as Val Lewton's The Bodysnatcher. I read the screenplay and this movie follows it very closely. Cushing played Dr. Knox, who sought cadavers for medical experiments. Donald Pleasance played one of the obliging graverobbers turned murderers.

 

[Doc Manhattan]

Amazon has The Flesh and the Fiends if you want it:
http://www.amazon.com/Flesh-Fiends-Peter-Cushing/dp/B00005KHJZ

 

[Justpipes]

The mention of Cushing takes me way back too. The Curse of Frankenstein was the first Hammer film I saw,

The Curse of Frankenstein is probably my favorite Hammer film. Christopher Lee played and awesome Frankenstein monster.

 

[babysinister]

Amazon has The Flesh and the Fiends if you want it:
http://www.amazon.com/Flesh-Fiends-Peter-Cushing/dp/B00005KHJZ

Wow! That came as a surprise to me! I hadn't heard of that movie in years! Thanks Doc.

 

[morleysson]

Ironic that I should notice this thread. The 1959 "Hound" with Cushing and a very good Lee as Henry Baskerville was recently shown on cable. Strong performance by both, and a bit less frenetic than the 1939 'Hound" (which is my all time favorite, but still frenetic). To me, Cushing always did a balanced interpretation of Holmes, and certainly had the ascetic features needed for the protrayal. Andre Morell did a fine Watson, too. Not Hardwicke, but fine enough.