Underrated Performer of the Month: Peter Cushing

Peter Wilton Cushing finally achieved fame as an actor at the age of 44. Alas, his big break came in a horror film at a time when that genre was largely ignored by mainstream film critics. Hammer Films' Curse of Frankenstein, which is now regarded as a genre classic, was largely dismissed by critics when it was released. Britain's The Daily Telegraph stated simply: "For sadists only." What they missed was that the role of Victor Frankenstein was played superbly by Peter Cushing, a classically trained actor who once performed alongside Laurence Olivier.

His acting arc followed that of many of his British peers. He studied drama (at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama), performed in repertory theater, and tried his hand at Hollywood (with small roles in The Man in the Iron Mask and Laurel & Hardy's A Chump at Oxford). In 1948, he landed his best role to date as Osric in Olivier's Hamlet (1948), which featured another future Hammer star, Christopher Lee, in a bit part.

That didn't lead to bigger film roles, but did result in steady work in radio and early television. He achieved small screen success in fare such as a six-part Pride and Prejudice (as Mr. Darcy) and The Creature, an episode of the BBC Sunday-Night Theatre written by Nigel Kneale (and eventually adapted for the screen as The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas starring Cushing). When Hammer's producers decided to make a Frankenstein film--which focused on the doctor, not the monster--they knew who they wanted.

Perhaps critics didn't fully appreciate his Hammer debut, but audiences did and he subsequently landed the plum role of Van Helsing in Hammer's next film, 1958's Dracula (US: Horror of Dracula). It was a bigger smash than Curse of Frankenstein and for the next two decades, Peter Cushing would remain a Hammer Films fixture in quality fare such as Brides of Dracula, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, and The Hound of Baskervilles. Indeed, his memorable turn as A. Conan Doyle's sleuth eventually led to a 1968 television series.

Cushing never talked down to horror film fans. In an interview with the magazine L'Incroyable Cinema, he said: "I don't mind at all that people may refer to me as a 'horror actor' because in this unpredictable profession, actors are awfully lucky."

In addition to his Hammer roles, Cushing also played Dr. Who in two big screen adaptations and was introduced to a whole new generation of moviegoers as Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars (aka Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope).

His wife of 27 years, Helen Cushing, died in 1971, causing Cushing to withdraw from Blood from the Mummy's Tomb. He eventually returned to acting and was awarded the Order of the Britisth Empire in 1989. When he died five years later, colleagues and critics sang his praises as a fine gentleman, a loyal friend, and an underrated, exceptional actor.

31 Days of Halloween (Bonus 2nd Feature!): The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas

In October of 1957, the British Board of Film Censors stated: “This is to certify that The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas has been passed as more suitable for exhibition to adult audiences.” The maturity required for this film, however, has nothing to do with sex or violence. Known in later releases simply as The Abominable Snowman, this British Hammer film production is nothing like its name implies – no monsters here, nor cheesy sci-fi effect. This film requires the maturity to appreciate the poetry of a haunting story of great depth.

The always wonderful Peter Cushing stars as Dr. Rollasan, a British botanist sent to Tibet to study rare plants. Cushing’s mere presence lends dignity to the story of a creature with which his interests really lie, what the Tibetans call the Yeti. Neither beast nor man, the legend of the Yeti says that they live in the high frozen Himalayan mountains. Huge footsteps are the only evidence ever seen by man. Dr. Rollasan believes that the Yeti may be a third branch of the great evolutionary split between ape and man. He wants to find the Yeti for his own knowledge and for the sake of science.

The great Himalayans are like a living entity in this film. The film makers used the Pyrenees mountains in France during winter to double for the long shots of the mountain range. The overwhelming vastness of the Himalayans is captured cleverly by cinematographer Arthur Grant, as well as the art and set directors, smoothly blending the real location shots with some of the most realistic studio sets I’ve ever seen. We are inexorably drawn into the feeling of howling winds, cold, exhaustion and fear of the climbing group led by Dr. Rollasan.

The other members of the expedition have their own unique reasons for searching for the Yeti. Forrest Tucker is excellent as Tom Friend, a domineering carnival barker-type of man whose interest in the Yeti is far from scientific. We watch Friend evolve during the film from bullying greed to fear to an acceptance of destiny. Tucker’s performance stands strongly beside Cushing’s always outstanding acting. Ed Shelley, played by Robert Brown, is Tom Friend’s companion, whose talents are specific to Friend’s intentions. Scottish actor Michael Brill is McNee, whose fearful search for the Yeti is a personal quest. In the course of the expedition, each man finds himself faced with the deepest, sometimes primitive, parts of his psyche.

The supporting case complements the story beautifully, with special mention for Arnold Marle as the High Lama of the Buddhist lamasery from which the expedition commences. He is mysterious, cunning, other-worldly, possessed with strange powers of knowledge.

Director Val Guest makes the most of a small budget and delivers a movie that is poetic in nature and haunting in style. When you meet the Yeti, it will not be in a way you might expect. I have never forgotten it, and I suspect you won’t either.