La tragedia del Phoenix

In the set CUSHING CURIOSITIES, there are 5 feature films and the 6 remaining episodes of the BBC's SHERLOCK HOLMES series from 1968. The movies were made between 1959 and 1974 and reflect not only the growth of Cushing's career but the many changes in society and the movie industry that brought about the end of the Gothic horror films in which he specialized. Three of the films are in black and white. SUSPECT (1960) and THE MAN WHO FINALLY DIED (1962) have pre-James Bond espionage themes. CONE OF SILENCE, based on a book, deals with faulty aircraft design and is based on fact.

In SUSPECT, Cushing plays a scientist who wishes to publish his findings on deadly bacteria while the British Government wants them withheld from public knowledge. The film co-stars Donald Pleasance and Ian Bannen. In THE MAN WHO FINALLY DIED, Cushing is an ex-Nazi who is trying to commit insurance fraud...or is he? Headlining the movie is Stanley Baker, just 2 years away from international stardom in ZULU. Baker plays a man who is shocked to discover that his German father (not Cushing), whom he thought was long dead, is still alive. Both movies are tense and terse.

The earliest movie in the set, CONE OF SILENCE, dates from 1959. It tells the story of a new line of airplanes that sometimes crash while attempting to land. Peter is an ambitious pilot who, in order to advance his career, blames the crashes on an older cohort rather than the structural flaw he knows to be the real cause. The film has a strong cast that includes George Sanders and Bernard Lee. Future Hammer regulars Andre Morell and Marne Maitland have significant supporting roles. As stated earlier, the screenplay is based on fact.

The other two films, BLOODSUCKERS and TENDER DRACULA are both in color, made in the early 1970s and were barely released. The first movie, about modern day vampires, suffered from producer interference resulting in the director having his name removed. It also underwent several name changes. I first saw it in a drive-in and it wasn't half bad. In addition to Cushing, it has the added presence of Patrick Macnee and Edward Woodward. The 10 minute LSD induced orgy scene, which caused the director to leave and was ultimately cut, has been restored here. .. SPOILER ALERT!... It adds absolutely nothing to the film.

TENDER DRACULA is a real oddity. It was made in France in 1974 and, aside from Cushing and THE THIRD MAN star Alida Valli, features an all French cast and crew. It was intended to be a combination horror comedy and sex farce and how well it succeeds will depend on your taste for...French horror comedies / sex farces. It does have its admirers but only in France which is the only place it was released before going straight to video. Whether it is Cushing's worst movie is debatable. He didn't think so, giving that distinction to 1967's THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR, but TD gets my vote.

As for the 6 SHERLOCK HOLMES episodes, they prove that Peter Cushing was one of the great Holmes interpreters right up there with Jeremy Brett and Basil Rathbone. His lean, gaunt features, dismissive attitude, and nervous energy are very close to Doyle's description of the character. Cushing also insisted that his wardrobe match the illustrations from the Victorian period magazines where Holmes first appeared. Nigel Stock is the perfect Dr. Watson. An ordinary man who helps to ground his extraordinary friend. Of the stories, only A STUDY IN SCARLET disappoints as the murderer's background has been eliminated.

So, in the final summary, CUSHING CURIOSITIES is a must for all fans of the actor even if not all the material is first rate. It gives us a chance to see Peter in some of his solid supporting roles before he became a horror star and some lesser known movies that he made to keep himself busy after his wife died in 1971... For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

A screen version of David Beaty's novel that like most films made sixty years ago looks better today than at the time, although the model work is a bit obvious. Made by Michael Balcon's company Bryanston, hence the job of directing it going to his former Ealing employee Charles Frend.

Both composer Gerard Schumann and cameraman Arthur Grant also did distinctive work in horror films (as did many of the cast, which includes Hammer Films' Holmes & Watson from 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'), while Tony award-winning dancer Elizabeth Seal plays her only ever film lead as Bernard Lee's daughter.

This is quite a good movie with a cast of familiar faces (Peter Cushing, George Sanders, Gordon Jackson). The screenplay is based on David Beaty's novel which was inspired by actual events. In October 1952 one of BOAC's new Comet jetliners crashed at Rome Airport. The accident was due to a design error that allowed the pilot to raise the nose too high on take off and stall the airplane on the ground. The pilot was blamed for the crash and relegated to flying piston engined freighters. The following year another Comet, on a delivery flight to Canadian Pacific Airlines crashed on taking off from Karachi, Pakistan in identical circumstances. Following this accident, design modifications were made to the Comet to prevent further similar incidents.

The movie follows this scenario quite closely, except that Captain Gort, the pilot blamed for the crash (played by Bernard Lee), continues to fly the fictional "Phoenix" jets and subsequently dies in an identical accident. It is left to the Airline's initially sceptical training Captain (Michael Craig) and Captain Gort's daughter (Elizabeth Seal) to clear her father's name and get the airplane modified in the nick of time to prevent a third crash.

Although made on a smallish budget and with some model shots that look a little shaky today, this is a cut above the typical Hollywood airborne disaster epic. Little seen today, especially in it's original 'scope ratio, this deserves more recognition.

As a former BOAC pilot David Beaty certainly knew his stuff and must surely have been pleased with this adaptation of his novel.

Has the crash of a jetliner flown by Captain Gort in which a co-pilot is killed been caused by a design fault or pilot error? That is the question. Although the captain is hung out to dry by a clever lawyer representing the airline at the tribunal of investigation he is still allowed to fly. As the film progresses it becomes clear that the aircraft designer has not been entirely forthcoming......

Charles Frend is a capable, workmanlike director and has done a good job here with a limited budget and some excellent actors. This was made at a time when there was a wealth of first class English actors upon which to draw. Peter Cushing and Andre Morell were no strangers to each other and had recently played Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. I consider Morell to be a superlative Watson and arguably the best Quatermass. Here Cushing has the showiest part and exhibits his customary style. This film can only work of course if the character of Captain Gort is sympathetic and here the casting of Bernard Lee is inspired. He achieves so much by doing so little. George Sanders is as always immaculate and although he only has two scenes as the lawyer Sir Arnold, undoubtedly pocketed the biggest salary.

It comes as no surprise that the airborne scenes are the most effective and that in which Lee and his crew hit a freak hailstorm is especially gripping.

The culpability of a pilot for an airline disaster was to be depicted in Ralph Nelson's excellent 'Fate is the Hunter' of 1964. Whilst Frend's film has neither the production values nor the starry cast of the later film, it still manages in its own quiet way to pack quite a punch.

CONE OF SILENCE is one of those rare films - a technical thriller. The subject of this film is a type of aircraft that has problems taking off and landing when carrying a lot of weight and in warm temperatures. After an accident as a result of this problem, the cause is listed as human error, leading the pilot involved to attempt to clear his name.

The subject matter is quite unusual and I enjoyed the way this film refused to pigeonhole itself to a particular genre. Even the characters are written in shades of grey rather than being merely black and white creations. There are thriller elements, some courtroom drama, but most of all this is about the human element.

What makes CONE OF SILENCE work is the exemplary cast who have been gathered together to bring the material to life. In lesser acting hands this might have felt slightly turgid, but the cast make it work. The underrated Bernard Lee is particularly good as the pilot whose failings make up the backbone of the plot, and Peter Cushing is fine as his foil, a misguided antagonist for the most part. There are also roles for George Sanders, Gordon Jackson, and Michael Craig. Hammer fans will spot the likes of Andre Morell (THE MUMMY'S SHROUD), Charles Lloyd Pack (DRACULA), Marne Maitland (THE REPTILE), Noel Willman (KISS OF THE VAMPIRE), Gerald Sim (DR JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE), and Charles Tingwell (DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS) fleshing out the cast. CONE OF SILENCE is one of the more originally-plotted dramas I've seen from this era, and it doesn't disappointment.