I have just purchased Eunice Gayson’s autobiography. I remember her from the fifties more so for her occasional appearances on the BBC TV panel game Whats My Line – although why I remember this I’m not sure because she didn’t appear in that many of them.

She did seem to be in BBC TV drama a lot in those days and was in a number of films from the late forties onwards.

However there is one particular story that should be told – her meeting – face to face – with Howard Hughes.  The film she had starred in along with Victor Mature had had its premiere in New York – and a very successful one at that – and probably, because of the film, she was featured in a big American magazine in an article headed ‘the most beautiful Engish actresses’ and not long after she was approached by an American man after a performance of the play she was in, asking if she had ever heard of Howard Hughes. Of course she had and he promptly asked her to ask her agent to ring a specific Hollywood number.  From the subsequent call, she accepted a free trip to meet Hughes in Hollywood. She was flown over there in a special private section of the plane and put up in luxury in Hollywood.

When eventually she did meet him at his office she describes him as ‘this rather emaciated man dressed in what looked like an all-in-one cotton suit, sporting a very bushy beard with very long nails. But far from looking as he sounds, he was actually quite well groomed; weird looking but well groomed’.

He then said ‘ Good Evening Miss Gayson. I’m Howard Hughes and I have been looking forward to meeting you.’  She asked if he had a specific film part for her but he didn’t have exlaining that this was just a general meeting. Eunice was aware that Anita Eckberg had signed up with RKO which Howard Hughes owned, and then she had virtually disappeared from the public eye. She then told him that she was tired and needed to retire.

After this she seemed to be escorted around Hollywood by various ‘minders’ and would have been  treated to almost anything she wished for but she did not latch on to this at all. Then it was made known to her that Hughes wanted her to sign a long term film contract. She told his  secretary that she was unsure. She phoned her agent and he explained that she would be a millionaire within 18 months if she accepted but she was still wary and was uncomfortable and wanted to return home to England. This proved more difficult than she had imagined as she seemed to be chaperoned by the Howard Hughes organisation wherever she went although she tried to escape through all sorts of ways including the laundry shute from her hotel.

When  all else failed she got permission to stay with her aunt in New York who was troubled by these events, and managed to get her to the airport to fly home. Even then there was a considerable worry because the airline was TWA – owned by Howard Hughes.

With the help of her aunt , she finally escapoed the clutches of Howard Hughes and his entourage and arrived back in England. One of the first things she did on her return was to change agents

This, to me, nearly  coincides with another seemingly unrelated story – but I wonder. Around this time, or actually a little before this, Richard Todd had flown to the USA to make the film ‘A Man Called Peter’ and his co-star was Jean Peters. However he said that he never seemed able to meet her or have any social time with her for the whole eight to ten weeks or so. She had flown in just before the filming commenced and seemed to have a female minder with her at all times. He only discovered after the film was made that she was in a similar situation, again with Howard Hughes – and she married him shortly after this incident.

Jean Peters married Howard Hughes in 1957 and A Man Called Peter was released in April 1955. The Eunice Gayson episode was in very early 1957, so in a way these two stories do have a link.

Jean Peters.

Jean Peters was a very beautiful actress – and this is another angle on the story.

In 1957, after her divorce , Jean Peters married Howard Hughes. Soon after that, he retreated from public view and became considered an eccentric recluse.    The couple had met in the 1940s before she became a film actress.  One source said said that Jean Peters was “the only woman [Hughes] ever loved.” He reportedly had his security officers follow her everywhere even when they were not in a relationship. The actor Max Showalter confirmed this, after becoming a close friend of Peters during shooting of Niagara (1953).

In 2004, Showalter said in an interview that Hughes’ men had threatened to ruin his career if he did not leave her alone.

During her marriage, which lasted from 1957 to 1971, Jean Peters retired from acting and social events in Hollywood.

In 1971, Jean Peters and Howard Hughes divorced. She agreed to a lifetime settlement of $70,000 per annum, adjusted for inflation, and she waived all claims to Hughes’ estate. Despite being divorced from her though, a handwritten will was found three weeks after Hughes’s death where he gave US$ 156 million to split equally between Jean Peters and Ella Rice (his other ex-wife). In the media, she refused to speak about the marriage, claiming she preferred to focus on the present and future.   She said that she hoped to avoid being known as ‘Mrs. Howard Hughes’ for the rest of her life, although knowing that would be difficult.”I’m a realist. I know what the score is, and I know who the superstar is.”

Later in 1971, Peters married Stan Hough, an executive with 20th Century Fox.  They were married until Hough’s death in 1990.

Hammer Films were riding on a high when this film was made. Following on from The Curse of Frankenstein and The Mummy – both very good films and ones that did well worldwide and particularly in the USA.

 Peter Cushing starred as Sherlock Holmes with Andre Morrell another favourite of mine and I really don’t know why, along with Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville who is in mortal danger from the legendary hound.

Also cast was Ewen Solon, Miles Malleson and the great John Le Meseurier.

Miles Malleson appears as the local vicar who is an expert in spiders – this was a part written into the story for the film version only becuse it does not appear in the book at all.

The story opens with a sequence back in history which tells of the origins of The Hound of the Baskervilles when the wicked Sir Hugo brutally deals with his staff and particularly his women – one of whom refuses his advances and runs away. He pursues her with a pack of hunting hounds but they turn back in fear when they get into the marshes – there is obviously something that they don’t like.   Sir Hugo in his wild mood just carries on and attacks and kills the young woman – and at that point he hears the growl of a wild animal. He looks terrified and his end comes at that point although we do not see it.

See this excerpt in the Link below :-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VEbPcsIcJ_8

This was Hammer Films at their best almost –

Shortly after their brilliant adaptations of the classic tales of Frankenstein and Dracula,  British Hammer Studios decided to have their take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s immortal detective Sherlock Holmes with “The Hound of the Baskervilles” (1959). This turned out to be a splendid idea, as the Hammer formula works magnificently with Doyle’s work. Hammer once again teams up Horror’s greatest duo, Peter Cushing (as Sherlock Holmes) and Christopher Lee (as Sir Henry Baskerville).  In addition, the film features André Morell (who would also star in several other Hammer productions including “The Plague of the Zombies” of 1966) as Doctor Watson. Hammer’s trademark eerie Gothic atmosphere with foggy grounds, dark forests etc. fits the “Baskervilles” story like a glove.
The film begins truly creepy, with a prologue set in the early 18th century, when Sir Hugo Baskreville, a cruel nobleman who likes to play sadistic games with peasants, gets what he had coming when he makes the encounter of a mysterious beast. From then on, the wild, dog-like creature is known and feared as the ‘Hound of The Baskervilles’; according to a curse, this hound is supposed to return and kill any Baskerville who dares to enter the moorlands where Sir Hugo found his end… In the 1880s, the great detective Sherlock Holmes is told about the sudden and mysterious death of Sir Charles Baskerville, a descendant of Sir Hugo.  Holmes and Doctor Watson travel to the Dartmoor in England  to investigate and to meet the new owner, Sir Henry Baskerville, who does not believe in what he considers to be ‘old wive’s tales’… at first…

The film does change the original story in some details, mainly by adding Horror elements that underline the Hammer-typical creepiness and Gothic atmosphere. Peter Cushing simply is the perfect choice to play Sherlock Holmes. This brilliant actor was fantastic in any role he played, of course, but that of the most famous detective in fiction is one of those that he is particularly predestined for. André Morell is great as Dr. Watson and Christopher Lee is, as always, good  in his role. Cushing and Lee truly were the ultimate duo in Horror cinema.  It is easy to see why Christopher Lee and the late Peter Cushing were best friends in real-life, when watching their ingenious work in any of the films they did together.   Directed by Hammer’s  Terence Fisher, “The Hound of the Baskervilles” is another great example for Hammer’s glorious style of eerie yet beautiful settings, haunting atmosphere and suspenseful storytelling. The settings and photography are wonderful as in most classic Hammer tales, and the entire film is greatly crafted.

Private eye ‘listened to Marilyn die’

To many readers this is may not be a name that you will know.   However to people of North Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire he was a very well known and well respected figure from the world of Cinema – not to mention one of the most knowledgeable people about films.

He passed away just days after receiving his MBE, awarded in the Queen’s New  Year Honours, at Grimsby’s St Andrew’s Hospice, where he was being cared  for.

His death was officially announced to filmgoers this morning, who responded  with a round of applause in tribute.

R

Bob Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003)

Son Of Paleface (1952) — directed by Frank Tashlin and co-starring Jane Russell and Roy Rogers (and Trigger, seen here) — is not only one of the best Western spoofs, but also it must be a strong contender for Funniest Movie Ever Made.

The original “Paleface” feature was pretty good, but this sequel is actually better, in large part due to the addition of Roy Rogers and Trigger. Rogers and Bob Hope are two of the most likeable performers that the movies have seen, and together they seem like old friends who have stopped by for an enjoyable visit. Jane Russell is also back from the original movie, though in a different role.
The story is good fun as long as you don’t take it seriously. It’s actually rather well-written, in that it accommodates all three stars with material well-suited for them.

Bob Hope gets plenty of one-liners and similar gags, and he pulls off even the goofiest of them with energy and aplomb.  Roy Rogers gets the chance to do some singing and to have some action sequences, and Trigger gets several good moments. Jane Russell is given a character that allows her to stay within the role of the tough, glowering beauty.
There are enough connections to the first movie to add to the enjoyment if you have seen it, but “Son of Paleface” could also easily stand on its own, and in fact overall it is probably the better film.

Towards the end of the film, is a chase with Bob Hope in the covered wagon, resulting in this great matte shot of the wagon careering along very close to a cliff edge – I love this shot –  above.   Maybe not the best matte in the world but pretty effective on screen.

Another great picture – above – shows Roy Rogers and Bob Hope with Trigger and Jane Russell laughing along in the background.