As I'm sure many of you have heard by now Christopher Lee passed away last Sunday. He's always been one of my favourite actors. He was a true renaissance man too, singer, actor and spy. The legend will be missed. Rest in peace Christopher Lee.
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I have been dreading this day for years. Since the early 60s, Mr. Lee has been a constant in my life. Although he was not a great actor, he was my absolute #1 and he always turned in a solid performance. His Count Dracula was my favorite. Do I ever remember sneaking into the restricted showing of Dracula, Prince of Darkness, at the tender age of 15. I expected an absolute horror show, the likes I'd never seen before. Remember, this was the mid-sixties and the only true horror films I had ever seen were the mild The Mummy (also with Chris Lee) and the awesome (but not that scary) The brides of Dracula, not with Lee, but with the unknown (to me) David Peel and fortunately, with Peter Cushing. Anyways, Prince of Darkness was scary, but not overly so - and I was a fan for life.
Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing - and Hammer Films. Those three names lured me into to theater, over and over again. Cushing was the better actor, but Lee has always been my favorite. I was so terribly excited to finally meet the man in the late 60s, in London. The National Film Theater (now called BFI Southbank) organized a showing of highlights from many of his movies, and present was Count Dracula himself. The moment I walked up to him and made eye to eye contact - awesome. (That was even better than meeting Mrs. Emma Peel herself - a couple of years before. That's Diana Rigg, for those who know nothing about one of the best british tv shows ever, the Avengers.) Mr. Lee even posed for me when he was about to leave in his Rolls Royce. I snapped a few pictures....and none of these turned out: too dark!! Still, I knew that dark shape against the white of the Rolls-Royce was Dracula himself. (He hated to be remembered as Dracula, as he was in over 200 movies and was not too fond of what Hammer films made him do.)
A couple of years ago I saw Mr. Lee again in Amsterdam: he was in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and together with a large orchestra Lee took us on a Lord of the Rings journey. The singing (by all of the audience) of Mordor's national anthem (our backs turned towards the stage) was the highlight of the evening.
For decades there have been three constants in my life: Streisand, Stephen King and Christopher Lee. King is still an active author, turning out about two books each year (and pretty good ones too) - and Barbra..well, I can't really complain - and I'm thankful she's still around.
I think I'll watch a Christopher Lee double bill tonight: Dracula and The Mummy.
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Great write up Siep! I agree about Lee and Cushing, Cushing may have been the better actor, technically, but I just loved Christopher Lee. Love them both really, but Lee has been my favourite actor for years. To be honest I think my first ever experience with Christopher Lee was with his voice alone, as King Haggard in The Last Unicorn, a film I've loved since childhood. And what a voice, completely iconic. Which I guess in some ways is ironic considering the small amount of actual lines he got in some of the Dracula flicks (they all still rock though) or even in my favourite role of his as Lord Summerisle in The Wicker Man (though he does get a song in the extended version). A couple other favourites of mine was Hammer's The Devil Rides Out, in which Lee finally gets the chance to play the hero instead of the villain in a Hammer flick, and Horror Hotel (City of the Dead) in which he plays an evil warlock, cum history professor. As for sneaking in to see Dracula: Prince of Darkness, it may not have been the most terrifying film of all time, but the regeneration scene was simply a fantastic bit of early colour gore FX.Comment
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Agreed, Dan.
In the 60's (ouch!) most horror movies were restricted; meaning, only those 18 and older could attend. To me, the restriction alone meant: must see!! must see!! i remember standing in front of the mirror, trying to pencil a mustache somewhere between my upper lip and nose. I was convinced this would get me into the theater.
Now I don't remember if I actually did go ahead with the moustache thing (don't think so), but the first time I tried to see Prince of Darkess, I got in. The second time, I got my ticket at the box office, but the woman at the door took one good look, shook her head and told me to get my money back.
I felt like the worst fool ever.
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