The Damn Dirty Geeks are back after a busy hiatus (of exciting new projects) with the first of a string of new podcast episodes! First up is our salute to two Hammer horror greats, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, who were united by our episode guest Ted Newsom in his superb documentary FLESH AND BLOOD: THE HAMMER HERITAGE OF HORROR.

Ted Newsom Reunites Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing

by Damn Dirty Geeks

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In this hour, Ted regales us and DDG listeners with tales of bringing Lee and Cushing together professionally for the final time as narrators of Newsom’s Hammer documentary, as Cushing passed away only three months after the duo recorded their parts in early 1994. Longtime friends, Peter and Christopher were delighted to spend this time together — as you can see from Ted’s photos of the pair during their narration recording sessions.

Ted describes his own amazement at reunited Lee and Cushing for his documentary, watching another chapter of Hammer horror history in the making — and just in time. Beyond this work, Newsom speaks of the affectionate bond between Peter and Christopher off-screen, including the silly trick Cushing would do to have Lee in stitches with laughter.

Newsroom’s film explores the full breadth of Hammer horror with rare interviews with other favorite Hammer actors including Veronica Carlson, Caroline Munro, Ingrid Pitt, Jimmy Sangster, Raquel Welch, Hazel Court, Martine Beswick, plus filmmakers Freed Francis, Val Guest and Ray Harryhausen among many others. The documentary delves into the making of Hammer classics like THE HORROR OF DRACULA, THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, THE DEVIL RIDES OUT, THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF and many more.

FLESH AND BLOOD brought Dracula and Van Helsing together one last time, fortunately for us Hammer horror fans, and the DDG are proud to host Ted Newsom sharing his personal adventures in uniting them as performers and dear friends.

Order the updated edition of Ted Newsom's excellent documentary FLESH AND BLOOD: THE HAMMER HERITAGE OF HORROR on DVD -- just look for act3prods@aol.com on PayPal to order directly.

Our episode with Ted expands hilariously beyond Hammer horror to include: debates about the comedy quotient of IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD; tales from David Prowse about working with Stanley Kubrick: Christopher Lee’s appearance hosting Saturday Night Live and his second career of “not playing Dracula” in many films about a tall, sinister vampire character; and a very touching story of how Lee’s fear of seeing an ill, aging Cushing almost prevented their reunion from happening until Newsom gathered them together in his documentary.

This episode with Ted Newsom is a wild ride through horror history peppered with plenty of laughs, so grab your vampire hunting kit and enjoy! A link to purchase the updated edition Ted’s documentary FLESH AND BLOOD: THE HAMMER HERITAGE OF HORROR is provided in Show Notes below. We highly recommend Ted’s film to all fans of Hammer cinema, Lee and Cushing, and horror films in general!

If you enjoyed this episode about Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, please check out our previous podcast episode saluting Sir Christopher upon his passing and discussing his Hammer horror classic DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE.

SHOW NOTES:

Order FLESH AND BLOOD Hammer documentary – jump link to PayPal and search for act3prods@aol.com to order the new, updated version of Ted Newsom’s excellent Hammer horror documentary

HAMMER FILMS – official website for Hammer Films current productions

HAMMER HORROR CLASSICS VOL. 1 Blu-ray – purchase 4-film Hammer collection via Amazon.com

FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN Collector’s Edition Blu-ray – purchase this Hammer great via Amazon.com

DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS Blu-ray – purchase this Christopher Lee classic via Amazon.com

Hammer Film Collection – 5 Movie Pack – includes THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL, SCREAM OF FEAR, THE GORGON, STOP ME BEFORE I KILL and THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY’S TOMB via Amazon.com

THE VAMPIRE LOVERS Blu-ray – purchase this Ingrid Pitt Hammer horror classic via Amazon.com

TCM Greatest Classic Film Collection: Hammer Horror – includes HORROR OF DRACULA, DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE, THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED via Amazon.com

“Damn Dirty Geeks” is © 2014 Sketchy Things Productions. All rights reserved.

You can find further info and episode show notes on our Damn Dirty Geeks Facebook page. Artwork is © 2001 Frank Dietz.