See ya, Chris... R.I.P. Thanks for the performances.
fave obscure role... the military lackey in The Crimson Pirate.
Right about now, Bram Stoker is telling him, "YOU owned the role!"
Quote from: quiller on June 12, 2015, 06:50:55 AM
Right about now, Bram Stoker is telling him, "YOU owned the role!"
Yeah he did. Electrifyingly. As well as his portrayals of Dr. Fu Manchu, in a series I could never really figure-out.
Quote from: kit saginaw on June 12, 2015, 07:47:32 PM
Yeah he did. Electrifyingly. As well as his portrayals of Dr. Fu Manchu, in a series I could never really figure-out.
Sax Rohmer's books launched a spew of similar "Yellow Peril" books and movies (including Boris Karloff also as Fu Manchu and as Mr. Wong, Detective) and Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto, but the Karloff version of wily master criminal Fu Manchu was clearly the best. Somehow, probably due to finances involved in showing what the books had described, the film series just didn't up to the promise.
This actor fully deserves a thoughtful reading of his acting and other entertainment-industry work, just as much for his World War II military experiences and friendships. The Wikipedia entry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Lee
ends with this. It's a terrific reminder that movies are movies, but don't take them too dearly to heart....
QuoteLee was a supporter of the British Conservative Party. He described Michael Howard as "the ideal person to lead the party" in 2003[146] and supported William Hague and David Cameron.[66]
Contrary to popular belief, Lee did not have a vast library of occult books. When giving a speech at the University College Dublin on 8 November 2011, he said: "Somebody wrote I have 20,000 books. I'd have to live in a bath! I have maybe four or five [occult books]." He further admonished the students against baneful occult practices, warning them that he had met "people who claimed to be Satanists. Who claimed to be involved with black magic. Who claimed that they not only knew a lot about it"; however, he himself had certainly never been involved: "I warn all of you: never, never, never. You will not only lose your mind, you'll lose your soul."
Calculation in a bottle. -Like Phil (Basil) Rathbone, who would've been 102 yesterday.
Oddly, though they both portrayed Sherlock Holmes in the same manor, Lee wa-- oop, manner... Lee was the only one to play a Doyle side-character... Sir Henry Baskerville. Lee's friend, Pete Cushing, played Holmes. The Hound Of The Baskerville's was probably the first 'horror-thriller' I could sit-through, at age 8 or whatever.
Lee's actual horror-films were way too scary for another few years yet. :thumbup: