Incense for the Damned / Bloodsuckers (1970) Peter Cushing's costume as Dr. Walter Goodrich

Film: Bloodsuckers / Incense for the Damned (1970)
Actor: Peter Cushing (as Dr. Walter Goodrich)
Director: Robert Hartford-Davies
Costume designer: Unknown

Incense for the Damned (also released as Bloodsuckers, Freedom Seeker and Doctors Wear Scarlet) is a 1970 British horror film starring Patrick Macnee, Patrick Mower and Peter Cushing, based on the 1960 Simon Raven novel Doctors Wear Scarlet.

The film centers on Richard Fountain, an Oxford don who has fallen under the influence of a mysterious Greek girl and her suspicious associates. Fountain's friends visit Greece to get him back and notice that wherever he has been a number of murders have taken place. They find their friend under the spell of a beautiful vampire, whose blood-sucking methods include the use of S&M sex. Believing that they have killed her, the group return to Great Britain, unaware that their friend is now a vampire.

Filmed in Greece and Cyprus, they ran out of money in the Spring of 1969, having resumed later on. New scenes were written and new actors were added, the result being that the director disowned the film and prints only exist under a directorial psydonym (Michael Burrowes) or with no director credit at all.

The costume -- jacket, trousers, suspenders and vest -- was acquired in auction, originally from the Peter Cushing estate, as personal wardrobe and not associated with a film. All pieces sport M. Berman Ltd. labels with "Peter Cushing" handwritten. Production woes might explain why the costume ended up with Cushing and not returned to Berman.

"Incense for the Damned is one of the more unusual films in the canon of cinematic vampire lore. It is also one of the more controversially debated films in the genre – and more than anybody by its director Robert Hartford-Davies who hated the ending that was forced onto the film and substituted a pseudonym.
What one does find is an impressive attempt to pare away to the centre of the vampire myth. The central metaphor the vampire film operates on – that vampirism is sublimated sexuality – is here spun out as literal fact. Edward Woodward has a scene where he potently explains vampirism is a perversion brought on by sexual impotency where the drinking of and having blood drunken serves as surrogate orgasm. This is wound into a complex metaphor that sees the Oxford academic structure as vampiric in nature – Patrick Mower has a striking speech where he stands up and denounces the parasitism of the academic system, calling provost Peter Cushing in effect the head vampire. (As a perfectly sardonic after-note, Peter Cushing stands up, apparently oblivious to Patrick Mower’s meaning and demands order). The double-side of the coin the film presents is also striking – that the only relief from a rigidly ingrained system is to be found in the youth movement. However, the youth movement is not seen as liberating, as it usually was in most films of this period, but is instead painted as inhabited by Satanic orgiastists, drug takers and murderers – exactly what some of the more extreme critics were denouncing it as. Incense for the Damned in its condemnation of both the repressive order of the class system and the wild liberation of the youth movement – yet also seeing both as deeply intertwined – makes a striking metaphor.

What does mar Incense for the Damned is the ending that was forced on against director Robert Hartford-Davies’ wishes (resulting in him having his name substituted) wherein Johnny Sekka takes Alex Davion to Patrick Mower’s coffin and hammers a stake through his heart. It is an ending that vilifies the rest of the film, which has up until that point explained vampirism away as being purely a psychological perversion."

Moria - Science Fiction, Horror and Film Review

"If you ever wanted to see Patrick Macnee and Imogen Hassall ride donkeys in a British vampire picture, then INCENSE FOR THE DAMNED is the film for you."

 RED WEED | Unusual British Film, TV and Beyond

A Mexican lobby card.

As an added bonus, Cushing may have also worn the suit when he appeared in the programme "Looks Familiar" (February 2nd, 1976 according to Wikipedia; UKPCAS states January 25th, 1979) , alongside Burgess Meredith, as can be seen by this photo from the excellent "Peter Cushing Appreciation Society".

"Looks Familiar", February 2nd, 1976. Left to right: Peter Cushing, Dilys Powell
(journalist and TV critic), Dennis Norden (presenter) and Burgess Meredith

Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) Pipe used by Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes

This pipe has been identified and screen-matched as having been used by Peter Cushing in the 1959 Hammer production of "The Hound of the Baskervilles", in the role of Sherlock Holmes, playing with André Morell as Watson and Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville, directed by Terence Fisher. The pipe belonged to Cushing, who was actually a cigarette smoker and didn't enjoy pipes, and was sold with other pipes (also used as Holmes in the 1968 BBC series) at his estate auction in 1994 and later acquired privately. In the case of this particular pipe, we have the good fortune of, besides it being clearly seen on the film, there being a publicity shot of Cushing holding the pipe.

At first, when I purchased the pipe, I didn't know what film it had been used on. At the time I browsed through the film and didn't find it. I gave up rather too quickly, as Cushing uses another pipe early on. I found it only when watching the film again and, to my surprise, this one is used towards the end, in a wonderful scene with Lee and Morell.

Sherlock Holmes (BBC, 1968) Pipe used by Peter Cushing in "The Sign of Four"

This pipe has been identified and screen-matched as having been used by Peter Cushing in the "The Sign of Four" episode of the 1968 BBC series "Sherlock Holmes", in the role of the famous sleuth. The pipes used in the series (and other productions) belonged to Cushing, who was actually a cigarette smoker and didn't enjoy pipes, and were sold at his estate auction in 1994 and later acquired privately.

Space: 1999 (1975) Peter Cushing's own script for "Missing Link"

(A particular cover detail was blurred to avoid duplication)

An 88 page script for the "Missing Link" episode of the classic science fiction television series "Space:1999" consisting only of those scenes in which Peter Cushing appears. Signed by Peter Cushing on the title page. With Cushing’s very extensive handwritten annotations and notes throughout. One page is an elaborate hand-drawn production chart in which Cushing shows the days he worked and how much he received for the role. The script came from Peter Cushing's own library.

Cushing plays “Raan” from the planet Zenno, 5 million light years from Earth, who encounters the colonists. Raan is 508 years old, and Zennites have a life span 10 times longer than the inhabitants of earth.

The Gorgon (1964) Release script

When his father Professor Jules Heitz and brother Bruno die under mysterious circumstances, Paul Heitz (Richard Pasko) travels to a small town to determine what is going on. It's the early 1900s and he finds villagers who are wary of strangers and apparently live in fear, particularly when there is a full moon. He hears of the legend of Megaera, a Gorgon so hideous that to look at her will turn you to stone. Of particular interest to him are Dr. Namaroff (Peter Cushing) and his attractive assistant Carla Hoffman (Barbara Shelley). Namaroff is obviously hiding something and is very possessive of Carla, who suffers from blackouts and memory loss. With the help of his mentor, Professor Karl Meister (Christopher Lee), Paul tries to unlock the secrets around them.

This is a release script for 1964's "The Gorgon", directed by one of my favourite directors, Terence Fisher. [P]

Peter Cushing's smoking glove

Peter Cushing as "Grand Moff Tarkin" on the set of Star Wars.

Peter Cushing was famous for wearing a white glove in his left hand when smoking, in order to protect his fingers from nicotine stains. He always wore the glove and there are some photos. He famously wore it on the set of Star Wars IV: A New Hope and on the set of Dracula A.D. 1972 and Arabian Adventure. I'm sure he wore it in many more, photos to come as I find them. [PSoL]

Photos from "The Peter Cushing Companion".

From the "Ottawa Citizen", June 5, 1978.

I, Monster (1971) Release script (Long Version - Theatrical)

This is a "release script" for I, Monster, the 1971 film directed by Stephen Weeks (his feature debut) for Amicus Productions. It is an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, with the main characters' names changed to Dr. Charles Marlowe and Mr. Edward Blake.

It stars Christopher Lee as the Doctor and his alter ego, and Peter Cushing as Frederick Utterson, a central character in Stevenson's original story. Mike Raven and Susan Jameson also star. It was photographed by Moray Grant, with music by Carl Davis.

It was intended to be shown in 3-D, but the process was aborted mid-filming. [private purchase]

Peter Cushing's Pipes

This is a set of six pipes, a "Sherlock Holmes" calling card and syringe that belonged to screen legend Peter Cushing. I haven't yet screen-matched the pipes, but hope to be able to find them. Cushing was not a pipe smoker, but often smoked pipes in his screen and stage roles. These pipes could also have been used in his stage performances, and the lack of photo references makes screen-matching very difficult. I would be grateful for any help.

The "Sherlock Holmes" business card is not a prop, but part of a set made by Peter Cushing himself.

These pipes were auctioned in the Peter Cushing 1994 Phillips estate auction, and belonged to make up/special effects artist Dave Elsey, whose work includes Farscape, Little Shop of Horrors, Hellraiser, Mission Impossible and Star Wars III - Revenge of the Sith, amongst many others. You can find a great interview with him about Cushing here. [PSoL]

Peter Cushing jacket and handkerchief

The jacket worn by the renowned actor Peter Cushing on the cover of his autobiography titled “An Autobiography and Past Forgetting”. The grey textured jacket was custom made for the actor and includes the blue silk handkerchief in the breast pocket. It is worth noting that the colour of the handkerchief was changed digitally after the photo was taken.[PSoL]

Peter Cushing tie

This tie was donated by the Peter Cushing estate for the "Teatre Royal Celebrity Memorabilia Auction" in 1999. It was part of Peter Cushing's personal wardrobe and it is unknown if he used it in any of his movies. [private purchase, includes full documentation]

Peter Cushing (1913-1994) Signed and inscribed photo

Finally, I managed to obtain an autograph of my favourite actor, Peter Cushing! Very, very happy...