#neil mccarthy

[goldenpinof]

via divine.gnosis' stories, 13/12/2024

[jedivoodoochile]

Today marks the birthday of actor Neil McCarthy (26 July 1932 – 6 February 1985), who played Calibos in closeup scenes in ‘Clash of the Titans’.

The character of Calibos was initially planned to be mute, given the difficulty of matching dialogue with stop-motion animation. However, when it became clear that the creature had to speak, Neil was found to be the perfect match, due to his distinctive facial features (actually brought about by a form of acromelagy, a condition similar to gigantism). Thus, the character was to become unique amongst Harryhausen creations, as a blend of live action and stop-motion was used for the character throughout the movie.

Before starring as the Lord of the Marsh, Neil was a well recognised face on British television, appearing in a multitude of classic shows and films throughout the 1970s. Very sadly, ‘Clash’ was to be one of his last film appearances, and he passed away less than four years after its release.

[abs0luteb4stard]

W A T C H I N G

[ozu-teapot]

Offbeat (AKA The Devil Inside) | Cliff Owen | 1961

In this noir-ish heist movie Layton (William Sylvester) is an undercover cop infiltrating a band of organised criminals who begins to find himself attracted not only to the charms of one of it’s members Ruth (Mai Zetterling) but also to the bonds of friendship and loyalty within the gang, who are portrayed as a jolly decent bunch who just happen to make a living through crime.

[killerscartv]

Catweazle (full TV series) 1970-1971

A British children's fantasy television series, starring Geoffrey Bayldon in the title role, and created by Richard Carpenter for London Weekend Television. The first series, produced and directed by Quentin Lawrence, was screened in the UK on ITV in 1970. The second series, directed by David Reid and David Lane, was shown in 1971. Each series had thirteen episodes, most but not all written by Carpenter, who also published two books based on the scripts. An 11th century bumbling wizard, named Catweazle (Geoffrey Bayldon) is pursued by soldiers through a wood, carrying only his magic charm and his toad familiar (a familiar is a supernatural entity). He says a spell as he jumps into a pond. When he comes out he thinks he has made the wood and soldiers disappear, but in fact has jumped 900 years. He arrives on a farm in rural England in the year 1969 and befriends the farmer's son, a red-headed teenager, Edward Bennet, nicknamed Carrot (Robin Davies), who spends most of the rest of the series attempting to hide Catweazle from his father (Bud Tingwell) and the farmhand Sam (Neil McCarthy). Catweazle searches for a way to return to his own time while hiding out in a disused water tower on abandoned Ministry of Defence land, which he calls Castle Saburac, with his familiar, a toad called Touchwood (a pun on touchstone). Luckily, whenever he is spotted, he uses his magic amulet to hypnotise people into forgetting that they saw him. The second series featured a 12-part riddle that Catweazle, now in 1970, attempts to solve at the rate of one clue an episode, the solution (as he thinks) being revealed in the 13th. A third series, which was apparently to be set on the Bennets' farm from the first series rather than the stately home of the second series, never got past the drafting stage. Catweazle mistakes all modern technology for powerful magic (an example of Arthur C. Clarke's third law that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"), particularly "elec-trickery" (electricity) and the "telling bone" (his interpretation of the voice issuing from a telephone handset). Often he tried spells that failed and he would sigh "Nothing works". Feeling flushed with success in the final episode, his last words were "Everything works Touchwood, everything works!". Both series centred on the relationship between Catweazle and the young lad from the present day who quickly accepts Catweazle as a friend. The second series had a more farcical character than the first. In the plaster fight scene in the episode 'The Enchanted King'. Cedric's parents were slightly unhinged gentry living in their family stately home. Almost all characters seemed out of touch with reality except Cedric. In the second series Catweazle sings/speaks to himself using the series theme tune. Although Bayldon thought the story had run its course after two series, he still praised the second, commenting that two episodes were, in his view, below standard, but not written by Carpenter: "There are two episodes I felt that with; the rest I think are lovely. I thought they were dreadful, but they were not written by Richard. They were written when we were behind."

[ludojudoposts]

The Monster Club (1981)

Anthony Valentine in 'The Monster Club'.

[scenesandscreens]

Where Eagles Dare (1968)

Director - Brian G. Hutton, Cinematography - Arthur Ibbetson

"Fear lent him wings, as the saying goes."

[mizworldofrandom]

Clash of the Titans (1981)