Did you get along with Peter right away? Was it an instant friendship? It was immediate, yes.
And you both made so many films together that I think some audi- ences used to forget that he had a very distinguished career making films apart from you. Oh, yes. And also, he got an award for the BBC production of [George Or- well’s] Nineteen Eighty-Four, and he was superb. And of course, he had a lot more stage experience than I ever had and will ever have now, as I’m too old.
You also had a close relationship with Vincent Price. Actually, your birthday and Vincent’s are both on the same day, on– The 27th of May.
And Peter’s was one day earlier, on– The 26th.
Was there anything that the three of you would do to cele- brate the occasion? Oh yes, we would have conversations. And send birthday cards and do things like that.
I read that you would phone Peter up and talk in Looney Tunes cartoon charac- ters’ voices such as Sylvester the Cat or Yosemite Sam. Is that true? Yes! [Laughs] That is absolutely true. I would imitate these characters and he, when he answered the telephone – I don’t think Peter liked the telephone very much – he would immediately know who it was because I would only have to say a few words as one of these characters and he would be helpless with laughter. He was a wonderful man, a wonderful human being. And a magnificent actor. And so was Vincent. So was Boris [Karloff].
As one of those genre icons, are there any villainous characters that you would have loved to play but didn’t get the chance? The only other character I would have liked to have played – because he wasn’t just a monster, he was also a very intelligent man – would have been Ivan the Terrible. But he was so superbly done by the Russians, I’m not sure I would have taken it on. That’s about the only one, really. It’s very difficult for me now to find anything that I haven’t
done. I have done a lot more comedy than people are aware of. And I’ve done westerns, and films using Amer- ican accents.
You were approached by Spanish actor Paul Naschy about appearing in a film as Don Quixote, correct? It was never specified. He did say that it would be very interesting if I could play Don Quixote, but unfortunately he recently passed away.
My Best Fiend: Lee and Cushing behind the scenes of 1973’s The Satanic Rites of Dracula, and (below) Lee and Joanna Lumley (as Jessica Van Helsing) in the same film.
What’s the appeal of playing Quixote? He’s a heroic character, he thinks the best of everything and everybody. But, of course, he has great delusions. As you know, he charges windmills, thinking they are giants. Everything he does is noble and – if you’ve read the book or seen the previous films – is to basically help the people.
Let’s talk about a project that did get off the ground, and was recently released: the sym- phonic metal album Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross. You come
from a very musical family, your great-grandparents had an opera company, then there are your various singing roles in films such as The Wicker Man. How does the Charlemagne project fit into your love of music? Well, it’s a different type of music from anything that I’ve done. I have appeared with two bands before: Rhapsody and Manowar. In the Rhapsody song I sang, and [for] Manowar, I believe, I was the narrator. But I was kind of hooked onto, you might say, this kind of music – not the extreme kind – but “metal,” for lack of a better word. That’s the element, the strongest element in Charlemagne. It is the story of Charle- magne and his father, his brother, the Pope and many, many other characters, done with metal bands, an orchestra, chorus and many very good singers.
Is there an element about metal that appeals to you in particular? Yes, power. Gunpowder, if you like – an element which an actor must have, and in this particular instance: the singers. This type of music is very powerful. It’s certainly an- other step in my career. Another string in my bow, you might say.
The project is also a good fit because you’re a direct descendant of Charle- magne. I’d been informed by the Heraldic College in Rome, which doesn’t actually exist any- more, that my family on my mother’s side, the Carandinis, has the right to bear the arms of the Holy Roman Empire. I’m as- suming that’s correct. I know I can trace my family back several centuries.
CHRISTOPHER LEE Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross
CHARLEMAGNE PRODUCTIONS, LTD. Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross finds Sir Christopher Lee flexing his talents in the musical arena with an homage to King Charle- magne, the First Holy Roman Emperor. Lee is a direct descendant of the King, so who better to recount his medieval tale, especially in the tim- bre of that elegant baritone? Arranged as five distinct acts, with nar- ration by Lee’s daughter, Christina, to frame the concept, Charlemagne casts Sir Christopher as the King’s ghost with a supporting cast of accomplished singers, who do the lion’s share of the vocal heavy lifting. Lee mostly chant-sings over top of sweeping orchestral flourishes – with the exception of “The Bloody Verdict of Verden” where he bellows about the beheading of 4000 Saxon men for not renouncing Paganism – but he definitely holds his own. Touted as “symphonic metal,” Charlemagne is really closer to grandiose classical with occasional passages punctuated by chugging metal guitar. The thun- dering timpani, lush strings and shimmering brass one would expect from such regalia are in- deed the order of the day. On the whole, this is the auditory equivalent of unbridled victory – gloriously overwrought but somehow completely fitting of the film legend’s British knighthood and the respect his cinematic legacy commands. TT 000
RM24
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