Rathbone Rocks!

My second Cursed Horror talk at the Castle Keep centred on the definitive Sherlock Holmes - the great Basil Rathbone, who features in chapter 2 of my book.

As kid I grew up watching the Holmes movies, and to me Mr Rathbone is the personification of the Great Detective, so it was a real privilege to discuss his life and career at the Castle.

I previously did a talk on Rathbone a while back at The Black Gate, so in theory I pretty much knew what I was doing - I hope!

Following my little spot, there was a screening of one of his classic Holmes adventures The Scarlet Claw (1944), one of his better efforts from the series of second features produced by Universal Studios.

Once again we had an appreciative audience and the Castle remains a super venue to screen these marvellous old chillers.

Our next talk at the Castle will be on 9 June. It'll be on Peter Lorre, followed by a screening of his debut film M (1932). For a future blog I'll be doing a piece regarding the origins of Fritz Lang's controversial thriller.

Among the audience at the screening was Michael Glancey, who runs the Friday Film Club at Gateshead Central Library. I will be doing a talk for the club on 18 May at 2:00pm at the library. Its open to everyone so please come along.

Best get rehearsing!