February 23 - Terence Fisher

Happy Birthday, Terence Fisher! Born today in 1904, this British film editor and film director is best known for his work for Hammer Films. 

Fisher was the first to bring gothic horror alive in full colour, and the sexual overtones and explicit horror in his films, while mild by modern standards, were unprecedented in his day. 

  

Among his credits, Fisher is best known for directing the 1958 British Technicolor supernatural fantasy/horror film 'Dracula' (or 'Horror of Dracula'). 

  

Based off of the eponymous 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, the film follows vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing). He is on a search for his missing friend, Jonathan Harker (John Van Eyssen). 

  

Eventually, Van Helsing is led to Count Dracula's (Christopher Lee) castle. Upon arriving, he finds an undead Harker in Dracula's crypt and discovers that the count's next target is Harker's ailing fiancée, Lucy Westenra (Carol Marsh). 

With the help of her brother, Arthur Holmwood (Michael Gough), Van Helsing struggles to protect Lucy and put an end to Count Dracula's parasitic reign of terror. 

  

In 2017 a poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers and critics for Time Out magazine saw 'Dracula' ranked the 65th best British film ever. Empire magazine ranked Lee's portrayal as Count Dracula the 7th Greatest Horror Movie Character of All Time. 

  

Fisher had ben actie from 1948–1974. 

  

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February 23 - Jiří Menzel

Happy 82nd Birthday, Jiří Menzel! Born today in 1938, this Czech theatre director, actor, screenwriter and film director's features often combine a humanistic view of the world with sarcasm and provocative cinematography. Some of these films are adapted from works by Czech writers such as Bohumil Hrabal and Vladislav Vančura. 

  

Among his credits, Menzel is best known for writing and directing the 1966 Czechoslovak black and white drama/comedy-drama film 'Ostře sledované vlaky' ('Closely Watched Trains').  

  

Based off of the eponymous 1965 fiction novel by Hrabal, the film is set in a small town still occupied by the Germans as World War II's tide in turning toward the Allies. 

In a local sleepy railway station, a young apprentice train-watcher named Miloš Hrma (Václav Neckár) is oblivious to the war. Instead, he is obsessed with having his first sexual experience.  

  

Despite the favors of a pretty young train conductor named Máša (Jitka Bendová), Miloš has no luck. His quest leads him to a female Resistance fighter who, in passing, recruits him to the cause. As Miloš eventually and finally finds love, danger draws closer. 

Menzel had an uncredited role in the film as the young Dr. Brabec. He explains to Miloš that ejaculatio praecox is normal at his age.

  

Released outside of Czechoslovakia during 1967,'Closely Watched Trains' won the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 40th Academy Awards in April 1968. 

  

Menzel has been active from 1960–present. 

  

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