We've had discussions (in another thread) on our first Christopher Lee films.
Some people have been following his career for years, decades. Others of us weren't around during Hammer's reign but were aware of Mr. Lee from videos or televised movies. Yet more are coming to know Mr. Lee from LOTR and Star Wars, possibly not being aware of his other films.
So my question for discussion is this: when did you first become a fan of Mr. Lee and his work?
the Hammer Horror movies for me. Living in England I have been "exposed" to Hammer Horror movies since I had a TV. I enjoyed watching all the Dracula movies and love the Hammer Horror Hound of the Baskervilles.
I tuned out for a couple of years and came back to Hammer Horror over 5 years or so ago when I found some old Hammer Horror trading cards with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing images, that I used to have when I was a kid. This brought back all the memories and I have been gradually building up my Hammer Collection again.
Of all the actors in the films Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee really stuck out for me. And when Christopher Lee popped up in a Tim Burton (my fave director) movie I was hooked again. He just has the screen presence to really draw you. I could say the same for other actors Burton has used such as Vincent Price and Martin Landau, I just wish Christopher Lee had a chance to have a "longer role" in a Burton movie.
Did anyone notice in Christopher Lee's scene in Sleepy Hollow how one of the final shots on his character Burgomeister, gave him "wings". Very Demonic! 
I suppose my first introduction to the world of Christopher Lee was the late night screenings of his films on ITV in the early/mid 1970s - together with the Universal, Hammer and the AIP classics. This brought me the delights of Karloff, Lugosi, Chaney Jr, Lorre, Rathbone, Price, Cushing and of course Lee.
I also fondly remember the late 1970s regular "Midnight Movie Double Bill" seasons they played almost annually - with the popular Universal, AIP-Poe and Hammers ---- marvellous days and nights.....
I have a very distinct memmory of seeing Mr.Lee as Rochefort (not that I knew who he was then) when I was around 13 - he was my fave character in the Musketeer films. I became something of a fan from January this year, when I saw him as Saruman, and it was Count Dooku that broke the ice, and from then on I couldn't get enough of him. His performances are amazing in all roles, and I now like his roles of Scaramanga and Dracula, among others - I only wish I'd discovered his amazing movies earlier.
I was bitten by the CL fan bug over 35 years ago. I saw The hound of the Baskervilles and I got hooked. Ever since then I always watched for him on TV or on the shows. I remember skipping school one time to go downtown to see one of his movies. 
I do believe my mom was a fan of his too, because quite a few times we would watch his movies together when they were on the late show. My mom is long gone now, and I have a small collection of Mr. Lee
I had seen Mr. Lee primarily in the Hammer horror films at The Grand Theater in Cornelia, Georgia USA. The gaudy little 1930's era theatre in my hometown ( the building now demolished which was a travesty against humanity-but that is another story) used to show horror "marathons" where they would have an ambulance parked out front "just in case you have a heart attack or difficulty breathing", a "nurse" (or someone in a nurse costume anyway) and a so-called "Dr." giving you a cursory medical exam before you would be allowed into the auditorium to make sure you could endure the horror of it all. You had to arrive early to go through the "check up."
Then you had to actually sign a release form stating the threatre was in no way responsible if you went insane or died.
"Insurance agents" were on hand to write you a "Sudden Death" Policy. And of course, big signs warned about how frightened you would be and that the theatre was in no way responsible "No Matter What Happens to You!" However, I have a feeling if you had been in an iron lung but possessed the price of a ticket they would have pronounced you physically A-1
and ushered you right in. These shows were usually packed and there were few empy seats. The balcony would always fill up first as I recall.
I remember one especially spooky horror marathon where, in addition to all the above, they also promoted that there would actually be a dead body in the theatre during the entire festival.
They had some guys in dark suits wheel in a coffin with, what I've always hoped was, a manikin in it. They opened it up for everyone to get a glimpse of whatever it was, and then they locked it shut and left. Very effective on a 16 year old. They would then screen about 4 to 6 horror films with short breaks in between to give everyone a check up. During the movies they would have things like blank guns, flash guns, police whistles, automotive horns and so forth all going off at the worst possible moment. The "ambulance crew" would come in and escort out a "shill" who had been scared senseless usually at least once per marathon.
This was all a long long time before THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW when such in theatre shenanigans became en vogue. Vincent Price horror, 3-D horror and at least one "IT CAME FROM (fill in the blank)" movie would be shown along with some Hammer. There were Dracula movies and I knew that Christopher Lee could do Dracula really well. I enjoyed these films but I would not say I was a horror junkie. Mostly I went to meet a girl who I had a huge crush on at the time.
Then came THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN. I actually had no idea who the man playing Scaramanga was, but I really thought it was a very good performance. I just knew that he was a really really good actor and I could not imagine that a better Bond villain would ever come along. I was right about that.
I was talking to a friend about how good the actor doing Scaramanga was and he broke the news to me that Mr. Lee was also Dracula, Frankenstein and so forth and that he was named Christopher Lee. We didn't call it HAMMER HORROR back then and we didn't pay attention to the credits because we were just kids going to the movies. I didn't believe him about them being the same person. The part was just so different. I never related it to the same man. I also would not have believed that I would be a member of his fan club thirty years later either.
When I finally realized how hard it would be to do such a wide variety of roles, and do them all well with distinct personalities and so forth, THAT was when I really became a fan. Then came some other films that just solidified my earlier revelation that this was a very gifted man. Among them the MUSKETEER films and AIRPORT '77. I felt so sorry for Mr. Lee in A-77, I really really liked his character development in A-77.
I've raved before about his comedic work but again I'll say that his Saturday Night LIve work and Christopher Walken's SNL work are two of my favorite SNL shows ever. (Anyone else remember the BASS-O-MATIC '76?) Mr. Lee who once helped defeat the Germans, played one very effectively in 1941. The cricket match in A FEAST AT MIDNIGHT? Right on "target"! (Ouch.)
One thing I've always wished is that someone would come up with a worthy multiple role film for Mr. Lee, akin to Peter Sellers' DR. STRANGELOVE roles or how about this one.... FRANCISO SCARAMANGA, INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY?
Look at the differences in his character work in LOTR and AOTC. You see very different people up there on the screen. NOW THAT IS ACTING. Some of these people should be forced to watch RASPUTIN and THE WICKER MAN about 20 times to see how it is done.
Walking through your roles just playing yourself like so many actors do these days just doesn't cut it. And 20 years from now, no one will be lining up to buy their DVD releases like they are these Hammer DVD's either. I don't mean all actors today are bad, but some are not exactly what I'd call "in the zone".
Nicholas Cage is "in the zone." Billy Bob Thornton is brilliant, simply brilliant. Ewan McGreggor too! Oh my, there are many, many more good actors. For example, Liam Neeson does a realy good southern accent...and you can take that as coming from a southerner who hates phony southern accents! Vin Diesel is showing promise.
I'm not naming names, but we surely seem to have more crummy actors working than we used to...or shall we say uninspired ones?
A cheer everyone for actors who CAN actually ACT!
I never chose to become a Christopher Lee fan. It just happened.
When i got my first vcr i started to record horror movies from t.v.
Before that i had only seen 2 CL movies. The Wicker Man which was on Dutch t.v.a long time ago and To The Devil A Daughter which a friend of mine at that time from school had rented. This was mid 80's.
There were some movies i didn't liked that much, but kept on tape because Mr Lee was in them.
(I was a gore horror fan (and i still enjoy those), so the more classical (horror) movies didn't do that much for me at that time.)
I guess that was the time i realised i was a fan.
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Ummmm. . . Dave. . . Ummmm. . . With all due respect. . . Have you been listening to a lot of Dennis Miller lately?
:frostyang
j/king!
Yes Alfonso. Yes I have. A long time fan. Now, if only I could set up a Big Screen on here. I could come up with snappy headlines for many of the photos in the premium member's album.
Yikes...I can't stand Dennis Miller. He's one of those guys, like Dennis Leary, that just needs to go away. Just an opinion.
Anyhow...the only films I remember Mr. Lee in was Man With the Golden Gun and the Three Musketeers. Although at the time I didn't "know" it was him. Until recently with his resurgence in Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, I realized Mr. Lee was that gentlemen I remembered from my childhood. After that, I went out and bought Wicker Man due to all of your recommendations. I have also seen the Hound of the Baskervilles, Gremlins II (this weekend!), and some of the early Dracula films. I'd have to say I'm more of a fan of his recent films, although everything he has done has the Lee charm. I also saw his SNL appearance a few weeks back on Comedy Central.
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IT was on a late night TV showing of Horror of Dracula, and on a black and white TV, (that's really a while ago).
Nothing prepared me for that wonderful chemistry of Mr. Lee and his friend Peter Cushing).
The film really made a knock out impression on me.
From that day on, i would be looking for everything with the name Christopher Lee on it.
Many years later i still do.
Sylvain
Unfortunately I don't remember the year, but I was at the shore with my parents on vacation and saw a Saturday afternoon running of Horror of Dracula . Been a fan ever since.
Years before that I had seen Peter Cushing getting bitten in Brides of Dracula during a Saturday tv matinee; of course my folks thought that was too much for my sensitive little brain and turned it off, but I think it was just Hammer karma that got me involved with those classic films and introduced me to Mr. Lee and the whole shebang. It was just meant to be.
By the way, when Brother Dave mentioned "Rocky Horror" I thought to myself, "Gee, Mr. Lee would make a great criminologist " (performed under the screen for nine years with a "Rocky" cast, so had to get my two cents in).
When theatres stopped having fun with the patrons and starting hiking up the prices of popcorn, part of the joy of moviegoing died with it. I remember the end of that gimmicky era, and it was really fun despite the hokum.
Usually I wait for cable or video for movies unless somebody like Mr. Lee is in them; then I buy a seat a week (or more) in advance!
This is a difficult question to answer.
Mr. Lee's work has always been part of the background to my fantasy life and imagination, but to be honest when I was younger I wasn't really interested in actors, only the stories that they were telling. This changed as I got older, gradually I noticed that there were two kinds of actors, those who looked decorative in different costumes and those who vanished like chameleons into the roles that they were playing. I definately admire the latter and Mr. Lee certainly fits into this catagory. When I decided to revisit many of the films I had seen and enjoyed over the years I was amazed at how often I found he (and Peter Cushing) had been in them.
The reasons I had for making a nostalgic journey through the cinema of my childhood were a mixture of trying to escape some depressing personal issues involving my health and the effect that it was having my life, and an increasing dispepsia with the way filmaking has changed in the last 30 years. It was always a business, but now profit and and the resultant need to have mass market appeal have totally overidden all other considerations - to the point where a very expensive and technically sophistcated film can also be a boring waste of the price of a ticket. The best example I can give is 'The Haunting', the original is brilliant, absolutely terrifying and it is all done with acting and atmosphere, not a special effect in sight. The remake is dull and pretentious. The actors only seem to have been employed to demonstrate the special effects. Really good acting, and good actors seem to be much less of a consideration in filmaking now. And there is also an appalling level of graphic violence in modern films, and horror films in particular, what I call the 'guts and eyeballs' school of filmaking. Most modern horror films are more horrid than horrifying and I don't generally bother with them.
Not that I dislike all modern films, or all films with special effects, I love fantasy and some modern fantasy films are excellent. 'The Fellowship of the Ring' has given me more enjoyment than any other film I've seen in the last few years and I loved 'Harry Potter'. 'Attack of the Clones' was also amusing if not quite up to the standard of the rest of the series, as far as I am concerned Mr. Lee's performance was the best thing in it.
I think that the answer to the question 'When did you...?' is that for all their technical limitations, the films made by Hammer and Amicus are in a class of their own and in seeking them out and trying to rediscover one of the simpler joys of my childhood, I also rediscovered Christopher Lee (and Peter Cushing).
Kikishwa
I got started out being a fan of Mr. Lee when i watched Airport '77 it was believe it or not was the movie where poor Mr. Lee got nearly drowned in his stunt shot that he did himself , so I guess even then he learned to leave some of the stunts to the real stuntmen even though he's an honored member of I think it was 5 stuntmens unions , and I have been a fan of Mr. Lee's ever since and my second film was Detenator ( Death Train ) .
Best Wishes ,
Amy Maloney;)
Winter 1970 .I remembr the date as we had just moved to a house by the beach and I was convinced it was MY private playground ( I was only seven ) . My grandmother had introduced me to the Universal monsters and I was already collecting the Aurora model kits when my mother told me of a film on TV that night .
It was The Curse Of Frankenstein . She stayed up with me to watch it . I remember being frightened , thrilled and stunned that it was in colour . Now at this time I did'nt know who Christopher Lee was I just knew that i wanted more .
My obsession with horror movies and Hammer in particular started that night . As the years went on I saw more films bought more magazines and progressed to conventions , autograph hunting and meeting the stars .
I grew up watching Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and in a strange way they almost feel part of the family . I know that may sound odd but the movies these gentlemen made give me almost a sense of well being when I watch them .
The Glasgow Film Theatre did a retrospective on Hammer about 5 years ago . It was great to see over 20 of the best on the big screen again and even more interesting to talk to people of all ages ( much older than me ) who shared the same passion .
The fact that Christopher Lees carrer has seen him more "high profile" over the last few years has been a joy to see and I hope it continues for many more .
I became a fan the moment I saw CL on the big screen. The movie was Dracula Has Risen from the Grave. I was probably 10 at the time. I saw it at the kiddie matinee. Back then, we often went to the matinee not knowing what we'd be seeing. It didn't really matter as there usually wasn't a lot of movie watching going on, just candy throwing, crawling under the seats, vandalizing the restrooms and other kidstuff. But, I watched this movie. Sat in the front row. I couldn't take my eyes off Mr. Lee. I've been a fan ever since.
I first became a fan in the early 80s when I was around 5 or 6 years old and "House of the Long Shadows" and "The Last Unicorn" were shown on TV pretty regularly. "Long Shadows" was probably the only scary movie I could deal with at that age because that guy who ran the Death Star in "Star Wars" was in it. At that age when I wasn't pretending I was Darth Vader, I was running around the house screaming, "The Last! I knew you were the last!" which are Mr. Lee's final words in the "Last Unicorn." I loved King Haggard!
When Did I first become interessted in Mr. Lee's work? Thats a good question. I remember my father intorduced me to the Hammer films first and that was when I could barely walk during my toddler years. The Horror of Dracula was the first Vampire movie I ever watched and I have been fascinated with Horror movies ever since. Couldn't get enough of them even now I have a great fondess for everything about christopher Lee. Doesn't help when I was little my goal was to marry Christopher Lee himself. My father always picked on me for it saying I was too little then. Even now I'd say Chris Lee is a not only handsome but gifted in many ways.
His family sure is lucky to have him and I wish them all the best.
Being married now myself my children have taking a liking to his movies as well, not only the last unicorn but also the rest of his films. Christopher Lee films I must say have followed me from country through country thoughout my life and they are here to stay.
Quote:
We've had discussions (in another thread) on our first Christopher Lee films.
Some people have been following his career for years, decades. Others of us weren't around during Hammer's reign but were aware of Mr. Lee from videos or televised movies. Yet more are coming to know Mr. Lee from LOTR and Star Wars, possibly not being aware of his other films.
So my question for discussion is this: when did you first become a fan of Mr. Lee and his work?
Honestly? When I saw him as Saruman in LotR. I kept saying to myself, "Where have I seen that face before?" Then I was looking through the pic gallery, and it was the Saturday Night Live appearance. He has quite a humongous filmography, I could be busy till doomsday watching them all. But I do plan on renting some videos!
Sephy
I first bought his Hammer Dracula movies,I don't remember how long it is,maybe three years ago,but then I only prefered his performance as Count Dracula.He was so fantastic in those movies!Then,one day,I saw in a TV one of his movies,"The Man With the Golden Gun" and that's when I really started to be his fan!That was about two years ago.I didn't even know then that he was doing so big productions like he was at that time,LOTR and SW:EP II.And now,I got a lots of his movies,about 80,I think (I haven't count them resently) and I think that he really is the greatest actor in the whole world,and to me he will always be...