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(242 posts)One of my favorite Sir Lee's scenes.
malthaussen
(18,573 posts)"I don't have to imagine it."
That needs to be on video.
-- Mal
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)Filming a scene in Return of the King (seen only in the extended version), when Grima Wormtongue (Brad Dourif) stabs Saruman in the back on top of the tower, Christopher Lee corrected Peter Jackson on the fact that when a person is stabbed in the back of the chest, they do not scream (as the director wanted), in fact the air is pushed out of their lungs and they groan with an exhalation of air, very quietly, as their lungs have been punctured.
its only a min long where Lee describes stabbing a nazi in WW2
Shit got real in 1939 when Christopher Lee quit his day job, caught a boat to Finland, and decided to enlist in the Finnish Army to help them fight off the Soviet invasion of Finland. Lee got geared up to kick some commie asses up and down the frozen wastes of mid-Winter Finland, but didn't see much action, returning home in 1940 to deal with a much bigger and more England-centric problem: Nazis.
Christopher Lee enlisted in the Royal Air Force in 1940, where he worked as an intelligence officer specializing in cracking German ciphers and skulls and any other Nazi bullshit he came in contact with. In North Africa he was attached to the Long Range Desert Patrol, the forerunner of the SAS, where he would jump in a badass fucking four-wheel-drive jeep with a gigantic machine gun mounted in the back, drive hundreds of miles behind enemy lines, survive the scorching heat of the Sahara Desert, then sneak-attack Luftwaffe airfields by rolling up on them at sixty miles an hour with his .50-caliber machine guns blazing out curtains of white-hot Nazi-smiting justice, planting dynamite on their airplanes, then peeling ass out of there leaving nothing but bullet-riddled corpses and gigantic explosions in his wake.
After working with the LRDP, Lee was assigned to the Special Operations Executive better known as Winston Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare a group that did shit like lead a twelve-man assault that destroyed the German top secret nuclear weapons development facility in Norway and assist brave Eastern European partisans and rebels sabotage Nazi supply lines to prevent them from bringing reinforcements up to fight the Soviets. His service records are sealed and Lee doesn't talk much about his service (when pressed on the subject, he reportedly asks his interviewer, "Can you keep a secret?". When they excitedly say yes, he leans in close and says, "So can I."
2banon
(7,321 posts)ChazInAz
(3,017 posts)In his memoirs, the only things he talks about in this period are rather silly episodes of liberating provisions, his twenty-first birthday and (Literally) getting his bony ass blown up! It's only through other people's reports that we know some of his adventures there.
LongTomH
(8,636 posts)roguevalley
(40,656 posts)Arkana
(24,347 posts)on the entire cast. He knew EVERYTHING--all the minor bits, all the stuff you'd only find buried in the pages of the Silmarillion, all of it.
roguevalley
(40,656 posts)pansypoo53219
(23,034 posts)Hestia
(3,818 posts)soldiers fighting Rommel in N. Africa. I remember by brother watching it - couldn't care less about military shows.
LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)Great actor. What a loss.
longship
(40,416 posts)Iggo
(49,928 posts)Rhythm
(5,435 posts)And one of the last of my childhood heroes...
Rest Well, Sir Christopher... you have earned it.
ozone_man
(4,825 posts)in The Wicker Man was one of my favorites.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)raouldukelives
(5,178 posts)When you start absorbing Hammer horror movies like a sponge, you can't help but hang on Mr. Lee's every movement and gain a huge appreciation for his talent. He is an integral foundation in the house horror built. RIP.
narnian60
(3,510 posts)Well said.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)RIP.
cascadiance
(19,537 posts)Now, Christopher Lee didn't do that to my knowledge, but I'm f'ing glad he didn't try to do something insulting like that!
Christopher Lee, RIP sir! One of Hollywood's all time greats! You will be missed!
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)nxylas
(6,440 posts)In which we get to see him playing a good guy for a change.
Duval
(4,280 posts)And he'll be missed. Thanks, Will. Loved the: "Now, let's see Chuck Norris top that."
Xyzse
(8,217 posts)jtuck004
(15,882 posts)And we have less to worry about from the first one.
Finland was fighting against the Soviets and lost with the USSR taking a chunk of Finnish territory. Lee then left "plucky little Finland" and returned to England. The Finns then allied with the Germans to try and get their territory back from the Soviets. Lee left before the Finns allied with the Nazis.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)...
When World War II broke out, Lee volunteered to fight for the Finnish forces during the Winter War in 1939.[33] He and other British volunteers were kept away from actual fighting, but they were issued winter gear and were posted on guard duty a safe distance from the front lines. After a fortnight, they returned home.
...
-wiki
Great duty if you can get it.
on edit: Norris joined the AF as a military policeman in '58, served 4 years, was in South Korea. Not front lines, but certainly a place one could get killed. That's where he started martial arts training. It is unclear where he began training to be an ass clown, though it was likely before that.
ieoeja
(9,748 posts)I assume you're justing adding information and not trying to compare peace time service in South Korea to Lee fighting in the front lines in North Africa and behind enemy lines in Europe throughout World War II.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)enemy lines".
Clearly he was the second, and only because he was just an actor would one need to make more of it than it was, a 30 day PR stunt.
And within driving distance of North Korea is no safer today than it was then. It isn't a foxhole under fire, but it ain't downtown LA either.
ieoeja
(9,748 posts)He spent months in North Africa. He was in the Long Range Desert Patrol, forerunner of the SAS, where they would drive hundreds of miles behind enemy lines to sneak-attack German airfields. After working with the LRDP, Lee was assigned to the Special Operations Executive better known as Winston Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare a group that assisted Eastern European partisans and rebels sabotage Nazi supply lines. We don't know what he actually did in Europe, because it is still classified. He was decorated for battlefield bravery by the Czech, Yugoslavian, English, and Polish governments.
He did juuuuuuuust a little bit more than his aborted mission during the Sitzkrieg.
He and other British volunteers were kept away from actual fighting, but they were issued winter gear and were posted on guard duty a safe distance from the front lines. After a fortnight, they returned home.
ieoeja
(9,748 posts)He spent months AFTERWARDS fighting in North Africa. He spents months doing SAS work behind enemy lines in Europe AFTER North Africa.
Cripes, dude. Stop focusing on one fucking mission. He had SCORES of missions beyond that one.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)Last edited Thu Jun 11, 2015, 05:51 PM - Edit history (1)
I acknowledged my error before, but thank you for the history lesson.
bye.
ieoeja
(9,748 posts)Lee served, and mostly fought, through all of WW-II in Europe and North Africa. But you ignore that so you can pretend your hero's record is comparable. I'm calling bullshit on that.
How about you simply admit that you were unaware of Lee's record when you made that comparison, and that in hindlight there is no comparison? *I* sure as fuck didn't know anything about it until I read this thread. See? It's an easy admission to make. You don't even have to type it. You can just copy and past from what I wrote then eplace "you" and "were" with "I" and "was".
muriel_volestrangler
(106,214 posts)Born 27 May 1922; the Moscow Peace Treaty ending the Winter War was signed on 13 March 1940, so whenever he returned to Britain, he was still 17. This was not part of his British military service, it was him volunteering before such service could have started. It's not that surprising they didn't use a 17 year old without proper military training. No, it's not something worthy of a medal, but, seeing as the only mention of this in the thread, before you wrongly brought it up as "volunteering to serve with the Nazis", had already said he "didn't see much action" in Finland, you seem to be failing, on an epic scale.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)do.
Made a comment, lots of people want to waste my time. But I have more important things to do than help them understand, like dishes and picking up dog shit.
Having been in the service I know how desirable great duty is and have watched people go to great lengths to get it. He got it, almost like he was wrapped in a blanket and protected until he could be spirited out.
I've held 17 year old death (and younger) in my hands, some of whom I knew, some who died bloody violent deaths. at that ripe old age of 17, the age I was when I went in. I know a bit about that.
ymmv.
I will leave you to your imaginings. "Leave you" being kinda like a sign or something.
niyad
(132,461 posts)marym625
(17,997 posts)irisblue
(37,521 posts)pasto76
(1,589 posts)"Christopher Lee enlisted in the Royal Air Force in 1940, where he worked as an intelligence officer specializing in cracking German ciphers and skulls and any other Nazi bullshit he came in contact with. In North Africa he was attached to the Long Range Desert Patrol, the forerunner of the SAS, where he would jump in a badass fucking four-wheel-drive jeep with a gigantic machine gun mounted in the back, drive hundreds of miles behind enemy lines, survive the scorching heat of the Sahara Desert, then sneak-attack Luftwaffe airfields by rolling up on them at sixty miles an hour with his .50-caliber machine guns blazing out curtains of white-hot Nazi-smiting justice, planting dynamite on their airplanes, then peeling ass out of there leaving nothing but bullet-riddled corpses and gigantic explosions in his wake. After working with the LRDP, Lee was assigned to the Special Operations Executive better known as Winston Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare a group that did shit like lead a twelve-man assault that destroyed the German top secret nuclear weapons development facility in Norway and assist brave Eastern European partisans and rebels sabotage Nazi supply lines to prevent them from bringing reinforcements up to fight the Soviets. His service records are sealed and Lee doesn't talk much about his service (when pressed on the subject, he reportedly asks his interviewer, "Can you keep a secret?". When they excitedly say yes, he leans in close and says, "So can I."
, but we do know that by the time he retired as a Flight Lieutenant in 1945 he'd been personally decorated for battlefield bravery by the Czech, Yugoslavian, English, and Polish governments and was good friends with Josip Broz Tito, so draw your own conclusions. " - from Gruntstyle FB today.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Will miss him....
gordianot
(15,772 posts)Gothmog
(179,885 posts)LiberalLovinLug
(14,689 posts)He was always the scary villain watching horror movies when I was young. And he played the part so well. What a talent.
still_one
(98,883 posts)heaven05
(18,124 posts)the consummate actor. Always liked him. Chuck Norris is the gum stuck to his shoe.
Rhythm
(5,435 posts)Jean Genie
(544 posts)Having lost Sir Terry Pratchett recently, and now Sir Christopher Lee, one can only hope that the two have met up in the next life, and are now collaborating on a terrific book and movie starring Death and Mr. Pratchett! Thank you both, gentlemen, for your creative gifts to the world. You are sorely missed, but will never, ever be forgotten.
progressoid
(53,187 posts)ms liberty
(11,237 posts)Archae
(47,245 posts)King Haggard.
GoneOffShore
(18,021 posts)What a guy!
hughee99
(16,113 posts)206 is an astounding number of movies for someone that's not in the adult industry.
Scalded Nun
(1,691 posts)and a gentleman.
Loved his voice too.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)RIP.
Or to quote Tyrion Lannister, "we shall not see his like again"
Unknown Beatle
(2,691 posts)Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(135,743 posts)One I'll always remember was when he played Death in an SNL skit. Unfortunately I can't find a video of it.
shenmue
(38,598 posts)allan01
(1,950 posts)CrawlingChaos
(1,893 posts)This is, and always will be, Dracula for me:

Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)ladyVet
(1,587 posts)Initech
(108,785 posts)Arkana
(24,347 posts)"Each of us with a 50-50 chance."
"Six bullets to your one?"
"I only need one."
Snow Leopard
(348 posts)RIP
AnnieBW
(12,717 posts)May the God and Goddess welcome you with open arms!

FailureToCommunicate
(14,606 posts)yuiyoshida
(45,416 posts)"He's really was the Most interesting man in the world".
DFW
(60,190 posts)I doubt Chuck Norris would even try to top that. He wouldn't know where to start.
Oddly enough, substitute Dutch and Catalan for Greek and Mandarin, and his linguistic knowledge was about identical to mine, although I'm more than "moderately proficient" in Swedish and Dutch. That's where the similarities end, though, and Greek and Mandarin are far more challenging than Catalan or Dutch.
His pre-film record is equally as impressive as his film record, if that's imaginable. An unsung legend.
Divernan
(15,480 posts)Within one day we saw the passing of two actors who used their talents to mask their personal charms behind the mask of character.
Ron Moody elevated one of Dickens' most monstrous characters to the level of dark sainthood with his re-invention of Fagin both on stage and screen. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11667807/Ron-Moody-obituary.html
And Christopher Lee, who's deliciously dark voice and eyebrows led him to portray the ultimate supervillains Saruman and of course Dracula. He understood the simple fact that to portray true evil the actor must be true to the humanity of the character. But no matter how he tried he could never quite hide the twinkle of fun in his eyes.
Let's hope he rests in peace, and doesn't feel the need to return, fangs at the ready
Arkana
(24,347 posts)and his loss will be felt everywhere in the film and entertainment world.
Those jokes should be Christopher Lee jokes, not fucking Chuck Norris jokes.
