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The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

Country of Origin: UK
Year of Production: 1957
Running Times: 79m 41s (UK - video)/82m 21s (UK - theatrical)
Length:
Format: 35mm
Colour Format: Warnercolor
Ratio:
Sound: mono


DIRECTION

Director: Terence Fisher


CREW

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Hammer Film Productions
Executive Producer: Michael Carreras
Executive in Charge of Production: James Carreras
Producers: Anthony Hinds, Max Rosenberg
Associate Producer: Anthony Nelson Keys
Production Manager: Don Weeks

SCRIPT
Script: Jimmy Sangster
Novel: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

DIRECTION
Assistant Director: Derek Whitehurst
Continuity: Doreen Soan

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Jack Asher
Camera Operator: Len Harris

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: James Needs

MUSIC
Musical Director: John Hollingsworth
Music: James Bernard

SOUND
Sound: W.H. May
Sound System: RCA Sound Recording

COSTUMES AND MAKE UP
Costume Designer: Molly Arbuthnot
Make Up: Philip Leakey
Hair: Henry Montsash

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Bernard Robinson
Art Director: Ted Marshall

LOCATIONS
Locations: Bray Studios, Berkshire, England, UK

STUNTS
Stunts Co-Ordinator/Stunt Double For Christopher Lee: Jock Easton (uncredited)

CASTING
Casting: Dorothy Holloway


CAST

Peter Cushing (Baron Victor Frankenstein)
Hazel Court (Elizabeth)
Robert Urquhart (Paul Krempe)
Christopher Lee (the creature)
Melvyn Hayes (young Victor)
Valerie Gaunt (Justine)
Paul Hardtmuth (Professor Bernstein)
Noel Hood (Aunt Sophie)
Fred Johnson (Grandpa)
Claude Kingston (little boy)
Alex Gallier (priest)
Michael Mulcaster (warder)
Andrew Leigh (burgomaster)
Ann Blake (wife)
Sally Walsh (Elizabeth as a child)
Middleton Woods (lecturer)
Raymond Ray (uncle)


UNCREDITED CAST


Ernest Jay (undertaker)
Raymond Rollett


PLOT SUMMARY

Baron Victor Frankenstein becomes obsessed with the idea of creating an artificial human being, stitched together from the remains of the dead and then brought to life with electricity. After years of research, Frankenstein succeeds but the resulting creature is dangerously violent and is soon loose in the surrounding countryside...


CAPSULE REVIEW

Hammer's first full-blooded horror film and one that turned the genre on its head. The relatively staid, monochrome terrors of the Universal era were buried by The Curse of Frankenstein's Technicolor excesses. It established Hammer as the premiere producers of screen horror, a position it would hold virtually unchallenged for a decade - it also jump-started the careers of director Terence Fisher and stars Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, all of who would become genre icons. An important and hugely impressive film. (Full Review)


AVAILABILITY

UK
Theatrical Distributors: Warner Brothers; Regal Films International (1961 re-issue)
Video Distributor: Warner Home Video (S036163)

USA
Theatrical Distributors: Warner Brothers; Goldstone Film Enterprises (1963 re-issue)
Video Distributor: Warner Brothers Home Video


CENSORSHIP HISTORY

Finland
Rating: banned

Sweden
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: X (theatrical (1957) - with unspecified cuts); 15 (video (1989))

USA
Rating: unrated


TIMELINE

1956
November

19: UK - filming begins

December
24: UK - filming ends

1957
April

8: UK - rated X by the BBFC (for theatrical release)

May
2: UK - theatrical release

June
25: USA - theatrical release

1966
March

14: Sweden - theatrical release

1989
February

13: UK - rated 15 by the BBFC (for video release)

1996
August

2: UK - shown at the Barbican, London as part of the Hammer at the Barbican season
9: UK - shown at the Barbican, London as part of the Hammer at the Barbican season
10: UK - shown at the Barbican, London as part of the Hammer at the Barbican season
12: UK - shown at the Barbican, London as part of the Hammer at the Barbican season
29: UK - shown at the Barbican, London as part of the Hammer at the Barbican season

1997
October

15: France - shown at the Cherbourg-Octeville Festival of Irish and British Film

2000
May

1: UK - video release (Warner Brothers (S036163))


POSTER TAGS

The Curse of Frankenstein will haunt you forever!

The creature created by man and forgotten by nature!

Please try not to faint

All new and never dared before!


ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Frankensteins Fluch - German title
La maschera di Frankenstein - Italian title


LINKS

SEQUELS
The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)
Frankenstein Created Woman (1967)
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)
The Horror of Frankenstein (1970)
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)

REMAKE OF
Frankenstein (1931)

SEE ALSO
Dracula vs Frankenstein (1971)
One More Time (1970)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
100 Years of Horror (1996)
The Many Faces of Christopher Lee (1996)
Peter Cushing: A One-Way Ticket to Hollywood (1989)


REFERENCES

MAGAZINES

Daily Cinema no.8447 (21 April 1961) p.8
review

Dark Terrors no.2 (March/April 1992) pp.6-13 (UK)
illustrated credits, filmography, article

Dark Terrors no.5 (November/December 1992) p.12 (UK)
article

Dark Terrors no.17 (2000) pp.7-9 (UK)
illustrated article

The House That Hammer Built no.3 (June 1997) pp.137-144 (UK)
illustrated credits, synopsis, review

The House That Hammer Built no.10 (October 1998) pp.91-106 (UK)
illustrated article

Kine Weekly no.2795 (27 April 1961) p.43 (UK)
review

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.28 no.329 (June 1961) p.80 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review

Variety 3 May 1961 (USA)
credits, review


KEYWORDS

book into film; frankenstein; scientists; dismemberment; guillotines; artificial humans; flashbacks; remake; brain damage; brains; dogs


Last Updated: 1 January, 2009

 


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