Editing Hammer Film Productions (section)

===''The Curse of Frankenstein''===
{{main|The Curse of Frankenstein}}

As production began on ''Quatermass 2'', Hammer started to look for another U.S. partner willing to invest in and handle the American promotion of new product. They eventually entered talks with [[Associated Artists Productions]] (a.a.p.) and head, [[Eliot Hyman]]. During this period, two young American filmmakers, [[Max Rosenberg|Max J. Rosenberg]] and [[Milton Subotsky]], who later established Hammer's rival [[Amicus Productions|Amicus]], submitted to a.a.p. a script for an adaptation of the novel ''[[Frankenstein]]''. Although interested in the script, a.a.p. were not prepared to back a film made by Rosenberg and Subotsky, who had just one film to their credit. Eliot Hyman however, sent the script to his contact at Hammer. Rosenberg would often claim he 'produced' ''The Curse of Frankenstein'', an exaggeration repeated in his obituary.

Although the novel by [[Mary Shelley]] was long since in the [[public domain]], Anthony Hinds was unsure about the story, as Subotsky's script adhered closely to the plot of the 1939 Universal film ''[[Son of Frankenstein]]'', featuring a second-generation Baron Frankenstein emulating his father, the original monster-maker. This put the project at risk of a [[copyright]] infringement lawsuit by Universal. In addition a great deal of polishing and additional material was needed, as the short script had an estimated running time of just 55 minutes, far less than the minimum of 90 minutes needed for distribution in the U.K. Accordingly, comments on the script from Hammer's Michael Carreras (who had joined his father James as producer in the early 1950s) were less than complimentary:

<blockquote>The script is badly presented. The sets are not marked clearly on the shot headings, neither is DAY or NIGHT specified in a number of cases. The number of set-ups scripted is quite out of proportion to the length of the screenplay, and we suggest that your rewrites are done in master scene form.<ref>Michael Carreras' letter to Max Rosenberg, quoted in Kinsey, p. 51.</ref></blockquote>

Further revisions were made to the script, and a working title of ''Frankenstein and the Monster'' was chosen. Plans were made to shoot the film in Eastmancolor{{spaced ndash}}a decision which caused worry at the BBFC. Not only did the script contain horror and graphic violence, but it would be portrayed in vivid colour.{{sfn|Kinsey|2005|page=80}}

The project was handed to Tony Hinds, who was less impressed with the script than Michael Carreras, and whose vision for the film was a simple black-and-white 'quickie' made in three weeks. Concerned that Subotsky and Rosenberg's script had too many similarities to the Universal films, Hinds commissioned [[Jimmy Sangster]] to rewrite it as ''[[The Curse of Frankenstein]]''. Sangster's treatment impressed Hammer enough to rescue the film from the 'quickie' treadmill and to produce it as a colour film.

Sangster submitted his script to the BBFC for examination. Audrey Field reported on 10 October 1956:

<blockquote>We are concerned about the flavour of this script, which, in its preoccupation with horror and gruesome detail, goes far beyond what we are accustomed to allow even for the 'X' category. I am afraid we can give no assurance that we should be able to pass a film based on the present script and a revised script should be sent us for our comments, in which the overall unpleasantness should be mitigated.{{sfn|Kinsey|2005|page=60}}</blockquote>

Regardless of the BBFC's stern warnings, Hinds supervised the shooting of an unchanged script.{{sfn|Kinsey|2005|page=63}}

The film was directed by Terence Fisher, with a look that belied its modest budget. British TV star [[Peter Cushing]] portrayed [[Victor Frankenstein|Baron Victor Frankenstein]], and supporting actor [[Christopher Lee]] was cast as the imposingly tall, brutish [[Frankenstein's monster|Creature]]. With a budget of £65,000 and a cast and crew that would become the backbone of later films, Hammer's first Gothic horror went into production.{{sfn|Kinsey|2005|page=63}} The use of colour encouraged a previously unseen level of gore. Until ''The Curse of Frankenstein'', horror films had not shown blood in a graphic way, or when they did, it was concealed by monochrome photography. In this film, it was bright red, and the camera lingered on it.

The film was an enormous success, not only in Great Britain, but also in the U.S., where it inspired numerous imitations from, amongst others, [[Roger Corman]] and [[American International Pictures]] (with their series largely based on [[Edgar Allan Poe]] &ndash; the so-called "Poe Cycle"). It found success on the [[Europe|European continent]] also, where Italian directors and audiences were particularly receptive.
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