Editing Peter Cushing (section)

===Hammer Frankenstein films===
[[File:Revenge of Frankenstein (trailer) - Must I?.png|thumb|As  [[Victor Frankenstein]]  in [[The Revenge of Frankenstein|Revenge of Frankenstein]]]]
During a brief quiet period following Cushing's television work, he read in [[Trade journal|trade publications]] about [[Hammer Film Productions|Hammer]], a low-budget production company seeking to adapt [[Mary Shelley]]'s [[Horror fiction|horror novel]] ''[[Frankenstein]]'' into a new film.<ref name="Meikle37" /> Cushing, who enjoyed the tale as a child,<ref name="SWI56" /> had his agent John Redway inform the company of Cushing's interest in playing the protagonist, [[Victor Frankenstein|Baron Victor Frankenstein]]. The studio executives were anxious to have Cushing; in fact, the Hammer co-founder [[James Carreras]] had been unsuccessfully courting Cushing for film roles in other projects even before his major success with ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''. Cushing was about twenty years older than Baron Frankenstein as he appeared in the original novel, but that did not deter the filmmakers.<ref name="Meikle37" /> Cushing was cast in the lead role of ''[[The Curse of Frankenstein]]'' (1957), marking the first of twenty-two films he made for Hammer.<ref name="Higham">Higham, Nick (11 August 1994). ''[[BBC News]]''. [[BBC]], London.</ref> He later said that his career decisions entailed selecting roles where he knew that he would be accepted by the audience. "Who wants to see me as [[Hamlet]]? Very few. But millions want to see me as [Baron] Frankenstein, so that's the one I do."<ref>Brosnan, John. ''The Horror People'', 1976, Plume Books. p. 190.</ref> The film critic [[Roger Ebert]] described Cushing's work in the Hammer films: "[Cushing is] the one in all those British horror films, standing between Vincent Price and Christopher Lee. His dialog usually runs along the lines of, 'But good heavens, man! The person you saw has been dead for more than two centuries!{{'"}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Ebert|first=Roger|title=I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie|date=2000|publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing|location=Kansas City|isbn=978-0740706721|page=21|chapter=At The Earth's Core}}</ref>

Unlike [[Frankenstein (1931 film)|''Frankenstein'']] (1931) produced by [[Universal Pictures|Universal]], the Hammer films revolved mainly around [[Victor Frankenstein]], rather than [[Frankenstein's monster|his monster]].<ref name="OFlinn">O'Flinn, Paul (1983). "Production and Reproduction: The Case of Frankenstein". ''Literature and History''. 9.2: 194—213.</ref> The screenwriter [[Jimmy Sangster]] wrote the protagonist as an ambitious, egotistical and coldly intellectual scientist who despised his contemporaries.<ref name="Meikle37" /> Unlike the character from the novel and past film versions, Cushing's Baron Frankenstein commits vicious crimes to attain his goals, including the murder of a colleague to obtain a brain for his creature.<ref name="OFlinn" /> ''The Curse of Frankenstein'' also featured Christopher Lee, who played Frankenstein's monster.<ref name="Monush" /> Cushing and Lee became extremely close friends, and remained so for the rest of Cushing's life. They first met on the set of the film, where Lee was still wearing the monster make-up prepared by [[Phil Leakey]]. Hammer Studios' publicity department put out a story that when Cushing first encountered Lee without the make-up on, he screamed in terror.<ref>Cushing, p. 112</ref>

Cushing so valued preparation for his role that he insisted on being trained by a surgeon to learn how to wield a [[scalpel]] authentically.<ref name="Veg" /> Shot in dynamic colour with a £65,000-budget, the film became known for its heavy usage of gore and sexual content.<ref name="SWI56" /> As a result, while the film did well at the box-office with its target audience, it drew mixed to negative reviews from the critics. Most, however, were complimentary of Cushing's performance,<ref name="Meikle42">Meikle, p. 42</ref> claiming it added a layer of distinction and credibility to the film.<ref>Leggett, Paul (2002). ''Terence Fisher: Horror, Myth and Religion''. [[Jefferson, North Carolina|Jefferson]], North Carolina: [[McFarland & Company]] p. 6. {{ISBN|0786411678}}.</ref> Many felt Cushing's performance helped create the [[Archetype|archetypal]] [[mad scientist]] character.<ref name="Veg" /> The ''[[Picturegoer]]'' writer Margaret Hinxman, who was not complimentary of Lee's performance, praised Cushing and wrote of the film: "Although this shocker may not have created much of a monster, it may well have created something more lasting: a star!"<ref name="Meikle42" /> [[Donald F. Glut]], a writer and filmmaker who wrote a book about the portrayals of ''Frankenstein'', said the inner warmth of Cushing's off-screen personality was apparent on-screen even despite the horrific elements of Frankenstein, which helped to add a layer of likability.<ref>[[Donald F. Glut|Glut, Donald F.]] (2002). ''The Frankenstein Archive: Essays on the Monster, the Myth, the Movies, and More''. [[Jefferson, North Carolina|Jefferson]], North Carolina: [[McFarland & Company]] p. 1. {{ISBN|0786413530}}.</ref>

''The Curse of Frankenstein'' was an overnight success, bringing both Cushing and Lee worldwide fame.<ref name="Monush" /><ref>[[Tim Burton|Burton, Tim]] (2006). ''Burton on Burton''. London: [[Faber and Faber]]. p. 170. {{ISBN|041521355X}}.</ref> The two men continued to work together in many films for Hammer, and their names became synonymous with the company. Cushing reprised the role of Baron Victor Frankenstein in five sequels.<ref name="Monush" /> In the first, ''[[The Revenge of Frankenstein]]'' (1958), his protagonist is sentenced to death by [[guillotine]], but he flees and hides under the alias Doctor Victor Stein.<ref name="Monush" /> He returned for ''[[The Evil of Frankenstein]]'' (1963), where the Baron has a carnival [[Hypnosis|hypnotist]] resurrect his monster's inactive brain,<ref>[[American Film Institute]] (1997). ''The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films, 1961–1970'' (1 ed.). [[Berkeley, California]]: [[University of California Press]]. p. 313. {{ISBN|0520209702}}.</ref> and ''[[Frankenstein Created Woman]]'' (1967), in which the Frankenstein's monster is a woman played by the ''[[Playboy]]'' magazine [[Playboy Playmate|centrefold model]] [[Susan Denberg]]. Cushing played the lead role twice more in ''[[Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed]]'' (1969) and ''[[Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell]]'' (1974).<ref name="Monush" /> The former film portrays Frankenstein as a far more ruthless character than had been seen before, and features a scene in which Cushing's Frankenstein rapes the character played by [[Veronica Carlson]]. Neither Carlson nor Cushing wanted to do the scene, filmed despite the director [[Terence Fisher]]'s objections, and the controversial sequence was edited out of the film for its American release.<ref>[[Veronica Carlson|Carlson, Veronica]] (actor). (5 October 2004). ''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0199528/usercomments Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Haeritage of Horror] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119082856/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0199528/usercomments |date=19 November 2010}}''. <nowiki>[</nowiki>Documentary<nowiki>]</nowiki>. [[Veronica Carlson]], Los Angeles, California: [[Image Entertainment]]. Retrieved 18 February 2018.</ref> In ''Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell'', Cushing portrayed Frankenstein as having gone completely mad, in a fitting coda to the earlier films.<ref>''The Scarecrow Video Movie Guide'' (2004). [[Seattle]], Washington: [[Sasquatch Books]]. p. 87. {{ISBN|1570614156}}.</ref><ref>Leggett, p. 147</ref>