On Disc two of the Warner Archive’s new and essential Blu-ray
release of The Curse of Frankenstein
- the first Hammer horror classic - Richard Klemensen, publisher of Little Shoppe of Horrors magazine, offers
a succinct examination of the nuts and bolts of the film’s production history.The
Klemensen segment is only one of several generous and informative featurettes
included on the set.In the course of The Resurrection Men: Hammer, Frankenstein
and the Rebirth of the Horror Film, the publisher explains that Hammer was
a small, struggling indie studio that had churned out B pictures and modest second
features since its 1934 inception.The
studio’s fortune – and existence - was threatened in the early 1950s when
television upended the British film industry.Ironically, it was during this same period that Hammer would lens one of
their most significant big screen splashes: a sci-fi property adapted from British
TV titled The Quatermass Xperiment.
That film would signal the studio’s first successful
entry in the theatrical sci-fi/horror genre: even though the picture was a far
cry from the Gothic horrors to which the studio would soon be most associated.The public’s interest in Gothic horror had
waned in the late 1940s, as enthusiasm for Universal’s famed cycle of Dracula
and Frankenstein and Mummy films had peaked and passed.The movie-going public with a penchant for the
mysterious had since turned their attentions to flying saucers and alien
visitors, of giant radioactive insects, of Ray Harryhausen’s celebrated animated
monster-mutations.
So it was an odd time for Hammer to invest money in
restages of such literary monsters as Shelley’s Frankenstein Monster and
Stoker’s Count Dracula.The initial
script for the first of Hammer’s Frankenstein cycle films would come to company
producers via two gentleman who would eventually become competitors:Milton Subotsky and Max J. Rosenberg, the two
principal founders of Amicus Productions.Hammer execs would ultimately reject that script and scenario, but the
idea of producing of a Frankenstein film was not dismissed.The studio’s interest in reviving the franchise
was ultimately left to screenwriter Jimmy Sangster.
Hammer’s decision to resurrect the monster was not met
with enthusiasm by Universal Pictures.As the creators of the original series of Frankenstein films (1931-1948),
the studio was very protective of their interests.They would do their best to make certain that
no Universal-conceived elements would be co-opted by this British up-start.But as Mary Shelley’s property had long been in
the rights-free Public Domain, Universal could not claim copyright to any
characters that appeared in the original novel of 1818.
In truth, Hammer had no intention to overlap with the celebrated
Universal film series.For starters,
there would be no iconic armies of torch and pitchfork toting angry villagers
chasing the monster.This wasn’t an
artistic choice or due to any executive decision to not shadow Universal’s
tropes too closely.The modest budget they
set aside for the production of The Curse
of Frankenstein simply wouldn’t allow for the employment of that many
extras. The use of Jack Pierce’s
iconic flat-top Frankenstein monster make-up, replete with neck bolts and
callow cheeks was also taboo.Hammer’s make-up
wizard Phil Leakey would conjure up an admittedly less iconic - but certainly
far more gruesome – set of make-up for Frankenstein’s creation, all boils and
melted flesh and cloudy eyes.
Gruesome and bloody would be the order of the day.As the first Frankenstein film to be shot in color,
the filmmakers were able to take advantage of relaxed contemporary standards of
what was deemed acceptable to show on screen.The resulting film was certainly far more graphic than previously seen,
dressed as it was with ample amounts of blood-letting and gory visuals.That’s not to say the censors were happy with
the film’s content when submitted for review.The film would receive an “X’ rating in Great Britain.This wasn’t only due to the graphic content
and violence as presented, but also due to Hammer’s introducing an element of lurid
sexuality and provocative peeks of Hazel Court’s ample cleavage.
Hammer would also wisely make Shelley’s Baron Victor
Frankenstein the series central character.Actually, it was the Baron’s lack
of character that would make him the series’ central villain.Peter Cushing’s Frankenstein remained as
obsessed as ever in his desire to create new life from dead tissue.This ambition was a hallmark of all his mad
scientist predecessors at Universal: Colin Clive, Lionel Atwill, Patrick
Knowles, Onslow Stevens and even Boris Karloff himself.But Cushing’s Frankenstein was more ambitious
in his creating of new monsters.The
actor’s Dr. Frankenstein was the
monster, producing a series of woeful, tortured creatures in the course of his
experimentations.
The
Curse of Frankenstein would bring together several members of the
production crew whose work would soon become synonymous with Hammer’s brand of
horror.Director Terence Fisher was a
dependable figure to helm the project.He had creating serviceable thrillers for the studio’s producers since 1951.Despite working with penny-pinching budgets, Production
Designer Bernard Robinson was able to create a sense of luxurious, visual ambiance
with his opulent set decorations.This
was no small feat as most of the films he would design for Hammer were shot
within the cramped confines of Bray House on the Thames.
Then there was Jack Asher, whose moody lighting was never
short of brilliant.His work became even
more nuanced and image-invoking when the success of Curse at the box office convinced the studio to loosen the purse
strings… a bit.This decision allowed
the studio to invest in bigger budgets and to unleash their creative energies
on other horror film properties once the sole domain of Universal.Between 1957 and 1974, Hammer would give us
no fewer than seven Frankenstein films, nine Dracula movies, four Mummy
pictures and even a one-shot Spaniard Werewolf epic.This in addition, of course, to an impressive
number of original monsters and adherents of Satan they would conjure on their
own.
I’m preaching to the choir here.If you are a fan of vintage horror movies,
you are already acquainted with this classic.Warner’s Blu ray edition of The
Curse of Frankenstein provides film fans with beautiful transfers of this
1957 horror classic with the choice of enjoying it in 1.85:1, 1.66:1, and
1.37:1 Open-Matte versions, all restored and remastered from 4K scans.The set also offers a generous amount of
supplemental materials providing dedicated fans with backstories on its
production.Asher’s contributions are
featured in the set’s featurette Torrents
of Light: The Art of Jack Asher, with cinematographer David J. Miller (A.S.C.)
bringing to the fore the elements that made Asher’s photography so distinctive
and compelling.Miller describes Asher
as a “perfectionist†and the preeminent “architectural lighting director,†and
makes a convincing case of such an honor.
Though the phrase “painting with light†has become an
overused stock-phrase to describe the art of cinematography, Miller suggests that
Asher’s work is particularly deserving of such accolade.He describes the atmospheric visual imagery
as captured by Asher as “an oil painting come to life.â€Miller also suggests, not unreasonably, that
Asher not only set the template for Hammer’s visual style, but that his work had
clearly influenced the styles of cinematographers in Italy and France, the
great Mario Bava being the most notable.He also suggests that Asher had freedom to creatively contribute to the
“Hammer style†as he had previously worked extensively with Fisher and
Production Designer Robinson.Such
familiarity and trust with the core creative team was an essential component to
the film’s visual flair.
Another figure whose work for Hammer is now considered
essential to the Hammer brand was that of composer James Bernard.The composer’s dramatic, string-soaked
arrangements would serve as a perfect complement to the often wild melodrama
unfolding on screen.Bernard’s
contribution to the Hammer legacy is examined in detail in yet another
featurette Diabolus in Musica: James
Bernard and the Sound of Hammer Horror, moderated by composer Christopher
Drake.
Most famously, The Curse
of Frankenstein would first pair two names that eventually would forever remain
associative with the Hammer Film legacy:actors Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.Cushing was a well-known figure to television
audiences in Britain when he accepted the role of Victor Frankenstein in Curse.The actor’s feature film work prior to his work with Hammer was less
celebrated, though never short of brilliant. In 1956 Christopher Lee wasn’t yet
a film star of any magnitude, at least not a household name.He had been a difficult actor to cast due to
his height. He dwarfed the lead actors
he worked alongside, which no doubt rankled his better-known male co-stars and caused
frustrating framing issues to cinematographers.In his casting of the creature in Curse,
his height would finally work to his advantage.But ultimately he was cast not due to his towering presence alone.He also impressed with his abilities to
communicate effectively as a mime.